​Ken Canty ably “toastmastered” the 22 members and 2 guests with a theme of T-Toasters Trivia.  T-Toasters was chartered in June 1990.  We met at the old Citizens Trust and Sun Bank, the source of the “T” in T-Toasters, which became SunTrust.  We first achieved the President’s Distinguished Award in 2005 and haven’t looked back since.  Word of the day was myopic – distant objects appear blurred; lack of long range thinking and/or planning.
 
Jim was the first of four planned speeches with “Mi Casa, My Castle”.  Jim does not like announced and unwelcome visitors.  He told of an incident a few years back when he was “less” than gracious when called upon by some well-intentioned missionaries.  His message – think twice before knocking on someone’s door.  Beverly, the evening’s winner delivered “The Big Apple ain’t for Sissies”.  When riding the subway, standard protocol is that someone always wakes you at the last train stop.  Well, they didn’t follow protocol and there she was stuck in the train station.  As an intern, she also managed to lock herself outside behind the security gate of her office building and had to endure freezing temperatures for eight hours.  She solicited help from a passerby giving him her last quarter to make a payphone call which he took.  Her message – don’t give a quarter to someone with shoe polish hair and don’t go to work on Saturday.  Marcus was the penultimate speaker with “Buggin’ Out: Do it Yourself Pest Control”.  As a past pest control technician, he learned the ins and outs of the business.  He educated us on how to do it ourselves and save some money.  He covered the tools of the trade, the inspection process, the conducive conditions that attract pests, and how we can do it ourselves in 45 minutes to one hour every quarter.  Mitzi batted cleanup with “Dream a Little Dream of Me”.  She gave us a brief history of dreams, their interpretation, and the meanings that were ascribed to them.  She talked about the five stages of sleep, when dreams occur, and the difference between normal and lucid dreams.  Plenty of interesting information to chew on.
 
Carin directed Table Topics.  Greg selected his best picks for a trivia team from the members present.  Yours truly allowed as to how he is a “delicate flower”.  Jim, the evening’s winner reminded as all of Michelle and what a great mentor she was. 
 
Lori served as General Evaluator.  Lee assessed Jim, Theresa critiqued Beverly, Andrea, the evening’s winner reviewed Marcus, and Brice evaluated Mitzi.  Mary-Catherine covered the grammatical good, bad, and ugly, Ray delineated the timing, and Justin summarized the shillyshallies.
 
Open house for the building occupants on April 12th.  Don’t forget the Spring Conference on May 12th and 13th.
 

​ We will be taking a group photo at this week's meeting.  We plan to use this photo for our conference ad and for this website, so be sure to wear your best grin.

​

​T-Toasters is proud to congratulate
Anne Taylor
on winning 1st Place in the Division D International Speech contest. She's headed to the District competition May 12-13!  

Mary-Catherine "toastmastered" the 17 members and 3 guests with a theme of "color".  Color is the sensation produced by the effect of light rays on the retina.  It is subjective.  Blue, green, purple, and red are the most prevalent colors.  Jolt was the word of the day.
 
Greg P. delivered the first of the four planned speeches with "The Danger of Confirmation Bias". Confirmation bias is using analytics to interpret data to tell the story that one wants to tell versus arriving at an objective view point.  He cited the example of his coach's bias when he and another freshman wrestler initially competed at the University of Wyoming.  His point was that one needs to find the truth , not bias the data in one's own way.  

Theresa, the evening's winner was second with the tale of "Rumpelstiltskin".  Theresa displayed her excellent story telling skills by keeping the entire audience enthralled with her delivery and captivating verbal, and visual effects.  

Carin followed with "It's all in My Head".  With tongue planted firmly in cheek, she has determined not to believe her allergist despite evidence to the contrary.  She gave a quick overview of available allergy treatments.  Her message -  listen to your body and look into a level one hazmat suit.  

​Josue concluded the planned speeches with "Why Chicken Tax, Why".  In the early 70's, the US imposed a 25% tariff on all foreign pickup truck imports.  Germany retaliated with a 50% tariff on all imported processed chicken.  Various schemes were tried by different foreign manufacturers to skirt the tax with the most successful (at least for 10 years) being Subaru's Brat with plastic passenger seats installed in the truck bed and stating that it was obviously a passenger vehicle and not a truck.
 
Andrea handled Table Topics continuing the color theme.  Marcus, one of two winners told of his personal flag design using primarily black and navy blue with no stars or symbols.  Alyssa cited  aqua, her favorite color for her hair, clothing, and body markings.  Lee, the other winner told us of Atlanta's Living Wall initiative that hosts artists from all over to encourage the graffiti art form
 
General Evaluator Lori called on the reports.  Alyssa reviewed Greg P., Ken critiqued Theresa, Lee, the evening's winner assessed Carin, and Jim evaluated Josue.  Marcus covered the grammar, Bev enumerated the shilly-shallies, and Tiffini delineated the timing.
 
Plan on "post toasties" on 3/29 and a Grand Opening special meeting on 4/12 to gain visibility with the Piedmont building employees  The Spring Conference is upcoming in early May.
 
Dues are now past due.  If you haven't paid, please do so or, let me know if you're not renewing.
 

​Ken “toastmastered” the 20 members (including newest member Tiffini Bell) with a theme of Hilarious Movie Moments.  Word of the day was Specious – having a false look of truth or genuineness; plausible but false.
 
Mitzi was the first of three speakers with her Ice Breaker entitled “Age of Benevolence”.  The age of benevolence is that period of time between 50 and 80 years old when your children are grown, you’re established, and are ready to give back to society.  Mitzi is an Air Force brat and had a chaotic upbringing.  Her two children are polar opposites, her son being artistic and laid back and the her daughter headstrong.  Some of her best moments are times spent riding her horse.  Marcus, the evening’s winner gave us a basic introduction to hip hop with “I Used to Love Her (Hop is Essential & Real) and I Still Do”.  He fell in love with hip hop in 1987.  There are four elements to hip hop: graffiti, breaking (break dancing), dJing, and rapper.  It all started on the streets of New York.  Lori batted cleanup with “Intrepid Introversion”.  Her worst punishment as a kid was being told to put down that book and go outside and play.  She’s always been on the introvertish side.  Her message is that if you are an introvert, embrace it, strive for balance, and most importantly, be yourself.
 
Anne led Table Topics.  She assigned numbers to six of the attendees prior to the meeting.  She then called them up in order and asked that they describe a personal experience, book, or movie that made an impression.  Bev, the evening’s winner told of the time she saw an UFO (no, really!).  Brice really loved the Harry Potter books growing up.  Chad told of how Toastmasters has helped him overcome his fear of speaking.  Kristina loved the movie “The Devil Wears Prada”.  Cynthia led us through her first successful attempt at problem solving involving a voyeur.  Lee couldn’t have a video player early on and found she didn’t really need TV.  Anne wrapped it up with remarks about the celebration of Women’s History Month.
 
Jim directed the General Evaluation portion of the meeting.  Justin, the evening’s winner critiqued Mitzi, Mary-Catherine assessed Marcus, and Alyssa reviewed Lori.  Yours truly reported on the grammar, Theresa summarized the shilly-shallies, and Greg P. delineated the timing.
 
Dues are due for the April through October time period.  If you have a PayPal account, you can search for hmix@bellsouth.net and pay them that way.  Otherwise please pay by check or cash no later than March 15th.  The Division D speaking contest will be held at 2 pm on Saturday, March 11th at the East Cobb Library.  Come and route for Anne and Suzanne.