Meeting of February 25, 2012 — Pets on Parade!

Despite the threat of snow, the members of the newly renamed Seattle Sunrise met at the Northwest Hospital on 2/25.  In total, 12 members attended plus 3 guests.

President Ray R gaveled the meeting to order and introduced Scott to lead the meeting.  Scott reflected on pets he had growing up, all of which were surprisingly traditional.

Sonja gave her second speech titled “Giving back to your community through leadership”.  She talked about how starved municipalities are of volunteers.  She mentioned 3 opportunities to consider:  1) serving on a board, 2) running for an elected office, 3) running for seat in legislature and called on all members to consider getting involved. (Project: Organize Your Speech)

Nicole spoke about her favorite cooking ingredient: butternut squash.  She talked about how versatile squash is to cook with and mentioned that it can serve as a good substitute to meat.  Nicole shared a few photos of dishes that can be made using butternut squash.  Finally, she gave all members a copy of her favorite favorite butternut squash recipe — Butternut squash lasagna. (Project: Get Comfortable with Visual Aids)

Nagisa gave her third speech titled “Lessons learned outside of the classroom”.  She spoke on the subject of a “gap year”.  Nagisa explained that a gap year is a purposeful year away from college where students go to volunteer in a foreign country, help out in classrooms, or even work.  She recounted the benefits she had begotten as a result of her experience with a gap year and called all members to be supportive of students considering a gap year. (Project: Get to the Point)

Ray F led table topics.  He asked members questions which required them to talk about their favorite animals as well as experiences with pets.  Scott was awarded the ribbon as the best table topics speaker.  In his response, he revealed that his favorite animal in high school was not his high school mascot.

Andrew, Tammy, and Ray R served as evaluators and guest Norma served as general evaluator.  Scott introduced the vote for best evaluator as a new club tradition.  Tammy received the inaugural award.

At the conclusion of the meeting, Ray R called on all members to challenge themselves by signing up for more complex meeting roles such as general evaluator and toastmaster.

Our next meeting is scheduled for March 10th.

Posted in Meeting Summary