June 6th Table Topics throw back

Diane was in charge of Table topics today. She asked our guest, Brian H, if he makes a change to his travels because of tourist season. He said that he does not, other than the amount of swearing that he does during his traveling. Laurie talked about her debate she has been having as to whether her family should go to the beach to watch the solar eclipse, or if they should go to her cabin in Sweethome. John was the third Table Topics speaker, who talked about how he normally takes friends who visit from out of town to the beach, and probably to a bar. Laurie was the winner of Table Topics.

Throw back Table Topics! May 30th, 2017

The winners of Table topics. Tuesday's Table topics were very short during our meeting because of our two long speeches. Pen and Brian were the winners of our outrageous table topics. Pen talked about a vacation she took with her mother, where she paid to go on a road trip. She talked about how her mother was displeased at the room, and offered to pay for their next trip. Brian was asked why he lives in Lincoln County, to which he said that he took the first job he was offered as a Lawyer and moved here to work at one of our local law firms.

Toastmasters education track

This is the current education track of Toastmasters. Pathways is the new education track that will be rolled out soon.

What is a speech evaluation?

Toastmasters is a club that helps its members to improve their speaking and leadership skills. In order to do this, when a person gives a speech, they will get an evaluation.When the speech evaluator is listening to the speech, they will look for certain things: body language, content, voice, and confidence. In addition to this, if a person is working out of a manual, they will use the specific guidelines in the book to base their evaluation on.
Example: Speech project 5 Your body speaks
The evaluator would look for the use of stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact to express your message, and achieve your speech's purpose.
Make your body language smooth and natural.
This speech is from five to seven minutes.

Example of a Speech 5 evaluation:
First impression: WOW!
Preparation: Excellent! We learned a lot of history, psychology and about you.
Manner: Satisfactory. Great use of costuming!
Posture: poised and balanced
Gestures: satisfactory
Body Movement: Purposeful, smooth, and steady!
Eye contact: Established visual bonds
Facial expressions: animated and friendly
Speech purpose: satisfactory
Speech organization: Logical and clear
What could they do differently? You can use fists to emphasize "evil"
What did you like about the speech? The depth of history and educating us all

Throw back Table Topics- April 4th, 2017

Lauralee was the impromptu table topics master of the day. Her table topics were based off of the currently popular Facebook game would you rather. She asked Peter if he would rather have a lion or elephant as a pet. His reply was that his cats would not like him if he got a lion, and they would be hard to feed, so he would prefer an elephant. Laurie said that she liked audiobooks and paper books equally depending on the activity, when asked if she prefered one over the other. When driving for long periods of time, she likes having an audiobook with her. In contrast, she likes to snuggle down with a good book at home. Laimons won table topics after being asked if he prefers jazz or rock and roll. He said that in Gothenburg, Sweden he heard The Delta Rhythm Boys, a jazz gospel group, but he did say that he could tolerate Rock Around the Clock because it was more like jazz.

Tomorrow's schedule

Current Schedule for tomorrow:
The Toastmaster of the day is Paul, evaluated by Peter. Christa will be speaking, evaluated by Laurie. Laimons is the Table Topics master of the day, and John is the timer.

*We have no second speaker, second evaluator, or grammarian.

Throw back table topics! April 20th, 2017

Several people got to try their hand at ranting. It was very therapeutic for several of the members. Dave was the table topics master of the day. There was a three way tie for table topics today between Peter's rant about tourists, Paul's story about setting a house on fire, and Christa Colway' s rant on the loss of her application. Peter talked about how tourists do not realize that stopping in the middle of the highway is not a good idea. He also said that sometimes the decision of wear to go next can be overwhelming, so much so that tourists stop in the middle of the crosswalk deciding which way to go next.

Other roles, June 20th

Avital was the grammarian of the day, who reminded us that we need to speak in complete sentences. The word of the day was copacetic, and she introduced the concept from Toastmasters of a double clutch or tautology, where you repeat a word. The timer of the day was Peter.

Table Topics June 20th

Christa was in charge of table topics, and based her theme off of the game would you rather. She asked Kathleen if she would rather go back to age five with all of the information she has now, or know what she will know in the future. Kathleen said that she would prefer to know the future than go back to the past with all that she knows now. Why she said that is because she said Kathleen has always known she wanted to be a teacher and was good at remembering information in books, but now has a worse memory, and she thought that would frustrate her younger self. John said he does not find wealth as important, as demonstrated by his career choice of being a fish biologist, but health is very important to him. In order to do the job he loves, John has to be healthy, so he said it is more important to be healthy than wealthy. Diane said that she would prefer to be a CEO than a senator because her degree is in business, and she would be copacetic in her decision to be a businesswoman than a senator. Kathleen was the table topics winner of the day.

