2010 Meeting Diary
Here's a diary and photos of our WOW meetings in 2010:
Sunday 19 December 2010, at Royal Hotel, Featherston
Wow's Christmas meeting was a small but jovial affair, with the word of the day being "yuletide", which most speakers managed to include at least once in their speeches.
Table Topics also had a Christmas theme with the most memorable quotes being "now that I am an orphan, it changes things (Glynis)", "when I was 9 the purple bikini I got for Christmas was hot (Rita)", "strategically placed coins in the plum pudding ensured everyone got one (Anna) ", "I flew a family over Whitianga on Xmas Day, I was only 17 (Justin)", "it's going to be a disastrous Xmas at my house as no-one is getting any presents (Dale)", and "you should have seen their faces when the Xmas pudding was lit and it nearly set the house on fire (Jenny)".
Our two prepared speeches were quote different in content and tone. Justin talked about "My Hero" - Wyle E Coyote, the cartoon character created in 1949. Justin pointed out that Mr Coyote had a superb grasp of the laws of physics, excellent planning and project management skills, tenacity and cunning, and singlemindedness. However the cartoon taught Justin the value of insurance, and of cultivating relationships. Justin's evaluator said it was a wonderful speech and a wee glimpse into the workings of Justin's mind, and would have been great as a powerpoint show.
The second speech was entitled "A Safety Briefing" by Rita, who was dressed for the occasion. She told us that we had to purchase our seat belts, lifejackets, and it was $1 a minute for extra oxygen if the allocated amount was used up when the plane depressurised. She had us in fits of laughter when we realised there were no toilets on board Scary Air flights, and it even cost us to look at the safety briefing card. Evaluator Anna said she loved the safety briefing as it was very entertaining, but pointed out Rita changed from a Kiwi accent to an American one half way through the speech (maybe that was when we went over the international date line!)
Everyone opened their Secret Santa gifts, and as no-one coveted anyone else's, we all got to keep the gift we had chosen.
Jenny (pictured above) was chosen for the Best Table Topic speaker.
Following the meeting we enjoyed a sumptuous roast pork lunch at the Royal Hotel.
Sunday 21 November 2010, at Cobblestones
WOW's November meeting at Cobblestones was chaired by Glynis, with the theme of "toys". Grammarian Marilyn's word of the day was "ambivalent" and she explained its meaning and suggested use.
Table Topics run by Rita had a toy theme, which evaluator Dale said provided everyone with a memory or story to tell.
The first speech by Glynis was an educational "Evaluate to Motivate", in which Glynis opened by asking "Why do we evaluate?".
Speech 2 by Jenny was from the Professional Speaker Manual entitled "Disc profiling", and she opened with a question, "If I could show you the secret of getting what you want out of life, would you be interested?" She then gave us a handout and we completed a short exercise, finishing with a couple of questions. Now we all know the secret!
The third speech by Justin was called "The world's most expensive toy", an $8.6 billion Hadron Collider. Justin explained what it is all about and how it works. Evaluator Jenny responded by saying that science had never done anything for her and she wondered whether the whole thing was just a giant con.
The final speech by Anna was from the Specialty Speeches manual "Uplift the Spirit" entitled "Happiness or neuroses - you choose". In this speech Anna suggested a few crises in our life are good for us and she concluded by giving us some suggestions as to how we can deal with future crises.
General business covered the arrangements for the next meeting, and a training day to be held in January. The timing report outlined all the speakers timings, and the Grammarian's report listed those who had used the word of the day. In the General Evaluation by Trish, she said she had enjoyed the toys theme, the well prepared agenda, the friendly chairmanship, the word of the day, the table topics themes, and complimented all evaluators on well structured evaluations.
Following the meeting, we enjoyed lunch at The Tin Hut in Featherston.
Sunday 10 October 2010 at Wild Oats
A number of apologies meant a smaller crowd than usual at Wild Oats Cafe in Carterton, who generously allowed us to use their upstairs room for our meeting.
