NPS TM achieves "President's Distinguished" Once Again !

Using the live Internet capability we have in our regular meeting room, VPE Robin Walker entered into the TI WHQ database the recent Competent Leader manual completions for Fred Sadler and Carl Thormeyer after Friday's meeting. Fred and Carl are the first to finish this new manual and achieve the new CL award. Congratulations!

With these accomplishments, NPS Toastmasters has achieved 9 of 10 goals for the 2006-07 Toastmaster year, and is again a President's Distinguished Club! We have now achieved this level of club excellence in five of the past six years (we were "Select Distinguished" in 2005-06 with seven goals). We will make it unanimous this year by achieving Goal #10 within the next month.

And, as Arnie mentioned in an earlier blog entry, our club received more recognition awards at the Division A contest yesterday than any of the other clubs in the Division!

Flash from Salinas: Angi Wins Table Topics!

I'm just back from the Division A contest in Salinas, and it was a wonderful one! Being at the Agricultural Conference Center brought back memories of last fall's Areas humorous and evaluation contest.

The highlight of course was Angi Anderson winning the Table Topics contest - so she will represent Division a at the District Contest on May 18. The question was one of the toughest I have heard at a contest - "How do you justify your existence?" All four contestants gave outstanding responses, and Angi's was more outstanding than the others - Congratulations Angi!!

Here is Angi receiving her award from District 4 Representative, our own Carl Thormeyer:















More photos from the contest can be viewed here.

The other highlight was our District Governor Ken Cawley giving out special awards to clubs who have met various goals in the DCP. Our president, Glenn Tolle (who also served as the chief judge for the International Speech Contest) got his exercise in from all the times he was called for yet another award to NPS.

It was a terrific event - what better way to spend a rainy day than at a Toastmasters contest - especially if our contestant won!

As Luck would have it...

First-time Toastmaster of the Day (TMoD) Luke Lazzari wowed us all with his smooth running of our Friday-the-13th meeting using a theme of "luck". With only two scheduled speakers, Luke continued the format of last week with speakers/evaluators first and table topics second. This permitted no fewer than seven (7; count 'em!) table topics participants, with Brian Anderson's smooth presentation coming away as the winner.

Our resident Mongolian Mashbat Otgonbayer presented his #3 speech which expounded on the importance and advantages of traveling to different lands. And Area Governor Arnie Buss gave a short-notice but hilariously funny "hip pocket" #5 speech on body language, with a title of "Breaking Through the Fourth Wall". Arnie, already an ATM-S, is working on his second CC award and is halfway there! Arnie won Best Speaker while Mash was Most Improved. Fred Sadler won Best Evaluator, in part for pointing out how Arnie was setting the example for the rest of the club (second CC, hip pocket speech, and various speech techniques).

Welcome to our newest member, Scott Wilbur! Once we voted him in, Scott was one of 17 members and 4 guests who thoroughly enjoyed this meeting.

NEXT UP: 20 April regular meeting. Details soon!

28 April: Smedley Saturday. Sign up now for a speaking slot!

A "Mastery" of a Meeting - and, a new CC !

Our newest "Competent Communicator" (CC; formerly CTM) Scott Ceremuga showed his public speaking mastery by completing his #10 speech in the Communication and Leadership Manual , as President Glenn Tolle led the April 6th meeting with his theme of "Mastery". Scott used the occasion to do a "dry run" of the speech he hopes to present at the upcoming Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) graduation, and won "Best Speaker" in the process! Scott is in competition with several other graduating MIIS students for the coveted assignment of commencement speaker. Good luck Scott, and congratulations!

Glenn Woodson jumped in as a speaker following a last-minute cancellation, and presented his #5 speech describing his experience with the sport of rowing. His evaluator, Eric Timmerman, came away with the "Best Evaluator" award.

In a variation of the normal schedule of events, Table Topics followed (rather than preceded) the speeches. TT Master Pete Blouin called on six (!) members to answer questions centering on the word "Master". They were:
* Master of Puppets: Angi Anderson
* Blaster Master: Robin Walker
* Master Card: Warner Howser
* Master of Ceremonies: Fred Sadler
* Masters of the Universe: Brian Anderson
* Jedi Master: Luke "Skywalker" Lazzari (he won "Most Improved")

Karen Woodson served as Grammarian, Shahid Abrar ul-Hassan raised a lot of money as "Ah" Counter, while Angi Anderson did a great job as a first time General Evaluator. We had a good crowd with 18 members and two new guests.

NEXT UP: 13 April meeting - see emails from Toastmaster Luke Lazzari.

14 APRIL: Division A Contest, 12:30PM, Agricultural Conference Center, 1432 Abbott Street, Salinas. Cost: $5.00. Come and support our Table Topics contestant, Angi Anderson!

28 APRIL: Smedley Saturday. See Robin to sign up for a speaking slot.

Angi Wins Area A-1 Table Topics Contest!

Congratulations to our very own Angi Anderson, who walked away with the 1st place trophy in the Area A-1 Table Topics Contest on Saturday. The competition was tough and against some very seasoned Toastmasters, but she prevailed with a very uplifting answer to an extremely tough question. Second place went to long-term Toastmaster Mary Jeanne Vincent, representing Monterey TM #934.

Fred Sadler also did himself proud with his International Speech Contest entry about how to overcome his fear of public speaking. It was the best speech Fred ever gave, but alas, he was up against some very tough competition. Winner was John Lente from Bayview Toastmasters, who spoke of his experiences in Iraq. Second was Barry Kilzer of TGIF Club, with his "southern preacher" parody on the TM Communications and Leadership manual.

Area Governor Arnie Buss also presented the award for "Area A-1 Toastmaster of the Year" to a very deserving Rachelle Onishi of Bayview.

NPS TM members Glenn Tolle and Carl Thormeyer served as International Speech Contest Toastmaster and Chief Judge, respectively.

NEXT: Division A Contest at 1PM Saturday 14 April in Salinas. Details to follow.

April Fools Theme at 30 March Meeting

Twenty members and two guests enjoyed another exciting meeting with VPE Robin Walker at the helm, with his theme of "April Fools" . With "chicanery" (trickery; deception) as the Word of the Day, how could we miss?!?!

Robin started out by announcing speeches by (to their surprise) Glenn Tolle, Angi Anderson and Elizabeth Mitchell. APRIL FOOL! Actually, Elizabeth was Table Topics Master, with Brian Anderson  as Best Table Topics for their answers on April Fools' questions.

New member Ryan Squires geve his Icebreaker and described his Army career. Eric Timmerman's #2 speech described his love for golf, where his two most important words are "mulligan" and "fore" (not necessarily in that order)! That got him "Best Speaker". Mashbat Otgonbayer, our international student from Mongolia, talked about what a "mongolian barbeque" REALLY was, and had us in stitches all speech with his humor. He was voted "Most Improved". "Best Evaluator" went to Ned Powley.

NEXT WEEK APRIL 6th: Glenn Tolle takes over as Toastmaster of the Day and, as of this writing, has the slate about complete. Come and listen to Scott Ceremuga's #10 speech, which will earn him his CC award!

Smedley Saturday #3 on 24 March

Nine members (including two from Bayview Toastmasters) and one guest attended NPS Toastmasters 3rd monthly “Smedley Saturday” on March 24th. Smedley Saturday allows members needing to make progress in the Toastmasters educational program to have an additional opportunity to give manual speeches. Past Area Governor Rachelle Onishi of Bayview did an outstanding and professional job as Toastmaster of the Day. All but one of the speeches were from various advanced manuals, which often require more time than the standard 5-7 minutes. The speeches presented were:

Karen Woodson - C&L Manual #2: “Make a Difference in the Life of a Child”



Arnie Buss - Communicating on Television Advanced Manual: “A Parcel of Rogues”

Robin Walker - Interpretive Reading Advanced Manual: “The Cremation of Sam McGee”



John Lente (Bayview TM) - Specialty Speeches Advanced Manual - The Sales Speech: “Turn your Fat into Fuel”

John Lente (Bayview TM) - Specialty Speeches Advanced Manual - Speak Off the Cuff: “Being an Arab Linguist”

Mary Lineberger - Public Relations Advanced Manual - The Good Will Speech: “I Love Toastmasters”

Robin Walker won Best Speaker, having recited perfectly the very long poem “The Cremation of Sam McGee” from memory! Fred Sadler was Best Evaluator, and Karen Woodson, for the 2nd day in a row, Most Improved. Congratulations to all!

NEXT UP: Regular meeting on 30 March at NPS Glasgow Hall Room 389.

AREA CONTEST on Saturday 31 March at 1PM at the La Mesa Community Center in Monterey - come and support our contestants Fred and Angi !

An All-Table-Topics Meeting on 23 March

The theme was “Earth in the Balance”, and it was a “first” for NPS Toastmasters… no speeches; all Table Topics! Yes, we had the normal functionaries, but the better part of the meeting was taken up by three separate Table Topics sessions with 15 brave members and two guests in attendance.

The first session, led by Angi Anderson, was a regular set of four topics, which was won by Robin Walker. Other brave souls answering questions were Ned Powley, Ryan Squires and Karen Woodson.

The second session, led by Glenn Woodson, consisted of two panel discussions / debates with presentations and rebuttals. These panelists were all cynics! The first panel delved into the subject of how the Monterey Peninsula should grow. Andrew Kennedy said we should pave over the Peninsula, kick out the residents, and establish an Olympic site! Fred Sadler insisted on a squash court as well. And Brian Anderson said we needed to “go vertical” with skyscrapers - “The future of Monterey is looking up”! Panel #2 dealt with how we should balance the competing themes of endangered species and economic growth. Panelists Scott Ceremuga, Carl Thormeyer ranted and raved about everything from whales to tigers to the sand gilia plant on Fort Ord! Brian Anderson won Best Participant in the overall session - possibly because he seemed to be the most calm and collected.

The third session was an exercise in storytelling and listening…. Six members came up front and generated a collective story line about what Earth would be like in 2067, as Topics Master #3 Mary Lineberger stopped and started individuals in mid stream! This was hilarious - if you weren’t listening as a participant you were in trouble - we were all in tears from laughter by the end of the session. Once again, Robin Walker walked away as Best Participant. Other players were Karen Woodson, Warner Howser, Angi Anderson, Ned Powley and Glenn Woodson. Karen ran away with the “Most Improved” award for the entire meeting.

It was great to shake things up and have a change of pace - it was “finals week” at NPS and that way no-one really had to prepare very hard for Toastmasters. Just getting those speeches ready for “Smedley Saturday” the next day!

COMING UP 31 Mar: Area A1/A2 International Speech and Table Topics Contests, also at the La Mesa Community Center from 1300-1630. Plan now on attending to support Fred and Angi as our contestants in the respective contests.

Submitted by:
Carl Thormeyer, DTM
NPS TM Club Historian

A Sporting Venture

Fellow Toastmasters,

First-time Toastmaster-of-the-Day Glenn Woodson led 19 members and four guests through a sports-filled meeting, shaking things up by having the three speakers first followed by Table Topics. All participants were introduced by explaining the way that sports had impacted their lives - still the question remains between the two “Glenns” as to whether Chess is actually a sport!

MIIS student Elizabeth Mitchell won “Most Improved” with her icebreaker speech, in which she demonstrated how her late father had influenced her life. Karen Woodson followed with HER icebreaker, describing what it was like to grow up in North Carolina as an identical twin! Meanwhile, Angi Anderson won “Best Speaker” with her #6 (Vocal Variety) speech entitled “What color is your Underwear” - a humorous description of the daily life of her two young boys - and then read us the children’s book of the same name!

First-time evaluator Eric Timmerman was awarded the “Best Evaluator” trophy by General Evaluator and VPE Robin Walker for his excellent evaluation of Karen - way to go, Eric! Robin also reminded us that the lectern must always be attended (having the “conn” in Navy parlance), and that the approaching speaker ALWAYS passes in front of the person who is leaving the lectern.

Shahid Abrar ul Hassan led the Table Topics, which was won by the very humorous Ryan Squires. Of interest in the Grammarian’s report was the use of the word “like” - which can mean “want” (I would LIKE some ice cream), fondness (I LIKE you), or similar to (You’re just LIKE your father!). Or as, LIKE, a word filler popular among young people! No wonder it’s so hard to learn English!

NEXT WEEK: Special all-Table-Topics meeting! This will be loads of fun and will challenge our listening skills as well as our impromptu speaking prowess.

COMING UP 24 Mar: Our third monthly “Smedley Saturday” at the La Mesa Community Center, from 1300-1500. Past Area Governor Rachelle Onishi of Bayview Toastmasters will be Toastmaster for this event, which can count as credit for “chairing a club event” (a Competent Leader manual requirement).

COMING UP 31 Mar: Area A1/A2 International Speech and Table Topics Contests, also at the La Mesa Community Center from 1300-1630. Plan now on attending to support Fred and Angi as our contestants in the respective contests.

