Well here we are Thursday 31st October, Halloween, and that was the theme put forward by Toastmaster Craig for today's Pania meeting, 13 members attended and two guests, Justin, a first time guest, bravely tackled a Table Topic (hope this did not put him off) and the other guest was our esteemed Area Governor, Ian Wright from Hastings, who was on his first 'official visit'.
Craig commenced the meeting by giving us some details about the origin of Halloween and these titbits continued throughout the meeting, (did he look resplendent in his witches hat?)
We kicked off with Table Topics run by Jen, who continued the meeting theme with topics about Halloween. Cheryl had to explain why she had "Sanhainphobia" (pronounced 'sah-winphobia') which is a fear of Halloween- and she had it in a big way! Wendy told us how she would put off people coming to the door to "trick or treat" she does not have many, living on a lifestyle block away from populated areas, Darryl spoke about 'owls and witches'-both creatures of the night-one supposedly wise the other well who knows ??? Ian (Area Gov) explained that while in some parts of the States Black Cats cannot be sold prior to Halloween, that don't happen in NZ and our guest Justin, made an excellent fist of not being offended by people who come to the door on Halloween (some apparently dress up as Priests!). Well answered by everyone and good topics for the theme meeting-well done Jen( who for each speaker rewarded them with a treat- no tricks!)
Our first speaker was Barbara, introduced by Graeme, Barbara was working from the Advanced Manual "Speciality Speeches" and doing Project One 'Speaking of the Cuff''. She gives her Evaluator five subjects and he chooses one for her to speak about. Her subject was "Those Were The Days" and Barbara presented a well constructed and interesting speech about family time at the beach(Aramoana) starting 20 years ago and the carrying on today-from Caravan to Beach Cottage- and the young ones are older with young ones of their own! Well done Barbara- I am sure it brought back memories for many of us 'slightly' older ones. Graeme gave his usual efficient evaluation with some good feedback for Barbara particularly use of pace and pause (Barbara had so many interesting facts to tell us she was a little quick).
Ian (Our Ian!) evaluated Table Topics and felt that we should allow two minutes for speakers as it is very difficult to build an Opening, Body and Conclusion in 1 minute! He did like Jen's offer of treats for the speakers (even if he did not get one!)
Ian (Area Governor) gave us a presentation on his role in Toastmasters and why he joined and kept coming (for 7 years). A member of Hastings and Magpie Clubs he is doing an excellent job for the Area to date and his presentation would have been extremely interesting for the more recent members particularly.
The General Evaluation wound up the meeting with Mike assisted by Timekeeper David, who kept us pretty well to time right through. Mike gave a comprehensive evaluation of those not already evaluated with compliments to Graeme for finding recommendations he had not even thought about and suggestions to Ian(our Ian) to seek comments for the individual speakers in Table Topics.
Best Evaluator; Graeme.
Best Speaker; Barbara.
Best Table Topic; Cheryl
Next week's Toastmaster is Barbara, contact her if you are programmed and will not be there.
REMINDER; Evaluation Contest to be held on 14th November.
Did you know that 25% of candy (USA) sold in the States each year is at Halloween(A dentist's dream!)
Trick or Treat-which will it be at your place tonight???
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