Thursday, April 29, 2004

29 April

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow


The Topics session last Thursday evening was held in a number of parts, interspersed throughout a very entertaining meeting which consisted of three wonderful speeches and a Tall Tales contest. Dierdre Collins was the Topics master for the night and she made sure that as many people as possible were on their feet responding to a wide variety of topics which included; Ireland as a holiday destination – too expensive? Is the media too intrusive? Should the Pope retire? Where would you holiday this year, if money was no object? Is it good to have Roy Keane back? And finally - If advertising of alcohol were banned would its abuse be prevented? As usual the replies were varied and entertaining.

Dates for your diary:
Division A International Speech and Evaluation contests; Sat. April 24th, Vienna Woods Hotel, Cork, 8:00pm. Come along and support Speakeasy Toastmaster Dierdre Linehan on the night.
Speakeasy club AGM; Thursday, April 29th, 8:00pm.
Killarney Toastmasters Club Charter Dinner; Castle Ross Hotel, Killarney, 30th April.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 29th April at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, April 22, 2004

22 April

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow


Last Thursday evening Speakeasy Toastmasters club welcomed members of the Fáilte (Charleville) and Fermoy Toastmaster clubs to Mallow for a joint meeting. Everyone enjoyed the packed programme which included three fine speeches, a lively Topics session and of course the Area 17 Final of the Tall Tales contest.
First on the programme was William Blackbyrne from the Fermoy club, with a speech entitled ‘A culture of sports for children’ which described the many benefits of nurturing an interest in sports in our children from a young age. With the right attitude and with plenty of encouragement and some effort, adults can play an important role in preventing obesity while ensuring the healthy development of children both mentally and physically. Ray Ryan evaluated this speech. Anne Buckley is a member of Speakeasy Mallow and she asked ‘What is your time worth?’ In this very relevant and timely speech Anne outlined some very useful ways by which we can manage our time and as a result learn to manage our lives too. We are encouraged to respect each hour as a valuable part of our lives. This speech was evaluated by Tom Kelly. The final speech of the evening, entitled ‘One of God’s gifts’, came from Fanahan Mansell and was evaluated by John Quirke. This was a very informative and interesting speech about the importance, usefulness, resilience and beauty of grass, in all its 40 shades. Both Johns (Cash and Quirke) were correct – grass really is one of God’s gifts.
Each of the three clubs in Area 17 were represented in the Tall tales contest final, which began with a speech ‘Downwardly mobile’ from Brian O’ Farrell (Fermoy). Apparently there are hidden features in certain mobile phones which can help you avoid the law at all costs- yeah right! Donal Jones from Charleville entertained us with ‘Ups and Downs of life’ which described his efforts to find the ideal match and companion for his lonely friend. Silence is not always guaranteed! The final tale came from Michael Walsh entitled ‘Would you believe’. This was a gripping story of his childhood which was filled with late night visits to the family ‘bunker’ by ‘athletes’ on the run in long woolly hats who had an aversion to daylight, but some of whom nevertheless went on to become successful ‘coaches’ in Columbia. Congratulations and well done to Michael Walsh who was the winner of the Area 17 Tall tales contest.

Reminder: Killarney Toastmasters Club is hosting its Charter Dinner in the Castle Ross Hotel, Killarney, on the 30th April. Come along and help celebrate the occasion. For those Mallow people who are interested in attending, tickets can be obtained through the Speakeasy Toastmasters club.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 29th April at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, April 15, 2004

15 April

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

More Tall Tales

In addition to speeches and Tall Tales there was, as usual, a very lively Topics session at the last Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting. The Topics master for the night was Michael Dineen who did a great job introducing topics designed to get people on their feet and talking. The topics were on very mixed subjects including, the rights and wrongs of the proposed visit of President Bush to Ireland, the final episode of ‘Sex and the City’, and penalty points.
Congratulations again to both Michael Walsh and Brian McLoughlin who won first and second place at the club Tall Tales contest held during our last meeting. Michael will be competing in the Area final of the Tall Tales contest to be held during our next meeting on Thursday, 15th April. This would be a terrific night to come along to a Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting as a guest and enjoy Michael’s hugely entertaining speech. All of the Tall Tales are certain to very humorous and well worth hearing.

