2007 Meetings
Sunday 9 December 2007, Cobblestones
Sunday's WOW meeting with a Christmas Carol theme, and Pot Luck lunch to follow, went well.
Trish Gray chaired the meeting.
Jenny was a guest from the Wairarapa, and a previous Dominion Post Speechcraft Course graduate. Welcome along Jenny!
Joy Ackrill as Grammarian chose 'cheer', 'cheery', 'cheers' and 'cheerful' (but not 'cheerio'; as in the sausage) as the words of the day although only a select few members managed to use one or more of them when addressing the meeting.
Justin conducted a lively Table Topics on the theme of 'Christmases, past, present and future'. Each member and guest present pulled a Christmas Cracker to get their 'folded-up' topic on the theme.
Colin Perfect gave a speech titled 'Facing the Music' about the music class at a secondary school singing Christmas carols.
Ben and Maureen both produced impromptu speeches on 'What has happened in the last month' and 'My busy fortnight' respectively. Some very useful 'pearls of wisdom' were delivered during both these speeches.
Marie evaluated Table Topics for the first time and made a thoroughly reasoned delivery for every participant.
Maureen gave a concise Timekeeper's Report and Ben a very comprehensive General Evaluation.
Overall a thoroughly enjoyable meeting with a 'creaking' table of lunch delights to follow!
Sunday 18 November, Pioneer Museum
We were outside at the Pioneer Museum at Mt Bruce and in bright sunlight (and that didn't help the photos). The club meeting was held on the freshly mown lawn alongside the Museum building. This was followed by a BYO lunch under some shady trees.
Chris Rabey chaired the meeting with aplomb. Colin Perfect introduced the words of the day: 'bunk and bunkum'. He explained that both words originated in Buncombe, North Carolina from a politician who was renowned for giving speeches that were said to be nonsense. The words, meaning absolute nonsense, were picked up and effectively used by those speaking.
Steve Bullock's table topics session got everyone into the mood of the meeting and varied from historic themes to travel in content. Maree and Lillian who were guests tackled the subjects and gave a good account of themselves with their individual topics.
The three prepared speakers, Ben (The physical language), Maria (Youth is not wasted on the young) and Toni (Alice) gave impassioned and moving deliveries on each of their topics.
At the conclusion and after lunch the members were given a conducted tour of the surprisingly comprehensive pioneer museum by the owner.
Sunday 14 October 2007, Cobblestones
WOW's October meeting theme was "Rugby World Cup" with everyone dressing in black. At this stage the All Blacks had been eliminated from the World Cup, but that didn't stop us having fun with the theme. Table Topics Master Joy posed the question "Who's Responsible?" and asked the speakers to debate whether it was the ref, the coach, the crowd, the team, the ball, the jersey or the government.
The first prepared speech from Justin entitled "Under the Radar" was a technical speech where he explained the features of the new fighter jets Iran is purchasing from Russia, and why France is worried. He used a paper dart as a prop to show the jet's amazing flight capabilities, and a map of Europe to explain why France is worried. Did I mention, France is worried?
Rita gave us a hilarious speech on "What Price an Omelette" where she told us a story of a new chicken farmer and the trouble he had building a chicken coup, all to gain two eggs for his omelette at a price of $294.71 per egg. Along the way she coined a new word "chookens"!
Carol continued the Rugby World Cup theme by opening her speech asking why three little words cause so much emotion in a nation. She then proceeded to give us the history of the rugby world cup, saying that it is the third biggest tournament after the Olympics and the Soccer World Cup, and that the USA are in fact the Rugby Olympic Champions. We all learnt a few new facts about this game during Carol's well-researched speech.
Finally Lynne showed us her humorous speech qualities by telling us to "Take Care Out There". She used gestures and body language to convince us there was a conspiracy when it came to credit cards, clothing labels, chocolate fish, the phone book, text on mobile phones and women's dressing room mirrors.
Trish was our Grammarian for the day, and she was looking for how many times we used the word "black". She also complimented Rita for her excellent use of alliterations in her humorous speech - "prime plump pullets" being one example.