Submitted by:

Carl Thormeyer, DTM
NPS TM Club Historian

Toastmasters International Around the Globe...

Hello Fellow Toastmasters!

Just wanted to let you know that I have recently returned (yesterday) from a successful recruiting trip in Asia! I was in Taiwan and Thailand recruiting graduate students for our programs at the Monterey Institute of International Studies.

While there at an event in Taipei, I met a very enthusiastic Taiwanese Toastmaster! He was distributing information about Toastmasters International at this American Education Expo, to encourage students interested in studying in the US to attend Toastmasters in order to improve their English! We had a great discussion about the benefits of Toastmasters, and about what a wonderful international organization it is... I learned from him that the first TM club was established in 1924, in Santa Ana, California, by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley (hence Smedley Saturdays - duh!)

Here is a link to his Toastmasters Club in Taipei and click here to find a club anywhere in the world!

NPS and Monterey Institute students - listen up! Your education in public speaking is not limited to your time in Monterey. You can find great English speaking (and Spanish-speaking, French-speaking, Japanese-speaking, etc. etc.) clubs around the world where you can improve your communication and leadership skills. Oh, and it is great networking too!!!

See you this Friday,
Mary

P.S. For the Grammarian - I know that I used excessive exclamation points in this email.

Laughter is the Best Medicine!

Fellow Toastmasters,

With our top two leaders absent, VP Membership Fred Sadler excelled as acting President, which was followed by yet another exemplary TMOD performance by Area Governor Arnie Buss. Arnie’s theme of “movies” wove its way throughout the entire meeting, as all scheduled participants were introduced in part by their favorite movie!

It was an off-week attendance-wise, with only 16 members and no guests - the lowest since September. However, what we lacked in quantity we made up for in quality, as this meeting was perhaps the most filled with laughter in many months! As if by design, Brian Anderson’s winning #6 speech (vocal variety) was about laughter - the hows, whys and what-fors. Add to this a terrific Icebreaker by Mash Otgonbayer, who shared with us his fight against a chronic heart disease during his childhood in Mongolia in a humorous way, and how he overcame these hurdles. That earned him “Most Improved” speaker for the day.  Luke Lazzari and Carl Thormeyer tied for best Table Topics as they tackled some insightful questions posed by Topics Master Cathy Lee.

Our Grammarian - new member Ryan Squires - was absolutely hilarious, as he purported to measure our grammatical efforts against the standard of a West Virginia dialect! Meanwhile, our Pakistani member Shahid Abrar ul Hassan boosted the treasury with a solid job as Ah Counter. First-time General Evaluator Glenn Woodson did a terrific job at capturing the essence of the meeting, and citing today’s meeting as an example of last-minute flexibility which was possible as a result of early planning.

NEXT WEEK 16 Mar: Glenn Woodson will be our Toastmaster for the first time. There are still some speaking roles available - contact Glenn.

COMING UP 24 Mar: Our third monthly “Smedley Saturday” at the La Mesa Community Center, from 1300-1500. We are still looking for a person to be Toastmaster and run this event, which will count as credit for “chairing a club event” (a Competent Leader manual requirement).

COMING UP 31 Mar: Area A1/A2 International Speech and Table Topics Contests, also at the La Mesa Community Center from 1300-1630 (or 1:00-3:00 p.m., whichever comes first). Plan now on attending to support Fred and Angi as our contestants in the respective contests.

Submitted by:

Carl Thormeyer, DTM
NPS TM Club Historian

Smedley Saturday Momentum

A Second Smedley Saturday already! Thirteen participants from the NPS club rallied for this special speakathon event. The presentations ran the proverbial gamut......

from Shahid's appeal to learn a second language ("Doing Something Special," Basic #2);

to Pete Blouin's alliterative-laced description of parachuting (Basic #4, "Manic Mindset Manifestation vs. Restful Realization of Relaxation"---say that fast three times);

to Glenn Woodson's detailed and smooth presentation on the 21,000 troop surge in Iraq (Basic #3, "You're Being Recruited") with wife Karen in attendance;

to Brian Anderson's aptly titled and professionally delivered "A Big Dam Project" (Basic #7); to GT's emotional appeal for supporting the military (Basic #9, "Uncle Sam Still Wants You,") and a memorized rendition of Patrick Henry's "Liberty or Death" speech. (Interpretive Reading #5);

to Robin Walker's energetic foray into advanced speaking (Entertaining Speaker #2, "JJJ" -- a clever tale of mischievous mountaineering in the Pacific Northwest).