As Chair, Rita adjusted the programme as there were only 3 speakers available and Trish stepped in with an impromptu table topics session, asking members a range of questions such as "it is good to have goals" and "if I was an animal I'd be "
Our first speaker was Marilyn a new member doing her Ice breaker speech. We heard about idyllic childhood summers spent by the beach in South Africa in a beach house (bach as she now knows!) with no electricity or internal loo and the heads of stuffed animals on the walls.
Our second speaker was Justin, working from the Speaking to Inform manual and he demonstrated a satellite phone, which he called "The Ultimate Survival Tool". He explained how it works, how to use it and how much it can cost to use, with some tips for reducing those costs.
Third speaker was Maureen, working from the Entertaining Speaker manual and she related the trials and tribulations of getting a club to perform an Irish show that she and her husband had devised. The show was to "take place" in Shenanigans Bar with everyone being involved in singing or performing.
General business covered the recent committee meeting with the idea of holding a Speechcraft course in Masterton in the new year.
Next meeting is 21 November at Cobblestones with lunch at the Tin Hut and the December meeting hopefully at the Anzac Hall followed by lunch at the Royal Hotel in Featherston. President Jenny has offered to dress as a Christmas fairy - in fact everyone can dress up - and there will be an exchanging of gift (no more than $5) with partners and SO's invited to attend.
Sunday 19 September 2010, at Cobblestones
A small group assembled at Cobblestones for Wow's September meeting, including two guests. The word of the day was "scintillate" which comes from the Latin word "spark", and most speakers managed to use the word at least once.
Table Topics by Rita asked speakers to choose "Admire/Dislike" and then choose an animal. John had to say why he disliked zebras, Caroline why she disliked sharks, and Justin why he disliked crocodiles. Dale got to say why she liked dogs, Anna why she admired elephants and Alison why she liked tarantulas. Jenny spoke why she disliked pythons and Marilyn why she disliked the canary.
In the first speech Justin posed the question "Has Google gone too far" when he talked about the issues surrounding privacy and gps location indicators on smartphones. He certainly raised our awareness of these issues and showed us exactly what he meant on his new smartphone.
Caroline then spoke about the "Benefits and pitfalls of exercise", followed by Anna asking "How do dreams come true?". Finally Jenny practised her forthcoming humorous contest speech "The Domestic Dispute" and received a group evaluation.
In General Business, Justin proudly presented the club with its first President's Distinguished Club ribbon for the banner. We also discussed the forward programme, and upcoming Area, Division and District events.
Following the meeting, we had a delicious lunch at Turkey Red in Greytown.
Sunday 15 August 2010, Royal Hotel, Featherson
WOW had a right royal time at the Royal Hotel in Featherston for our August meeting. We had the whole of one of the restaurants for our exclusive use and we set it up in boardroom style. The theme for the day was "royalty", and boy, did we get stuck into that.
Table Topics run by Jenny had a royal theme - the royal anthem, royal dogs, royal sacrifices, organising a royal visit, american royalty, royal scandals and royal coat of arms.
The first of our four speeches by John was a folk tale entitled "The Devil on Wheels". He told us a story from ancient Scotland about an early pioneer who invented a bicycle, then he got a speeding ticket, which the magistrate paid himself.
Anna in the second speech described her experiences of attending a 10 day meditation course, and how hard it was to meditate and not talk for ten days when your find is full of stuff, and then how hard it was to start talking again when it was all over.
In an icebreaker speech Rita described her childhood experiences as a marching girl, and she looked very regal standing to attention and saluting.
In speech 4, Glynis told us how determined she is to grow more than two tomatoes this season, so she explained and showed us how she is making real compost to help her tomato plants bear fruit.
In General Business, Jenny mentioned that she had been approached by a club in the United States who wanted to hold an online meeting using Skype to connect the two clubs, but we decided a test run from a suitable venue was needed first, before we committed to an international event. We also talked about forthcoming club and Area contests.
Following the meeting the club enjoyed a delicious hot roast pork lunch and your meeting reporter had - believe it or not - the yummiest bread and butter pudding you could ever imagine! It was a great meeting at the Royal Hotel, and we will definitely be back in the future.
