James G. (Jerry) Hunt

James G. (Jerry) Hunt, Ph.D.

Our beloved seasoned Toastmaster, Dr. James G. (Jerry) Hunt passed away on Tuesday July 22, 2008. Jerry joined Toastmasters in December 1982 and he achieved the ATM-S. He supported and actively participated in Club 884 for over 25 years. Jerry was a highly valued, dedicated, and loving member of Lubbock Toastmasters Club 884.

Jerry continuously encouraged countless fellow Toastmasters to practice and he was a huge proponent of videotaping each and every speech in order to fully review and see the actual you in action. Jerry's wealth of experience in scholarly conferences and symposiums was a great resource for graduate students in our club. As a fantastic (fanatic?) grammarian, Jerry kept his fellow Toastmaster very well in line when it comes to grammatical usage and errors.

Jerry loved Texas Tech as well. He was a dedicated “Red Raider” often wearing Texas Tech apparel. Jerry loved his BMW roadster; imagine Jerry speeding in his convertible. In 2006, we celebrated Jerry and Donna’s 50th wedding anniversary and what a glorious celebration it was. Jerry was standing by his Red Raider Cherry cake asking us if we would like a slice of his favorite cherry cake. Jerry had a great smile and ability to instantly bond with people.

Who could forget Jerry’s Red ‘n’ Black belt buckle, double T cowboy boots and his infamous “Guns Up!” gesture? Remember the “Fig leaf” analogy for body gestures? Remember the “Progressive Revelation” method? The distinction between “I”, “me” and “myself”? Jerry will be greatly missed in our Toastmaster family. Rest in Peace…

Visitation will be Thursday evening from 6.30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Resthaven Funeral Home, 5740 W. 19th St., Lubbock Texas.

Funeral services will be at 1:00 pm Friday, July 25 at Lakeridge United Methodist Church, 4701 82nd Street, Lubbock Texas.

1970's, back in the time when Jerry still had (some) hair. (Thanks Bob)

Congrats to Siva

Siva completed his 10th speech from the Basic Competent Communicator manual and he is a CC now (I mean Competent Communicator, not Carbon Copy). In his 10th speech, Siva inspired us to be happy, and to be happy in the present and future, we should be an ideal burger.

p/s: if you don't know what I am talking about, here's a suggestion: Come to our meeting!

Officers Trained

Now you can sit back, relax and enjoy your ride with Lubbock TM 884, because your officers for this term had been trained this morning. Yes, we were trained. Four of us attended the Toastmaster Leadership Institute (TLI) this morning. Some updates for our members that we found out this morning.

Club 884 "Allegiance"
From July 1st 2008 onwards, Club 884 in TM organization chart after the district change is as follow:
Area: 61
Division: F
Region: III

Speeches Outside TM Club
At most two speeches from every TM Manual can be given outside TM Club. Though there was a debate whether giving a manual speech in other TM club is considered as outside speech or not, that's still up for individual interpretation.

International Speech Contest
A judge can be disqualified if he/she does not meet the qualifications or is proven to be unobjective in the judging or being influenced by others.
The identity of Tie-Breaker Judge should be known by the Chief Judge only.
Tie-Breaker Judge should rank ALL contestants based on his/her judging where as other judges will provide only First, Second and Third place contestants to the Chief Judge.
Under no circumstances should the Tie-Breaker Judge's vote be revealed, except when a tie occurs.

To "Spice" Things Up In Weekly Meeting
Several things that club could do to break the routine of a Toastmaster meeting:
Pot-luck meeting. Members will not know what their duties are until before the meeting, where each member will draw from a hat for their roles for the meeting.
Reverse meeting. Meeting order is reverse, i.e. Club business by Presiding Officer, Awarder present award, General Evaluator evaluates the meeting, General Evaluator calls upon individual evaluators for evaluations, then Speakers present his/her speech, Toastmaster introduces the Speakers, Table Topics, Toastmaster opens the meeting, Presiding officer introduce the Toastmaster, Invocation/Pledge and Sargeant at Arms calls the meeting to order.

Congratulations to Lalo and Gerardo

On the 8th day of 7th month of Gregorian Calendar, year of two thousand and eight, Lalo gave this 10th speech from the basic manual and thus, he is now officially a Competent Communicator. Lalo talked about his experience in Lubbock, away from all his family and friends, and stucked in this little city which he had never heard of before his professor told him. Congratulations Lalo!!

And the same went to Gerardo, for giving his 10th speech this morning. Congratulations to both.

Mari Carmen: Congrats!!

Mari Carmen gave her 10th speech this morning and now, she is officially a Competent Communicator. Ooppss, not so fast, Wiki Aguas has to submit your award details first. Anyway, Congratulations!

Mari Carmen delivered a very inspiring speech on donating organ. She presented some information on donating organs, including how the process works and if you have decided to be an organ donor, you need to let your family members know so that they will respect your will if the worst should happen. Thank you for the inspiring speech and Congratulations on your achievement.