The stated theme of yesterday’s meeting was “Elections.” But the covert theme was “Sharp Dressed Guys”

Our Toastmaster, Capital City Toastmasters Presidential Candidate Louis Burns, wore a deep blue shirt and coordinating black silver and blue tie, dress pants, and fancy shoes, while Candidate Keith Smith was reportedly home watching cartoons in his underwear J

Grammarian John Schmidt’s shirt and tie did much to lend an air of distinction to his role. Word of the Day was “contender” as in “He coulda been a contender.”

Speaker Jason Callendar made a compelling appearance in a black suit, starched white shirt, and a burgundy tie for his poetic and polished speech about the upcoming United States presidential election. So smooth was Jason that it was not actually clear which candidate he was backing.  That’s political savvy.  He won everyone over because he made us feel proud to be Americans, he inspired us to go vote, and damn! he looked good.

(Leeanne kept pace with the boys by delivering her speech in a lime green jacket and kept us on our toes with low-tech neon cue cards that she threw on the floor when she was done covering them. And her voice was as loud as her jacket.)

Albert Cantara was a GQ cover as he made a noble statement on behalf of Louis Burns. Handsome Patrick Reznik wore a jacket and presided over the elections with terrific dignity and efficiency. Topic Master Stuart Cook looked presidential as always, and his outfit was irrelevant. When you’ve got it all going on like Stuart, there is really no need to gild the lily.

It was wonderful to see many members we had not seen in a while: Raj Bhattarai, Lora Schneider, Maureen McReynolds, and Wendy Fisher.

And we have a new Capital City Toastmasters President for the July 2008 – June 2009: Louis Burns.

Congratulations to Louis and to the rest of the slate (everyone else ran unopposed):

President: Louis Burns

Vice President of Education: Rey DeVeau

Vice President of Membership: Wendy Fisher

Vice President of Public Relations: Jenny Brookover

Secretary: Taline Manassian

Treasurer: Jason Callender

Sergeant-at-Arms: Lora Schneider

And Congratulations to yesterday’s Ribbon Winners:

Best Speaker: Jason Callendar

Best Table Topic; Maureen McReynolds

Best Evaluator: Brendan Owens

Best Humor: Leeanne Pacatte

Most Enthusiastic: Corky Logue

Thanks to all for a great meeting, and for all the work that went on behind the scenes to get next year’s officer roles filled, and to facilitate a fair and efficient election.

Next time I’m Toastmaster, the theme will be “Hooray for Short Skirts”

Amy

Can a theme make a meeting or what? Toastmaster Jason Callendar chose “Music of the 80′s” – an AWESOME theme that seemed to resonate with everyone: from love songs (think Lionel Richie and Journey) to inspirational anthems (think Survivor and Queen) to Disco hits (Donna Summer) to the music of Madonna, Boy George, George Michael, and Michael Jackson.

Brendan Owens has still got it, and he proved it in a memorable speech that included everything we have come to expect from Brendan: humor, charm, great stories, and he even snuck in a point. In a six minute speech that included a solid minute of silence, Brendan reminded us of the good old days when things mattered more because people did one thing at a time.

Our second speaker, Maria, wore adorable shoes that matched a killer outfit and by the way she also talked about exercise and how we should all help ourselves.

General Evaluator Eric “Eye of the Tiger” Peterson wished he could have answered all the Table Topics, but instead they were fielded by Corky “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” Logue, David “Shiny Happy” Jorgensen, Carol “Last Dance” Conner, Taline “Walk Like an Egyptian” Manassian, and Stuart “Rocky” Cook.

Congratulations to our Winners:

Best Speaker: Brendan
Best Evaluator: Rey
Best Table Topic: Stuart
Best Humor: Brendan + Corky because Keith wasn’t there
Most Enthusiasm: Carol

Remember we’re ALL winners, as long as “Eye of the Tiger” is playing in our hearts:

Risin’ up, straight to the top
Have the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I’m not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive

It’s the eye of the tiger, it’s the thrill of the fight
Risin’ up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watchin’ us all in the eye of the tiger

Amy

PS and how could I forget Taline’s Invocation: an ode to the lovelorn Eric over the news of Scarlett Johansson‘s engagement to another, made up entirely of 80′s song titles.  Taline threw down the gauntlet for all future Cap City Invocators.  Way to kick off a meeting, Taline!

If you’d like to view it directly, go to Club Roles.

Ace hitter Brendan Owens stepped up to the plate as today’s Toastmaster and wow – if I knew how to use the term “wheelhouse” correctly in a sentence, I’d be doing it right now.

Table Topics Master Maureen McReynolds threw out her best sinkers, sliders and spitballs.  Wendy showed us her CURVE, Corky corked his bat, Jason hit a GRAND SLAM, Louis proved his worth as a utility player, and Albert was the CLEAN-UP HITTER.  Performances were spectacular because everybody was on steroids. Hey it makes for a more exciting game, despite the fact it messes with a time-honored American tradition.

Rookie David Jorgensen was first in the speaking lineup with his IceBreaker. It was a line drive: powerful, memorable, heartfelt, and funny too. First base coach Rey Deveau was there to provide guidance and direction and she did a great job evaluating him too.  Veteran Patrick Reznik hit one out of the park with his speech, a reading of “Tile M for Murder,” a story of marital animosity and death by Scrabble.