Timekeeper Ben stated that all but one speaker had kept to time, and how much he had enjoyed the meeting, especially using the new timing lights.
Trish gave a comprehensive general evaluation with useful tips for all speakers. She said the theme for the day was easy, topical and fun, and complimented everyone on picking up the dress code by wearing the colour "black".
Following the meeting, we reassembled at Cafe Trends north of Greytown for a pleasant lunch.
Sunday 17 September 2007, Masterton
"Rubbish" was the word of the day, with Grammarian Maureen giving us a long list of meanings which we could choose to use, including dross, twaddle, and tommy rot. This made for some entertaining table topics and evaluations where speakers used as many meanings as they could in their speeches.
Glynis was the first speaker, discussing the benefits of joining Kiwisaver. She then answered questions about what happens to your funds when you die, change jobs or are self-employed.
"Fact or Fiction" was the title of Joy's speech. She created a sense of mystery about the history of a member of her family she had been researching, and ended by telling us not to believe all those family stories until you have verified the facts.
"Staying Safe Down on the Dairy Farm" was a Briefing by Justin about safety. Justin used a number of visual aids to help us understand the importance of safety, including showing us a full set of safety gear from gumboots to safety goggles. Then he used his main prop Daisy (pictured) to show us cow handling techniques. At the end of his speech, Justin answered questions about music in cowsheds, and the cost of the gear and who pays.
Maureen's speech was entitled "The birds in my life", a humorous speech to Warm Up the Audience. She described the antics of several generations of ducks in her back yard.
In General Business, Rita presented the club with two ribbons - one for Select Distinguished Club, and the other for the Beat the Clock promotion. She also presented Dale Hartle with her Competent Leader Award (pictured).
Sunday 19 August 2007, Cobblestones, Greytown
Today's meeting chaired by Colin, had a Spanish theme, with Grammarian Joy challenging everyone to use the word of the day "amigo". There were 11 people present including one guest Jeremy, a toastmaster from Christchurch.
Table Topics had the Spanish theme, with speakers talking about "the rain in spain", "a spaniard in the works", "origin of the word ole", "a spanish fandango" and a "spanish harlem". All speakers managed to come up with either or story or a meaning for their topic with much hilarity.
The four prepared speeches were all interesting and varied. Vaya introduced the real Zoro (pictured above), Chris talked about the automobile, Mandy told us about "a boy in her house" and Dale told us why Spain is special to her at the moment, with her speech entitled "El Camino". Dale's father and brother are in Spain doing the El Camino pilgrimage.
Grammarian Joy pointed out some of the unusual words we had used during the meeting: grammatise, monolinguistic, terminise, and senoritas.
Following the meeting, everyone enjoyed lunch at Wakelin House.
Sunday 15 July 2007, Buckhorn, Carterton
"Howdy pardners" was the greeting from President Lynn as she opened the meeting and welcomed the 14 members present, surrounded by cowboy stuff from down on the farm. Lynn also welcomed Vaya as our Area Governor to the meeting. Maureen as Grammarian introduced the word "important" with a short poem about 4 important men, and encouraged us to use the word in our speeches.
Table Topics run by Chris was really entertaining, taking us all back to the 1960s with topics tailor-made for the audience. Speakers talked about their memories of discipline in the 1960s, handwritten communication, the school tuckshops and candy stores, continuous pictures and movie shorts and half time ice creams. Evaluator Trish was very impressed at how all the speakers managed to remember their 60s antics with enthusiastic and humorous speeches.
We were treated to two icebreaker speeches at the meeting. The first was form Maria who spoke about her impressions of a new land when she first arrived in New Zealand 34 years ago. She used descriptive words such as emerald hills and sapphire seas, learning Kiwi language and Maori culture. Carol's icebreaker was about family ties, and she used real ties to represent family connections and influences of grandchildren, children, parents and grandparents.
