Members: Dues are Due

Fellow Toastmasters,

It is time to renew your membership to Marsh Winds Toastmasters #7179.
In order for our club to achieve the goal of submitting dues on
time, we ask all members to make sure payments are received
on or before March 30, 2009 via US Mail - Monday.

You can hand deliver your check to Larry Everett at
our club meetings -- the last meeting to hand in the check would
be March 26, 2009 - Thursday. Or you can mail in your check to Larry Everett (my address is in the current roster and in the email I send you.) Your check MUST be received by March 30, 2009 via US Mail - Monday so please allow enough time for postal delivery.

If you are not going to be able to pay by the due date, please contact me at
larry.everett@comcast.net.

Thank you in advance for your timely payment!

Must Read for Members

Greetings Fellow Toastmasters,

I'm writing about three items:

First of all, our Club Contest will be held next week, Thursday, February 26th at 9:15. Contestants are to arrive by 9:00 for their briefing and selection of speaking order. Right now, we have Dr. Michael Kennedy speaking in both the International Speech Contest and the Table Topics Contest. In the Table Topics Contest, Jenn Ray, Lee Handwerger, and Mike Kennedy will be "thinking on their feet." Would anyone else like to join in?

I am going to be the Contest Chair, Betty Liedtke will be the Chief Judge, Larry Everett will be the Sergeant at Arms, Crissy Roeglin, the Timer, and we have a few judges set (Pamela Rediger, Carol Ulstad, Larry Everett...) It would be wonderful to have a few more people sign up to help out. This is going to be an enjoyable morning!

Secondly, the second half of the year dues are coming up to be paid at the end of March. I would like to encourage each of you to keep the door open to your Toastmasters experience by sending your dues to Larry Everett. He will be sending out an invoice as the time gets closer, but I wanted to plant the seed for you to come and continue to grow this spring and summer! :-)

And last of all, at the last "President's meeting" we were encouraged to remind everyone that we will vote for Toastmaster of the Year in a couple of months. All club members are eligible, even those who have received it before as long as he/she has not been District Toastmaster of the Year. More information will be sent out as it gets closer, but if you'd like to look at the qualities of a TM of the Year, log on to http://www.d6tm.org/forms and look at the Toastmaster of the Year Form.

We are 25 members strong with a new guest coming next week and another to revisit!

Your friend at the lectern and beyond,

Sandy

PS I've updated the Marsh Winds scrapbook with photos from the past 3 years. What memories we've created together! Stop in and see for yourself...

Toastmasters meeting recap from Feb 12, 2009

Toastmasters meeting recap from Feb 12, 2009

Meeting Theme – “I heart Toastmasters"

Table Topics (Jean Keating) - LOVE

Michael Kennedy served as Toastmaster, and also as the evaluator for Lisa Jenks’ speech. Lisa Jenks served as Presiding Officer and presented a *book speech. Susan Budig (a previous member) served as the Ah Counter & Grammarian. Larry Everett served as Timer, General Evaluator, and Sgt-at-arms.

Lisa gave a wonderful talk, "The Essence of X," using an Advanced Manual. This speech was her final speech for obtaining the Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB) award level. This speech made me think about what is being said, and she did an excellent job with the speech objective, and delivered a very good speech.

Jean Keating had interesting table topics on the subject of LOVE. Each had the opportunity to explain how LOVE is a part of his or her life. All had an opportunity to express themselves, including the four guests that were present.

We had several returning guests, and one new guest. We learned again that the Internet was the source of learning about Marsh Winds Toastmasters.

We also had a new member join the club – Carol Ulstad. At the close of the meeting, she was no longer a guest.

Next week we will plan to induct another new member - so do not miss this special event!

Larry Everett

*A book speech in Toastmasters lingo is one that is given based on a project in the Toastmasters program. There are many, many possible projects to work on, so Toastmasters can always work a speech into something they can receive credit for in the educational program and that they can receive feedback on.

Our Place in the Scheme of Things

Marshwinds Toastmasters of Minnetonka, Minnesota meets at the Marsh. We are part of Area 92, Western Division, District 6, Region IV of Toastmasters International.

It is breath-taking to think of the size and positive influence of Toastmasters International. It might be a little overwhelming, but two important facts must be known:

1. It is great to have such an established and well-organized parent like Toastmasters International.
2. The action is at the club level for most member. Strong clubs make for strong members and success stories. The organization exists to serve the local clubs who in turn serve the members.

Toastmasters meeting recap from Feb 5, 2009

Toastmasters meeting recap from Feb 5, 2009

Meeting Theme – “Why Toastmasters”

Table Topics (Mark Forsberg) - Health

Larry Everett served as Toastmaster, Presiding Officer and Sergeant-at-Arms, and selected a theme for the meeting “Why Toastmasters”. It is good to ask a rhetorical question “Why”, and then ponder the question with how to respond positively. Toastmasters program is a positive meeting forum to learn – learn to communicate more effectively, and also how to listen. We sometimes forget that communications consists of both speaking and listening. It is also important to note that having fun while learning creates a positive environment.

Betty gave a wonderful talk, "Read Out Loud," from the Specialty Speeches Advanced Manual. The purpose of this project was to improve storytelling skills through an interpretive reading of the material she has selected. She gave a 12-15-minute reading, which included an introduction of the story, from the Young Adult novel, "America," by E.R. Frank.

Dr. Shaun Jamison gave a speech from the Vocal Variety #5 CC Manual. His title was “Why I (Re)Joined Toastmasters”. Knowing why we are in Toastmasters helps us focus both on our goals and helping others achieve theirs. He completed the distinguished Toastmaster award, and is restarting the program using the basic Toastmasters CC manual.

We learned from our guests that they had found Marsh Winds Toastmasters via the Internet, and had visited the club web site and the club “blog” web site maintained by Dr. Shaun Jamison. This is positive feedback with the importance of the Internet to attract new members.

We had two people submit membership applications and two great guests! Please be sure to come next week to welcome our new members as they are inducted.

Larry Everett