Due
to the Thanksgiving holiday, the latest Warner Center Toastmaster's
meeting was held on a Monday instead of the traditional 4th Thursday of
the month. Still, the members of Warner Center Toastmaster's
showed up in high spirits and ready to give thanks, as was the evenings
theme, for the year that was slowly winding to a close.
Lead by Table Topic Master, Dan Marzec, CTM, the Table Topics session
focused on appreciation and gratitude. During the session Wes
Johnson, CTM, joked that his memory was something he didn't miss until
it was already gone, Susan Mayberry, ATM-B told a story in which her
husband showed appreciation
for her, and Art Hugon spoke about a terminally ill woman he knew who
was grateful just to have a bed to lie in while sick. The
evening's Best Table Topic award went to Joe Austin who related how
grateful he was to have his son.
One of our newer members, Tony Summers, began the speech portion of
the evening with his Icebreaker. Entitled, "Life is Like a Box of
Chocolates," Tony provided the group with some information on his more
recent history. In his speech, Tony spoke about one night in
particular when he met and then became enamored with a beautiful woman
at a bar. When time to go home, Tony related, he asked for her
number, but she decided to take his instead. To Tony's surprise,
she actually called him a few days later and the two began to pursue a
relationship. Soon, Tony had an offer to move across the country
and the two of them set out to create their future in California.
Today, Tony has the opportunity to become an External
Wholesaler
for his company, and the girl he met in the bar so many nights ago is
now his fiancé.
Monday, November 21st was a special night for our VP of Publicity,
Rita Van Dyke because not only was it another great Warner Center
Toastmaster's meeting, but it was also the night of her 25th birthday.
Rita used the occasion to give a speech about the lesson she had learned
thus far. As an adoptee, Rita related early in her speech, "it was
hard to be the only non-biological member of [her] four person family."
Her experiences as an adoptee taught her some hard lesson early on in
her life, and cause a great personal rift for most of her young adult
years. After a struggle with her past, Rita finally
emerged with three lessons she had learned: (1) just because you are
different, doesn't make you any less a part of the group; (2) be
yourself; and (3) accept yourself for who you are.
Rose Lane, DTM and Founder of Warner Center Toastmasters, capped off the evening with an interpretative reading entitled, "The Gift of Giving Yourself." During her speech, Rose mentioned that "an argument may not be the real issue," and explained how our repressed emotions can surface during a heated exchange. Rose explained how arguments are generally more about how the couple feels about each other, rather than the issue at hand. She suggested that couples can strive for an even happier relationship by taking some time out when an argument is about to erupt. She also suggested trying to leave past hurts out of the equation and only to focus on the current matter in question. Finally, Rose reminded us that "When you give of yourself, that is the greatest gift of all."
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Awards for November 21, 2005 Trophy Master: Tricia Geaves |
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Best Table Topics Joe Austin |
Icebreaker Tony Summers |
Best Speech Rita Van Dyke |
Best Evaluator Carolyn Goldman |
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