Middlesex County Toastmasters
Open House
On March 25th, Middlesex County Toastmasters held an exciting Open House with 40 people in attendance. The theme was “Communicate and Prosper,” which resonated throughout the evening.
Members present: Tom Alvord, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jen Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jonathan Martin, Cheryl Mason, Erin Mulhern, Pam Mulready, Emily O’Brien, Mike O’Brien, Dianne Olsen, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Pete Plotica, Kim Price, Eric Roise, Rob Schaff and Arun Sodani
Visiting Dignitaries: Roger Arnold (Area B1 Governor),Ute Brinkmann (Area C1 Governor), Nathan Jaycox (Division C Governor), Don Logie (District Photographer), Bette McIntire (Division B Governor), and Sharon Roth (District Webmaster)
Other Guests: Jerry Aiyathurai (Keynote Speaker), Richard Chang, Doug Compton, Ashley Gasper, Lawrence Gore, Art Herold, Jorge Kuljis, Patrick Laffan, Rachel Mele, Mike Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Natacha Kereigza, Sabrina Steuber, and Janette White
President Cheryl Mason led the business portion of the meeting with the following:
• Jonathan Martin, Erin Mulhern, and Eric Roise were welcomed as our newest members from last week and presented with Toastmasters pins!
• April 1st is the deadline to submit membership dues to International Headquarters ($33.00). Please mail your checks prior to that date, to John Keppler. Email John for his home address to send your checks to him: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
• Our Club has earned 9 out of 10 points towards Presidents’ Distinguished Club status. We are at the top in our District.
Kim Price was an outstanding Toastmaster, transitioning the meeting with precision as he led us through the events.
Jerry Aiyathurai was the Keynote Speaker. His speech, “A Toastmaster’s Journey” was fitting for our Open House. Jerry was asked by our Club to provide us with expertise to help us to become better evaluators. After we all listened to a “Test Speaker,” Jerry privately coached two evaluators on evaluating the speech. After the evaluators made their presentation to the Club, Jerry finished with coaching tips for the audience. His handouts are attached to this message. Speech Microwave 3 Evaluation Considerations He was incredible. Thank you, Jerry.
Table Topics Master, Cheryl Mason provided an array of interesting questions for impromptu speaking. Participating were: Don Logie, Anne-Marie Cannata, Ute Brinkmann, Tom Alvord and Bette McIntyre.
Speakers:
#1 Michael O’Brien, (Test Speaker), “A Breath of Fresh Air”
#2 Charnaie Gordon, Storytelling, “Food For Thought”
#3 Murali Pemmaraju, CC Manual, “Stay the Course & Ride the Wave”
General Evaluator, John Keppler proved to be a role model himself with his own evaluation of the meeting.
Evaluators:
Kay Jeyapalan evaluated Charnaie Gordon
Ramesh Padavala evaluated Murali Pemmaraju
Rob Schaff and Tom Alvord evaluated Michael O’Brien
A special thanks to all the speakers and evaluators for a job well done!
Other Roles:
Pete Plotica: Sargeant At Arms, Timer
Erin Mulhern: Ah Counter
Kay Jeyapalan: Word of the Day, “Embellish” to beautify, enhance, or improve.
Congratulations to Erin and Eric for taking on roles for the first time!
Other Announcements:
• April 1st, our Club will have an “Extra” meeting, to be held at The Village at South Farms
• April 8th, our Club will be hosting the Area C5 International & Tall Tales contests
• May 22, District Spring Conference, International & Tall Tales Contest,
Other Clubs/Members Announcements:
Award certificates and gifts were presented to Jerry for his efforts as our Key Note speaker of the evening and to Charnaie for serving as Special Event Chair.
The meeting ended on time, at
Kudos to Charnaie Gordon, Kay Jeyapalan, Cheryl Mason, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Pete Plotica, Dianne Olsen, Tom Alvord, Mike O’Brien, John Keppler, and Murali Pemmaraju for all their efforts and contributions to making this Open House a terrific success.
Respectfully,
Dianne Olsen, Secretary,
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Jerry Aiyathurai |
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Bette McIntire and Tom Alvord |
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Charnaie Gordon |
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Murali Pemmaraju |
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Rob Schaff |
