Nov 23: More Thanksgiving Table Topics!

Brenda channels Paula Deen. Is that timing light red?

Our Thanksgiving Feast this past Tuesday can only be categorized as a success, due to both the great food and creative Table Topics. Tammy Bailey, the illustrious President of Afterburners, rummaged around her house and came up with a box of household items that each Table Topics speaker had to choose from, and then attempt to sell to the rest of the group in the character of a randomly selected person. We had everyone from past United States Presidents to Presidential-wannabe's, wrestlers to actors and actresses, and an appearance by the Queen of Butter herself, Ms. Paula Deen y'all (aka Brenda Daniels).

Our best Table Topics speaker for the evening, as voted on by the rest of the group, was Teresa Wilburn. In the character of Pee Wee Herman (yes, that Pee Wee Herman), with his obnoxious voice and all, she sold the audience on a very generic product put to creative use, as only Pee Wee Herman could think up. Mr. Herman's masking tape was peddled to us for its ability to work as a replacement for buttons on clothes, as well as taping your eyes open should you find yourself very sleepy during the day. I don't remember the price of this extraordinary tape, but I do remember it was a deal. Thanks to everyone who spoke and/or brought food for making this meeting a great one. I think most of us gorged ourselves to the point of button-popping of the pants. Luckily there was that tape...

Ryan Gallagher

Nov 23: Our Thanksgiving Table Topics

Holly as Scooby-Doo

Rose tries to sell us . . . a sink stopper?

What an evening! What a meal! What a great time to participate in “Table Topics”!

Well planned and orchestrated, the evening was a culinary hit, with turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes, pizza without tomato sauce, macaroni salad, green bean casserole, pie, fudge, birthday cake, and I’m sure I missed something. If you weren’t there you missed something too.

Tammy did an outstanding job with Table Topics, with everyone participating except Luca, our nine-year-old guest.

Melessa, Teresa, John and Luca look both bemused and amused.

Imagine, reaching into a box, selecting an ordinary household item, posing as a famous person and pitching a sale for that item. It was hilarious and lots of fun. The winner was Teresa Wilburn, who was quite convincing as PeeWee Herman.

Keep on reading the blog, you never know what you have missed.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Linda Coleman

My reason(s) for being in Toastmasters

Every person joins Toastmasters for his or her own reason. My reason was to transform my speaking skills from a lecture format to a more amiable, audience-friendly format. After several months of talking about finding a program that would help me, a friend dared me to do something about my goal. She suggested Toastmasters. So I checked out a listing of local clubs and selected Afterburners based on meeting time and place.

When I joined, I thought that I would run through the Toastmasters program in just a few weeks or months; after all, it was only 10 speeches, right? Once my 10 speeches were done I planned to walk away and apply what I had learned. I was in for a real surprise!

It took me almost two years to complete the Competent Communication Manual. Afterburners set high standards, and there were other requirements such as attending and participating in conferences, judging contests, serving as contest toastmaster, presenting Better Club and Better Speaker modules, taking a leadership role in the club by serving as club treasurer, vice president education, and eventually as president, and helping other club members reach their goals. Whew!

These requirements were not explained to me as being “if you can” alternative activities. They became an integral part of achieving my CC and CL simultaneously. Because of the high standards, I found that I enjoyed the challenge of honing my speaking and leadership skills. I also enjoyed the learning experience of receiving thoughtful, constructive speech evaluations.

Afterburners has always led the way and is known throughout District 25 for producing strong leaders and as “the loud and the proud” club. We tend to whoop it up any time our club name or a member’s name is mentioned, or our banner appears. Yes, I have completed my 10 speeches. I have achieved Competent Leader, Advanced Communicator Bronze and Silver, and my Advanced Leader Silver. I will soon achieve the title of Advanced Communicator Gold and then Distinguished Toastmaster.

My reason for being in Toastmasters has changed to REASONS for staying. Afterburners has become an integral part of my social life. It is where I see my closest friends. The club is where I come to stimulate my mind with things other than what I have been working on all day. It is where I relax and have fun with people I care about and who care about me. I am still working on transforming my lecture format to a more amiable, audience-friendly format, but while I work toward that goal, I enjoy being associated with the strong, proud club called Afterburners. Like every other club in the District, Afterburners has experienced some shifts in leadership and membership. But the friendships that we form in this club bind us as a family. Each of us has the opportunity to be part of that family if we choose.

Setma Maddox

Thinking ahead to the holidays . . .

We Afterburners usually have holiday functions of some sort, when we gather for lots of fun and food. Just to give you an idea, here's last year's Christmas party, memorably described by Tom Brents.

What's in store for us this year? We're not sure yet, but if you have suggestions or want to volunteer to host a gathering, let President Tammy Bailey know. That way we can decide on a date before it gets too late!

Calendar reminders

Our monthly business meeting is next week, Nov 16, just before the regular meeting. On the 23rd, it's food time again at our annual Thanksgiving "eatin' meetin'." Gary has already sent out his sign-up email, so let him know what you're bringing.

The Fall District Conference is next weekend, Nov 19-20! Can't do it all? A one-day pass costs $35 and will get you into the educational sessions and the humorous speech contest on Saturday. Peruse the schedule, then register online. You can also add a meal or two for a few bucks more.

The winter training season starts on Dec 11 with Toastmasters Leadership Institute (what we call TLI in our mysterious alphabet shorthand). The officer training sessions are a must for current officeholders, and if you EVEN THINK you might want to be an officer, this is a great chance to find out what's involved. You do not have to be already elected to attend any session you would like.

