Can't make it to a meeting?

 It's a smart idea to let someone know. In particular, the toastmaster of the meeting and the club secretary.

If you are scheduled for an opportunity, the toastmaster can find a replacement. If you are not on the schedule, the toastmaster then knows you will not be available to fill the shoes of someone else who won't be there.

Then there's the matter of being eligible to vote in business meetings.

If it is necessary for a member to be absent from the Club meeting, please notify the Club Secretary, Brenda Daniels DTM, by email in order for the absence to be "excused". This excused absence will not affect the member's voting privileges at Club Business Meetings.

Dec 15: "Canada"

Former member Sandra Price with Brenda Daniels

Bob Titiryn opened the meeting dedicated to his native country with a dryly witty monologue about Canadian weather and national character. Remember this: Canadians DO NOT wear toboggans on their heads, because in Canada a toboggan is a sled, not a hat.

Our two quite entertaining speakers, S. M. and Rodney King, found plenty of humor in the subjects of running a restaurant and redeeming an inappropriate gift card. Mack Mercer and visiting former member Sandra Price gave evaluations that would be worth the price of admission if we charged it.

Jodie Sanders continued the Canadian theme in Table Topics, where Parker Arndt revealed his wish to be a sled dog in the upcoming Winter Olympics and Pat Quick described her thrilling battle against terrorists at the same event. (She was either a Mountie or a cheerleader, we're not sure which.) Two intrepid visitors, Shawn and Basil, also gave their best efforts for Canada in Table Topics.

We had some yummy chocolate cake to celebrate Parker's upcoming 18th birthday, when he will finally be legal as far as Toastmasters is concerned.

Jodie Sanders

Pat serves the birthday cake

Christmas party on Sunday!

It's at Mi Cocina Restaurant, Hulen Street and I-30, on Sunday, December 20th. Plan to get there around 3:30 pm. (The restaurant does not officially open until 5:00 pm.)

We will play a little table topics game, have a White Elephant Christmas gift exchange and then have dinner. The White Elephant/Chinese Gift Exchange rules are: bring a gift that you find at home or that you purchase for less than $10. We will draw numbers, as many as we have attending. The first person chooses a wrapped gift. Person #2 can take that gift or open a new one. This continues until all gifts have been opened. A gift can be "stolen" only three times. 

Everyone will pay for their own dinner and this way we don't have to cook it or clean it... just have fun!

Pat Quick and Brenda Daniels

Dec 1: "Youth Leadership" leads the way

Veteran Toastmaster Mac Mercer was our able Toastmaster but youth held the spotlight. The Best Speaker ribbon was won by 16-year-old Austin Starnes. His mother Kenna Starnes took the prize for Best Table Topic.

Austin won the speech contest in the Afterburners' fall Youth Leadership program. Participants in this program believed they also were winners because of the basic speaking skills they gained.

Other prepared speeches included a humorous sales pitch by Mac Mercer (he was doing double duty) and an interesting speech by Theresa Eller about her relative Joseph Conrad.

Tom Brents

Nov 24: Turkey and Table Topics

Last Tuesday night we had a wonderful feast sitting down, but still all present also spoke on their feet.This preholiday meeting was relaxed but everyone there got to answer a table topic.

 
A sampling of the answers included Pat's sympathy for both the Pilgrims and the Indians, George's thanks for his Afterburners friends, and Hunter's defense of Black Friday, and ranged from Brenda's moving recollection about her mother's last Thanksgiving to Tom's frivolous whining about birthdays. A good time was had by all.

Tom Brents 

Educational Achievements

Congratulations to the following members who have completed another step toward their Toastmaster education designations -

Bob Titiryn - Competent Communicator (CC)

Tammy Bailey - Competent Communicator (CC)

Brenda Daniels - Competent Communicator (CC)

Theresa Eller - Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB)

Pat Quick - Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS)

George Arndt - Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM)

As of the last District 25 report, Afterburners was #1 in the district for educational completions from July 1st - present.... 

Congratulations to all the individual accomplishments and to Afterburners who continue to Lead the Way!!!!!!

Pat Quick

Nov 17: Speech-A-Thon Was Fun

Former member Tommy Lively attended the meeting.