Quite a gamut! The evaluations were top notch:

Angi Anderson rendered a thoughtful review of Shahid's growing public speaking skills; Elizabeth Sussex confidently tallied the strengths and improvements on Peter's parachuting speech;

Brian Anderson reviewed Glenn Woodson's speech using the sandwich method--with extra beef!

Andrew Kennedy yielded polished, entertaining feedback on Robin's advanced entertaining speech while pulling double duty as the Timer.

Resident DTM Carl Thormeyer yielded a seasoned analysis of GT's #9 speech, while Area 1 Governor Arnie Buss articulated helpful pros and cons of GT's first advanced manual speech. Angi Anderson tallied the votes and presented the Best Speaker award to Brian, and the Most Improved award--by a landslide--to Peter. Angi and Arnie tied for Best Evaluator. The bar just keeps getting higher....

Thanks to everyone for "going the extra mile" and making this second Smedley Saturday a success!

Club Contest

Today was a special meeting: the club Table Topics and International Speech Contests to determine the speaking champions who will represent our club at the Area contest - and beyond. We had 18 members and eight guests, including Barbara Sadler from Bayview Toastmasters.

The meeting got off to a rousing start with Glenn Tolle serving as acting Sergeant at Arms (for the unfortunately ill Brian Anderson) as well as his usual role as El Presidente. Member Mary Lineberger brought a gaggle of guests from MIIS, who all seemed to enjoy the meeting.

The Table Topics contest began with Chief Judge Carl Thormeyer explaining the rules for the contest and Fred Sadler taking the lectern as Contest Toastmaster. His question about finding the blessing in a seemingly tragic event challenged each contestant's impromptu speaking skills. Glenn Woodson spoke about how his fear of raising $20,000 caused him to go to college instead to study engineering, a path that eventually led him to the Army National Guard and most important, meeting his lovely wife Karen. Robin Walker then spoke of how a college breakup led to more insight into himself. Angi Anderson rounded out the contestants by describing how the difficulties of growing up in a military family prepared her for life being married to a Marine. Angi was voted the club winner for Table Topics and will advance to the Area contest. Glenn was runner-up, and will compete in the Area contest if Angi is unable to.

The International Speech Contest featured three of our club's best speakers. Angi was a contestant in this contest as well, speaking about the voices in our heads that can build us up or tear us down, and how we can learn to silence the "bad" voices and bring out the affirming ones. Glenn Tolle' spoke of learning to conquer one's fears through facing the dreaded dental visit. Glenn's imitation of the sounds of the drill were amazing, and brought the experience home to the audience in a visceral way. Fred Sadler also spoke of conquering the fear of public speaking by ... speaking in public - and was inspirational in relating how Toastmasters is such an aid in overcoming that. When the dust settled, Fred was voted the club champion, with Angi the runner-up. The next step for Fred is the Area contest - and after that, the Division, District, Regional, and ultimately the World Championship of Public Speaking!

Congratulations to Angi and Fred for such an outstanding job and for being such exemplar toastmasters! We look forward to hearing you compete at the next levels! Let's all turn out to support them at the Area contest on March 24th!

The club contest was a huge success, thanks to the many members who helped put it on. Fred Sadler was the Toastmaster for the Table Topics Contest and Robin Walker for the International Speech Contest - your work behind the scenes in organizing the events made them the successes they were. Yours truly was the chief vote counter. Thanks to Carl Thormeyer who served as Chief Judge for both contests and kept us on the straight path in conducting them (as well as verifying the vote counts for accuracy). Thanks to Mary Lineberger and Eric Timmerman who served as exemplary timers. Finally, thanks to all the members of the club who attended to support their fellow members as contestants and to cheer them on in future contests.

This was another outstanding meeting, continuing our tradition of excellence in the club! I was proud to have all the guests observe the meeting, and their responses indicated that they too were quite impressed with what they saw, with several indicating interest in becoming members.

Love is a Many Splendored(?) Thing

Fellow Toastmasters,

Twenty members and two guests were present as the meeting agenda went back to normal under the outstanding tutelage of VPM Fred Sadler as Toastmaster and VPE Robin Walker as Acting President. Robin started the meeting by leading the vote to accept and then inducting the following four new members:

• Scott Ceremuga (reinstated to NPS TM; now a dual member),
• Mashbat Otgonbayer (previously a frequent guest),
• Monica Rodriguez (reinstated; formerly of the same Washington, DC TM club that Robin belonged to before coming to NPS), and
• Ryan Squires.

