Agenda for October 6th

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Dale Lehner
7:00 President Calls Meeting to Order

Welcomes Guests

 Gene
7:05 President Introduces the Toastmaster

Toastmaster of the Day

Open
7:10 Toastmaster Introduces

Timer

Table Topics Master

General Evaluator

Grammarian for the Word of the Day

John

Open

Open

Gene
7:15 Toastmaster Introduces Speakers

1.  Jerry

2.  Arlene

3.  Cecilia

4.

Toastmaster Introduces the General Evaluator

5-7 min.

5-7 min.

5-7 min.

5-7 min.
7:55 General Evaluator calls for speech evaluations:

Evaluator 1

Evaluator 2

Evaluator 3

Evaluator 4

Cecilia

Jerry

Arlene
8:05 General Evaluator introduces Topics Master

Conducts Table Topics Session

Returns control to General Evaluator

Open
8:15 General Evaluator calls for reports:

Grammarian

Timer

General Evaluator evaluates meeting

Introduces the VP Education

Gene

John
8:25 VP Education plans next meeting agenda

 Gene
8:30 President closes meeting Gene
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Honoring Claude Schilling

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Dale Lehner

On September 29th, after the Humorous Speech Contest, Claude Schilling was honored at a small event at a local hotel. Claude is putting a hold on his Toastmaster activities while he pursues another dream and the three clubs in Eau Claire wanted to thank Claude for his leadership over the years.

Vic Galafano, of the Chippewa Valley Toastmasters, presided over the evening activities and was at his best by deftly telling all of us jokes about Claude’s parrot.  Claude does not actually have a parrot but as Claude himself has said, “Never let the truth stand in the way of a good story”.

Many people rose to tell personal stories of Claude’s leadership in Toastmasters and it was easy to see that he has earned the respect and admiration of all Toastmasters in Eau Claire.

Claude’s wife,  Corrita, took the center of the room and gave a heartfelt recognition of Claude that was emotional for many of us.

I won’t go into all the memories and the humor that was shared that evening but it was a wonderful tribute to a community leader. We should all strive to become the leader that Claude has been in this area.

The evening concluded with an Ode to Claude Schilling .

(Later we  learned that this was also his birthday and it made this more fitting.)

An Ode to Claude Schilling

May Happiness seize thee, Claude, our friend,
O Toastmaster leader extraordinaire!
Your service to mankind will surely append
Another one’s history here in Eau Claire.

Your Time and your Talent share a witty blend,
And your precious wisdom, spoken with a smile,
Reveal true greatness and they do but extend
The myth and the legend of you without guile.

‘He was no myth of history,’ the historians defended.
‘Claude led the area through the difficult days.
All here know he frequently wended
His Wisdom to everyone like a fire ablaze.’

‘Older than dirt’is his friendly approbation,
And ‘Toastmaster sandwiches’ are now eaten every day,
‘The meat is the substance for the evaluation’,
Our Toastmaster Leader communicates this way.

Our Leader among Leaders respectfully teaches,
With an integrity and courtesy that we commend,
That in Toastmasters there are ‘No Free Speeches’
And that we should complete objectives to the very end.

May Happiness seize thee, Claude, our friend.
May the shackles of mediocrity never arise,
The misfortunes of this world you will surely transcend,
To us, your fellow Toastmasters, you are ‘Claude the Wise’.

Chippewa Valley Toastmasters
Club 6173 District 35

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Humorous Speech Contest September 29

Posted on October 1, 2011 by Dale Lehner

As many of you know, the North Division Area 4 Humorous Speech contest took place at the LDS Chapel on September 29th at 7:00 pm. The three Toastmaster clubs in the Chippewa Valley area were represented: Chippewa Valley Toastmasters, Heart of Eau Claire, and Eau Claire Hutchinson Toastmasters.

Krissy Custer led off the competition with a light-hearted review of a vacation experience of swimming with sharks. I checked out her boyfriend for the web feet that she mentioned but I only saw normal guy shoes.

Tom Wagener has a wonderful presentation style that was a good fit with his around-the-house-Tim-the-Tool-Man approach to humor about himself. I enjoyed him immensely.

Barb Weisenberger  had kept a secret for years from her husband and she finally told him during a medical emergency because ‘Laughter is the Best Medicine’.  She re-told that story and the laughter that allowed them to lighten the burden during that emergency. Today her husband reminds her of the story whenever he has a chance.  She has a wonderful story-telling style.

Dale Lehner  (that’s me) spoke of the power and types of secrets in a humorous way that people could identify with.

Barb Weisenberger took first place and Dale Lehner took second place.

Given that both winners spoke of secrets, should we speculate that secrets of any kind still hold power in mysterious ways?

The next step is the Division level contest to be held in Wausau in October. Both Barb and Dale will present at that competition. More to come later about that…

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Humorous Speech Contest September 15th!

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Dale Lehner

Why did the Toastmaster cross the road?  To get to the Chippewa Valley TM Club’s Humorous Speech Contest at 7 PM on Thursday, September 15th.  (The speech contest is in place of our regular club meeting.)

I entered the Humorous Speech Contest last year and had great fun with it. The key, I think, is to pick a topic with which you are very familiar and that resonates with the masses and find the humor in it. The time limit for the humorous speech is 5-7 minutes.

Please consider entering the Humorous Speech Contest.  In addition to speakers, we need judges (5) and timers (2).  I am the contest chair, so please let me know if you are speaking or would like to serve as a judge or timer.  Thanks!

I’ve pasted the rules below.  You can also find out more about the Humorous Speech Contest on the Toastmasters International web site.

Humorous Speech Contest Rules
The Humorous Speech Contest follows all rules outlined in the General Rules section of this rulebook.  In addition, the following additions and exceptions apply.
1. The subject for the humorous speech shall be selected by the contestant. The speaker shall avoid potentially objectionable language, anecdotes, and material.
2. The speech must be thematic in nature (opening, body, and close), not a monologue (series of one-liners).

Thanks much….Arlene

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