Note for your diary: The newly formed Killarney Toastmasters Club is hosting its Charter Dinner in the Castle Ross Hotel, Killarney, on the 30th April. The start up of any new club is exciting and everyone is welcome to come along and help celebrate the occasion. For those Mallow people who are interested in attending, tickets can be obtained through the Speakeasy Toastmasters club.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 15th April at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, April 08, 2004

8 April

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

The Tallest of Tall Tales

Last Thursday’s meeting fell in two halves, with the first part consisting of three fine speeches and the second part made up of a highly entertaining Tall Tales contest. John Dillon gave a very interesting and informative speech entitled ‘Here’s looking at you baby’ which described the history of photography. John made very good use of his props which included one of the very first photos ever taken and a series of old and new cameras. The speech was evaluated by Angela Sheehan. Dermot Meaney had everyone’s attention from the start with a reading from that great book about the life of a country vet ‘It shouldn’t happen to a vet’. And of course it did happen to James Herriot and everyone enjoyed hearing about his adventures (and misadventures). Michael Donegan evaluated this speech. Participation was the subject of Mary Buckley’s speech this evening. In this speech Mary outlined the ways in which members of Toastmasters can improve themselves and the club by participating as fully as possible in the speech programmes, as officers of the club, by encouraging other members and guests, and by promoting the club in the wider community.
The Tall Tales contest attracted six contestants with six very different but equally improbable tales. Every element of a ‘Tall Tale’ was displayed including exaggeration, irony, pun, surprise twists, humour, and slapstick comedy and so on. Jerry Mulcahy was the first contestant and he described the events which occurred, leading up to and during ‘The Night’, when people got together in days gone by, to bid farewell to a departing relative or friend. It’s amazing what people will eat and drink and even more astonishing is the end result! John Dillon told us why ‘The cat wore a watch’. It was hard to believe so it had to be true. Another story which was definitely not true (or was it?) was Brian McLoughlin’s ‘In bed with Madonna’ - a real gentleman would never tell. Brian’s speech came second in the contest. Sean Corcoran spun a very clever tale about the ‘People of Danan’ who were up there with the Fianna. I’d be inclined to believe they once existed if I could just locate the ‘Bleakwater River’. Eugene O’ Connell described the events which lead up to the newspaper headlines ‘A hero fly’s home’. As luck would have it, a farmer, returning home from holiday, firstly gets mistaken for a doctor (as a result of the stethoscope around his neck) and then discovers he can in fact fly a jumbo (as a result of learning off the wrong manual) and who saves the day by fortunately having a nice soft spot in his own farm on which to execute an emergency landing! It’s true. ‘Would you believe’ asked Michael Walsh. And you wouldn’t, you really wouldn’t. Michael won first place in the contest with his speech and as a result will deliver this hilarious speech again during Area Tall Tales contest to be held during our next meeting on the 15th April. Come along and enjoy all of the Tall Tales to be told by the winners of all the clubs in the area.
Congratulations to both Michael Walsh and Brian McLoughlin.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 15th April and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, April 01, 2004

01 April

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

The Tallest of Tall Tales

Last Thursday’s meeting fell in two halves, with the first part consisting of three fine speeches and the second part made up of a highly entertaining Tall Tales contest. John Dillon gave a very interesting and informative speech entitled ‘Here’s looking at you baby’ which described the history of photography. John made very good use of his props which included one of the very first photos ever taken and a series of old and new cameras. The speech was evaluated by Angela Sheehan. Dermot Meaney had everyone’s attention from the start with a reading from that great book about the life of a country vet ‘It shouldn’t happen to a vet’. And of course it did happen to James Herriot and everyone enjoyed hearing about his adventures (and misadventures). Michael Donegan evaluated this speech. Participation was the subject of Mary Buckley’s speech this evening. In this speech Mary outlined the ways in which members of Toastmasters can improve themselves and the club by participating as fully as possible in the speech programmes, as officers of the club, by encouraging other members and guests, and by promoting the club in the wider community.
The Tall Tales contest attracted six contestants with six very different but equally improbable tales. Every element of a ‘Tall Tale’ was displayed including exaggeration, irony, pun, surprise twists, humour, slapstick comedy and so on. Jerry Mulcahy was the first contestant and he described the events which occurred leading up to and during ‘The Night’, when people got together to bid farewell to a departing relative or friend. It’s amazing what people will eat and drink and even more astonishing is the end result! John Dillon told us why ‘The cat wore a watch’. It was hard to believe so it had to be true. Another story which was definitely not true (or was it?) was Brian McLoughlin’s ‘In bed with Madonna’ - a real gentleman would never tell. Sean Corcoran spun a very clever tale about the ‘People of Danan’ who were up there with the Fianna. I’d be inclined to believe they once existed if I could just locate the ‘Bleakwater river’. Eugene O’ Connell described the events which lead up to the newspaper headlines ‘A hero flies home’ which involved a farmer turned doctor turned airplane pilot who saves the day by finding a nice soft spot in his own farm on which to execute an emergency landing.

We ask everyone to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.