Toastmaster – Distict39 – Club1055258
MEMBERS PRESENT: Binh Nguyen, Chris Foley, Connie Vieira, Jonathan Colton, Judy Castellon, LaVonne Catron, Lucy Kaye, Maureen Bastedenbeck, Rowena Donaldson, Terry Lee Donaldson, Rocki Chaparro, David Tabora. Also attending were Guest Speaker Stephanie Reyna-Hiestand and Margarita Canals, guest of Rowena.
The Sergeant At Arms, David, started the meeting on time with the Pledge of Allegiance. In keeping with the theme of the day, Cross Cultural Communication, President Chris talked briefly about his mother who was born in Switzerland and then introduced the Toastmaster of the Day, Lucy, who was born in Liberia. Lucy talked throughout the meeting about how different cultures cross not only at country borders but even within TLC club members and how we influence each other.
Ancillary duties were assigned to Terry as Timer and Vote Counter, Jonathan as Grammarian, Binh as Table Topic Master and Judy as General Evaluator (and writer of this recap) plus Chris as Speech Evaluator for Maureen. This was Jon’s first opportunity to serve as Grammarian and he wore his listening ears well! Table Topic participants were Connie and David who spoke of their experiences with parents who were born outside the USA. Connie won the vote but passed the ribbon on to David who also did an excellent job of impromptu speaking.
Today’s guest speaker, Stephanie Reyna-Hiestand, is the City of Tracy Water Resources Coordinator at the Waste Water Treatment Plant. Her speech, titled Water Quality, Reuse and Waste, was entertaining and informative. We learned that the water which has been on earth since the beginning of time is all the water we will ever have! Realizing the implications of that gives new meaning to thoughts of conservation and recycling. Happily, Maureen’s speech, Commit to Conserve, gave us practical tips for being better stewards of our limited resources. Maureen passed around 17 Water Conservation Tips and Tricks for us to take home and put into practice. Both speakers gave polished presentations and inspired us with information relevant in today’s drought conditions.
The Toastmaster club year is quickly coming to an end as we function on a July 1 – June 30 timeframe. We have already earned the Select Distinguished Award by achieving seven goals for a thriving Toastmaster Club; if we sign up four new members before June 30th we will earn the President’s Distinguished Award! Maureen has been leading a campaign for membership and you have brought several visitors. TLC is a fun way to learn speaking, listening and leadership skills so continue to share the news with friends, family and coworkers. Speaking of membership campaign, TEAM ROCKI has 30 points and TEAM MAUREEN has 25 points! What’s the date for that pizza party?
