Spring is here.  It is time to tackle that yard work you’ve been putting off all winter or time to clean out the closet from all those clothes you keep holding onto hoping they’ll come back in style.  Wednesday’s meeting was all about spring-cleaning, spring projects and starting anew or de nevo (Wednesday’s word of the day).  Brian was Toastmaster with Kristina providing the invocation, Louis as Timer, and Becky as Grammarian.

Maria served as Table Topics Master.  She got Keith to talk about what his four legged, creepy crawly friends from the garden say to him – we learned Keith is very protective of his crops.  Maria also got Neil to discuss the conversation he had with the giant red oak trees in his front yard – turns out Neil isn’t all that fluent in oak.  Finally, Li shared with us stories of a family reunion filled with plenty relatives – everyone from youngest cousin to oldest aunt.

Darron, Robby and Rey were the day’s speakers.

Darron gave his icebreaker speech; it was titled “Wedding Season”.  We learned his final push to join toastmasters was motivated to be prepared for wedding season.  Darron wants to get geared up to rock his best man speeches at his upcoming buddy’s, John, wedding.  He also has his own wedding to look forward to on June 5th.  During the course of his story telling it also became clear that Darron is the guy to see if you need to improve your golf swing – and who doesn’t need to improve their golf swing, really.  All in all it was a great first speech – we hope to see his second speech on the way soon.

Robby gave his third speech from the Competent Communication Manual.  His speech was titled “Social Entrepreneurship”.  He enlightened us on ways entrepreneurs can develop successful business models that not only turn a profit but also give back to communities.  A central example in his speech was TOMS shoes.  For every pair of TOMS shoes purchased, a new pair of TOMS shoes goes to a child in need.  His supporting example came from the founder of Patagonia who has been a life long outdoors enthusiast who has found ways to make outdoor recreational sports, like rock climbing, less destructive to the natural environment.  It was definitely a thought provoking speech.

Rey gave her 5th speech from the Interpretive Reading Manual.  She recreated Princess Diana’s famous speech, “Responding to Landmines”.  Princess Diana originally gave the speech on June 12, 1997.  The speech calls to attention the lethal impact such mines have on some of the poorest citizens of the world.  The extent of land mines death toll is largely unknown in many developed countries, but a stark living reality in previous and current war torn countries.  Rey did a beautiful job bringing this speech to life again.  We commend her on tackling a difficult speech project and doing so with such a famously powerful speech.

Ribbon Winners:

Best Table Topic – Keith

Best Speaker – Darron

Most Enthusiastic – Brian

Best Evaluator – Amy

Best Humor – Keith