Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on February 17, 2025

Usiku uwemi, Achievers! ("Good evening" in Tumbuka, a Bantu language from Northern Malawi, Eastern Zambia, and Tanzania)

We had a small turnout at our February 17 meeting; we had 6 people in attendance, including 2 guests.

Meeting began at 7:04 pm and ended at 8:34 pm.

Our president, Satish Srinivas, was out of the country visiting family for all of February. In his absence, Linda Burtt opened the meeting with the Toastmasters mission statement, then turned the meeting over to the evening's Toastmaster, Nate Adkins.

Nate opened with some comments about the opening ceremonies from last week's Winter Olympics.

Theme of the meeting was "Olympics". During introductions, we all shared our favorite Olympic events.

In attendance:

* John Abreau
* Mary (guest, visited our club a couple years ago)
* Diana (guest, visited our club at our last meeting on February 3)
* Annette Coleman
* Linda Burtt
* Nate Akins

Annette - ah counter, grammarian, timer
Linda - general evaluator

I was the Jokemaster; I told a joke about Mary Poppins spending the night at a hotel.

Linda Burtt gave a speech about an A.I. project she's doing at work.

Nate led the Table Topics, using the Topix card deck. Questions were as follows:

* (Annette Coleman) What food reminds you of home? Why?
* (John Abreau) What is fear? Is it helpful, limiting, both?
* (Mary) How often do you drink caffeine? Do you rely on it?
* (Diana) Are you forgetful, or do you tend to remember details like names, dates, etc?
* (Linda Burtt) Do you believe life exists outside Earth? Intelligent life?

Diana won the vote for best table topic.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, March 3, 2026.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on September 16, 2025

Dzień dobry, Achievers! ("Good morning" in Polish)

We had a modest turnout at our September 16 meeting; we had 5 members in attendance.

Meeting began at 7:18 pm and ended at 8:16 pm.

Our President, Satish Srinivas, opened the meeting with a reading of the Toastmasters mission statement, then turned the meeting over to the evening's Toastmaster, John Abreau.

John Abreau was Wordmaster, with the word "hinky":

hinky - \HIN-kee\ - (adjective)
feeling unsure about the wisdom, reliability, or trustworthiness of someone or something.

"The cop was feeling hinky about the whole situation and was starting to think that it was a setup."

Theme of the meeting was "Doorway to Autumn".

In attendance:
* Satish Srinivas
* Rasheed Mohammed
* Sujatha Karuppiah
* Linda Burtt
* John Abreau

After introductons, we filled the remaining meeting roles.

Jokemaster was John Abreau, with a joke about Mary Poppins ordering room service at a hotel.

We had one speeches this evening.

Our speaker, Satish Srinivas, gave a speech titled "A.I. and Toastmasters", where he talked about using tools such as ChatGPT to help craft speeches..

We did a group evaluation of Satish's speech.

We took a short break after the group evaluation, then proceeded with Table Topics.

Rasheed led the table topics, using the Topix cards. Topics were as follows:

* (Linda) What's an unusual way that you've made money?
* (John) How has your life changed in the past five years?
* (Sujatha) What was the most fun you've had at work?
* (Satish) Have you ever urgently needed a toilet at the wrong time or place?

The vote for Best Table Topic was a tie, between Sujatha and Satish.

Our next meeting is tonight, Tuesday, October 7, 2025.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on August 5, 2025

Bon nochi, Achievers! ("Good evening" in Papiamento, a Portuguese-based creole language spoken in Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao)

We had a good turnout at our August 5 meeting; we had 12 attendees, including 3 guests.

Meeting began at 7:03 pm and ended at 8:12 pm.

Vakula Daruri, this year's Sergeant at Arms, opened the meeting with a reading of the Toastmasters mission statement, then turned the floor over to our President, Satish Srinivas.

Satish welcomed everyone, then turned the floor over to the evening's Toastmaster, Linda Burtt.

Linda opened with the sad news that today is the first day that sun sets before 8:00 pm (sunset is at 7:59 pm tonight), and the days will just keep getting shorter until the winter solstice on December 21.

Sujatha Karuppiah was Wordmaster, with the word "altruistic":

altruistic - \al-troo-IS-tik\ - (adjective)
selfless concern for the well-being of others; unselfish
"It was an entirely altruistic act"

Theme of the meeting was "Summer Reading Follow Up".

In attendance:
* John Abreau
* Maria Papalia-Meier
* Ashka Patel
* Sujatha Karuppiah
* Vakula Daruri
* Satish Srinivas
* Rasheed Mohammed (guest, grew up in Pakistan)
* Annette Coleman
* Kunal Joarder
* Linda Burtt
* Prince (guest)
* Kelly ? (guest)

Jokemaster was John Abreau, with a joke about a widower with an extra seat at the Superbowl.

We spent a few minutes having those with meeting roles explain the purpose and ex*****on of their respective roles.

We had one speech this evening, by Satish Srinivas, after Table Topics.

Ashka Patel led the table topics. Questions were as follows:

* (John Abreau) - What is your definition of success?
* (Sujatha Karuppiah) - What does your ideal future look like?
* (Annette Coleman) - What is something you once thought was a setback, but it turned out to be a blessing?
* (Rasheed Mohammed) - What is something you've unlearned that changed your life?
* (Maria Papalia-Meier) - What is the best compliment you've ever received and why?
* (Satish Srinivas) - What story from your life do you hope inspires others someday?
* (Vakula Daruri) - What is one risk you're glad you took?
* (Kelly) - When have you witnessed someone's kindness change everything?
* (Prince) - If your childhood dream had come true, what would your life look like today?

After Table Topics, we took a short break, from 7:38 to 7:44 pm.

After the break. Satish gave an impromptu speech where he demonstrated how to get started with Pathways.

After Satish's speech, members who held a meeting role gave their reports.

Prince won the vote for Best Table Topic, with Kelly a close second.

After the reports, Linda asked our three guests for their feedback. All three guest reported having a positive experience.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, August 19, 2025. Kunal will be Toastmaster.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers