To Make a Difference

Congratulations to Shannon on giving her first speech in Cottonwood Toastmasters. The project "Ice Breaker" was titled "To Make a Difference". Shannon works at the Verde Valley Sanctuary where she is a great example to those she serves and is truly making a difference in the lives of others. Below is a poem she shared with us that has influenced her life for many years. Good job Shannon! We are lucky to have you in our club!

THE  STARFISH  POEM

Once upon a time there was a wise man

who used to go to the ocean

to do his writing.

He had a habit of walking

on the beach

before he began his work.

One day he was walking along

the shore.

As he looked down the beach,

he saw a human

figure moving like a dancer.

He smiled to himself to think

of someone who would

dance to the day.

So he began to walk faster

to catch up.

As he got closer, he saw

that it was a young man

and the young man wasn't dancing,

but instead he was reaching

down to the shore,

picking up something

and very gently throwing it

into the ocean.

As he got closer he called out,

"Good morning! What are you doing?"

The young man paused,

looked up and replied,

"Throwing starfish in the ocean."

"I guess I should have asked,

why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"

"The sun is up and the tide is going out.

And if I don't throw them in they'll die."

"But, young man, don't you realize that

there are miles and miles of beach

and starfish all along it.

You can't possibly make a difference!"

The young man listened politely.

Then bent down, picked up another starfish

and threw it into the sea,

past the breaking waves and said-

"It made a difference for that one."

  

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 634-6540

The Moral of the Story

Today I gave a speech titled "The Curious Frogs" and hopefully entertained a room full of Toastmasters. It was a lot of fun. I have put this shortened version in this blog for those of you who may need to hear the "Moral of the Story" or who may need a good speech for a Story Telling project. Feel free to embellish the story and have fun with it. I sure did!  
Enjoy, from you Toastie Laina!

Once upon a time there was a pair of little green frogs who were looking to have an adventure. They decided to pay a visit to a farm house in the big village near the beautiful pond where they lived. As they happily hopped in through the kitchen door, the little green frogs saw a large bucket. They were curious about what it contained. "A-goong, let's jump up and see!" suggested the first little green frog. "A-goong, yes, let's," replied the second little green frog excitedly. So, both little green frogs took a giant leap and landed right inside the bucket. 

The little green frogs soon discovered that the bucket was full of rich cream. The little green frogs floundered in the thick, frothy mass, trying to climb out. They kicked and splashed in the rich cream as they tried to get out of the bucket, but their legs slipped and they fell right back into the bucket of rich cream. "A-goong! Oh, no, now what shall we do?" cried the first little green frog. "A-goong! We'll just have to keep trying,' replied the second little green frog

The first little green frog made a few more attempts, but they were half-hearted. He was too discouraged to keep trying to get out of the bucket of rich cream. "A-goong, I can't carry on any longer," he sighed and went down and drowned. The second little green frog kept on trying, kicking his hind legs strongly and stretching out his forelegs to get a foothold on the rim of the bucket. Finally, after more than an hour, he found his hind legs strike something solid. To his amazement the cream turned into butter and the little green frog simply gave one more gigantic kick, leapt out of the bucket and hopped gratefully away back to his pond.

The moral of the story is that even if we stumble and others try to pull us down, we’ve got to keep on swimming because eventually the cream will turn into butter and we'll make it out of the pail stronger and wiser than before.

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 634-6540

Too Much FUN!

You would LOVE our Cottonwood Toastmasters group. We have too much fun! It's a great thing seeing each of us progress in our public speaking goals and the learning of leadership skills. Here are just a few highlights of the past month of meetings:

Tara, our newest member, gave her first speech from the competent communicators manual, project one, titled "Ice Breaker". She did a fantastic job. A quote from the beginning of her speech is "How do you make God laugh? You tell Him your plans." We learned a lot about Tara and appreciate her courage!

Laurie gave us a speech on learning to drive and her experiences with her children. How fun to relive those memories!

Helen gave a wonderful speech from her competent communicator manual, the project titled "Vocal Variety". We learned about her many travels with her sister and their surviving each other in long distances and in close quarters. Excellent speech Helen!

AND last, but not least, our Table Topic for today was about a carnival caravan having an accident (the theme of the day was "Road Rage"). What a hoot! We had witnesses to the accident. There was Donald Duck, a little five year old girl, an old man, a Ring Master, and more. Everyone did a great job!

Cottonwood Toastmasters meets every Monday 12:00 to 1:15 at the Cottonwood Village, 201 E Mingus Ave. Guests are welcome. For more information call Laina Lloyd at 928-300-8638 or Dave Ellison at 634-6540