Second speaker, June 20th

Brian was the second speaker of the day, who talked about our mentor program. He presented on the various benefits of being a mentor, or being mentored. Some of these include learning new skills, working on communication, and for the club it will help with member retention. Near the end of the speech, he passed out forms to apply of a mentor and to become a mentor. A last thing he mentioned was that you do not need to be a new member to be mentored, because we all can learn from each other. Paul was Brian's evaluator, who said that because this speech was from Toastmasters it could not be as personalized, but he did a good job of adding humor to the speech. He said that we learned a lot from the speech, but would have liked to have a more concise introduction.

First speaker, June 20th 2017

Leanna was our guest speaker of the day, who is a part of the outgoing district trio. She talked about how Toastmasters can help a person work on leadership through several different avenues. When working in club roles, such as general evaluator, a person can practice leadership qualities such as providing your team with the information they need, and giving them feedback on how well they evaluated the meeting. River was Leanna's evaluator who talked about how Leanna stood away from the lectern, which opened her up to her audience.Another thing that River said was that Leanna talked a lot about the benefits of Toastmasters in general, and how it can improve your speaking skills which leads to better leadership skills. In contrast, she did not say that Toastmaster could be fun or inviting, only the business benefits.

Toastmaster of June 20th

The Toastmaster of the day was Lee, who told jokes and made sure to check in with everyone who had roles. The general evaluator of the day was Lauralee who talked about how Avital helped people know what the most common words were used and, so, well, and now. She also complimented Christa on explaining how table topics would work.

June 20th review

We would like to welcome our guest of the day, Leanna.
The Toastmaster of the day was Lee, who told jokes and made sure to check in with everyone who had roles. The general evaluator of the day was Lauralee who talked about how Avital helped people know what the most common words were used and, so, well, and now. She also complimented Christa on explaining how table topics would work.
Leanna was our guest speaker of the day, who is a part of the outgoing district trio. She talked about how Toastmasters can help a person work on leadership through several different avenues. When working in club roles, such as general evaluator, a person can practice leadership qualities such as providing your team with the information they need, and giving them feedback on how well they evaluated the meeting. River was Leanna's evaluator who talked about how Leanna stood away from the lectern, which opened her up to her audience.Another thing that River said was that Leanna talked a lot about the benefits of Toastmasters in general, and how it can improve your speaking skills which leads to better leadership skills. In contrast, she did not say that Toastmaster could be fun or inviting, only the business benefits.
Brian was the second speaker of the day, who talked about our mentor program. He presented on the various benefits of being a mentor, or being mentored. Some of these include learning new skills, working on communication, and for the club it will help with member retention. Near the end of the speech, he passed out forms to apply of a mentor and to become a mentor. A last thing he mentioned was that you do not need to be a new member to be mentored, because we all can learn from each other. Paul was Brian's evaluator, who said that because this speech was from Toastmasters it could not be as personalized, but he did a good job of adding humor to the speech. He said that we learned a lot from the speech, but would have liked to have a more concise introduction.
Christa was in charge of table topics, and based her theme off of the game would you rather. She asked Kathleen if she would rather go back to age five with all of the information she has now, or know what she will know in the future. Kathleen said that she would prefer to know the future than go back to the past with all that she knows now. Why she said that is because she said Kathleen has always known she wanted to be a teacher and was good at remembering information in books, but now has a worse memory, and she thought that would frustrate her younger self. John said he does not find wealth as important, as demonstrated by his career choice of being a fish biologist, but health is very important to him. In order to do the job he loves, John has to be healthy, so he said it is more important to be healthy than wealthy. Diane said that she would prefer to be a CEO than a senator because her degree is in business, and she would be copacetic in her decision to be a businesswoman than a senator. Kathleen was the table topics winner of the day.
Avital was the grammarian of the day, who reminded us that we need to speak in complete sentences. The word of the day was copacetic, and she introduced the concept from Toastmasters of a double clutch or tautology, where you repeat a word. The timer of the day was Peter.

Roles for Tuesday June 18th

The Toastmaster of the day will be Lee, generally evaluated by Lauralee. There will be two speakers for this meeting, a guest Leanna who will be evaluated by River, and Brian who will be evaluated by Paul. Avital will be the grammarian of the day, and Christa will be Table Topics master. Peter will be the timer of the day.

