Our astute President, Kelsey Long, opened this week’s meeting with a remembrance of a Pearl Harbor hero named Doris Miller. Kelsey shared that Miller, a cook on the base, carried people to safety during the Japanese attack and even manned a machine gun to shoot down enemy planes that were attacking the base. She heralded Miller’s selflessness;, having been refused a combat position because of his skin color, Miller still acted bravely and without hesitation to protect his service and country. Kelsey 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, Summer Murphy.
Summer chose “identity” as her word of the day, celebrating the differences that make each of unique. We had fourteen members in attendance, including our newest member, Greg Sutton – welcome, Greg!! Summer had everyone introduce themselves and asked each member to share something that “makes you uniquely you.” After introductions, Summer turned the meeting over to our first speaker of the day, Norris Bass.
Norris spoke about “Memories of Mom,” relating stories about his mom from when he was a child. Having recently lost his mom, Norris chose this special talk to celebrate her life and his memories of the times they spent together. He also reminded each of us to talk about treasured memories with the ones we love while they are here. His evaluator, Nereida Sutton thanked Norris for sharing his stories of his mom with us. Nereida noted that growth requires vulnerability, and commended Norris for his composure during such a sensitive talk.
Our second speaker, Amelya Black, gave a revised version of a previous talk about issues with our criminal justice system. In her talk titled “Cracks, Part 2”, Amelya walked us through her recent experience of going to court with a friend. We all felt like we were there with her as she described the “haves” who were drinking coffee and chatting with each other, and the “have nots” who sat alone on a hard bench and waited. She led us through her thoughts as she wondered about the juvenile “have nots” in the building and whether anyone was caring for them. Amelya’s talk pulled at everyone’s heartstrings, and she left us with a call to action, reminding us that any kind gesture is worthwhile. Her evaluator, Dave Burr, applauded the skillful way Amelya moved through her talk, leading her audience as she went. Dave also observed that Amelya’s points were enhanced by her effective pauses.
Anu Parvathaneni served as Table Topics Master, and focused her questions on quotes about the theme of the day. Members shared thoughts about their identities related to their occupation, their values and their beard.
Tim Murphy served as the General Evaluator, and gave a thorough review of the meeting. Greg Sutton was the Timer this week, in his first meeting role, and did an outstanding job reporting on times for the prepared speeches, Table Topics responses and speech evaluations. Alvin Powell, serving as Grammarian, caught some speakers using colloquialisms.
Please note that we will not meet on December 24 or December 31. Sunrise Toastmasters will host an Open House meeting on January 7. Please invite friends and family and former members and guests to join us on Zoom on that date during our regular meeting time. The Open House will have one prepared speech and an extended Table Topics session to give as many people as possible a chance to speak.
The next Sunrise Toastmasters meeting will be at 7 am, December 17 EST on Zoom.
The roles for that meeting are as follows:
Toastmaster: Savannah
Speakers: (1) Alvin, (2) Kelsey
Table Topics: Karen
Gen. Evaluator: Dave
Evaluators: (1) Anu, (2) John
Timer: Kerstin
Grammarian: Norris
Confirm your identity as a leader and learn how to make your voice heard at Sunrise Toastmasters!
