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Okefenokee Toastmasters
Club #8269, District 14,
Area 11B
Swamp TALK
Chartered in 1991 Volume 4 Issue 3 March 2012
Mission: The mission of a Toastmasters club is to pro-
vide a mutually supportive and positive learning envi-
ronment in which every individual member has the op-
portunity to develop oral communication and leader-
ship skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and per-
sonal growth.
Meetings: We meet every Wednesday morning at
7:00am at Quality Inn, 1725 Memorial Drive, Way-
cross. Click here for map.
Membership: Open to anyone 18 years old and over.
. Officers for Okefenokee
Toastmasters 2011-2012
President: Bud Montero
VP Education: Kathy Odam
VP Membership: John Conger
VP of Public Relations: :
Janice Williams
Treasurer: Addie Crews
Sergeant of Arms: Larry Kear-
son
GRAMMARIAN’S CORNER
A pun is a “play on words”. Speak-
ers and writers have fun with puns
because a word may have more
than one meaning and some words
may sound alike.
“The duck said to the bartender,
put it on my bill.”
“He bought a donkey because he
thought he might get a kick out of
it.”
“Sign at a deer crossing: The Buck
Stops Here.”
“The flock of doves staged a coo.”
Upcoming Events
March 24, 2012: Division B Int’l Speech
and Table Topics Contest, 10:00AM,Quality
Inn, Waycross, Ga.
May 4-5, 2012: Spring Conference, “The
Leaders Network”, Georgia Tech Hotel &
Conference Center, Atlanta, Ga.
Quick Facts on St. Patrick
Born of wealthy parents in Britain.
Captured by Irish raiders. Escaped
after years of enslavement.
Rose from slave to Patron Saint of
Ireland.
Considered a secondary Patron
Saint in Nigeria, next to the Virgin
Mary.
Venerated in Roman Catholic,
Episcopal, and Orthodox
Churches. Feast day is March
17th, the day of his death.
Public Relations
Corner These are the District 14
Public Relations (PR) Incen-
tives that our club will be
working on for Spring 2012:
Club Newsletter Contest
Club Website Contest
Club Media Contest
The submission deadline is
April 1, 2012. In the mean-
time, check out the winners
for the Fall 2011 PR incen-
tive contests:
Testimonial Video: 1st Place: NS Toasters on Track Media: 1st Place: Okefenokee Toastmasters Club Website: 1st Place: PB & J Toastmasters 2nd Place: Technology Park 3rd Place: Rockdale Toastmasters Club Newsletter: 1st Place: PB & J Toastmasters 2nd Place: Speaking Solutions 3rd Place: Toastmaster 2.0 of Norcross
Role of VP of Membership
Greet guests and have each guest
complete a guest card or book.
Report on current membership,
promote membership campaigns,
and welcome new members.
Ensure that each new member is
formally inducted after being voted
in by the club.
Help guests to complete the
membership application form. .
Follow up and keep track of guests.
Speak with fellow members to
determine if their needs are being
met.
Connect with Us
Follow Okefenokee Toastmasters on
Twitter: http://twitter.com/oketoast
Check out the new Okefenokee Toast-
masters website:
http://okefenokee.toastmastersclubs.org
Browse the Virtual Toastmasters Mu-
seum: http://bit.ly/ukFQb4
Invest in Your Dream
One hour wisely invested each day,
quickly adds up. If you just used 3 lunch
breaks per week to really focus on building
your dream, at the end of a month that’s
about 12 hours that you have dedicated
towards your dream. So use your lunch
hour to research, attend a networking
function, write, listen to a tele-class, par-
ticipate in a webinar, be coached by a
mentor in your field, watch a training on
YouTube about a topic that is relevant to
your dream, read a book by a guru in your
dream industry, or attend a presentation
given by experts in your industry.
Delatorro McNeal, Speaker & Author
of “Caught Between A Dream and a
Job”. Read more: http://bit.ly/x8tsZj
.
Quality Meetings = Quality Clubs
Forbes Magazine: Leadership Tip
Want to become a better leader? Stop talking and start
listening. Being a leader should not be viewed as a license
to increase the volume of rhetoric. Rather astute leaders
know there is far more to be gained by surrendering the
floor than by dominating it. In this age of instant communi-
cation everyone seems to be in such a rush to communicate
what’s on their mind, they fail to realize the value of every-
thing that can be gleaned from the minds of others. Show
me a leader who doesn’t recognize the value of listening to
others and I’ll show you a train-wreck in the making. Read
more: http://linkd.in/w83mNt
Photo: Toastmaster members Deborah Kinlaw,
Ahs-Counter & Grammarian; John Conger,
Timer.
Every Toastmaster has a role to play at a Toastmas-
ters meeting. Besides the host (Toastmaster of the
day), the speakers, and the evaluators of speeches;
there is a Grammarian who brings the Word of the
Day, evaluates the grammar used by each speaker,
and comments on the creative use of .language. The
Grammarian at our club meeting is usually the Ahs-
Counter; someone who keeps track of the distracting
filler words used throughout the meeting: you knows,
ums, ahs, and-and, but-but. The goal of every Toast-
master is to speak without using any annoying filler
words. There is a Timer who monitors each meeting
segment. He or she aids each speaker to stay within
time limits so that meetings start and end on time.
Past Meetings: Sharing the Memories
Start your Wednesday mornings with us. Come out of curiosity; stay for the fun!
Induction of new members, Joseph and Larry, by
Area Governor, Sharon Vickers. (April 2011)
Club President Bud Montero presenting Best
Table Topics Speaker award to Toastmaster Ad-
die Crews. (December 2011)
Surprise Kathy! This 2007 photo is still
around. This was a Table Topics Challenge
where participants had to pick a hat and
speak “off the cuff” for up to 2 minutes.
Shane wearing his “love glasses” to close his 5-7 minutes inspira-
tional message of love in February this year. Inspired by the lyrics
of pop artist Beckah Shae titled, “Put Your Love Glasses On”, Shane
urged us to see each other with loving eyes.
O
K
E
F
E
N
O
K
E
E
CHARTER MEMBERS: John Penland (Sponsor), Andrew Slocum, Joe Gant, Harry D. Dixon,
Jr., Carolyn Morton (Akins), Phil Wysong, C.J. Broome, Paul O’Cain, James C. Bunch, W.F.
Stephens, Jeanette Stipe, Tom Strickland, Fred Barber, John Karew, Reuben Flanders, E.
Nash Williams, Jerri Davis, Doris Germano, Andy Spivey, Audrey West, and Margaret Park.
Edited by Janice Williams
Small Steps; Big Dreams by J. Williams
The Oprah Show always had an episode where Oprah fulfilled someone’s wildest dreams. Some
time ago on the show, there was a teacher, a single parent, who was working three jobs to help
pay off student loans for her college educated children. She had a picture of Florence, Italy on
her refrigerator. That was her big dream - to go to Florence.
Well Oprah fulfilled her dreams. On the show, Oprah pledged to send that teacher and her
adult children to Florence, pay off the student loans, and give her enough money for a year so
that she would not have to keep all three of her jobs. What happens if you do not have Oprah to
help you fulfill your wildest dream? Should you put off pursuing your dream?
I am a big fan of American Idol. Many young people dream of that big record deal so that they
can become famous like past winners: Kelly Clarkson, a former waitress; Fantasia Barrino,
once a struggling teenaged mother; and Carrie Underwood, a country girl from a small town
named Checotah in Oklahoma. Year after year, thousands of young people wait in long lines all
over the United States to get a chance to audition for the show, but guess what? A number of
them seem to have big dreams and no talent. They can’t sing a note that is pleasing to the ear.
If you are a fan of the show, you may have wondered as I have done, how could these young peo-
ple possibly think that they had any talent? Did they sing in church? Did they sing in any
community talent show before auditioning for American Idol? Seriously, what did they do to
prepare for their opportunity on American Idol?
Well American Idol got me thinking. I have concluded that many of those young people, with no
talent, did not really have a passion for music or for singing. They had a desire to be on televi-
sion for 5 minutes. If they truly had the passion, they would have spent some time learning to
sing in tune, learning the words of songs, and auditioning for talent shows in their local com-
munity.
If you are from a small town like Waycross and your dream is to be a Hollywood actress?
Shouldn’t you have a passion for acting? Shouldn’t you join the drama club at school? Shouldn’t
you be auditioning at the community theater right here in Waycross? If you want to write a
novel, shouldn’t you be competent in the English language? Shouldn’t you be writing short sto-
ries for your local newspaper or an online publication? If you want to be a public speaker or a
leader in your community, prepare for your big break. You really should be an avid reader of
ideas. You should hone your presentation skills. You should offer to speak at service clubs in
your community. You should volunteer to perform leadership roles.
Oprah may never be able to fulfill any of your wildest dreams but if you really have a passion
for something, you can certainly take small steps to pursue your dream. Be your own dream
maker. Prepare for your opportunity. The pursuit of the dream can be as rewarding as the ful-
fillment of the dream.