Our sagacious President, Kelsey Long, opened this week’s meeting with words from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s acceptance speech for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964. Kelsey acknowledged that Dr. King is an outstanding example of someone with the communication skills and leadership values we are trying to gain through Toastmasters. She then led us into our usual minute of silence in acknowledgment and support of the Black Lives Matter movement before turning the meeting over to this week’s Toastmaster, Kerstin Haase.
Kerstin chose “reflection” as her word of the day, especially as it pertains to consideration or meditation. We had fifteen members and two guests, Renuka Korlipara and Drew Lindberg, in attendance. After welcoming our guests, Kerstin turned the meeting over to our first speaker of the day, Savannah Murphy.
Savannah gave a Level 1 Researching and Presenting project from the Engaging Humor pathway. In her talk, “Soil and Ashes” Savannah shared with the group her desire to become a tree after she dies by having her remains processed in a way that could be a positive part of the ecosystem. Savannah walked us through the various barriers to this plan, from the inert material left by cremation, to the laws hindering green burials. She concluded by asking us all to consider the recomposition process that would add nutrients to the earth when we die, and gave us a resource for further research on this topic. Her evaluator, Alvin Powell expressed his appreciation of her choice of topic and its relevance, as the disposition of our bodies when we die is something everyone must consider as some point. Alvin also noted that Savannah accomplished the goal of the project, expertly weaving facts and resources in with her talk to support her research topic.
Our second speaker, Dave Burr, gave a Level 5 elective presentation on leading a volunteer organization from the Motivational Strategies pathway. In his talk titled “Beginnings,” Dave talked about how he and a group of friends organized what would become the Triad Ukulele club. After taking ukulele classes together, Dave and three other people combined their talents to create a club that would be a part of the community and provide a secular, inclusive place for people to gather and play ukuleles. The pandemic has forced them to move their meetings online, but now they have participants from all over the world, and are making plans for the next chapter of the Triad Ukulele club. Dave’s evaluator, Angela Marsh, thanked him for providing an introduction and evaluation form before the meeting. Angela also applauded the interesting and informative way Dave discussed the formation of the club and his own role as one of the club’s founders.
Kelsey Long served as Table Topics Master, and asked participants to comment on some reflections of memorable times in their lives. The answers were fascinating and covered a variety of topics. We heard about a less-than-stellar job interview that led one member to join Toastmasters and also about beloved trinket boxes gifted by a dear friend. First time guest, Dave Lindberg, told us of a special moment with his father. And member Karen Rhodes shared her experience at Roller Derby Camp, which we all agree needs to be expanded in to a full speech at a future meeting!
Norris Bass served as the General Evaluator, and provided a thorough review of the meeting. Summer Murphy was the Timer this week, and reported on times for the prepared speeches, Table Topics responses and speech evaluations. Greg Sutton, our newest member, served as Grammarian for the first time, and noted our filler words and the Word of the Day usage.
The meeting roles for January and February have been posted online here. If you are unable to fill your role for a particular meeting, please reach out to your fellow Toastmasters who are not scheduled that day to find a replacement.
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 am, January 21 EST on Zoom.
The roles for that meeting are as follows:
Toastmaster: Amelya
Speaker 1: Open
Speaker 2: John
Table Topics 2: Summer
Gen. Evaluator: Tim
Speaker Evaluator 1: Greg
Speaker Evaluator 2: Karen
Timer: Dave
Grammarian: Anu
Join us at Sunrise Toastmasters where we are building each other up to be more confident speakers and more competent leaders!
