2013 Meeting Diary
October Meeting at Markhams Masterton
Vroom! Vroom! - said Trish, opening the meeting with the theme Travels and went on telling us a few words about the Division J Conference and Humorous and Table Topics Speech Contests the day before in Petone. The rest of us that didn't go to the Conference were listening enviously, but we took solace in looking at the souvenirs Trish brought from her travels all over the world!
Carolyn set a Grammarian record with not one, but a bunch of words related to travel, journey, tour, voyage and the likes.
Then Trish swiftly filled in the Table Topics Master role with a shower of well selected travel adventure topics - Bunty's favourite destination - India, of course...
...Aneta swimming with the dolphins - in her dreams as she can't swim, ha-ha...
...Sharon supporting The ABs on their overseas tour - with Ireland being the highlight (no reported lowlights!)...
... Val on an executive cycling tour around New Zealand - was it on the back seat of a tandem bike?...
... Mike time travelling, but quickly bored and back as there is no better place than New Zealand today...
...Glynis choosing tenting before caravaning and wholeheartedly praising it...maybe because she's never done it...
...Carolyn telling us about her most magic travelling moment up there in an English garden with her husband...maybe eating an apple or some mushrooms were involved?...
....and Carol with her No.1 holiday activity...was it reading...surely not outrageous Paul Henry memoirs...
But wait, there's more! Bunty made another great speech about his experience in New Zealand. He joined the club only a couple of months ago, but is ploughing through the CC manual speaking from the heart and not using notes at all.
The second speaker Mike uplifted the spirit with his discovery on his journey as a toastmaster that Silence is Golden.
And then speaker three Aneta told us the story of her new name - oh, surely not another Bond girl...!
Then all evaluations followed with a profusion of praising phrases and only a few timid 'tiny' mini-miny-mo recommendations.
Then followed a brief Business session (the way it should be) and the Grammarian's, Timekeeper's and General Evaluator's reports (geeezzz, that's a lot!) and getting the roles for the next meeting right.
Trish closed the meeting giving us the intriguing theme 'Lies' for the next meeting at 11 am on 17 November at the Tin Hut, SH2.
September Meeting at Wild Oats Cafe Carterton
Olee, ole, ole! Viva Brazilia!
Now that the blues and purples came and went taking almost half Toasties away sick, it was time to revive in the sizzling sounds of samba!
Well not really, it was only Carterton on a drizzly day, but luckily our spirit was high-octane. Trish stepped up as the Chair and started the meeting only 8 min late! Darn! - Aneta and Mike were there on time when they could have come late unnoticed!
Mike stepped up as Grammarian with a 'tenuous' word of the day, but all speakers used it at least once. Champion Val used it at least 5 times!
Justin took us on a table topics trip through Brazil and it was amazing to see us all day dreaming dipped into imagined reality of a few Brazilian photographs.
Sometime during the table topics session arrived Carolyn after an epic journey over the hill and resumed Chair's role.
First speaker Carol told us about her 'moment of fame' at a ballet competition years ago. It's so fascinating to learn about fellow toastmasters' different skills and moments of glory and adventures.
Second speaker Justin took us to an exhausting day in court where he, being only an advisor, had to apply all of his patience, diplomacy and knowledge to get through this between-mortar-and-pestle situation.
Carol reported briefly on the decisions made during the committee meeting a few days before, promising a regular ad in the 'what's on' section of the local rag and a very own newsletter.
Carol also grabbed the award for the best Table Topics speaker for the playful twist in her speech about the colourful Brazilian Cerrado frog.
The meeting closed setting the 'HappyTravels' scene for the next meeting at 11.00 am, Markhams Chambers, followed by a short trip to the Spices of India in Masterton.
August Meeting at Markhams Masterton
As promised, this time the mid-winter blues were disguised as mid-winter Purples! The WOW honourable members were all looking very royal in their purple outfits.
Maybe that's why Mike and Aneta arrived late, again, trying to fit into the royal pattern, but were duly reminded it is a Toastmasters meeting and punctuality is to be respected.
The speeches were amazing! Bunty's icebreaker was curiously informative - about his family, his home country, his coming to New Zealand and his work in Wairarapa. Well done Bunty, we'll be looking forward to your next speeches!
Mike spoke about spicing-your-speech techniques - a very useful tutorial on words, phraseology, rhetorics, vocal and body acrobatics and how to cook a delicious narration even out of a time-keeper's report.
In his speech, Justin opened the door just a little for us to have a peek into the secret land of air accident investigations, demonstrating both technical knowledge and facilitation skills.
The meeting was packed with information about coming contests and other Division J affairs. It finished with even spicier promise for the next meeting with the theme 'Brazil', at 11.00 am in Wild Oats Cafe, Carterton.
July Mid-Winter Meeting at Royal Hotel Featherston
The Toastmasters day started with an assembly of the smart and savvy WOW committee members. They discussed hot topics of the day and draw a map of the club's glorious future.
Planning and strategising was a delicious cocktail, so no wonder this pre-meeting went a bit overtime.
No harm at all as the club Colours and Lights went on a private Wairarapa tour and joined us only after Justin demonstrated remarkable skills in his flash lights performance.
The meeting went on with all members snuggling in the cosy warmth around the table in synch with the Winter meeting theme.
