04_13_04 Geospeakers Meeting Summary

Mitch, our noble President, rocked our first April meeting to order, only slightly past our appointed time. After a Galvanizing quote from Neil, Mitch conducted the club business portion of our meeting. Kudos from the Area C-2 Contest to Shane, who took second in the Tall Tales Contest, and Neil, who was selected as the Area C-2 Toastmaster of the Year. Mitch then presented Ann with her trophy as Geospeakers' Toastmaster of the Year for 2003. Congratulations to all! The final item of business came from Chris, who distributed copies of our newest publicity flyer for outside of USGS. Thanks to Stephanie for keeping these flyers fresh and up-to-date!

Mitch was also our Toastmaster du jour, so he got to introduce himself, a skill which many of us probably don't even THINK of developing. Just another benefit of Toastmasters! Mitch introduced our theme, "Products which are no longer with us" through several reflections, as he fondly remembered three-layered jello, noting that "the world is a smaller place without it". Mitch also told us of his Hasbro Simsonic drum pad set, and concluded by observing that "good things vanish, but bad things, like Madonna, stay."

Neil then introduced the evaluation team du jour: Joanna as Timer, Shane as Wizard of Ahs, Gary as Wordmaster/Grammarian, and Cynthia and Fran as evaluators.

We heard two excellent speeches. First, Ann, in "The Ripe Stuff" (speech #6 from the C&L manual), raised our consciousness about using local farmers in the future when buying our produce. Her speech was full of great phrases such as "global vending machine", "organic go-kart" and "eggmobiles", and also featured a wonderful quote from The Dalai Lama: "Although there is a limit to what we as individuals can do, there is no limit to what a universal response might achieve. It is up to us as individuals to do what we can, however little that may be. Just because switching off the light on leaving the room seems inconsequential, it doesn't mean we shouldn't do it."

Next, Chris, did The Monodrama (speech #3 from Interpretive Reading). In "WHAT are they THINKING?", she read us several hysterical excerpts from "Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging" by Louise Rennison. This was a brilliant look into the mind and heart of a "typical" British teenager named Georgia Nicolson.

Table Topics was next; Gretchen tested our memory by giving us the names of long-gone products and asking if we remembered them. Of course, our imaginations came into play as we tried to figure what these products MIGHT have been. We also recalled some favorite vanished products of our own. Mitch won Most Humorous as he told us of how, when he was 14, he and his friends used Score, a shoe-darkening product to darken their bodies in a vain attempt to join a gang (Score is actually a hair cream for men). Ann was awarded Most Eloquent as she described Flavorade for us: a purple liquid in small bottles, bought by Scandinavians to mix into their mashed potatoes (it's actually a powdered drink, similar to Kool Aid). Finally, Chris was Most Interesting; she had no idea what Little Prune was (it's pantyhose), but she did tell us of a website her husband found that will find for you long-gone candy that you remember from your youth. They make a deal with manufacturers to make you a batch. Thanks for the information, Chris - the website is www.hometownfavorites.com/shop/candy_store.asp

In our evaluation portion, we heard two very good evaluations, by Cynthia and Fran, both full of good suggestions for our speakers. We heard also from Joanna, our Timer, and Shane and Gary who told us of our verbal glitches and our excellent use of language. Finally, Neil summed up the meeting as a whole.

See you in two weeks!

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