Welcome to all! This brings to 27 the number of new members we have inducted since July 1, 2006; seven of whom have joined since 1 January. One more new member before March 31st wins us another “Talk up Toastmasters” membership contest ribbon.

It being Valentines Day week, Toastmaster of the Day par excellence Fred Sadler chose "Love is a Many splendored Thing" as the theme of the meeting. Angi Anderson led a vibrant Table Topics session, pointing out in passing that "splendored" is actually not even a real word. She called on some of our newest members. Rosetta Ishag won Best Table Topics by describing when and how she felt like a queen on her wedding day. Not to be outdone, hubby Elie Ishag responded by winning “Best Speaker” with his #2 speech about “Traditions”. (Ed. Note: Elie and Rosetta return to London this coming week and will not be with us again until May. We will miss them!) Most Improved was Eric Timmerman, with his Icebreaker entitled “E.T. Call Home”. Ned Powley continued his march through the manual with his #4 speech. Armed with PowerPoint and the “smart screen”, he discussed his research into how communities cope with tragedies such as the Columbine shootings, and related his personal experiences with a similar incident in Cleveland.  Congratulations to all the winners!

NEXT WEEK 23 Feb: Club International Speech Contest and Table Topics Contest. Robin Walker and Fred Sadler are the respective Chairs.

NEXT WEEK 24 Feb: Our second monthly “Smedley Saturday” at the La Mesa Community Center. Ten (10) speakers have signed up, including two advanced speeches!

Submitted by:
Carl Thormeyer, DTM
NPS TM Club Historian

Newsletter Update

Thanks to our club Vice President for Public Relations Angi Anderson, the latest club newsletter has been published. Hard copies were distributed at Friday's meeting, and you can also view it online here (You will need an Adobe Acrobat Reader).

Thanks Angi!

!Gniteem Sdrawkcab ruO

Fellow Toastmasters,

Twenty members and five guests were present when, for the first time in decades, NPS Toastmasters held a “Backwards Meeting”! As expected, this was hilarious… everything in the room was placed in the reverse position from where it normally resides (lectern, banner, timer, etc.), and things went in reverse from there! President Glenn Tolle opened the meeting by adjourning it, and then calling on guests. He then thanked backward-dressed Robin Walker for being the Toastmaster of the Day (see photos). Robin started by calling on Vote Counter Karen Woodson who announced the “results”, and her prognostications were probably pretty close to what might have been had we actually voted. (It would have been neat to start with a can full of completed ballots, pulling them out one-by-one as the can went around the room, but I guess that would have been too hard!) And so it went… Ah Counter, Grammarian, Evaluators, Speakers, and Table Topics in that order. Of course, we had to play the role… if the Grammarian mentioned something we said, then we had to say it when our turn came! Perhaps the funniest incident occurred when General Evaluator Brian Anderson said that Evaluator Glenn Tolle shouldn’t speak in such a monotone…. When Glenn spoke, he maintained a monotone only with extreme effort… I thought he was going to explode!

The speakers went along with the backwards theme by tailoring their speeches to the evaluations they had received beforehand. Peter Blouin presented three ways to lower automobile insurance premiums and got in his plugs for Notre Dame. Ned Powley recreated the famous 1984 Macintosh super-bowl commercial for us, and Luke Lazzari (even giving his speech backwards, and it still made sense!) spoke about dog training in a condominium.

Table Topics was better yet - the participants spoke for two minutes on a subject of their own choosing, and Table Topics Master Shenequa Mitchell then had to figure out the topic! Starting out was Warner Howser, who spoke on - you guessed it - taxes! As did those who followed.

Thanks to VPE Robin Walker for his thorough and innovative efforts at a successful backwards meeting!

Special note: Our guests included Past Area Governor Rachelle Onishi, plus a very special returning past member - Cantemir “Charlie” Ahciarliu, CTM, who is a LT Colonel in the Romanian Air Force. A former international student at NPS, Charlie was a member of NPS Toastmasters from May 2002 - March 2004, and was visiting the U.S. with his family. Thanks for coming back to see us, Charlie!