The third speech by Ben was delivered in a fireside style with everyone sitting around him listening intently, nodding acknowledgement, smiling at thoughts, and shaking their heads in defiance. Ben was talking about tax avoidance and how we were all shooting ourselves in the foot!
During General Business, Secretary Dale read out a letter from the new Division Governor Peter Scholtens congratulating the club for being awarded Club of the Month for June, along with a cheque for $100 and a ribbon for our banner. General business also covered upcoming Humorous and Table Topics contests, club officer training, and confirmation of the forward programme.
General Evaluator Joy summed up her impressions of the meeting with a comprehensive evaluation, offering some useful tips for the chairperson, speakers and evaluators.
Sunday 17 June 2007, Cobblestones
WOW's mid-winter meeting was very humorous with one advanced speech entitled "Biddy or Boomer" from President Rita, and one called "Laughter" from Lynn. Rita's speech was full of wonderful sayings and received the longest applause of the day. Lynn told us to forget about going to the gym, just roll around on the floor laughing to get a good workout.
New member Toni delivered her Icebreaker speech called "Why am I here?". She credits her emigrating to New Zealand from Ireland 30 years ago to her husband to take up a job with the NZ Army, and to her friend Rita for bring her along to WOW Toastmasters.
Joy opened the meeting with a speech using visual aids by explaining to us how the Wellington Floating Crane Hikitia recently conducted a heavy lift of two concrete beams as part of the Wellington waterfront redevelopment. Joy used photographs and diagrams on an ohp to show us how it was done.
Joy also gave the meeting a short report about the highlights of the recent District Convention held in Hamilton - meeting and hearing World Champion of Public Speaking 1990 David Brookes, and the Communication and Leadership award recipient Tony Christiansen. Joy reminded everyone that the next convention is being held in Wellington in November.
During General Business Rita presented four awards: their first Competent Communicator to Justin and Maureen, and her 7th Competent Communicator for Dale. She also presented herself with a Competent Leader award. (See photo below left for the recipients)
Ah-Counter Dale commented on the verbal crutches, unusual words, great sayings and contrast/comparisons made during the meeting.
During the timing report Rita stated that most speakers managed to stay within their timing, and General Evaluator Glynis commented on the supportive audience, and excellent chairmanship by Justin.
Rita also handed over the reins of the club to the incoming President Lynn Bushell after lunch at Salute. (see photo below right).
Sunday 13 May 2007, Gladstone Winery, Carterton
Mother's Day was the theme for WOW's May meeting, with Table Topics posing the question: If it wasn't for your mother, where would you be?
The Club's annual business meeting elected a new Club Committee, and the club's new outdoor flag was unveiled and presented to the club, meeting rapturous applause and approval (see photo showing flag next to banner).
Two Prepared speeches were given at this meeting, held in the Gladstone Winery outdoor restaurant area. The first speech by Glynis explained the NCEA qualification system aimed particularly at employers, outlining how the grades and awards worked, and showing us an example of a Record of Learning.
The second speech from Justin entitled "Absolutely Fabulous" inspired us to think positively in small chunks, have a plan, figure out what you don't want to do, and use positive affirmations, even in the face of adversity. This was Justin's 10th speech, qualifying him for the Competent Communicator Award. Congratulations Justin!
The smell of our lunch being cooked was almost too much to bear as it wafted over the meeting area with the backdrop of autumn colours of the leaves on the vines. Wine tasting was also enjoyed by some members before the sumptuous luncheon.
View Minutes of Annual General Meeting May 2007
Sunday 14 April 2007, Cobblestones, Greytown
WOW's April meeting was held at Cobblestones Museum on a bright warm sunny autumn day. The meeting's theme was "Celebrations" so table topics followed this theme where speakers had to talk about "The best ... I ever went to was ..." by filling in the blanks with an event of their choice. The speakers talked about a soccer event, the first day at kindy, a mother's funeral, a son's wedding, and a St Patrick's Day party.