But hey, no need to be all wintery, so Jill spoke about the business of growing carnations and Glynis took us on an inspirational netball journey to sunny Australia.
We had a couple of special guests - honourable founding member Dale Hartle,checking if we are playing the Toasties tune right and longstanding toastmaster Alison of Nelson cum Masterton house sitter cum all-of-New Zealand traveller.
Finishing the meeting we decided we'll go out of the winter blues and off into the next meeting's Purple(s) adventures at Markham's office, 11.00am on 18 August.
WOW Birthday Party June 2013
WOW Meeting 19 May 2013
There was a fine turnout to the WOW May meeting at the Gladstone Sports Complex with “The Delights of May” as our theme and “Felicity” as the word of the day.
First speaker was Sharon with why Gladstone is The Centre of the Universe, or at least her universe, taking into account her close association with the Gladstone Rugby Club. Members were surprised at the diversity of activities that were hosted at Gladstone.
Second speaker was Rita with “The WOW Factor”, presenting the need for WOW to differentiate itself from other WOW events. She humorously suggested the club purchase an electric minibus to travel to meetings, with a trailer to stow gear and a portaloo for out-of-the-way venues. Rita put forward the pros and cons of these purchases for members to consider.
The next item was the club’s Annual General Meeting and election of officers for the coming 12 months, followed by lunch at the Gladstone Inn.
21 April
Our April meeting was in a venue new to the club – the Boardroom at Markhams Office, Perry Street Masterton, and a very comfortable spot too!
Theme of the day was “Sports” with Glynis as Chair and Justin offered “Team” and Teem” as the words of the day.
First speaker was Trish with “My Biggest Challenge” about how for the last 5 years she has been learning Te Reo Maori, and how much she is enjoying it.
Second speaker was Rita with “The Interwebs and Me” describing how the advent of the internet has radically changed our lives to the point where she is now on another journey of learning QR codes, smart phones and wifi, while putting her shop on-line.
Final speaker was Sharon with “Drought Assistance for Farmers – Mythbusting” where she detailed the very stringent criteria for drought assistance then the farmer only qualified for equivalent of the unemployment benefit. Out of over 100,000 farmers in this country, about 100 had received assistance.
We were please to welcome two guests to our meeting and to offer our congratulations to Mike who had won the Division Evaluation Contest the previous day in Carterton.
The meeting adjourned to Paper Road Winery in Opaki for a very fine lunch.
17 March
With our meeting date falling on St Patrick's Day, that was the only possible theme to have and our Chair, Jill was totally in the green, even to having our agenda printed on emerald green paper.
Word of the day from Grammarian Carol was “paean”.
First speaker was Selena with “My Kiwi Masterchefs”, wearing an apron and accompanied by several cookbooks. Selena shared with us her love of cooking and the Kiwi cooks who have inspired us.
Second speaker was Sharon with “The Ancient Art of Threading” which was a topic not many of us knew about. With various visual aids, Sharon proceeded to enlighten us on a different form of hair removal.
Third speaker was Gregory with “Area God”, where he pointed out to us the advantages of being a local god and having all the answers in a thinly disguised attempt to encourage others to take on the role of Area Governor.
Final speaker of the day was Anna with “Home Invasion”, where she shared the impact and aftermath of a recent break in at her home. The worst part was not things being taken but the vandalism that occurred. A truly nasty experience for anyone.
Lunch followed at Cuckoo cafe in Greytown.
17 February
Trish, our Chair, welcomed us to REAP House meeting room and with a theme of hearts and flowers, there were a number of floral offerings to admire. Word of the day from Grammarian Val, was “Romance”.
First speaker was Glynis with “Dilemma” regarding the recent announcement of the Pope’s resignation.
Our second speaker was Ginny with “Bureacracy”. She told us about learning the hard truth of her true name through trying to get a copy of her birth certificate.
Third speaker was Justin, with a slightly longer project entitled “Your Darling Digital Device”, which pointed out the dangers that exist with rechargeable batteries which could catch on fire if overheated. Justin showed graphic footage of a laptop exploding in an airport lounge, and followed up with a list of rechargeably powered devices in his own home.
Lunch followed on a beautiful summer’s day at Café Cecille in the Park, a truly lovely spot.
27 January
With the theme as Tropical, the word of the day “torrid” and temperatures in the mid 20’s, WOWers met in the shady courtyard at Crafters Heaven for their latest meeting.
With the absence of lights, power and timing cards, a green snake was used for green, a yellow sunflower pincushion as amber and a box of strawberry and mango tea for the red light.
First speaker of the day was Anna Simms, with "D.I.Y", which proved to be slightly more fraught than Anna had first imagined when she decided to paint her trellis. Anna’s evaluator felt this was a speech that would go well in the humorous speech contest, so we shall work on encouraging her.
Second speaker was Sharon with “Yellow and Black” which gave us an insight into her passion for rugby and how 3 of her favourite teams, wear yellow and black.
Final speaker was Rita with “A Stitch in Time” from the Speaking to Inform manual. Rita described and demonstrated exactly how a sewing machine makes a stitch and factors that can impact on that operation, such as blunt or bent needles and fluffl threads. As most present owned a machine, they certainly knew more at the end of this talk.
The day concluded with lunch at the new Greytown cafe Jack and Jill where all menu selections were approved and eaten with great relish.