February 28th table topics picture

Table topics was based off of stories, lead by Christa. Peter was asked whether he would rather be a vampire or a werewolf. He said he would be a vampire, and played off of the drink a bloody mary. During his tale, he said that hide from the people in town, but other than that it would be preferable than being a werewolf. Peter won the table topics award today!

Highlights June 13th

We would like to welcome our guests Viki, Brian, Keith, and Joel! The Toastmaster of the day was Avital who talked about her dad and traveling around the United States. Her general evaluator was Lee, who complimented Brian on giving both positive and constructive feedback to Diane.

Diane talked about going to school, from junior high school to getting her doctorate's degree in 2014. She works as an accountant and a professor at Washington State University. Brian was the evaluator for Diane's ice breaker speech, who complimented her calmness and openness during her speech.

Joel was a guest speaker of the day is a DTM, who also happens to be travelling to see Avital during this time, as he is her dad. During his speech, he talked about the ten principles of communication.To demonstrate his point of interruptions, he picked up his phone during the speech and pretended to be distracted for a second. Kathleen complimented the structure of his speech, comparing the ten principles of communication to the how the ten commandments were structured.

The Table Topics master of the day was Peter, who felt like it was random question day. Viki, a past member and a guest, talked about how she was sleepy this morning, but likes to take naps after staying up late. Paul was the winner of table topics, as he debated the benefits between using pencils and pens. He said that it would be better to use a pen to ask a question like Will you marry me? 

The word of the day was principle and principal by Laimons, and the timer of the day was Christa. 

June 3rd table topics

The winners of Table topics. Tuesday's Table topics were very short during our meeting because of our two long speeches. Pen and Brian were the winners of our outrageous table topics. Pen talked about a vacation she took with her mother, where she paid to go on a road trip. She talked about how her mother was displeased at the room, and offered to pay for their next trip. Brian was asked why he lives in Lincoln County, to which he said that he took the first job he was offered as a Lawyer and moved here to work at one of our local law firms.

Table topics February 14th

Brian was the Table Topics Master of the day, and he asked Christa about the legend of saint valentine. She said the legend involved three characters including love, and these three characters formed the basis of the holiday, Valentine's Day. Since then the day has evolved into what we called Valentine's day. Christa was the winner of table topics today.

Table Topics

The Table Topics master of the day was Peter, who felt like it was random question day. Viki, a past member and a guest, talked about how she was sleepy this morning, but likes to take naps after staying up late. Paul was the winner of table topics, as he debated the benefits between using pencils and pens. When using a pencil, he said, nothing is permanent, whereas pens, even those with erasers, are more lasting. He then went on to say that it would be better to use a pen to ask a question like Will you marry me? 

A Guest Speaker- DTM Joel!

Joel was a guest speaker of the day is a DTM, who also happens to be travelling to see Avital during this time, as he is her dad. During his speech, he talked about the ten principles of communication. He talked about principles of communication, from interruptions to introductions. To demonstrate his point of interruptions, he picked up his phone during the speech and pretended to be distracted for a second. Avital's dad, Joel, talked about how you need to make sure the other person has time to listen to you, and when you are being spoken to, you need to listen to them. Another thing he talked about was introductions, and how A last thing Joel talked about was gratitude, and how we need to be gracious when we communicate with others, with both words like thank you, and our overall attitude. Kathleen was his evaluator, who is off from her nine month run of school, thanked him for his speech. She also complimented the structure of his speech, comparing the ten principles of communication to the how the ten commandments were structured. One thing she did touch on was the professionalism of throwing cards over his shoulders during the speech. 

Diane's Ice Breaker Speech!

Diane talked about going to junior high school and then high school in Colorado. Fifteen years ago she moved to South Park, Colorado, and was married to Keith. In the last three years, she told us about how she went back to school to get her doctorate's degree, after already having a degree in accounting. Now, Diane works for Washington State University as an online professor, and lives in Newport, Oregon, where she plans to make her forever home. Brian was the evaluator for Diane's ice breaker speech, who complimented her calmness and openness during her speech. He told her she had a believability to her that let everyone into her life. One thing for her to work on is her speed, and narrowing her topic.

Toastmaster June 13th

The Toastmaster of the day was Avital, who talked about the lessons that her dad, such as going camping and traveling around the United States. Her general evaluator was Lee, who complimented Brian on giving both positive and constructive feedback to Diane, and reminded us that we do not take over the podium but a lectern because it does not have a stand.