For better listening, thinking and speaking,

Carl Thormeyer, DTM
Club Historian

Here is Robin in his DoMT mode, taken by our fearless and intrepid leader Glenn Tolle. You can view other pictures from the meeting here.

"Do-Overs"

The February 2nd meeting was expertly organized and run by Angi Anderson in her first time as Toastmaster of the Day. You would never know it the way the meeting flowed smoothly and expertly. Although a "first-timer" at being TMoD, Angi executed like an well-seasoned, experienced toastmaster. Congratulations Angi! Her theme was related to the fact that today is Groundhog Day, and she put a twist on that by making it "Do-Overs," with reference to the Bill Murray film. Continuing our tradition of well-attended, enthusiastic meetings, there were 17 members, with returning guests Sterling Woodson (a model of infant-ry discipline!) Monica April-Rodriguez, Dave Schultz, Eric Oliver and Ryan Squires, along with first-time guest Regine Oh. After the meeting, Monica, Ryan, and Eric signed up to be members and will be officially voted in at the next meeting. We welcome them to our club and look forward to their joining us in the quest for improved listening, thinking and public speaking in Toastmasters!

It was in fact a meeting of many "first-times." Serving first time in their respective roles were Ned Powley as timer, Eric Timmermen as vote counter, Karen Woodson as Opening Remarks, and "Dressed For Success" Shahid Abrar ul Hassan as Table Topics Master. Speaking of Table Topics, Shahid's creative questions stimulated even more creative responses, with Robin Walker putting forth the thesis that Superman and Punxsutawney Phil are one and the same (evidence being that they have never been seen in the same place together). Glenn Tolle responded with a call to groundhogs everywhere to throw off their chains of bondage and achieve world domination. Both responses had the club roaring with laughter, and Glenn edged Robin for best Table Topics speaker.

We were graced with three excellent speeches. Rosetta Ishag give her Icebreaker speech (yet another "first" for the meeting) and inspired us with her stories of a childhood in Cairo, Egypt, her longtime marriage to Elie, and her work with charity organizations. Rosetta was followed by Andrew Kennedy, returning after an extended absence, who gave a moving speech about being allowed to make his own mistakes, the wisdom he has gained through that, and his sad but inspiring journey through painful episodes in his life. Finally, Elizabeth Sussex gave a persuasive and moving call for people to take action to solve the humanitarian crisis in Darfur Sudan. Rosetta however won our hearts and minds for best speaker and most improved. Congratulations Rosetta!

The meeting was capped off by  outstanding evaluations by Carl Thormeyer,  and Glenn Tolle, with Glenn getting the nod for best evaluator. Another outstanding meeting full of energy, fun, enthusiasm - and learning.

-- Arnie

Smedley Saturday!

A unique Toastmaster's Club problem required a unique solution. What does a club do that does not have enough slots to match speakers? You add one two-hour speakathon to the club schedule and dub it "Smedley Saturday!"

If pictures are worth a thousand words, here are a few thousand words to complement the two-hour meeting today.

Angi Anderson "T-Moded" the club's first Smedley Saturday, with husband and Sergeant at Arms Brian setting up the room as well as delivering two exceptional speeches from the basic manual (Your Body Speaks, Research Your Topic.) Brian's mastery of body language and explanation of geosynchronous satellite orbits garnered a well-deserved "Best Speaker" ribbon.

Elizabeth Sussex (an adriot timer and evaluator) provided Brian enlightening notes and commended him on his ability to demonstrate everything from the YMCA song to a child's overwhelming need to go to the bathroom!

Karen Woodson evaluated Brian's second speech, providing constructive feedback on improving the visibility of visual aids.

Shenequa Mitchell covered her #3 "Get to the Point" speech with a polished presentation on the ethnic conflict between the Russians and the Chechens. Glenn Tolle evaluated Shenequa's well-prepared speech, remarking on the quantum leap in confidence Shenequa has demonstrated over the last few months.

Glenn Tolle's entries for Smedley Saturday, "Chess Openings" and "Uncle Sam Still Wants You" demonstrated enthusiasm and conviction, yet proved weak sequels to Friday's "Trip to the Dentist." The club president's public speaking benefited significantly from gloves-off reviews by VP Education Robin Walker and resident DTM Carl Thormeyer!

Many thanks to those who participated in the club's first Smedley Saturday Speakathon. This event is slated to be a monthly fixture for the club. For those who missed this event, be sure to claim a seat at the next one!

