May 24, 2007                                             Club #2966                                         Editor: Bill Anderson
                                                     Meeting Theme: "Bravery"

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Heroism: It’s the Small Things (Recap of May 10^th Meeting)

          Enjoying the camaraderie and good times for which they are known, thirty-one Warner Center Toastmasters’ (WCTM) members and five guests gathered at the Marriott for the club’s May 10^th meeting. The theme of the night was Heroes. After an induction ceremony in which three new members (Phillip Fischer, Cynthia Leganuer, and Michelle Manzi) were welcomed in to the club, the evening’s Toastmaster, Shelly Bright took control of the meeting. Using her opening remarks to explore the many facets of heroism, Shelly sited several examples that saluted, “The many ordinary people who do the little things in life that make it better.” Among these are, “The heartfelt, constructive feedback that our Toastmasters ‘Evaluations’ give us.”

Table Topics: The Hero with Many Faces

          Making her debut as Topics Master was Cate Bramble, who led the opening, “extemporaneous speaking” segment of the evening’s program, “Table Topics.” Remarking that our culture is fixated on celebrity, she observed, “A hero is distinguished by achievement. Celebrity is a sedative.” Using this perspective as her point-of-departure, Cate then asked six WCTM members a series of questions that probed their most inner thoughts on the true nature of heroes and of heroism. Those questioned were:  Alan Reveles, Phil Fischer, Geza Kalman, Susan Mayberry, ATM-B / CL, Lois Coburn, and Cynthia Leganeur. The ribbon for the Best Table Topic went to Susan Mayberry who fielded the question, “Who is your hero and why?”

Prepared Speeches: Heroic Efforts

The Toastmaster experience finds its purest form in the “Prepared Speeches” portion of each meeting’s program. Here WCTM members develop their speaking skills by giving talks that follow a set of objectives outlined in the Communications and Leadership Manual (CLM). For the10 May gathering, four club members provided speeches that highlighted both the talent found within WCTM and the diversity of its members.

Michelle Manzi led off the segment with her CLM Icebreaker, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding.” Speaking of the many parallels to the movie that she experienced growing up in an extended Italian family, Michelle described listening to hours of family stories told by her parents, grand parents, aunts, uncles, etc. Now that she and her siblings are spread across the entire U.S., Michelle has had to work hard to create a modern version of the extended family for her own daughter. “I hope that she will be as lucky as I was with people who love her. May be my parent’s version of ‘My Big Fat Italian Wedding’ will be one of her stories as she creates her own life,” she concluded.

“Leaving a Legacy of Love” was the title of Bonnie Schuman’s CLM speech #3, the evening’s next offering. In it she explained that an “Ethical Will” is a letter written to be given to your loved ones after you have passed on. Not just a gift to your heirs, it is also a means for you to gain greater clarity about the purpose and meaning of life. Urging all to create such a document, Bonnie observed, “You deserve it. Your loved ones deserve it - this treasure, this legacy of love.”

Eleonor Arellano was up next with a meditation on the challenges of work and career entitled, “It’s an Opportunity, but Is It Worth It?”, her speech #4 from the CLM. Describing the many obstacles she now faces as a Heath Care Administrator at Kaiser, Eleonor went on to acknowledge the doubts she has experienced about leaving an “easy” job to seize her current career opportunity. What has sustained her is the realization that her own motivation for work comes both from a passion to help others and from the need for a challenge. Summing up, she said, “Challenges make life more interesting. My current job is worth a million dollars to me because it is also my passion!”

The evening’s final talk, “Blueprint for Happiness,” was given by Jackie Goldberg. In this speech #8 from the CLM, Jackie summed up her own “blueprint” for getting the most out of life: Live with passion; Love, embrace it in all its forms; Laugh as life is filled with both humor and sadness. This strategy has enabled WCTM’s “Pink Lady” to navigate a successful course through the many challenges of her own life, including early widowhood with three children five to nine years of age. “If you really ‘Live’, ‘Love’, and ‘Laugh’ you will have all the riches in the world,” she advised. For her entertaining and inspirational effort, Jackie Goldberg was voted the evening’s Best Speaker.

Evaluations: Chivalry Includes “Quiet”

          The always important “Evaluations” portion of the evening’s program was moderated by General Evaluator, Beverly Rankel, CTM. “This is the most ‘chivalrous’ part of the evening,” she began. “It takes courage to come up here and provide an evaluation.” Congratulating all speakers on an evening of “excellent” speeches and Table Topics, Beverly also lauded the general flow of the meeting. However, she admonished one and all about the amount of commotion and “side” talk that had occurred over the evening. “It was great evening and I was glad to be a part of it,” she closed. Individual evaluations were done by John Graves, CTM / CL (Michelle Manzi), Carolyn Goldman, CTM (Bonnie Schuman), Rose Lane, DTM (Eleonor Arellano), and Art Hugon (Jackie Goldberg) who was voted the evening’s Best Evaluator.

Annual Club Elections

At the conclusion of its May 10^th meeting, Warner Center Toastmasters held its annual election of officers. The following slate was elected for the 2007 / 2008 Toastmasters year which begins July 1^st: