Meeting of Monday, July 11, 2005

After a two-week break we had a wonderful turnout of members this evening. We also welcomed our first-time guests Nancy, Homa and Behzad – glad to hear you enjoyed the evening and hope to return. Our “YAMs” Naveen and Susannah also joined us, and it was good to see Thomas join his sister this evening!

Chris was our meeting Chair, the theme of which was “Some Place I’d Rather Be Right Now!! He did a really good job of keeping the meeting on track and on theme.

You can see Chris in this picture with Mary W, at the Scotiabank BD Marathon on Sunday, June 26th. When asked about her time, Mary said modestly that "it was impressive. ... Chris and I were volunteers at a water station that was on the 5 Km run route.". The races were in support of VGH and UBC Hospital Foundation.

Carol, as Grammarian, introduced us to Eschew: to shun or avoid. Example: “My daughter shops at Value Village because she eschews paying for new clothes!” Despite it being the word of the day, we seemed to eschew using it and it was rarely mentioned, but Carol kept an excellent record of uhms and ahs, and those of us not wearing name badges or coming in late!!

Hal as Table Topics Master, a role he truly enjoys, kept true to form and presented five scenarios of where we would rather be. A valiant effort was put forth by all contenders, and Maureen as Queen for the day (in a spa no less) won the Best Table Topics Speaker Award.

Rosemary, in working towards her ATM Silver, delivered The Moral of the Story speech from the Storytelling manual and won the Best Speaker Award. Her evaluator Maurice won the Best Evaluator Award. Congratulations to all winners!

Thanks to those of you who have signed up for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. This invitation is also extended to guests, and if you wish to join us on Sunday, July 17th, please let me know. We have about 18 names already and maybe more to come, so don’t be shy!!

On July 18 we will have Angela visit us so it should be a memorable evening, and one not to miss!

See you on the 17th and 18th!!

Best wishes,