The mission of a Toastmasters club
is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in
which every individual member has the opportunity to develop oral
communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster
self-confidence and personal growth.
Robin, president of Peace Speakers, opens our meeting with the announcement of the Toastmasters International celebration of 90 years. She has cupcakes in hand, which she generously shares. The fact that Toastmasters has this kind of staying power and is known worldwide says a lot about its effectiveness and appeal: over 14,000 clubs in 126 countries!
Robin reminds us that our next meeting is on the Presbyterian Center's Staff Development Day with time and room changes: Wed., Nov. 5 at 12:40 in room CR 5000. Members are encouraged to attend and take on a role. This will be a great recruitment opportunity for Peace Speakers!
Robin acknowledges that 6 Peace Speakers participated in the chapel worship service on October 8. Those 6 members were Ada, Catherine, Kay, Kerri, Lynn, and Robin. And thanks to Perry, we had a Guatemalan vocalist and pianist who added complementary music to the worship service we planned.
Megan, our invocation leader for the day, recites a poem she has selected:
"THE PEACE OF WILD THINGS"
by Wendell Berry
When despair grows in me
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.
JOKE MASTER STIRS UP
SOME FUN
TOASTMASTER SHARES
AN EXPLANATION
Good afternoon. I'm delighted to have this opportunity to present my Ice Breaker speech.
I grew up in Wichita, Kansas. I was born two months premature and became blind as a result of being given too much oxygen in the incubator. I'm the oldest and have two brothers.
My parents elected to send me to the Kansas School for the Blind in Kansas city, where they felt I would receive a better education, about 200 miles away, where some of us, at the age of five, often traveled each way by bus. Sometimes we could only go home once a month.
Some of my friends in nursery school attended KSB with me, and I still keep in touch with three of them today. I think we should have the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest enduring friendships outside of marriage!
Mom was a home-maker and later worked in Daddy's grocery store. They had a strong work ethic that was passed along to me. I learned Braille as a child, as other children learned print, and I enjoy reading, and use it every day on my job.
Growing up we often went to the lake on weekends--where I swam, enjoyed motor boating, and attempting to water ski. At school I excelled in piano, chorus, German, reading, and I liked gymnastics, especially the parallel bars and the balance beam.
Our student body was very small, so it wasn't uncommon for students to meet in grade school and graduate together. One of our annual activities was our participation in a sports car rally sponsored by the KU Jay Hawks sports car rally club. They supplied the drivers, and we had Braille and large print directions to navigate a route with check points, where trophies were awarded. I won a trophy every other year of the years I participated.
Another benefit was that we could attend the prom starting in seventh grade. When I was a junior, our superintendent, Dr. Ohlsen, told us that we should have the appearance and conduct such that we would not be ashamed if our parents came to the prom. Somehow I thought that he asked us to ask our parents. I had four dates that year. You see, we had a banquet, a prom, and then a cruise on a pleasure showboat for several hours before we later went to breakfast as the finale.
I thought Phil was a very polite and becoming sports car rally driver, so I asked him if he would be my escort. Although I wondered what had happened when I didn't see him, I was touched when, right in the middle of our banquet someone delivered lovely white orchids and a card from Phil, apologizing that he couldn't be there, but hoping those would suffice. I was the only one that got flowers from an outside, would-be date.
At the beginning of our prom in our beautifully decorated recreation center, my mother was the only parent who came. She thought so much of two of Daddy's employees--Dan, who worked in the meat department, and Don, a delivery boy, that she brought them too. So they were my second and third dates.
They left at midnight since they had to drive the 200 miles back to Wichita, but Bill had agreed to escort me to the boat festivities, so he was my date for the rest of the time. During our alumni reunion last summer, held annually, I saw Bill after 43 years, and we reminisced about that experience.
My parents and school taught me that being blind means we may do things differently, but that many things can be accomplished by using alternative techniques, and by being willing to take risks and to try new things. This belief has been steadfast in my life. In 2005 I became the first blind person who served on the grand jury for the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
Some of my hobbies include learning, baking, identifying birdsongs, making friends, public speaking, creative writing, and I have worked in a variety of jobs. I'm married, have three grown children, six grandchildren, a ferret, and my Seeing Eye dog, Hailey, who gets to critique all my speeches.
