**14 December 2000**

# ![](media/image1.png) The Edge ![](media/image1.png)

**BNL Toastmasters, Club 8069, District 46**

**Meetings are held the 1^st^ and 3^rd^ Tuesday at 5:30 PM and the 4^th^
Tuesday at 12:05**

**Biology Building 463, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY
11973**

## [Upcoming Events]{.underline}

Tue, Dec 19 Club Meeting, 5:30 Theme: HOLIDAY PARTY Room 160, Bldg 463

NO MEETINGS DECEMBER 26 OR JANUARY 2. HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL.

Tue, Jan 16 Club Meeting, 5:30 Theme: Out with the Old Room 160, Bldg
463

Tue, Jan 23 Club Meeting, 12:00 Theme: Winter

### Officers

### 2000-2001 

**President:**

Ronnie Evans

**VP Education:**

Nancy Manning

**VP Membership:**

Frank MacKay

**VP Public Relations:**

Nand Narain

**Secretary:**

Amy Halsted

**Treasurer:**

Claire Heil

**Sergeant at Arms:**

Beth Lin

**Newsletter Editors:**

Amy Halsted

### Beth Lin

Nancy Manning

### The mission of a Toastmasters Club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in which every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

**December 5 meeting**

The theme of the December 5 meeting was Happy Endings, and Nancy Manning
was Toastmaster of the Day. Margaret Foster told a joke that got us off
to a happy beginning. Amy introduced the word for the day, which was
astonish. Beth presented Table Topics and her questions reminded us that
some endings can be beginnings, and some happy things can be sad.

In the speech portion of the meeting, our new and newly returned members
put on quite a show. Frank MacKay treated us to \"Joe Fusco\" out of the
Special Occasions manual. His speech was a \"roast,\" in which sincere
regard for a person is expressed by way of funny insults. He skillfully
involved members of the audience and achieved a good balance of gentle
insults and compliments. By the end, we were all wishing we could meet
this imaginary Joe Fusco. Next, Cathy Schwartz presented her Ice Breaker
speech, entitled \"Getting to Know Me.\" In 1996, Cathy turned her back
on city life and a corporate job and followed her heart out to the East
End. She has also started her own business. Cathy showed little
nervousness, and her speech was well paced and well delivered.

The third speech of the night came from Margaret Conover and was
entitled \"A Christmas Anagram.\" Her speech was a well developed and
supported critique of the myth of Santa Claus. The current image of
Santa Claus does not come from tradition but from the advertising
department of Coca Cola in the 1940s. The myth of Santa is cruel to
children whose families can\'t afford presents or who don\'t celebrate
Christmas, Margaret said. She ended her speech by pointing out (with
tongue somewhat in cheek) that Santa is an anagram for Satan. The last
speech was given by John Federmack from the Entertaining Speaker manual.
The title was \"The Pitfalls of Paint.\" John told three amusing stories
about things that have happened when people start painting\--including
the two year coffee break. John is an accomplished speaker, and his
speech was well constructed and employed vivid images.

Nand Narain gave a general evaluation of the meeting. Ronnie did an
evaluation for Frank, Beth for Cathy, Nancy for Margaret and Amy for
John. Claire was Quizmaster, but she couldn\'t stump us. Ronnie gave a
timers report and Amy reported that many members had used the word of
the day. Ah Counter Margaret said she had not heard many ums but had
noted a tendency in some members to rely on connecting words like
\"and,\" \"well,\" and \"you know.\" Beth announced that Amy won for
Table Topics. Ronnie closed the meeting.

**BNL Toastmasters Holiday Party, December 19**: Don\'t miss our holiday
party, and feel free to invite friends and guests. Food and soft drinks
will be provided, but if you want to cook for us, please do!

**Report on Joint Club Holiday Party**: Amy Halsted and Margaret Foster
attended the joint club party at La Grova restaurant in Lake Grove on
December 7. About 20 people from several local Toastmasters clubs were
in attendance. Several moving speeches were presented, and we even did a
little bit of singing. Food, entertainment and warm fellowship, topped
off by one of Margaret\'s wonderful Christmas poems incorporating names
of attendees, made for a very pleasant evening.

![](media/image2.png){width="1.09375in" height="1.5625in"}

# ***The Edge, Page 2 December 14, 2000***

BNL Toastmasters Regular Meeting Schedule

  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------
  **Date**          **Dec. 19**       **Jan. 16, 2001** **Jan. 23, NOON**

  **Theme**         Holiday Party     Out With the Old  Winter

  **TMOD**          Ronnie            Nand              Beth

  **Joke**          Pat                                 

  **Word**                            Nancy             

  **Timer**         Margaret C.                         

  **Ah counter**                                        

  **Grammarian**                                        

  **Table Topics**  Cathy             John              

  **Speech #1**     Mary              Margaret C.       

  **#2**            Kim               Ronnie            

  **#3**            Pat               Nancy             

  **#4**            Claire                              

  **#5**            Frank                               

  **#6**            Nand                                

  **General Eval.**                                     Nancy

  **Evaluator #1**                                      

  **#2**                                                

  **#3**                                                

  **#4**            John                                

  **#5**            Beth                                

  **#6**            Nancy                               

  **Quiz Master**   Amy                                 

  **Educational                                         
  Talk**                                                

  **Absent**                                            
  ----------------- ----------------- ----------------- -----------------

*Please join us for our special Holiday Meeting on December 19 with
goodies, fun and fellowship.*

***There will be no Club meetings on December 26 and on January 2. We
shall see you again on January 16, 2001.***

Our membership is now up to 19 members. If you haven't come to a meeting
lately, you need to check us out! Our Club is thriving with several
enthusiastic, new members, and the many speeches make each meeting a
very special event.

![](media/image3.wmf)

Members\' Progress Report

  -------------------- ----------------- --------------------------------
  **Member**           **Speeches        **Achievements**
                       completed**       

  Pat A.               9                 

  Susan C.             5                 

  Margaret C.          2                 

  Ronnie E.                              ATM-G + 5 CTMs

  John F.              1                 CTM

  Margaret F.                            DTM

  Mary G.                                

  Amy H.               8                 

  Claire H.            4                 

  Beth L.                                ATM-G + 5 CTMs

  Patty L.             5                 

  Frank M.             10                ATM-B

  Nancy M.             2                 CL, ATM-B

  Nand N.              1                 ATM-S

  Kimberly P.          4                 

  Luis R.              1                 

  Betsy S.             5                 

  Cathy S.             1                 

  Eric S.              5                 
  -------------------- ----------------- --------------------------------