 

I enjoyed last Tuesday night's meeting. The format was all prepared speeches (manual of course). The other normal features of the program were eliminated for this one night. Pat Quick, Bob Titiryn, John W., Tammy Bailey and I all gave prepared speeches. Theresa Eller presided and everyone else sat back, enjoyed, and provided written evaluations. 

Pat's excellent visual presentation took us to 10 places in the world not to visit. Bob had a moving story on mental illness. John told us all about closing the deal. My speech encouraged end of life planning and Tammy's winning speech motivated us as toastmasters.

This coming meeting may be even more fun as we dine on turkey and concentrate on impromptu speaking. 

Tom Brents

Speaking of eating . . .

Hunter Allen enjoys doing just that at the Fall Youth Leadership festivities on Nov 5th.

Thanksgiving meeting and eating on Nov 24

First, we will be having FOOD! Linda Coleman is coordinating, so let her know what side dish you will bring. (The turkey and dressing are already arranged.)

Second, the meeting will be all Table Topics — think of a topic on the subject of Thanksgiving (the holiday).

Third, we will have our monthly business meeting which was postponed from last meeting because we did not have a quorum.

Fall Youth Leadership Program wraps it up

The fall Youth Leadership program came to an end on Nov 5 with a Recognition Party and Speech Contest. Six young men gave speeches while their parents and other family members listened. Afterburners members served as timers, vote counters and judges, along with several outside judges from District 25. The rules, standards and procedures were the same as for a regular Toastmasters speech contest.

The contest winners were:
First Place - Austin Starnes, "The Difference Between Error and Failure"
Second Place - Dan Walton, "Picture Perfect"
Third Place - Seth Morehead, "What Happened to the Hindenburg"

Coordinator Pat Quick  recognized several Afterburners members for their contributions and announced there will be a spring session of the program, dates to be determined later. Some of the current participants are planning to be back.

The parents brought lots of delicious food and a celebratory cake to the "party" segment of the evening's program. A very good time was had by all!

Jodie Sanders

Don't forget about the Youth Leadership Speech Contest on Thursday night

It starts at 7 pm in the Kornfeld Room which is downstairs on the first floor of the building where we normally meet. The parents are bringing food. If you can help out in any way, call Pat Quick, 214-537-1788. Otherwise, please come and support an important project of our club, and several very fine young people who deserve an appreciative and discriminating audience.

November 3 meeting: "What I want to be when I grow up"

Mack in his new grammarian/rapper persona

Even though several club stalwarts were absent (and much missed), we had a full slate of speakers for Toastmaster Parker Arndt to introduce, which he did very concisely. Rodney King was again an engaging and appealing speaker in "Change." Bob Titiryn tried to convince us to go run a race while the turkey's in the oven. Tony Morris had us believing that "It's Okay to Win," and Theresa Eller showed us DWI mug shots and her PowerPoint skills, meanwhile qualifying for her Advanced Communicator Bronze award.

Mack Mercer gave us a new perspective on our meeting role opportunities with "The Grammarian Rap." Once again, Table Topics were a source of amusement and information, especially when Tom Tollison described the aerodynamic qualities of Tom Brents' head. (We can see for ourselves that there isn't much wind resistance there.) That, plus having large feet to land on, will stand Tom in good stead when he grows up to be a skydiver.

Jodie Sanders

Oct 20 meeting: "Fashionista"

Toastmaster Joyce King presided over a meeting that was the height of fashion, especially in the Table Topics. Our first-time guest Doss gave us a, shall we say, revealing insight into John's weekend wardrobe shortcomings, with yet another revelation from Pat Quick. Since John himself was the Topics Master, his inspiring questions may not have brought the expected results. (He blushes beautifully.)

Theresa Eller won the best speech prize for helping us to "Go Geek" and minister to our computers' better health. Pat realized how hard it is to be Timer. As Grammarian, Will Higgins saddled us with "kiosk" again as the word of the day, but then looked up too many potential sins in his book and discovered them to be legal usage. Jodie Sanders counted many more "so"s than "ah"s.  The Vote Counter gave out the ribbons, a practice seen at another club that we tried out tonight. Finally, Tammy Bailey discovered that the smell of fried chicken in the room was a culinary, not a neurological, phenomenon, and she had no cause for worry.

Jodie Sanders

New schedule is available

The schedule of meeting roles through November 17 has been posted on the club's website. Click on "Members Area," log in, and click on the "Schedule" tab. To get a pdf suitable for printing, click on "Printable Version."