I am a colon cancer survivor since 2001, (thank God) and am a member of Gilda's Club, where I participated in the St. Patrick's Day parade and walked as one of their representatives last March. So did Hailey, where she was constantly distracted by other dogs.
Some of my values are love, enduring friendships, family, a sense of humor, punctuality, and self-development.
A few of the things I strongly dislike are ingenuousness, tactlessness, people who label and assume and are unwilling to learn, and consistent misuse and mispronunciation of words--like recognize, pitcher for picture, and irregardless, or in regards to, instead of in regard. Good grammar is always appreciated.
In conclusion, one of my goals is to become financially independent, to give much away, and to travel to Europe with my husband.
Thank you, Kristi, for sharing so much about your interesting life! You're living proof that a full and dynamic life is a choice, even when you have to learn how to do things differently.
TABLE TOPICS EVOKE A PLETHORA OF RESPONSES
Have you ever been in a haunted house? Do you believe
houses or other places can be haunted?
Kristi shares that she likes reading about haunted places and is a huge Steven King fan. She also recalls the movie Poltergeist where ghosts haunted a family's home. When Kristi lived in Wichita, she went to several haunted houses. Admittedly, her kids like them. But she prefers to read about her haunted houses rather than visiting them. Most are overrated, she thinks.
Lynn admits that she has twin boys the age of 9, so she does a tiny bit of decorating for Halloween. She notes that it takes a lot of work and it's expensive. People in her neighborhood decorate extensively, but she would rather use her effort to go out with her boys to look at other people's Halloween decorations, such as creatures being electrocuted and other scary set-ups. In the end, it's not a priority to decorate much. She would rather spend that time with her kids.
SPEECH EVALUATOR SHARES HIS OPINION
ERIC draws the educational part of our meeting to a close, noting that it feels like a long time since he's been up at the podium since he was out for a while with a new baby. However, he's really made up for lost time in Peace Speakers today. He took on Toastmaster and at the last minute picked up the Joke Master and Speech Evaluator roles as well. He concluded his time at the podium encouraging all of us sign up for roles for our next meeting.
If you're a visitor to this blog and are considering Toastmasters, this worldwide educational program has been successful for nine decades now. The founder's vision continues to thrive today by helping members overcome obstacles, live confidently, meet goals, and change lives for the better. Give our club a try, and you'll find a warm and welcoming group of people!
Nov. 5 - Conference Room 5000
TIME CHANGE 12:40
Nov. 19 - Conference Room B
REGULAR TIME 1:00
and I wake in the middle of the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children's lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief.
I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting for their light.
For a time I rest in the grace of the world,
and am free.
JOKE MASTER STIRS UP SOME FUN
I asked my North Korean friend how it was there. He said he couldn't
complain.
Together, I can beat dissociative identity.
There's no "I" in denial.
"I'm sorry" and "I apologize" mean the same thing, except when you're at a funeral.
"I'm sorry" and "I apologize" mean the same thing, except when you're at a funeral.
~Demetri Martin
TOASTMASTER SHARES AN EXPLANATION
Eric points to the image of rye on the agenda and asks if anyone knows its relationship to Halloween. He shares that rye is prone to the ergot fungus. Unknowingly ingesting infected rye, one might suffer from ergotism or St. Anthony's Fire, making one's limbs feel like they're on fire. (LSD, a powerful hallucinogen, is derived from ergot.) I googled this and found that in France in the 1950s, people ate bread made from fungus-infected rye. These victims gave accounts of being chased or attacked by horrible beasts in the terror of darkness. They reported feeling that their bodies were not their own. This terrifying event likely lead to the development of the werewolf legend.
As Toastmaster, Eric introduces Kristi, one of our newest members. She's a transcriber with the Louisville Metro Police Department. This is her second Toastmasters club, and she's giving her Ice Breaker speech today called "As you Slide Down the Banister of Life, Don't Get a Splinter in Your Career". This is her first speech to deliver to our club, and it's a chance to get to know Kristi better.
Good afternoon. I'm delighted to have this opportunity to present my Ice Breaker speech. I grew up in Wichita, Kansas. I was born two months premature and became blind as a result of being given too much oxygen in the incubator. I'm the oldest and have two brothers.
