Toast of Jax News

Contest Master John Roberts led the group, with 21 members and 3 guests attending, through an Extemporaneous Speech Contest with eight participants and a Dramatic Speech Contest with seven contenders for the trophy.

Before the meeting, each Extemporaneous Speech contestant was assigned a decade to speak about, with the contest progressing from the 1940’s all the way through the 2000’s and a look at how the 2010’s may evolve. Contest Master Roberts introduced the contest as “An Oral History.”

Extemporaneous Speech Contest

1940’s – Milo Holt – WWII, big band music, the seven virtues, the people and a war victory. (05:41)

1950’s – George Oehl – personal account of growing up in the 50’s, with a recollection of a JFK visit during his first presidential campaign. (04:55)

1960’s – Richard Welty- race relations and moving from the North to the South, the space program and a man on the moon (05:40)

1970’s – Jackie Pease – growing up in the 70’s, a simple farm life with a bit of Watergate, albeit alien to the important things. (05:05)

1980’s – Colin Murphy – personal reflections on growing up in the 80’s – are we seeing a trend here – and overall great decade. (05:59)

1990’s – Ron Johnson – Great people in the dawn of the Information Age, including Bill Gates and Alan Greenspan. (06:14)

2000’s – Felix Unger – the dawn of the New Millennium, September 11 and the War on Terror, with better things to come. (06:10)

2010’s and Beyond – Graeme Matthews – Future Speak and a real basis for optimism going forward, the world is not coming to an end despite popular predictions. (06:11)

Dramatic Reading Contest

Jackie Pease – The Pilgrimage by Kerry Dunning (06:30)

Colin Murphy – Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (03:57)

George Oehl – excerpts from The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (a.k.a. Samuel Clemens) (06:18)

Milo Holt – The Flag by William Herscher (02:29)

Ron Johnson – Old Man at the Bridge by Ernest Hemmingway (03:45)

Danny Pritchard – lyrics from Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning by Alan Jackson (03:35)

Felix Unger – Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer (to the cadence of The Battle Hymn of the Republic) (05:28)

The annual traveling trophies in both the Extemporaneous Speech Contest and the Dramatic Reading Contest were awarded to Toastmaster Colin Murphy based upon a vote of those present. Colin Murphy takes home all the iron. Go Colin!

Attendance – 21 members – 3 guests, including Area Governor (soon to be Division Governor) Holly Walker, Arlington Toastmasters member (perhaps former member) Joti Chawla, and Jimmy Schultz (a guest of member Dale Howard)

Miscellaneous

Area Governor Holly Walker presented a ribbon to the Club for achieving the President’s 40 Club. Holly also announced that due to growth (six new clubs), that Toast of Jax will be moving from Area 22 to either Area 7 or Area 19. An announcement will be made at the officer training session July 11. Holly will be the Northeast Division Governor for the coming year (Congratulations Holly!) and Eileen Gerbin will be District Governor.

Holly also announced Planet Toastmasters Training, to be held July 11 at the Bank of American Office Park, 9000 Southside Boulevard – Building 500 (across from Home Deport & Target). Members are encouraged to attend the free Training Event that includes:

Mentoring – What it is, how to do it and why

Creating the best club climate

Keeping the commitment to Toastmasters

Required Officer Training Classes

Milo Holt requested that our Club be placed in Area 19 if possible.

Toastmaster Richard Welty, Chairman of a Committee to look into the possibility of funding a scholarship, reported on results of his research. Toastmasters International prohibits clubs from offering scholarships or creating foundations for such purposes.

Joke of the Day – delivered by Danny Pritchard

A man arrived at the Pearly Gates, but St. Peter was unable to find his name when he looked it up in the book. “That sometimes happens,” explained St. Peter, “when a young man dies suddenly.” St. Peter then asked the man to tell him what good deeds he had done in his life that qualified him to come to heaven. The man explained that when driving down he road he noticed two big bruisers roughing up a young lady, so he turned his car around, got the tire iron out of the trunk, and hit one of the brutes to get him away from the lady. He explained that he had then turned his attention to the other culprit, but then stopped the story mid-sentence. “What happened next?” asked St. Peter. “I don’t know,” replied the man, “that’s when I showed up here.”

Another great contest meeting, with excellent attendance and participation, and a good time was had by all!