The three formal speeches were varied and interesting. Maureen told us some stories about her three grandchildren and the challenges she set for them and herself with holiday activities around the house. Rita's educational talked about how to create the best club climate, finishing with a short question and answer session. And Justin's speech described two forms of home solar heating, outlining how they worked, the benefits and potential savings.
The photo above shows President Rita using the OHP in her educational.
One of our guests Mandy was Grammarian and she used the celebrations theme to structure her grammarian report, then Glynis gave us a rundown of the speakers times. The General Evaluator Mel, who was a guest and recent arrival in New Zealand, being an ex-Toastmaster, said how much he had enjoyed the WOW meeting with all its different elements - the flowers on the table, the hats, the chocolates, the laughter, interesting speeches and great cameraderie.
Lunch followed the meeting at the Green Man in Greytown.
Sunday 18 March 2007, Pahiatua
About 20 members and friends of the Wairarapa On Weekends Toastmasters (WOW) Club came from Wellington, Hawkes Bay and from throughout the Wairarapa to attend its regular monthly meeting at 11.00 am which incorporated a conducted tour of the Railcar Museum at Pahiatua Railway Station (pictured below).
The meeting held indoors at a member's home opened with some humorous impromptu speeches having a rail theme. Members had to deal with delivering off-the-cuff speeches with such titles as being railroaded, having a full head of steam, and being derailed. Then prepared speeches were delivered on Trams in Victoria, Australia, the meaning of Waitangi Day, and the value of stress reduction through gardening of chrysanthemums.
The club members were later addressed by both Bernard Watson and Don Selby (Chairman) of the Railcar Society.
The group was most impressed with the workshop facilities at the museum as well as the professionalism and the scale of work that had been undertaken on the collection of three vintage ex New Zealand Railways railcars. It was also impressed that the visit coincided with the arrival at the station of a steam train excursion from Wellington run by Mainline Steam!
Sunday 18 February 2007, Cobblestones, Greytown
The February meeting followed the Club Officer Training session held for Wairarapa Clubs, and including one guest, there were 14 present on a fine calm Wairarapa day.
The photo below shows the participants in the club officer training session discussing membership promotion ideas.
Division Governor Mike Norden was one of those present who participated in table topics and gave an impromptu speech. Other speeches were by Clive who gave us an icebreaker/farewell speech about his goals for life, and Glynis who also gave an impromptu speech from an advanced manual. Justin spoke about Family Trusts and why we should investigate whether we should have one.
Trish's Timekeepers report followed the meeting's theme of Fashion with a Passion by indicating whether speakers were under-dressed, over-dressed, or well-dressed (right on time!)
Dale's Grammarian's report picked out a few one-liners of note, and General Evaluator Colin commented on Maureen's first meeting as chairperson, saying she had been enthusiastic, and kept the meeting bubbling along.
Our photos this month show Division Governor Mike (left) and General Evaluator Colin giving their table topics (right).
Sunday 14 January 2007, Circus Theatre, Martinborough
Nine out of 12 club members and one guest enjoyed a varied programme chaired by Dale at the Circus Theatre and Cafe in Martinborough on Sunday 14 January.
The Table Topics Theme was "Wind", with each speaker having to talk about wind in their speech, for example, "Gone with the wind", "second wind".
There were four prepared speeches, the first a humorous speech to "warm up the audience" by Colin - a very funny story about a construction foreman called "Wrecker" and two of his disasters. Next, Justin took the role of an air traffic controller in a speech using vocal variety, where he imitated some of the pilots and controllers he has heard while out flying.
Next was Maureen with a speech using visual aids where she showed us how to do woodburning, and showed us some examples of the finished product. Finally in a Public Relations - Radio Talk Show speech, Rita was being interviewed by a talk show host Justin. Rita talked about her craft business in Greytown - how it was established and how it currently operates.
Dale's Grammarian's report covered all the ums and ahs heard during the meeting, and Trish's innovative wind-themed timing report was very funny.
Following a group evaluation, we enjoyed a buffet lunch outside in the sun.
Pictured below are (left) Maureen displaying her woodburning pictures, and (right) Rita and Justin simulating a radio talk show.