How to say it: Shined or shone?

The other day while reading an outstanding work of great literature (e.g. “Heathcliff’s Troubles”), I came across a frame which had the big orange cat shining a flashlight into a dark room. Which caused me to wonder: Does one state that “Heathcliff shined the light into the darkness, or Heathcliff shone the light into the darkness?”

My first reaction was to contact Heathcliff himself to ask his opinion on how he would like to be portrayed. However, his receptionist responded that he was out of the office, raiding garbage cans for fish. I would have to resort to “Plan B”. Ah! Where would we be without the Internet?

There appears to be quite a bit of debate as to what the proper employment of the past tense of “shine” is. According to one blog, there appears to be a “friendly competition” between American English and its British English counterpart. Should one reside on the North American continent, the correct usage is that Heathcliff shined the flashlight into the darkened room. However, should one transport the furry feline to the shores of Great Britain and place him in a darkened room with a “torch” (remember where we are), upon turning it on Heathcliff would have shone the light around the room.

However, the best example (and the one I will personally rely upon in the future) comes from the New York Times Manual of Style and Usage. “Shined” is employed when a direct object is involved (i.e. shined the flashlight around the room). “Shone” is utilized when there is no direct object present, as in “Yesterday the sun shone brightly”. Given that this audience will spend most of their time on the North American continent, this would appear to be the best course of action.

Gary Chiu

Oct 13 meeting: "Great Literature"

Hunter Allen and Mike Witt were inducted as members tonight.

It may not have been the best of times, but hopefully it wasn't the worst of times either, as Jodie Sanders made her debut appearance as Toastmaster. A shortage of warm bodies meant that we had some doubling of roles, but Saraí Garcia and Gary Chiu were outstanding as Timer/Listener and Grammarian/AH Counter, respectively. A big, BIG thank you to both of them for doing two jobs, one at very short notice.

We had three excellent, and quite different, speeches. Mike Witt's ice breaker "How's Your Dash" struck a serious and emotional note. Will Higgins made a model awards presentation specialty speech. Tom Brents' "Caught with the Net" was humorous with an underlying poignancy. Then Mack Mercer, Pat Quick and Tammy Bailey put on an evaluation clinic. (We need to look into getting some of these evaluations on video!)

Theresa Eller put Gary, Saraí, Hunter and our visitor Tyra on the spot with some downright Shakespearean table topics, but they rose to the occasion with tales of star-crossed love, betrayal, a bad kindergarten experience, and equivocation!

Jodie Sanders

Area 61 contest results

Will Higgins took first place in Speech Evaluation and Tammy Bailey was first in Humorous Speech at the Area 61 contest on Friday, Oct 9. There may have been a shortage of competitors, but there was a full house of dignitaries and lots of good food.

And those of you not there missed Brenda Daniels leading the cheers! More pictures to come.

How to say it: Annoying words!

What are annoying words? When you hear them, you just want to grit your teeth! Some of these are what we call "crutch" or "filler" words; something to fill up space and time until we can get the next sentence ready. But a phrase like "it is what it is" doesn't really fall into that category. There's another group of words and phrases that start out as fresh and new, then are overused to the point of becoming tired clichés. How about "reinvent," "iconic" and "cutting edge?"

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/10/08/most.annoying.words/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

Oct 6 meeting: "World War II"

The above was the theme of the meeting, not a description of it. Pinch-hitting toastmaster Tony Morris moderated a peaceful meeting, in spite of all the talk of war. It was nice to see a few faces that have been missing of late.

New member Hunter Allen's icebreaker "Businessman" was the highlight of the evening and won for best speech. First-time speech evaluator Rodney King won the red ribbon for his thoughtful critique of one of our younger members. Gary Chiu, as usual, had some creative table topics that got good responses; all were timed at over one minute. Jodie Sanders took that prize for her Eva Braun (after-the-first-date-with-Adolf-you-know-who) impersonation.

A pleasant surprise ended the meeting. A big thank you to Theresa Eller, who brought us bread pudding for a treat! It was yummy!

Jodie Sanders

Lose your schedule?

Just a reminder that the latest revision of the schedule of meeting roles is posted on the club's website. Click on "Members Area," log in, and click on the "Schedule" tab. To get a pdf suitable for printing, click on "Printable Version."

