Pania Blog – Thursday 22
August 2019
A very special celebration for a founder
member!
Yes, it was 80 years ago today that one of our founder
members, Graeme, uttered his first sound. It was not known then that he would
continue to make excellent use of that particular skill to not only become an
exemplary speaker himself, but also be a shining example to all members that
have joined Pania in the ensuing years, right through to the current day. The
sound he uttered then might have been unrecognisable to the modern Toastmaster
today, but be assured that it would have been loud and intended to make people
listen!! Nothing has really changed!
We are so thankful that Graeme is still a stalwart member of
our club and he continues to guide and mentor our newer members by example. We
all hope for many years yet to come!
Just to demonstrate his revered status, Graeme was our
Toastmaster of the meeting as well as his usual role of Sergeant at Arms,
setting up the room which was colourful, attractive and welcoming to everyone as
they arrived. The number of ‘80s’ in the room also made for some raised
eyebrows!
Graeme started the meeting on time and ably assisted
by our Timekeeper Leigh, maintained that standard throughout. Our guests,
ex members Jan and David, Area R3 Director Brian, and long
absent member Mike were all warmly introduced and welcomed by
Craig and Graeme.
Craig then immediately stepped into his role as our
first speaker, which appropriately was a Roast titled Graeme
Frederick Valentine, where he gave a full overview of the many faceted man who
we have all come to know, honour and respect. Craig delivered a
thoughtful, respectful and well-constructed speech which celebrated our most
revered member by delivering a solid overview of Graeme’s many talents,
achievements and successes.
Patrick evaluated Craig’s thoughtful speech and
congratulated him on his delivery of a well- constructed, thoughtful and
meaningful delivery. Patrick commended Craig on the use of humour and the
overall structure. He suggested that Craig could use even more exaggeration and
examples as the subject was strong enough to take it.
Our second speaker of the day Sandy was ably
introduced by Israel, who was delivering his first introduction and
evaluation. Israel correctly identified and explained the project,
purpose and objectives for Sandy’s speech entitled ‘Wild Times!’
He explained the specific challenges of Sandy’s assignment that would also be
the focus of his evaluation and feedback.
Sandy proceeded to transport us to the Dolomites in
Italy. Using no notes, she cleverly used the interplay on the words in her title
‘Wild Times’ by energetically and physically demonstrating how she used the
climbing gear both correctly and incorrectly! A highly visual and effective
demonstration Sandy!! We are grateful you came back!!
Israel delivered and outstanding evaluation. It would
have been easy to think he had been doing this for a while as it was a text book
delivery. He commended Sandy’s structure, development of material and the
enjoyment created by her delivery. He explained how her voice painted a picture
for us and effectively placed us in the event. He commented on her
credibility. Israel recommended that she vary her pace to emphasise certain
points and to watch some gesturing and clasps. Israel then summarised very
effectively.
Table Topics was next on our agenda, ably presented by
Lou with a range of topics based on facts from Graeme’s life. Lou
twisted each selected fact and asked each speaker to apply her question to
themselves. Four topics were given and answered:
Based on being born in the bottom of the South Island,
Mike was asked which South Island Town would appeal to him. Mike
answered in his usual confident and bold way together with his inevitable twist
as he chose Gore as his ideal, humorously explaining just why it was his town of
choice.
After hearing that Graeme stored his car of choice in his
garage, Michael was then asked which car would be stored in his garage.
Michael explained his choice with passionate descriptions of his ideal
car.
Mehran ‘s question was based on whether he agreed with
Graeme that it was best to know the score before watching a favourite sports
game. Mehran agreed and disagreed (hedging his bets?) and decided that
maybe it was the size of the game that mattered.
Benita was then asked what her thoughts were on being
80? Benita approached this gradually by starting with 50 and cleverly
introduced puns on height and growing.
All speakers were able to get into the mood today and tackled
their topics with relative ease. The overall humorous mood of this special
meeting was infectious and helped everyone to relax. Thanks, Lou, for matching
your topics to the theme., and well done to all of today’s speakers.
Awards: Best
Speaker – Craig for the generous and thoughtful way he crafted this most
important celebratory roast for our most venerated member, Graeme.
Best Evaluator –
Israel for an excellent maiden evaluation – text book!
Best Table Topic – Benita
Another energising and celebratory meeting. There was a great
buzz and energy today which was absorbed by everyone. Great speeches, great
evaluations and great energy. Today was an extra-special day as we joined
together to honour and celebrate one of our founder members who was also
celebrating a special milestone birthday. Thanks to everyone for bringing a
contribution to the celebratory lunch – it’s good to relax and catch up with
everyone.
Finally, we look forward to the next 10 Graeme –
Happy Birthday and thanks for all you do for our great club! Well done
everyone – another great meeting!!
General Evaluator - Laurel Francis
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