An amazing sight greeted Toastmasters from all the clubs in Port Elizabeth who gathered at the Mater Dei church hall in Newton Park on Friday 23 November to celebrate a fun Christmas get together – blizzards of snow!
The fairy lights were twinkling in the darkened room; Christmas carols played in the background; the excitement was tangible – and as we stepped into the room, we encountered a veritable snow storm – well, not a storm exactly, but some very pretty snowflakes, thanks to the competent work of Jesse Brosnahan, Mike’s son.
The party was the brainchild of Area Governor, Colleen Love, and although it was disappointing not to see a huge turnout of members, those who did attend had a ball! We all sang together - some rather unusual Christmas songs together, like the following one:Oh, I'm gettin' nuttin' for Christmas
Mommy and Daddy are mad.
I'm getting nuttin' for Christmas
'Cause I ain't been nuttin' but bad.
Then we enjoyed a delicious meal and after Santa delivered our sweet treats, we danced the night away to a selection of music that really dated the majority of us. We also discovered that we have a number of enormously talented and sure-footed Toastmasters among us!
Thanks so much to Colleen and Mike for going to so much trouble to arrange this special evening.
Hopefully, it will become an annual event in the Toastmasters calendar.
Our meeting on Tuesday 27 November was wonderful! Despite the fact that there are so many things keeping people busy at this time of year – and we did have a large number of apologies – Marlene Vosloo, as our Toastmaster for the evening, made sure that her theme of The Good Old Days was one that everyone enjoyed.
The Table topics, run by Roger Ah Kun, entailed members describing or discussing the items they found depicted on the bits of paper they opened – from drive-in theatres, to coloured comic books, to typewriter ribbons – we were entertained by a world of yesteryear, which left us quite nostalgic for those good old days.
The speeches, as always, were varied and entertaining. New member, Gideon Smith did his Icebreaker speech (CC1) entitled How well do you know your fellow Toastmaster? Well done on a very good first attempt, Gideon.
Then, attempting the first speech in her advanced manual, Speaking to Inform, Belita von Steiger gave a very interesting and certainly informative speech entitled The youngest profession?.
Finally, recently wed Quinton Jacobs gave a lovely account of his fairytale honeymoon to Russia, aptly entitled In Russia In Love. The opulence displayed in some of the castles they saw, was quite incredible. Long may the fairytale last, Quinton.
Many of us who are matric teachers are going off to mark their final exams and so we will miss the final meeting of the year, but I trust that there will be those who will be able to attend. You are in for a treat. Denise Pudney, our President, has agreed to write the blog for me; and for that I thank her.
Remember, before you know it 2013 will be upon us. Before that happens, do spend some time setting your Toastmasters goals. Then, as soon as you can, book your slots. There are only six months left before this Toastmasters year ends!
Until 2013
Ricky Woods