Taking care of business

The monthly Club Business Meeting was held on September 29th. Club Officers each gave their reports. We reviewed the proposed Club Budget and approved it with one change. The next Executive Committee Meeting will be on October 13th with the Club Business Meeting scheduled for October 20th.

Brenda Daniels

Area 61 Contest Information

Our area contest is Friday, October 9th.  Please mark your calendars and plan on supporting our club contestants. Tammy Bailey and Will Higgins will compete in Speech Evaluation, while Tammy and Jodie Sanders will compete in Humorous Speech.

The contest will be in the Lone Star Room, just down the hall from our normal meeting room, in the Tarrant County Plaza, 200 Taylor St, downtown Fort Worth, beginning at 7:00 pm. The mandatory briefing for contestants, judges and helpers begins at 6:30 pm.

Refreshments will be provided. The sponsoring clubs are the Afterburners, Energizers, Longhorn and Star-Telegram Toastmasters Clubs.

The name of our building

Be aware that our building is now named "Tarrant County Plaza" and is referred to as such on the county's website and all the signage around the building. We should be sure any publicity or meeting announcements have the right name to minimize confusion.

Sept 22: Club Contests

Wow..... What a great contest! We had six evaluation contestants and four humorous speech contestants, each one a winner...

Thanks again to our guests Keith and Sara who came from other clubs to support our contest and a special appreciation to Keith who gave a dynamic and touching target speech for our evaluation contestants. Please come back to see us again...

 Keith is interviewed by John after his test speech.

Also, we gained a new member tonight, Hunter Allen.... We only need three more to finish our new member Distinguished Club Program goals.... YEAH!!

Congratulations to our 1st and 2nd place contestants who will move on to compete at the Area 61 Contest on Friday, October 9th. I will send the flier to you when it becomes available. Linda Coleman will be the Toastmaster for that event... Way to go, Linda!

1st Place Evaluation - Tammy Bailey
2nd Place Evaluation - Will Higgins

1st Place Humorous - Jodie Sanders
2nd Place Humorous - Tammy Bailey

Kudos to our wonderful Toastmaster tonight John who is brushing up on his contest skills because he will be the Toastmaster for the Division F Contest on Friday, October 30th.

Also, we are blessed to have the District Chief Judge, Brenda Daniels in our club to help us achieve a well-run and fair contest. Thanks Brenda!!!

Great job everyone...........

Pat Quick

Sept 17: Youth Leadership Meeting

Tonight was the second session of the youth leadership program. If you have never been to one, it is a streamlined version of a regular meeting with an instructional component. The participants (between ages 8 and 17) elected officers at the first meeting. President Austin (above left) called the meeting to order and led the Pledge. Vice President Dan (below) was the Timer (with me as assistant). Three young men gave prepared speeches. Seth told us some things about his life and what he likes to do. David (above right) wants to be an astrophysicist one day so he told us something about the solar system. Ian is a fencer and spoke to us about the three different fencing weapons: foil, épée, and saber. All three speeches were interesting, informative, and well-delivered.

Program coordinator Pat Quick evaluated the first two speeches, then the whole group contributed to the third evaluation. Each one singled out the best aspects of the speech, areas needing improvement, and finished with a positive comment.

Pat introduced the meeting role of the Listener. One new role will be added each week. This week Robert took it on, and had six great questions at the end of the meeting. Everyone had the answers immediately, proving to be great listeners. Next week's meeting will add an Ah-Counter.

After a break, assistant coordinator Linda Coleman asked table topics questions about different aspects of the Internet. Parker Arndt demonstrated how it's done with the first question, then Kyle, Dan and Austin each gave it a good shot.

Pat discussed the elements of a great speech, illustrating many of her points with examples from the speeches we had just heard. She gave the assignment for next week — the participants have a booklet to read.

I liked being at this meeting — listening to the speeches, talking to the guys and their parents, and seeing Pat lead the program. We should all take the time to go at least once, to support our club's program and the young men and their families, and to simply have an enjoyable evening that makes you feel good — and doesn't cost anything!

Jodie Sanders

Next week is our contest

The Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest will take place at the Sept 22 meeting. As of right now, Tammy Bailey, Jodie Sanders and Joyce King are on tap to speak. This will also be one of those "eating meetings," so for that reason alone, you should not miss it.

Hard at work

Will Higgins and John writing speech evaluations
at the Sept 15 meeting.

What time is it?????????

It's dues time.... If you haven't paid your club dues, please be prepared to do so at our next meeting Tuesday, September 22nd.
Thanks bunches.

Pat Quick

Sept 15 meeting: "The Awesome 80s"

 So, this was like, a totally rad meeting tonight, you know? Toastmaster Theresa Eller and her multicolored hair took us back to that best-of-times, worst-of-times decade with a full slate of speeches and a full house. We were pleased to welcome four visitors on our membership drive night: Rachel, Hunter, Olivia and Padraic (this was his second visit).We had topnotch speeches and textbook evaluations for them.

Linda Coleman talked about "Hats" - and wore one during her speech, too. In "Leading the Way," Pat Quick shared some of her vision for our club and inspired several listeners to make commitments to it. Mack Mercer's stories are always greatly anticipated and he did not disappoint in "Small Things with Great Love," taking home the blue ribbon for best speech.

The third installment in the ongoing Saga of the Eureka Springs Trip, "My Version" by George Arndt was the evening's best entertainment value, closely followed by Joyce King's Table Topics riff on how she would be a conspicuous consumer. Husband Rodney is already thinking of his "My Version" speech.

Again, we had only one speaker (out of 11) over time tonight. The meeting ran a few minutes long, but considering the number of speakers and the little bit of extra time taken on the visitors' behalf, it was quite productive and did not drag. Which would have been like, grody to the max. Whatever.

Jodie Sanders

Welcome to the club!

 

New member Mike Witt and his sponsor, Bob Titiryn. 

We're glad to have you, Mike!

Business meeting now on Sept 22

Because the membership drive is planned for next week's meeting on Sept 15, the executive committee decided to postpone the club's regular monthly business meeting until a week later, Sept 22.

Sept 8 meeting: "Rock Stars"

Toastmaster Tammy Bailey rocked the meeting with a theme that struck a chord with everyone. Imagine: George Arndt extolling "sex, drugs and rock and roll." Gary Chiu playing in a garage band. Brenda Daniels married to a drummer who could play "Wipe Out" for 38 minutes. And Tammy herself at a Carpenters' concert in the '70s, wearing red-and-white-plaid jeans and a pink turtleneck. Some things are just . . . unimaginable.

We had only two prepared speeches after last week's riches, but they were quality. Pat Quick was deeply moving in an interpretive reading of the eulogy delivered by Edward Kennedy at the funeral of his brother Bobby. And Rodney King was warm, outgoing and engaging in his Icebreaker, "I Am Who I Am," taking home both his purple 1st speech ribbon and the prize for best speech.

Among the ten speakers who were timed, only one person was over time, by only 3 seconds — an amazing record for one of our meetings. (No, I will not tell you who! Should have been there!)

Jodie Sanders

Woo-hoo, Tammy!

At the District 25 Awards Banquet on August 22nd, our very own Tammy Bailey (at left) was named the Division Governor of the Year. She received her award from Past District Governor Peggy Holloway, DTM. (Tammy is also a Distinguished Toastmaster, one of five in our club.)

Noticed the new club banner?

Parker Arndt has noticed! It's obviously turning his head! It has our new "Leading the Way" tagline on it, and bunches of ribbons already. You should take a look at all the awards we've won. Many thanks to George Arndt for his generosity in providing the new banner.

Sept 1 meeting: "Cuban Culture"

Dámaris Thorn was Toastmaster. She read a little from a book about a cucharacha named Martina, illustrating several aspects of Cuban life. Dámaris left Cuba on a plane, not a boat, in 1960.

The big event of the evening was the very auspicious debut of Robert Castle, the Youth Leadership First Place Contest Winner. His parents and brother Nick were also present.

Tony Morris, Mack Mercer and Brenda Daniels gave excellent speeches. Brenda showed slides of the now-infamous "Hills" trip and skewered Parker Arndt a few times. Mack was his usual entertaining and informative self, giving us much good speaking advice and dropping to the floor at one point. As for Tony, we should all hope that we do not drive on the same streets, live in the same neighborhood, or shop at the same grocery store as he does.

Jodie Sanders