Congratulations to our Opening Day Ribbon Winners:

Best Table Topic: Jason Callendar
Best Speaker: Patrick Reznik
Best Evaluator: Rey Deveau
Most Enthusiastic: David Jorgensen
Best Humor: Patrick Reznik

Those of you who could not make the game  – we’d love to see you back in the stands next week.

Capital City Stadium Peanut Vendor
Amy Samet

Capital City Peeps,

Hola mi amigos y beetches!

Lora gave us an appropriate theme for our meeting today: Weather.  Appropriate cuz I noticed when I stepped outside there was indeed weather and there continued to be weather most of the day.  Our polished Toastmaster was her usual engaging self, weathering the responsibilities of Toastmastering with gusto, skill and humor.

John added a fun twister as our Table Topics Master by allowing some of the visitors he brought from South America to present the questions to the participants, thankfully in English.  We found out some interesting tidbits: Jason would go to South America in any season but would prefer the warmer weather so he could wear his grape smuggler.  It was a visual many of the women and Albert enjoyed.  Stuart’s long absence was explained as he told us he was riding the range and cowpoking in South America, falling off his steed and injuring his back causing to him wear the largest fanny pack anyone has ever seen.  He taught us that the Spanish word for “lasso” is “lasso”.   The coldest weather Louis had to endure was in the military, lying in a puddle in the cold rain, lobbing fake grenades at fake people.  If ever we go to war with mannequins, he’s our first line of defense.  And don’t think they’re not planning something.  I spewed some disjointed drivel long enough for the green light. And yellow.  And red.  And then some.  It was all true and poetic and came from the heart all for my beetches. Taline claims she is the worst dancer in the world but would dance with Ethan Hawke barefooted on broken glass while on fire.

Maria gave us a speech about her occupation which deals with the world of insurance in the state of Texas.  “Make sure you have enough and you’re properly covered (one hand on hip, the other shaking a finger at us)”, she might have said.  I especially enjoyed her example of me and my “friend” or wife or who ever that woman was laughing maniacally as we ran over Amy Samet repeatedly with my under-insured car.  The speech was informative, consumer-oriented and she even had related literature in English and Spanish – good job.  Wendy scurried away from her usual rat-related speech topic to discuss a serious topic, breast feeding the homeless. I mean, tube feeding sick people.  She did her research well discussing a little history, procedural facts and the importance of not lying on your tube.  It was a well-crafted, effective speech delivered with her usual warm smile.

Corky evaluated Maria suggesting that she infuse her speech with more stories, true or not, but the big meanie never said anything nice so our General Evaluator, Albert, provided the softer side of the evaluation noting her improved eye contact and voice projection.  Amy evaluated Wendy pointing out her enthusiasm, good research though reminding Wendy we not be smart, too much detail make head hurt.  Albert didn’t like our piggish, American speaking style.  We need to enunciate, slow down and speak louder so our foreign visitors can more easily understand us.  I guess he’s right because, this is the truth, after the meeting one of the South American ladies asked me if I said “boobs”.  At first I thought she was reading my mind but then I remembered I said “booze” in reference to something that keeps me warm.  Unfortunately, booze is more readily available to me.

Rey provided us the word of the day, “Sunshine” and yes, she even said, “Rey of Sunshine”, which she is.  Patrick timed us, spattering his info with breezy weather-related commentary.  Brendan insulted a nation of people and two major religious denominations with his chuckle.

And the winners were -

Best Table Topic: Stuart
Best Speaker: Windy (get it?)
Best Evaluator:  Amy
Best Humor: Keith (back on top)
Most Enthusiasm: John

Capital City Sneezers,

I’ve been ITCHING to do one of these recaps and now the time has come! MMMMMMBWWWWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I just wish I could remember what happened yesterday.

There will be mucus, so stated our Toastmaster Brendan with his timely “Cedar Fever” theme. Promises, promises. I saw none but I did feel something sticky when I shook his hand. He humored us by sharing his personal experience with cedar fever which he managed to avoid for a time but then succumbed. We discovered his ultra-competitive nature when he shared his strategy for throwing off his golfing partner – shake a cedar tree and cover him in icky, sneezy cedar stuff.

The ever-cheerful Maureen was our Table Topic Master and she mastered the role supplying our participants with great questions. Lora’s cure for cedar fever includes getting in bed, resting but mainly centers on alcohol – the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems. Taline would never use cedar fever as an excuse to call in sick to work, SUPPOSEDLY she would never make up any excuse – of course a couple of her coworkers were in the audience. And Albert’s secret to a good gin martini is lots of veggies – and he explained that within the alloted time!

Zach gave an ice-breaker for our club though he’s not a first timer. Previous Toastmaster participation helped him attain leadership roles in several organizations, gave him confidence to accomplish many fantastical goals and gave him the power to move objects with his mind. Ania gave a passionate speech that included regeneration of teeth through visualization (or at least the attempt), some personal struggles and discovery. Finally, John kept our attention with his fine voice, enthusiasm and body gestures during his reading of an excerpt from a book by a New York City High School teacher’s experience on the job. Hardly anyone noticed his zipper was undone.

Wendy evaluated for the first time and did a great job providing valuable feedback to John. Louis and Patrick chimed in evaluating Ania and Zach, respectively. The Chief Evaluator was stunning and god-like.

And the winners were -

Best Table Topic: Albert Cantara
Best Speaker: John Schmidt
Best Evaluator: Wendy Fisher
Most Enthusiastic: Ania Joseph
Best Use of Humor: Brendan “there will be mucus” Owens

I think I’m supposed to add more stuff here but, hey, I get paid half of what Jenny does.