You can also view more photos from "Smedley Saturday I" here.

Sadler's Triple Header

At the 12:10 gavel, Fred Sadler treated club members and guests to a well-organized meeting with the theme of “Mentorship.” Shenequa Mitchell providing opening remarks, Peter Blouin issued the Word of the Day (Mentor). Shahid Abrar-ul-Hassan, John Looney and new member Eric Timmerman shared their extemporaneous thoughts on mentorship, with John Looney winning the day’s ribbon.

The three speakers of the day treated widely different topics, with Glenn Tolle mimicking a dentist drill, Arnie Buss inspiring the brilliant artist latent in all of us, and Robin Walker recounting with energized nostalgia the adventures and state funeral of “supervan.”. The Sergeant at Arms, Brian Anderson, evaluated GT’s “Vocal Variety” speech, Angi Anderson evaluated Arnie’s “How to Say It” entry and Arnie in turn evaluated Robin Walker’s Advanced Manual speech (The Entertaining Speaker).

Carl Thormeyer performed admirably as the general evaluator, rendering a bird’s-eye-view synopsis of the meeting, and awarding Arnie Buss “Best Evaluator.” GT’s semi-confessional Dentophobic Speech garnered him a “Best Speaker” ribbon.

The meeting’s grande finale was the official induction of Karen Woodson and Eric Timmerman into the club, bringing our paid membership back up to 39 with 23 new members since July 1st. Congratulations fellow NPS Toastmasters!

Three well-prepared speeches and new member inductons made this Friday lunch hour a worthwhile experience for all. The guests of the day—Monica-April and Kira from the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Ryan and Mish from NPS and Karen Woodson’s twin sister Sharon provided the club valuable and encouraging comments.

Up Next: Smedley Saturday!

Icebreakers and Basic Manual Progress

Another worthwhile expenditure of a valuable Friday lunch hour! In spite of numerous de-confirmations and re-confirmations (spoken at great risk in the presence of Fred "Grammar Guillotine" Sadler), the club rallied in fine order when Brian Anderson brought down the gavel at 12:10 sharp.

Glenn Tolle presided as Toastmaster of the Day (Robin Walker coined the handy acronym "Tee-Mod" which has fell into favorable usage among the military members). GT chose "Dreams" as the theme of the day, paying homage to Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech.

Juggling of the schedule throughout the week (producing Roman Numeraled emails reaching a dizzying XII) resulted in a unique opportunity for Karen Woodson to serve as Wordmaster. She deftly presented "Interpret" as the Word of the Day. Glenn Woodson tag teamed with his wife as Table Topics Master, calling on Elie Eshag, Pete Blouin and Warner Howser to offer their impromptu remarks on dreams and their impact on their lives. Pete won the table topics shootout, proving that each day he "plays like a champion" (Go Notre Dame!).

The Club enjoyed two Icebreakers from newly joined members. First up was Shahid Abrar from the Monterey Institute of International Studies. His Icebreaker, entitled "Variety is the Spice of Life," provided the club a valuable insight into Shahid's upbringing and view of family, community and the world. An elegant and well-prepared first entry for Shahid! Mary Lineburger did fellow MIIS student Shahid justice with a well-considered evaluation.

Luke Lazzari treated the club to his Icebreaker, entitled "A Little Bit About Luke Lazzari." Luke shared with the club the fact that he (1) is pestered at least twice a day with sophmoric Star Wars references to "The Force" and (2) his given name is Louigi, a fact that did not dawn on him until he called his mother to verify his ID card information! An enjoyable first entry for Luke. Warner Howser evaluated Luke with the confidence of an old pro, and gave Luke numerous positive points for his delivery.

Our own Shenequa Mitchell delivered her second speech out of the basic manual entitled, "Where is the Human Touch?" Shenequa aspires to be a motivational speaker, and if this speech is any indication, she is well on her way to achieving that goal. Shenequa's 7-minute call for less electronics and Internet and more human interaction was not lost on the tech-savvy members of Club #2032. Shenequa's preparation and confident delivery garnished her the week's "Best Speaker" award. Angi Anderson rendered a fine evaluation of Shenequa's second basic speech, proving herself an astute observer of fellow public speakers.

Congratulations Shenequa, and to our two newest members Shahid and Luke for embarking on their Toastmasters experience. Congratulations also to Karen Woodson and Eric Timmerman for signing up right after the meeting!

--- Glenn Tolle