Minutes from Friday, March 21, 2025
Sunrise Toastmasters
This week’s meeting started with a warm welcome from our President, Toastmaster Kerstin Haase. She started us out by sharing a poem from Marianne Williamson entitled “Our Deepest Fear.” It was a timely and heartfelt poem that touched us by illustrating the need to address personal fears and that in doing so, we can also benefit those around us. This led us into our moment of silence in recognition of the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing struggle for racial equality. She concluded with reminders such as use of the bias flag as a tool toward becoming conscientious speakers. Kerstin also served as our Toastmaster of the Day, introducing the word of the day “merriment” which is defined as a state of cheerful fun and enjoyment; lively celebration or amusement.
Toastmaster Dave Burr introduced our first speaker, Toastmaster Savannah Murphy. Savvy spoke on the topic “Seeing Shadows” and started out by marking the celebration of International Transgender Day of Visibility on March 31. It was presented with the visual of Groundhog Day, with the groundhog popping up out of their safe abode to assess the weather. Would it be the warmth and welcome of a new Spring, or cool and rejecting like Winter? Savvy shared the personal experience in having difficult conversations with family and friends, and efforts to present themself in a more non-binary fashion. We were all able to celebrate the fruits of success when they shared a delightful TSA experience in an airport. Yes, that was “delightful” and “TSA” in the same sentence! Congratulations Savvy, and thank you for sharing.
Toastmaster Norris Bass introduced our second speaker, Toastmaster Abdulrahman Albazie. Abdulrahman spoke on the topic of “When Plans go Awry,” emphasizing the importance of embracing the unexpected in our lives. We need to have big dreams and set expectations, while remembering that getting there is not as simple as just signing up. He noted the need to welcome the journey, commit to it, and take time to reflect along the way. These are key steps which will help you to achieve your own goals and overcome challenges. He left us with the words of Albert Einstein, “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.”
Table Topics was led by Toastmaster Anu Parvathaneni, wonderfully incorporating our word of the day into all of her questions. We were able to share in the merriment of a playful and sometimes antagonizing puppy (Jasmine), childhood fun and delightful breaks from sibling rivalry, twins that can make you laugh so hard that it’s difficult to breathe, and somehow being able to slip out of class to enjoy three lunch periods during high school… which sounded like it occurred on a fairly regular basis!
We then moved onto the Breakfast of Champions, speech and meeting evaluations. Toastmaster Bettina Ross served as our General Evaluator. She turned it over to Dave to complete Speaker 1 evaluation and then to Norris to complete Speaker 2 evaluation. Toastmaster Tim Murphy and Toastmaster Kendra Hiatt filled the roles of Grammarian and Timer.
Food for thought:
As we’re liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. Marianne Williamson
Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans. John Lennon
Roles for Friday, March 28, 2025 are as follows:
Toastmaster- Norris
Speaker 1- Kendra
Speaker 2- Anu
Table Topics- Abdulrahman
General Evaluator- Tim
Evaluator 1- Tina Joe
Evaluator 2- Kerstin
Timer- Dave
Grammarian- Summer
