01_27_04 Geospeakers Meeting Summary

We had a lovely 10th anniversary meeting at the USGS on January 27, 2004. The large conference room was decorated with wintry stars, snowflakes and balloons. We had a simple and tasty lunch, and were pleased to welcome many guests (see photos, about 1 MB).

We also had all but 2 current Geospeakers... Cynthia was trapped at off-site work meeting and Emily's father had a medical emergency which we hope has resolved favorably.

President Mitch Smith warmly welcomed our guests and introduced Shane, Toastmaster du Jour and author of the festive and colorful agenda. Shane talked a bit about today's topic, "Where we were, where we are", on which the Galvanizing quote chosen by Cecilia touched: "Every positive change - every jump to a higher level of energy and awareness - involves a rite of passage. Each time to ascend to a higher rung on the ladder of personal evolution, we must go through a period of discomfort, of initiation." Dan Millman

As Master Evaluator, Chris introduced the evaluation team: Stephanie standing in for Emily as Timer; Gary as Ah Counter; Joanna as Wordmaster/Grammarian. Words of the day were EXTANT (still in existence; not extinct or destroyed or lost) and MILESTONE (esp. the meaning: an important event, as in a person's career, the history of a nation, or the advancement of knowledge in a field; a turning point).

We were delighted to welcome back Martha Burbidge of the USGS as our Keynote Speaker. She was a charter member of Geospeakers, who left, alas, to pursue creative writing, but we know she misses us constantly and is probably writing a blockbuster thriller about the inner workings of our club. Martha presented a skillfully crafted tour of Geospeakers history and accomplishments. Being in administration, she was able to report with assurance the positive light in which we are viewed, and the value she feels we bring to the USGS. (We just wish a few of the people they advise to join us would do so!). She reviewed the outside accomplishments of members such as Cynthia's being Commodore of hte Half Moon Bay Yacht Club for 2 years and Stephanie resurrecting and being President of the Coastside Chorale, showing how Geospeakers has helped in our personal growth. She challenged us to look ahead at the next 10 years, make resolutions for the club, and plan how to bring them to fruition. Martha's speaking skills are quite up to snuff, and it pains me to say that because it's been a number of years since she left us;-)

Jorie Schulz and recently ex-member Jane Reid led our Table Topics. Jorie handed out a "snapshot" of life 10 years ago including 1994 top pop music, Academy Award nominations and winners, Headline News. I love how Table Topics always brings out interesting personality and interest tidbits. Ray Wimsett recognized most of the top 20 songs (for the record, I recognized one, which happened to be from Lion King, and might be indicative of the fact that a 5-yr-old inhabited my house). There were wonderful comments on movies of the time, and thumbs up for "Shawshank Redemption" and "Nobody's Fool" from Stephanie, and for "Madness of King George" from Shane. Fran pointed out that the list had Nixon dying twice, which while emphatic did not make it the most important headline (that went to the conflicts in Bosnia and Kosovo). Aldora wasn't as mesmerized with a headline of 1994 as she has been by the Mars landers... finding herself glued to the television as scientists celebrate and wax eloquent over soil analyses.

Jane then took the helm, reminding us of some classic Table Topics of the past... an early example of shocking lies from Martha's own lips as she extolled her love of bananas when actually she hates them! When Jane's son Parker visited the club several years ago, he was much smaller and felt the best improvement that should be made to cars would be to raise child seats so they could see out the window. Cecilia says she needs a truly useful coffee holder, as well as secure and convenient place to store audio tapes/CDs, sunglasses, etc. Oh, and an automatic cleaner for those crumbs and spills inside the car. One memorable topic was to say why we were suited for a particular job. At this meeting Charles Butterfield turned his inexperience with espresso machines into a plus as he applied for the job of barrista at Pete's Coffee... Charles would have no pre-conceived notion of how to do this job and was sure this would lead to "a certain level of curiousity if not amazement among the customers". In Gretchen's comments on memorable moments, she shared being at the recent memorial service for charter member Mary Lou Callas: thanks to Geospeakers' experience, for the first time ever Gretchen spoke at such a gathering, recalling how in her job as editor at the USGS and in her role as speech evaluator, Mary Lou had helped Gretchen improve both writing and speaking skills.

Shane as always had colorful comments to add to the proceedings, including noticing that 8 of the 20 top pop songs in 1994 are love songs- "ick" - and that in his opinion the best way to improve cars is to add missiles.

Some of us used the words of the day, some of us had ahs, no fines collected due to the momentous occasion. The meeting was wonderful, and I am sure I forgot to hand out adequate kudos so here goes:

Many thanks to Carol for organizing food; to Carol, Ann, Fran and Shane for providing food and drink; to Stephanie for decorations, helped by Shane, Carol, and Gretchen; to Chris for writing check to get the room set up; to many for re-positioning room furniture after the meeting; to Neil for taking care of inviting dignitaries and giving Mitch an intro list; to Stephanie for engaging the speaker and Table Topics personnel; to Martha for a thorough and heartfelt tribute; to everyone for coming and whatever else you've done to make this celebration a success.

Last word chosen by Cecilia: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the task has changed, but our ability to do has increased." Emerson

Attendees (apologies if any missed):

• Charles Butterfield, Immediate Past District 4 Governor
• Harry Holland, District 4 Public Relations Officer
• Wada Nandiwada, Division G Governor
• Rose Renwick, Division C Governor
• Louise Wolfe, Area C2 Governor
• Reema Mahamood of SRI Organon TM, past District 4 Governor and Geospeakers mentor
• Aldora Lee of SRI Organon TM, Geospeakers mentor
• Ray Wimsett of Sunset TM
• Martha Burbidge, past Geospeaker and Keynote Speaker
• Jane Reid (past Geospeaker) and son Parker (not for the first time, my you've grown)
• Karen Morgenstern, guest
• and current Geospeakers:
  Gary Curtis, Shane Detweiler, Joanna Dickson, Ann Gunderson, Chris Gutmacher, Fran Hostettler, Gretchen Luepke Bynum, Carol Reiss, Stephanie Ross, Jorie Schulz, Neil Shapiro, Mitch Smith, Cecilia Willer

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