July 27: A great time at the Great Debate

Brendan & Jacqulyn

There was quite a crowd in attendance at the 2010 edition of Afterburners' Great Debate. District 25 dignitaries abounded, along with many friends from other clubs, some of whom served as judges, all enjoying good food, fellowship, and two GREAT debates!

A couple of debaters had last-minute schedule conflicts, but Juan and Marla Tovar bravely stepped up to fill their places. Juan and Marla had planned to join Afterburners at this their 3rd meeting to attend, so at the end of the meeting they were indeed voted into membership with great acclaim.

Juan & Judy

Tammy Bailey moderated the disciplined and orderly debate proceedings. The first topic, "Resolved, that Texas should follow Arizona's example in crafting a new law to protect its border against illegal immigrants" was potential dynamite, but calm and reason (tinged with emotion) prevailed. Saraí Garcia's team (Gary Chiu, Ryan Gallagher, Juan Tovar, and Mack Mercer) won the coin toss and chose the Against position, and Phillip Silas and his team (Jodie Sanders, Antoinette Silas, Rose Timmons, and Pat Quick) argued the For case.

Dámaris, Steven, & Greg

After a break for plate refills and announcements, the second topic, "Resolved, that dogs are indeed man's best friend" brought forth a great deal of hilarity. Steven Thorn's team (Dámaris Thorn, Greg Geis, Marla Tovar, and George Arndt) were valiant in defense of canines. Benson V.'s team (Steven Timmons, Joyce King, Linda Coleman, and Tom Brents) were eloquent in their Against arguments.

The winning "dog team!"

The judges' decisions were announced to the usual noisy finger drumrolls that accompany all Afterburners awards: Phillip's team was declared the winner of the immigration law debate (for), and Benson's team won out in the dog debate (against).

All of the Afterburners Club members want to say "thank you" to our friends who came to the debate. Your presence made this a very special occasion for us. We hope you had a good time and will return to visit our club whenever you can.

Jodie Sanders

P.S. See more debate photos on our website.

The Great Debate is nearly here!

Are you ready for the Great Debate? It's happening next week, Tuesday, July 27th. The teams have been chosen and the topics have been selected. Each team knows which topic it will debate, but will not know until that evening whether they will be PRO or CON. Here are the team lineups and their topics.

Saraí Garcia, captain Gary Chiu Ryan Gallagher Hunter Allen Mack Mercer

Phillip Silas, captain Pat Quick Rose Timmons Jodie Sanders Antoinette Silas

Their topic will be: Resolved, that Texas should follow Arizona's example in crafting a new law to protect its border against illegal immigrants.

Benson V, captain Linda Coleman Steven Timmons Tom Brents Joyce King

Steven Thorn, captain Rodney King George Arndt Dámaris Thorn Greg Geis

Their topic will be: Resolved, that dogs are indeed man's best friends.

Timer will be Brenda Daniels, Basil Ogembo will serve as Vote Counter, and Tammy Bailey will be Moderator. Be sure to let Gary know what you are bringing to eat ASAP, as we are going to have lots of guests. If you are not slated to participate, come anyway — we need an enthusiastic audience to cheer (or boo!) us on.

Jodie Sanders

The Great Debate is returning!

On July 27th, The Great Debate will take the place of our normal meeting agenda. Four teams will debate two topics for a fun night of outstanding oratory and, of course, food. The team captains have been chosen, and they are Saraí Garcia, Benson V, Steven Thorn, and Phillip Silas. At next week's meeting (July 20th), the members of each team will be selected, and the topics announced. Each team will know which topic it will debate, but will not know whether it will be for or against. But . . . we must know if you will be present on debate night! If you have not already notified moderator Tammy Bailey of your intentions, please do so as soon as possible.

P.S. Some photos from the last Great Debate are on the Photos page of the website.

"Two new CCs . . . "

Congratulations to Linda Coleman and Gary Chiu for achieving their Competent Communicator awards! Linda finished with a bang on June 15th with a speech about her District Conference experiences, appropriately called "Experience It." Her energy and confidence wowed those who remember her first speech, back on December 9, 2008, which was titled "My Journey." That night she started on a new journey, and has inspired her fellow Afterburners every step of the way.
Gary accepted a tremendous challenge: to finish his CC by the end of June when he had 6 speeches to go. It would have been one speech at every meeting, but then a technical glitch bumped him from the agenda on one night. Undaunted, he did TWO speeches on the last night to achieve his goal, demonstrating a gritty determination that we might not have expected from that laid-back guy who gave his first speech on August 25, 2009 called "Coming of Age: What I Learned at 16." On that two-speech night, June 22, we saw a true coming-of-age for Gary.

These two outstanding Toastmasters deserve a little break from making speeches, but not a long one. After all, with all those free manuals, Linda and Gary have a lot of new goals to get started on!

Jodie Sanders