Relive the Moments of Grosvenor Toastmaster Meeting – September 12, 2012
We had another great meeting last week, run by Ralph Czychun who was our Chair/Toastmaster. In keeping with the theme, World of Opportunity, Ralph asked us to toast Randy Pausch, a professor diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, who gave the "Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams". The lecture which he gave to his students in 2007 encouraged them to live their dreams. The lecture was videotaped, became an internet sensation and inspired many people. Professor Pausch passed away in 2008.
Despite being under the weather, Prasad kindly stepped in at the last minute to be the Table Topics Master. He asked the audience to share their thoughts and memories of autumn, September, and the end of summer.
Not only was Michael Ilaysiv our first speaker of the night, he gave his first Icebreaker speech. Michael shared his lifestory growing up and living in Russia, meeting his wife, and coming to Canada. Congratulations Michael on giving your Icebreaker speech! Michael’s speech was evaluated by Tom Hurley.
Our second speaker was Vahid Anwari. Vahid talked about Canadian hero, Terry Fox, and how his courage and determination drove him to run across Canada to raise money for cancer research. Terry Fox’s legacy lives on today as hundreds of millions of dollars have been raised for cancer research since his Marathon of Hope, and Terry Fox runs take place all around the world. Wayne O’Brien evaluated Vahid’s speech.
Geoff Smith spoke and told us about a Latin saying that has helped him tremendously in his life: Hoc quoque transibit. What does this mean? It means, "This too shall pass". Everyone faces challenges and hardships in their lives which at times can seem overwhelming. But he encouraged us to remember that with time, life heals, and things always get better…this too shall pass. Noelle Hamersley evaluated Geoff’s speech.
Finally Stephen Schoeder spoke with humour about the absurdity of the US elections, and how the importance of scarcity and abundance seem lost in the midst of toxic political campaigns. A great story and lesson for all of us to remember. Stephen’s speech was evaluated by Geoff Smith.
I (Noelle Hamersley) was the General Evaluator for the evening. Omayma Haq was a first time Quizmaster, Colin Nekolaichuk tried to keep us one track as Timer, and Kendrick Doll was the Vote Counter. We had only one winner for the evening (as yours truly forgot to send around the voting envelopes): Geoff Smith was the #1 Table Topics speaker. Congratulations Geoff!
Next week, September 26, is our annual Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest. It is a chance for our members to speak in a more competitive environment and if they win, represent Grosvenor Toastmasters at the Area Contest. If you would like to participate in the contest, please let our VP of Education (Biswajit Das) or me (Contest Chair) know as soon as possible.
It will be a great night of fun and laughter, so make sure you don’t miss it! 
Noelle Hamersley
Club Secretary
Grosvenor
Grosvenor Toastmasters 