Sunday 18 July 2010, at Cobblestones
It was a packed house for WOW's July meeting chaired by Rita Stirling with a theme of "blue". Just about everyone was wearing something blue, and the grammarian Glynis was looking out for the use of the word in our speeches.
Speech 1 was by Jenny entitled "The 3P's of Management", with her opening line "Managing a newspaper is like herding feral cats...". Evaluator Val said she was hoping to gain some wisdom from Jenny.
Speech 2 was by Anna. This was a visual aid speech entitled "Harakeke and pasta", and her opening line was "Is everything as it seems?" Anna gave us a background on how she came to learn abut flax and its relationship with pasta. She displayed various items of flax and how a simple flax leaf can be made into a beautiful cloak.
Speech 3 by Justin was an advanced manual "Presenting an Award", and his opening line was "You're awesome as a club". He explained that WOW had achieved 10 goals on the Distinguished Club Program, and listed the award recipients and major achievements of the year, saying that WOW "punches well above its weight".
Speech 4 by Maureen was an entertaining speech called "Holidays with the kids". Maureen described her school holidays with the grandchildren. Evaluator Trish said Maureen had used a mixture of humour and drama, with lots of twists and turns, keeping the momentum going.
The last speech was by our new Area Governor Keith Morris. Keith's opening line was "A leader knows the way, shows the way and goes the way". In this speech, Keith introduced himself and his role as Area Governor, and the District 72 Theme.
Table Topics run by John followed the meeting's "blue" theme with 5 speakers.
Following the meeting and lunch, club officer training was held by the Division Governor, covering leadership skills and administrative updates and other important information for the coming year.
Sunday 20 June 2010
A small group gathered for our mid-winter meeting chaired by Donna, with the word of the day from Grammarian Rita being "solstice". Table Topics Master Maureen's theme was "rubbish", with each speaker having to talk about some aspect of the topic.
Speech 1 by Dale entitled "Keeping the Barrier Reef Great" was a persuasive speech about the need to preserve and protect the reef. Evaluator Lynn said Dale needed to be a little more powerful, but the message was clear.
Speech 2 by Anna was an icebreaker called "Who am I". In this speech Anna talked about her discovery of and use of Reiki. There was a lot of discussion over lunch about this topic.
In Speech 3, Rita (pictured above) told us about her new found love - and no, it wasn't her new husband Justin - it was an Italian chef called Antonio Carluccio, and the recipes she has tried in his Simple Cooking book. Although we should have felt sorry for Justin, he is actually the recipient of Rita's newfound cooking skills, so that makes it alright! Rita even handed out a treat at the beginning of the speech which we all got to try, and boy was it yummy.
Jenny gave a very humorous evaluation of all the table topic speakers, sprinkled with recommendations. The other evaluators all gave solid commendations and recommendations for their speakers on their speeches.
In General Business, Justin advised that the club will make President's Distinguished Club for the first time ever, which is a marvellous achievement. Timekeeper Eric reported on all the speakers, and Grammarian Rita reported on who had used her word of the day, and she posed some listening post questions, which everyone was finally able to answer.
Following the meeting, we all enjoyed a hot meal at the Main St Deli in Greytown.
Sunday 16 May 2010
May's meeting started off with the Grammarian Rita announcing the word of the day "nurture". Then Table Topics got under way with Table Topics Master Anna giving each speaker a picture from an advertisement, and inviting us to talk about the image. Most speakers managed two minute humorous stories.
First speaker Caroline was completing her number 10 speech for the Competent Communicator Award. She gave an inspirational speech which had us all enthralled. Next was Maureen with a story about her grandfather, who was a sawmiller in the early days in the Wairarapa. Then Gary also completed his number 10 speech with a description of this journey through Toastmasters from his speechcraft beginnings. Finally Dale gave a tribute to her great uncle Denis Healy, a World War I hero.
