Housewives Change the World
What a meeting we had tonight! Sometimes it can be hard to make the effort to get out on a Thursday evening but every time I make that effort and go to Speak Easy I am glad I did and tonight was no exception. It was a lovely evening and both doors of the hall were opened to let in a welcome, cooling breeze.
Liz Parker took on the role of Sergeant at Arms, banging the gavel convincingly to bring the meeting to order. Teresa Dukes was Toastmaster and also took on Jeff Bartrop’s role for the evening as our President was unable to attend. We opened with introductions on the theme of ‘the latest film you’ve seen’ and no-one was lost for words. Indeed Ian Read used the terms ‘trepidatious’ (not in the dictionary but it deserves to be!) and ‘carping criticism’ in his remarks about The Hitch-Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Liz was also Wordmaster and challenged members to use ‘frenetic’, meaning distracted, frenzied and also fanatic, in their speeches. Topicmaster Ian Read introduced ‘the seven virtues’ for the Table Topics session and seven speakers elaborated on a virtue each. Jeff Short, on great form, entertained us with an anecdote about Charity, with hair as ‘black as a raven’s wing’ and ‘piercing blue eyes’; he had hoped, as a boy, that she would be charitable! After Steve Bell had evaluated the Table Topic speakers we took a break outside in the warm, evening air.
Teresa began the second half of the meeting with Club Business. There will be an officers training morning at Weeting on Saturday 23rd July and all members are welcome to attend if they wish (details from Teresa). Speak Easy @ Martlesham will try to attain eight goals this year regarding members progress and boosting club membership. Last year Area 1 (our Area) received the highest award you can for an area – President Select Distinguished Area.
There were three speeches this evening. Julia Lincoln gave her Icebreaker and captivated her audience with ‘Journey of Life’, describing her childhood and adult life with anecdotes and humour. When she told of her son Sam and her fight to get help for Down’s syndrome children the stillness in the room was palpable. Julia’s final words “I am a housewife by profession but I’m here to change the world!” brought a magnificent first speech to a close.
Margaret Stanway, in her second speech, took us beneath the limestone of Lancaster with ‘Caves, Limestone and Dragons.’ Members were enthralled by the imagery of monsters, stalactites and stalagmites and the evocative names such as ‘Lost John’s caves’, ‘Easter Grotto’ and ‘Gaping Gill’.
Phil Zoio’s second speech entitled ‘What You Don’t Know About’ introduced members to his baby niece who was born with Cystic Fibrosis. Once again all attention was fully focused on the speaker as he explained the effects and genetics of the disease. Phil concluded by encouraging members to give generously to Cystic Fibrosis charities when they next have the opportunity.
The reaction to the speeches and the conversations generated at the end of the meeting clearly indicated the depth of feeling created by this evening’s speakers. In Teresa’s words it was a privilege to hear them, we all learned so much.
Dinesh Bhuyan, Debs Lawrence and Andy Pitts were the able evaluators and their recommendations were useful for all members. In her Wordmaster report Liz recognised those members who had managed to use ‘frenetic’ and also picked up on other interesting and rich uses of language: Julia’s ‘University of esoteric acronyms’; Margaret’s ‘myriad passages’ and Martin Kayobe’s ‘sweet justice’. Jeff Short gave the general evaluation noting that the women were sitting on one side of the room and the men on the other – he wondered……… He gave welcome commendations, useful recommendations and reinforced the tip on keeping a notebook to record anecdotes.
Jeff’s example: Lying on a trolley in hospital recently – “the woman on the next trolley turned to me and said “I’ve got a roast in the oven.”!!”
Finally Ian presented this evening’s Table Topics Award to – ME! So I had another reason to be glad that I had made the effort to go to the meeting.
Sue Coppens-Browne (Secretary)
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