Tuesday April 22 was a magical night for Gem City Forum members at the Prudential Building in Franklin. NC. The meeting started with Danny Clifton as acting Sargeant At Arms calling the meeting to order and introducing the Toastmaster for the evening, Phil Drake.

Michele Hubbs started us off with the words ‘Fewer’ & ‘Less’ as the grammarian and the meeting was off and running never to look back.

Emily Markham gave us a couple good laughs as the jokemaster for the evening.

Kathy Clifton did a masterful job of dishing out Table Topics, and Bill Hanger not only talked about a Bear looking for food after waking from Hybernation, but he looked very much the part as he lumbered around the lectern looking for his virtual feast.

But the show stopper for the evening was when Nancy Porter gave her speech about how she and Jim dealt with their blossoming teenage daughter going out for a date. Using a bell prop and facial expressions that conveyed emotions that all parents could understand easily at the gutt level, Nancy took us all back to our first experiences of teenage dating and “Lovers Lookout.”

Nancy told us about the agreement made prior to going out and the understandings that somehow got innocently derailed and accidently discovered and the ensuing chase that had us all in stitches as we thought back to some of the experiences we’d all gone through in the past.

It was absolutely one of the best speechs that we’ve ever heard at a Gem City Forum Toastmaster’s Meeting. Nancy congratulations on a job Very Well done!

Hope to see you all at the April 29th meeting back at the Macon County Library.

What an exciting meeting we had. Other than the jokes from Jokemaster, Danny Clifton the meeting was April Fool Proof.

John Sapp, the VP of Marketing & Advertising for Drake Enterprises gave his “Ice Breaker” speech and had us all paying close attention as he told of his journey with a youth group and their subsequesnt Hijacking at machete point. It was easy to see that John has had some experience in front of a crowd and we’re grateful that he’s joined our group and look forward to many more enlightening and entertaining speeches in the future.

Our Immediate Past District 37 Governor, Mike Kesselring was on hand to stretch thinking as well as entertain on a whole different level of speech giving as he used his body and props to deliver a multi-level speech which was very educational. Mike was down on his knees for part of the speech and up on a chair which was a fence gate that he climbed in his early childhood to get away from a playful dog.

We all gained a new dimension of thinking in speech presentation from Mike for which we will all benefit as we advance through the Toastmasters’ sequence on our way to becoming better speakers.

Our own Phil Drake did a masterful job as the Topic’s Master. Phil also added a new twist with his everyday ‘Spy Kit’ (open to interpretation) and his two other pertinent questions that were thought provoking and even reflective for the group.

Our other special guest, Jean Robor, from the Burlington Toastmasters Club took Phil’s topic of  ’Our Current Economic State’ and showed us she’s been there and done that as she moved us to believe that we’re currently in a pretty good place even if things sometimes look a little rough.  It was easy to tell Jean has had some experience at the lectern as well. We thank her for sharing her skills and entertaining us as well.

All of our members performed their duties masterfully as always. The level of support and overall feeling of peaceful and joyous caring shared at these meetings is just unbelievable. We truely have one of the most amazing groups of caring individuals looking out for and encouraging each other to greater heights of personal achievement that I have ever experienced. It’s great to be back among you all.

Till next time – “May all your Wishes come true!”

Jim