The review of June 13th

We would like to welcome our guests Viki, Brian, Keith, and Joel! We hope you enjoyed our meeting and would love to hear what you thought. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday at 7 AM at Pig 'N Pancake next week if you would like to come again.
The Toastmaster of the day was Avital, who talked about the lessons that her dad, such as going camping and traveling around the United States. Her general evaluator was Lee, who complimented Brian on giving both positive and constructive feedback to Diane, and reminded us that we do not take over the podium but a lectern because it does not have a stand.
Diane talked about going to junior high school and then high school in Colorado. Fifteen years ago she moved to South Park, Colorado, and was married to Keith. In the last three years, she told us about how she went back to school to get her doctorate's degree, after already having a degree in accounting. Now, Diane works for Washington State University as an online professor, and lives in Newport, Oregon, where she plans to make her forever home. Brian was the evaluator for Diane's ice breaker speech, who complimented her calmness and openness during her speech. He told her she had a believability to her that let everyone into her life. One thing for her to work on is her speed, and narrowing her topic.
Joel was a guest speaker of the day is a DTM, who also happens to be travelling to see Avital during this time, as he is her dad. During his speech, he talked about the ten principles of communication. He talked about principles of communication, from interruptions to introductions. To demonstrate his point of interruptions, he picked up his phone during the speech and pretended to be distracted for a second. Avital's dad, Joel, talked about how you need to make sure the other person has time to listen to you, and when you are being spoken to, you need to listen to them. Another thing he talked about was introductions, and how A last thing Joel talked about was gratitude, and how we need to be gracious when we communicate with others, with both words like thank you, and our overall attitude. Kathleen was his evaluator, who is off from her nine month run of school, thanked him for his speech. She also complimented the structure of his speech, comparing the ten principles of communication to the how the ten commandments were structured. One thing she did touch on was the professionalism of throwing cards over his shoulders during the speech. 
The Table Topics master of the day was Peter, who felt like it was random question day. Viki, a past member and a guest, talked about how she was sleepy this morning, but likes to take naps after staying up late. Paul was the winner of table topics, as he debated the benefits between using pencils and pens. When using a pencil, he said, nothing is permanent, whereas pens, even those with erasers, are more lasting. He then went on to say that it would be better to use a pen to ask a question like Will you marry me? 
The word of the day was principle and principal by Laimons, and the timer of the day was Christa. 

Congratulations Christa

We would like to congratulate Christa on finishing all of the speeches in the Competent Communicator !!

Christa's last Competent Communicator Speech

Christa was our only speaker of the day, who gave her last speech from the competent communicator. She talked about the benefits and dangers of genetically modified organisms, or genetically engineered organisms. In her speech, she said most studies have shown that these organisms are safe to eat, and several of the studies that have shown that they are dangerous have been debunked. One reason Christa said that people are wary to trust these foods because studies that have been done to show that GMOs are safe had been done by companies that grow GMO crops. Because of this, Christa said that most people in the US are more willing to believe studies done by the UN. Peter was her evaluator who told Christa she had done a great job studying and presenting a difficult subject. One thing he did say was that she needed to take a breath and slow her pace so she was not racing through her speech.

Table Topics

Diane was in charge of Table topics today. She asked our guest, Brian H, if he makes a change to his travels because of tourist season. He said that he does not, other than the amount of swearing that he does during his traveling. Laurie talked about her debate she has been having as to whether her family should go to the beach to watch the solar eclipse, or if they should go to her cabin in Sweethome. John was the third Table Topics speaker, who talked about how he normally takes friends who visit from out of town to the beach, and probably to a bar. Laurie was the winner of Table Topics.

Toastmaster of the day June 6th

Laimons was the Toastmaster of the day, who talked about that it was the 73rd anniversary of D-Day, as well as tips on being a Toastmaster. He made sure to give everyone introductions that talked about not only their time in Toastmasters, but also their life outside of Toastmasters. Brian was the general evaluator of Laimons, who complimented him on making sure the meeting ran on time, and giving the Table Topics Master a good idea of how long she had to ask members questions.

Business meeting June 6th

We would like to welcome our two guests from today's meeting, Vicki and Brian H!
Our business meeting was today! The Vice President of Education, Diane, talked about her sign up sheet, and said she would make it so the closest meeting will be the first one you see. Lee, our Vice President of Membership, talked about his newest project of updating the packets for inquiring members. Lauralee, Vice President of Public Relations, talked about how our blog reached above average numbers this month, at 147, and how we reached over 3,000 people this month for Facebook. Laurie our treasurer, said that our bank has plenty of money, and Christa, our secretary, said that there was no old business we needed to to address.