Next was the annual business meeting for the club where we elected a new committee, approved the club's accounts and heard the president's report about the status of the club and its achievements. Special mention was made of Lynn Bushell's participation in the District International Speech Contest - a first for a WOW club member to achieve such high recognition.
Following the meeting, we all enjoyed a sumptuous Top Pub Sunday Roast, as you can see from the photo below.
Sunday 18 April 2010, Cobblestones
It was a warm autumn day at Cobblestones for WOW's April meeting. With a "harvest" theme, four speeches and table topics, the small group had a most enjoyable time.
First speaker Glynis talked about "My friend John", a heartfelt description of her friend and his personal life. Second speaker Anna talked about the word "bucket", its uses, colours, shapes, where you find it, movies and origins. Third speaker Justin talked about his "Journey to Enlightenment", revealing some of the lessons he has learnt throughout life, and finally Gary's speech entitled "Bold is beautiful" gave us some business tips for surviving the recession.
Table Topics run by Trish followed the meeting's "harvest" theme with interesting questions and responses.
Grammarian Maureen reported that the word "harvest" had been used 24 times during the meeting, and the General Evaluator Glynis said she loved the "harvest" display on the table (see photo above). Dale managed to nab a few of the exhibits from Rita's garden for her Sunday dinner!
Sunday 20 March 2010, Lake Ferry
First time chairman Gary Coley opened the meeting by giving us a description of the history of the Lake Ferry area and the hotel. Trish introduced the word of the day "curious" and in her report at the end of the meeting, said it had been used 14 times.
Table Topics run by Donna used the theme of "numbers", where all speakers had to talk about a number and how it related to them. The topics were a winning raffle number, a 21st birthday, the power of 3s, starting school and 88 double my luck. Evaluator Justin thought that all the speakers had got straight into the topic and he enjoyed how everyone used the number given in a humorous or interesting manner.
Maureen (pictured below left) was the first speaker with "A Touching Story" about her mother and how she had suffered from Alheimers in her later years, finishing with a poem written by Maurren from her funeral service. Evaluator Trish said to just slow down a bit to let the audience feel the emotions.
The second speech by Anna (pictured above right) talked about the labels used by people when discussing mental health problems. Evaluator Glynis complimented Anna on her wonderful quotes and picturesque language and images.
The third speaker Dale described the February 23 Titahi Bay fire, how it started, the damage it caused, and how the audience can prepare themselves for something like that in their own neighbourhood. Evaluator Maureen complimented Dale on a first class speech, which completed Dale's 10th Competent Communicator Award.
The last speaker Donna talked about the history of polio, the Rotary Polio Plus immunisation programme, and how her mother had suffered from polio since she was three years old. Evaluator Justin complimented Donna for the sense of humour included in the speech, and he loved the ending: "Thanks floppy". This speech completed Donna's first Competent Communicator award.
Following the meeting, some Toastmasters had Lake Ferry's famous fish and chips for lunch.
Sunday 21 February 2010
WOW Toastmasters meet on Historic Floating Crane
In a world first, the WOW (Wairarapa on Weekends) Toastmasters Club 9964 met on a working self-propelled floating steam crane, the "Hikitia", berthed at Wellington, New Zealand's capital city. The meeting venue was actually the crew cabin, just below the waterline, and we could hear the sea slapping and sloshing against the side of the ship, as we rocked and swayed with the tide. We sat amongst the bolts and bulkheads, with the smell of oil and engines in the air, surrounded by lifejackets and fire extinguishers, ships clocks and portholes. On the walls were stories, newspaper clippings and historic photos of the "Hikitia" in action.
Our theme for the meeting was "ocean, nautical, maritime" and our Table Topics master came up with some wonderful topics for the speakers, which resulted in some hilarious stories about pottering in rock pools as a child, rescuing a fisherman from rocks, being seasick on the Interislander Ferry, and yachting in Wellington Harbour. Speakers also talked about their love of jetskiing, catching and cooking fresh blue cod, and fossicking on a stony beach at Haast.
Following the meeting, the club members were given a tour of the ship, and then lined up on the bridge for a photo with our club banner (see photo below).
