Our theme was “Nature and Nurture” and our Toastmaster, Leif, prepared a quote from John Lennon to get us started: “We’ve got this gift of love, but love is like a precious plant.  You can’t just accept it and leave it in the cupboard or just think it’s going to get on by itself.  You’ve got to keep watering it.  You’ve got to really look after it and nurture it.”

Our word for the day was “cleave” – a confusing, undefinable word, rendered clear at last when ended with “age”.

If Lora were a professor, I would be terrified of her final exams – her numerous table topic speakers Katy, Keith, Heather, Gina and Carol did the “Brookover Table Trot” – the delicate art of taking the long way around the table at a slow enough pace to think up an answer, yet fast enough to not be totally obvious.  Robin and Keith, the quick witted men they are, don’t believe in such silliness and took the quick, short route.

Russell delivered a funny speech titled “It’s in my blood”, about the travails of manly bravado, such as what one should do to a box in the road whilst driving your new truck (e.g. flatten it of course!).  The kicker, though, was not listening to your body, when trying out for the football team, when that small, still voice was trying to warn you about the impending tragedy of ripped muscle.

The tiny house was Louis’ topic, this time with pictures and a powerpoint presentation as he demonstrated the goal of this particular speech of “getting to the point.”  Some of the process seems to be a lesson in the best way to do things – such as not getting screws that are a 1/4 inch too long because they are a pain to install.

The house is indeed tiny (for once marketing hyperbole that is ACCURATE!).  It was nice to finally be able to get an idea of what all is meant by a tiny house.  But, alas, where were the Vibram Five Fingers?

The ribbon winners were easy to pick because of going over-time.

  • Best Table Topic: Heather
  • Best Speaker: Russell
  • Best Evaluator: Leeanne
  • Most Enthusiastic: Heather
  • Best Use of Humor: Heather

Congratulations to our ribbon winners!