Another great TLI opportunity is judges training. If you would like to be a better evaluator, speaker, or contestant, this is very useful. Judging is fun — you go to other clubs, meet new people, and you are in demand — they are thrilled to see you!

Remember that you can see all upcoming club events by checking the calendar on the Members home page on the website. Clicking on an event will open a small window where you can read more details about it.

Nov 9: Being thankful for . . .

M&M’s, Stressful weekends, Animals and Cluttered emails. That’s what last night speeches were about. Our theme was ‘Giving Thanks’. Great theme because we all have something to be thankful about.

Ryan Gallagher’s speech ‘Animal Magnetism’ was hilarious. He thought he was getting two big dogs to run with but instead he got two weenie like dogs that had tails like propellers. Ryan drew the line for love for his weenie dogs when their tongues entered his mouth. Singing in public is something that Antoinette Silas can now say she has done. She sang ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy’ by Bobby McFerrin at the end of her speech and boy was it happy. Antoinette won best speaker. Dodi Foster, re-establishing member of Afterburners, won Best Table Topics. Kim Alvarez, a seasoned Toastmaster did a great job evaluating Jodie Sanders speech, ‘Don’t Let Email Rule Your Life’.

Come join us next week at Afterburners Toastmasters Tuesday November 16, 2010. Theme is ‘Most Influential Person in My Life’. Now that should be interesting.

Aaron Robinson 

Honorary Toastmaster

Steven has a full day of contests!

What do clowns and barnyard animals have in common?
Give up? Toastmasters!

At Saturday's contests at Polytechnic United Methodist Church at Texas Wesleyan University, Division D's Clowns theme in the morning was followed in the afternoon by Division A with a Barnyard Humor theme. Afterburners were there in force! Before Division D could even get started, Brenda Daniels, the Contest Chair for Division A, was on the scene and in control. Pat Quick, Division A Governor, was ready and raring to go. Setma Maddox and Rose Timmons were already starting to bring in food to feed the afternoon crowd.

I was on hand to give my Project 9 speech, Persuade with Power, called "Dare to Dream" about the Dream Big Promotion as the Test Speaker for the Division D Contest. In it, I was able to indirectly brag on the super effort being made by Afterburners as one club that is still leading the way in the Dream Big Promotion. The contest, led by Division D Governor James Hansen, was done very well and was a great deal of fun. As soon as it ended around 12:30 pm, the Division A contest moved to take the hall.

The tables were covered with red and white checkered tablecloths, and decorated with buckets of peanuts, cow print balloons, mini bales of hay, and incredibly funny theme cards. Ryan Gallagher, Balloon Chair, assisted with the decorations. The kitchen was full of helpers, many of them Afterburners. Marla and Juan Tovar and Holly Trinh were prepping the food. Joyce King pitched in, and I understand she brought one of my favorites for the dessert contest, an excellent rendition of a southern favorite, Banana Pudding. Jodie Sanders was popping photos and awaiting the Humorous Speech contest, and Mack Mercer soon appeared for the Evaluation Contest, both representing Area 12. Antoinette Silas brought the beautiful certificates for the helpers and participants.

We ate sliders made with Cousin's Bar-B-Q, thanks to Rick Newton of Tip-Top and Jacqulyn Hudgins, Area 12 Governor. Cousin's Bar-B-Q also supplied all the fixin's. Setma Maddox made a whole heapin' bunch of deviled hen eggs and Linda Coleman brought the most delicious cole slaw. There was potato salad provided by Holsters Bar-B-Q and baked beans made by Warren Ehn. The food was incredible, and then the desserts . . . They were marked with a sign that said "Remember that stressed spelled backwards is desserts." The only stress was how to pick out the best. They were all so good.

The contest itself started at 3:00 pm to a packed house. Robi Ley was a great Toastmaster. Test Speaker Loren Norris gave his Project 6 speech, which was definitely an example of Vocal Variety and quite entertaining. Mack Mercer delivered an effective evaluation. Later, Jodie Sanders told us of her experience with "Apartment Living." And even as they both took 3rd place in their respective contests, they made me proud to be an Afterburner with them.

Pat Quick gave out the Division's Outstanding Officer awards and our own Brenda Daniels took the Outstanding Secretary Award. At the conclusion, Brenda's minions quickly cleared the tables and the kitchen, and all the evidence of a superb contest was gone.

Thanks to all of those who made it a fun and delightful day. See you in the Spring!

Steven Timmons

Nov 2: Election night debuts are winners

New members inducted tonight are (back) Ron Baker, Teresa Wilburn,
Ryan Gallagher, (front) Melessa Baker, and Holly Trinh

First-time toastmaster Ryan Gallagher worked hard on preparing for this meeting, and it paid off, with almost no changes to the agenda, and nearly every role player ready to go at the Call to Order. His organization and efforts to make sure everyone was ready were exemplary, and we hope everyone will follow his lead in their own opportunities.

In other debuts, Teresa Wilburn and our honorary member, Aaron Robinson gave their Ice Breaker speeches, showing us that we should anticipate good things to come from them. Aaron had previously given his Youth Leadership prize-winner, but this was his first official club speech, with a real-life verbal and written evaluation. Teresa has wasted no time getting started on her Toastmasters career, stealing a march on several other members who joined us before she did! 

And speaking of new members, we inducted Teresa, Ryan, Holly Trinh, and Melessa and Ron Baker tonight. All of them have jumped right into the swim by making speeches, taking meeting roles, and most exciting, volunteering for outside-the-club activities. We are glad they're here!

Jodie Sanders