My parents elected to send me to the Kansas School for the Blind in Kansas city, where they felt I would receive a better education, about 200 miles away, where some of us, at the age of five, often traveled each way by bus. Sometimes we could only go home once a month.
Some of my friends in nursery school attended KSB with me, and I still keep in touch with three of them today. I think we should have the Guinness Book of World Records for the longest enduring friendships outside of marriage!
Mom was a home-maker and later worked in Daddy's grocery store. They had a strong work ethic that was passed along to me. I learned Braille as a child, as other children learned print, and I enjoy reading, and use it every day on my job.
Growing up we often went to the lake on weekends--where I swam, enjoyed motor boating, and attempting to water ski. At school I excelled in piano, chorus, German, reading, and I liked gymnastics, especially the parallel bars and the balance beam.
Our student body was very small, so it wasn't uncommon for students to meet in grade school and graduate together. One of our annual activities was our participation in a sports car rally sponsored by the KU Jay Hawks sports car rally club. They supplied the drivers, and we had Braille and large print directions to navigate a route with check points, where trophies were awarded. I won a trophy every other year of the years I participated.
Another benefit was that we could attend the prom starting in seventh grade. When I was a junior, our superintendent, Dr. Ohlsen, told us that we should have the appearance and conduct such that we would not be ashamed if our parents came to the prom. Somehow I thought that he asked us to ask our parents. I had four dates that year. You see, we had a banquet, a prom, and then a cruise on a pleasure showboat for several hours before we later went to breakfast as the finale.
I thought Phil was a very polite and becoming sports car rally driver, so I asked him if he would be my escort. Although I wondered what had happened when I didn't see him, I was touched when, right in the middle of our banquet someone delivered lovely white orchids and a card from Phil, apologizing that he couldn't be there, but hoping those would suffice. I was the only one that got flowers from an outside, would-be date.
At the beginning of our prom in our beautifully decorated recreation center, my mother was the only parent who came. She thought so much of two of Daddy's employees--Dan, who worked in the meat department, and Don, a delivery boy, that she brought them too. So they were my second and third dates.
They left at midnight since they had to drive the 200 miles back to Wichita, but Bill had agreed to escort me to the boat festivities, so he was my date for the rest of the time. During our alumni reunion last summer, held annually, I saw Bill after 43 years, and we reminisced about that experience.
 |
| Kristi and her Seeing Eye dog, Hailey |
Some of my hobbies include learning, baking, identifying birdsongs, making friends, public speaking, creative writing, and I have worked in a variety of jobs. I'm married, have three grown children, six grandchildren, a ferret, and my Seeing Eye dog, Hailey, who gets to critique all my speeches.
I am a colon cancer survivor since 2001, (thank God) and am a member of Gilda's Club, where I participated in the St. Patrick's Day parade and walked as one of their representatives last March. So did Hailey, where she was constantly distracted by other dogs.
Some of my values are love, enduring friendships, family, a sense of humor, punctuality, and self-development.
A few of the things I strongly dislike are ingenuousness, tactlessness, people who label and assume and are unwilling to learn, and consistent misuse and mispronunciation of words--like recognize, pitcher for picture, and irregardless, or in regards to, instead of in regard. Good grammar is always appreciated.
In conclusion, one of my goals is to become financially independent, to give much away, and to travel to Europe with my husband.
Thank you, Kristi, for sharing so much about your interesting life! You're living proof that a full and dynamic life is a choice, even when you have to learn how to do things differently.
TABLE TOPICS EVOKE A PLETHORA OF RESPONSES
I forgot to mention that the Word of the Day for our meeting is plethora. This word is chosen by the member who's taken on the role of the Ah-counter/Grammarian. The use of the Word of the Day is encouraged throughout our Toastmasters meeting. Plethora is a noun that means a very large amount or number. A plethora of good feelings and growth takes place during Peace Speakers meetings. And one way this is experienced is during Table Topics, where individuals get a chance to express themselves extemporaneously. You don't get to plan ahead, you read a prompt, and you jump in with your 1-2 minute response. It's fun, it's informative, and it helps speakers grow their skills.
Eva, our Table Topics Master, has a bag of goodies. There are chocolates for anyone volunteering to participate by drawing a prompt. Eva shares that her questions all relate to Halloween in some fashion or another.