Toastmasters review for June 6th

We would like to welcome our two guests from today's meeting, Vicki and Brian H!
Our business meeting was today! The Vice President of Education, Diane, talked about her sign up sheet, and said she would make it so the closest meeting will be the first one you see. Lee, our Vice President of Membership, talked about his newest project of updating the packets for inquiring members. Lauralee, Vice President of Public Relations, talked about how our blog reached above average numbers this month, at 147, and how we reached over 3,000 people this month for Facebook. Laurie our treasurer, said that our bank has plenty of money, and Christa, our secretary, said that there was no old business we needed to to address.
Laimons was the Toastmaster of the day, who talked about that it was the 73rd anniversary of D-Day, as well as tips on being a Toastmaster. He made sure to give everyone introductions that talked about not only their time in Toastmasters, but also their life outside of Toastmasters. Brian was the general evaluator of Laimons, who complimented him on making sure the meeting ran on time, and giving the Table Topics Master a good idea of how long she had to ask members questions.
Christa was our only speaker of the day, who gave her last speech from the competent communicator. She talked about the benefits and dangers of genetically modified organisms, or genetically engineered organisms. In her speech, she said most studies have shown that these organisms are safe to eat, and several of the studies that have shown that they are dangerous have been debunked. One reason Christa said that people are wary to trust these foods because studies that have been done to show that GMOs are safe had been done by companies that grow GMO crops. Because of this, Christa said that most people in the US are more willing to believe studies done by the UN. Peter was her evaluator who told Christa she had done a great job studying and presenting a difficult subject. One thing he did say was that she needed to take a breath and slow her pace so she was not racing through her speech.
Diane was in charge of Table topics today. She asked our guest, Brian H, if he makes a change to his travels because of tourist season. He said that he does not, other than the amount of swearing that he does during his traveling. Laurie talked about her debate she has been having as to whether her family should go to the beach to watch the solar eclipse, or if they should go to her cabin in Sweethome. John was the third Table Topics speaker, who talked about how he normally takes friends who visit from out of town to the beach, and probably to a bar. Laurie was the winner of Table Topics.
The grammarian of the day was Lauralee, whose word of the day was arbitrary. The timer of the day was Lee.

Outline of Lauralee's experiment

Green Onions and Radishes Experiment
Introduction
1. Plants will have to withstand a lack of light
Objective
2. To find out if radishes and green onions will grow under 50% lighting conditions, and if so,
how they compare to normally grown green onion and radishes.
3. Quote from President Obama "We have set a clear goal vital to the next chapter of
America’s story in space: sending humans to Mars by the 2030s and returning them safely
to Earth, with the ultimate ambition to one day remain there for an extended time,”
(October 11, 2016)
Methods
● Measurements
○ Height
○ Numbers of plants
○ Hours of light
○ Plant appearance/ pictures
● Data
○ Statistics (range, mean, median)
○ Graphs
Results
1. Control radishes are taller until harvesting
2. Control green onions were shorter than the experiment
3. Experiment plants had a better root system
Conclusion
1. If the half-light is simulating winter, it would make sense that they did fine and grew
normally for the tops, and created a more complex root system, which is characteristic of
winter plants.
2. "I don’t see future space crews leaving the Earth for long durations without having the
ability to grow their own food," said Topham."The knowledge that we are gaining is
enabling us to extend our exploration and future colonization of space."

This is a video from Lauralee's speech on her plant experiment

From Lauralee's speech.

Introduction:

NASA has stated that Mars has about 45% less light that it receives than Earth does, because of its position relative to the sun. Because of this, growing food on mars will have to be able to withstand a lack of light. I have chosen one vegetable that is already being studied, radishes, and another that is not being studied, green onions.  Experiment summary:I will plant the ten seeds on the same day, in the same conditions. During the experiment I will monitor how they grow, how much I water them, how often I water, and other care taking facts. One pot of green onions, and one pot of radish seeds will be grown under 50% of normal light, and one pot of green onion and one pot of radish seeds will be grown under normal lighting conditions. Each of the green onion pots will have ten seeds in them, and the radish pots will have ten seeds in them.  Objective:To find out if radishes and green onions will grow under 50% lighting conditions, and if so, how they compare to normally grown green onion and radishes. Hypothesis:The seeds in less light will grow worse, dying or being delayed in growth, due to the lack of light. The delayed growth will be a result of the decrease in photosynthetic activity. To show that the experiment plants are growing less effectively, I will measure height, time it takes for the seeds to sprout, and color. I will also have images to compare the two pots with to confirm that the experiment group is delayed in growth. For the normal conditioned seeds, they will grow better in comparison to the 50% of light seeds, because they will receive the full amount of simulated sunlight, leading to normal photosynthesis. They will be normal in their growth, on track to be harvested after 21 days.  Method:I will use four three gallon pots filled with soil to plant the seeds in. One pot will be the control for radishes, which has nothing different for it. This pot will contain 10 seeds two rows with six inches between the rows, and two inches between the seeds planted. It will be grown according to the directions on the package, and under 100% normal lighting conditions from a growth light. The second pot will have radish seeds that are grown in 50% light, with the 10 seeds. Similarly, the third pot will be the control green onion seeds, with one row of nine seeds. For last pot, nine green onion seeds will be grown under 50% light conditions through a grow light.  Results:Overall, the control radishes were taller, before harvesting, than their experiment counterparts. The control green onions, on average, were shorter than the experiment green onions throughout the experiment.While looking at the graphs, the experiment radishes has a smoother accent than the control radishes. There does not seem to be a correlation between the time the light was on and how much the plants grew, but the total lumen (sunlight) exposure to the plants affected how they grew. Like the radishes, the experiment green onions had a more extensive root system which made them taller in the end. Conclusion: In this run through, the control radishes were taller before harvesting, but shorter after measuring the root system of the experiment radishes. While the control radishes grew more between measurements, they did not have the same height in the end. This means the hypothesis that the experiment radishes will do worse than the control radishes was not correct. While the less light plants did have less photosynthetic activity, and were shorter than the control radishes before they were harvested, they had a better root system which was not predicted. While radishes are known to be able to winter over, it takes a specific species to thrive in the winter, which is not available in the spring and summer time. 
For the control green onions, they were overall shorter than the experiment green onions. This proved my hypothesis wrong that the control green onions would grow better than the experiment green onions. One reason this may be is because green onions are known to winter over, and the tops, which is what we harvested in this experiment, are what grows in the winter. If the half-light is simulating winter, it would make sense that they did fine and grew normally for the tops, and created a more complex root system, which is characteristic of winter plants.    

May 30th review

Brian was the Toastmaster of the day, whose theme was May 30th, the previous memorial day. He talked about how this day was rumored to start the graves of the fallen were decorated in the civil war. Laimons was the general evaluator, who said that the meeting ran long, but we improvised well with skipping the table topics voting.
The first speaker of the day was Lauralee who gave her last speech for the Technical presentations advanced manual. This also completes her Advanced Communicator Bronze award. She talked about her experiment for growing food on Mars. Lauralee described how she has green onions and radishes growing under 50% and 100% light. She showed pictures, like in this post, of how she measured the height in centimeters, took pictures, and recorded caretaking facts to find out how 50% light plants grew in comparison to 100% light plants. John was Lauralee's evaluator. He said that she did a good job of making sure everyone could understand her topic, and making it relevant to the group. One thing he did suggest was giving the group materials earlier before the meeting, so that they had at least a few days to understand her project.Lee was the second speaker of the day who talked about how we need to remember to respect the flag. In his speech, he told us about how he was on flag duty in elementary school. For this he had to make sure the flag was up during the school day, and take it down before school ended. He told us that he also had to make sure the flag was not up when it rained. After that, he talked about becoming a boy scout, and how they taught him more about respecting the flag. When he looks at the flag, he always sees his best friend from elementary school, who went off to fight in Vietnam but did not make it home. Lee's friend was 19 years old when he passed away, and right then Lee made a promise to live his life for both of them. The flag reminds him not only of his country, but also his promise.
The winners of Table topics. Tuesday's Table topics were very short during our meeting because of our two long speeches. Pen and Brian were the winners of our outrageous table topics. Pen talked about a vacation she took with her mother, where she paid to go on a road trip. She talked about how her mother was displeased at the room, and offered to pay for their next trip. Brian was asked why he lives in Lincoln County, to which he said that he took the first job he was offered as a Lawyer and moved here to work at one of our local law firms.
The word of the day was outrageous, given to us by Peter. The timer of the day was River.

Christa was Lee's evaluator, and she said that she did not know how to evaluate his speech. She was very emotional in her evaluation of his speech, saying it moved her to action to make sure the flag was up more often. She also talked about how she did not know most of the rules of respecting the flag that he talked about and wanted to make sure her flag was being properly respected.