What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn or seen someone else wear?
Megan admits that her mom refused to purchase store-bought costumes for her. It was a money thing. So most of her costumes were sweatshirts that were decorated in a variety of ways, such as a puppy from 101 Dalmatians. She remembers wearing a little felt hat and yarn for hair. Probably her best costume in her Halloween career was Pippi Longstocking, where she was given freckles with wire attached to her braided hair to make it stick out like Pippi's hairdo.
Tell us about a time when you were really scared.
Robin shares a time when her son crawled out of his crib and fell down the stairs. She heard him go thump, thump, thump as he tumbled down. When she got to him, he wasn't responding well and he couldn't answer her questions. She called the doctor and described the goosehead lump on his head. They did an MRI and determined that he did have a concussion. She told her husband that maybe he shouldn't be a football player when he grows up since he's already had his first concussion at age 2.
Eva, our Table Topics Master, has a bag of goodies. There are chocolates for anyone volunteering to participate by drawing a prompt. Eva shares that her questions all relate to Halloween in some fashion or another.
What’s the best Halloween costume you’ve ever worn or seen someone else wear?
Tell us about a time when you were really scared.
Robin shares a time when her son crawled out of his crib and fell down the stairs. She heard him go thump, thump, thump as he tumbled down. When she got to him, he wasn't responding well and he couldn't answer her questions. She called the doctor and described the goosehead lump on his head. They did an MRI and determined that he did have a concussion. She told her husband that maybe he shouldn't be a football player when he grows up since he's already had his first concussion at age 2.
Have you ever been in a haunted house? Do you believe
houses or other places can be haunted?Kristi shares that she likes reading about haunted places and is a huge Steven King fan. She also recalls the movie Poltergeist where ghosts haunted a family's home. When Kristi lived in Wichita, she went to several haunted houses. Admittedly, her kids like them. But she prefers to read about her haunted houses rather than visiting them. Most are overrated, she thinks.
Do you decorate your house or yard for Halloween? Why
or why not?
Lynn admits that she has twin boys the age of 9, so she does a tiny bit of decorating for Halloween. She notes that it takes a lot of work and it's expensive. People in her neighborhood decorate extensively, but she would rather use her effort to go out with her boys to look at other people's Halloween decorations, such as creatures being electrocuted and other scary set-ups. In the end, it's not a priority to decorate much. She would rather spend that time with her kids.
AND THE WINNER OF TABLE TOPICS IS...
MEGAN secures the greatest number of votes for a compelling response to her prompt, so she has bragging rights and takes the trophy home until we meet again on November 5th at 12:40.
SPEECH EVALUATOR SHARES HIS OPINION
ERIC shares that for Kristi's Ice Breaker speech, he noticed how comfortable she was speaking and that she used great grammar. He noted her clear and easy way of delivery and her ability to effectively share anecdotes. This showed just how genuine, kind, caring, and thoughtful she is. He thought she elaborated well, especially about her prom. He said the body and conclusion of her speech were clear. Next time, he suggested adding a few signposts in the beginning of her speech to let everyone know what's coming.
ERIC draws the educational part of our meeting to a close, noting that it feels like a long time since he's been up at the podium since he was out for a while with a new baby. However, he's really made up for lost time in Peace Speakers today. He took on Toastmaster and at the last minute picked up the Joke Master and Speech Evaluator roles as well. He concluded his time at the podium encouraging all of us sign up for roles for our next meeting.
If you're a visitor to this blog and are considering Toastmasters, this worldwide educational program has been successful for nine decades now. The founder's vision continues to thrive today by helping members overcome obstacles, live confidently, meet goals, and change lives for the better. Give our club a try, and you'll find a warm and welcoming group of people!
We are an open Toastmasters club,
so please pay us a visit!
OUR NEXT FEW 2014 MEETINGS:
Nov. 5 - Conference Room 5000
TIME CHANGE 12:40
Nov. 19 - Conference Room B
REGULAR TIME 1:00
Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club
1st and 3rd Wednesdays (usually)
1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
100 Witherspoon Street
Downtown Louisville, KY
Respectfully submitted,
Kay Chambers
Blogger for Peace Speakers
To access our previous blogs, here are the links:
(We kept running out of space and needed to start new ones!)
