Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on November 4, 2025

Доброго вечора [Dobroho vechora], Achievers! ("Good evening" in Ukranian)

We had a small turnout at our October 21 meeting; we had 4 members in attendance.

Meeting began at 7:04 pm and ended at 7:56 pm.

Our President, Satish Srinivas, opened the meeting with a reading of the Toastmasters mission statement, and mentioned that October is considered the "month of doldrums", due to its typically stagnant weather patterns, especially in regions experiencing high pressure and little precipitation. This can lead to unchanging, dry conditions, contributing to a sense of monotony or boredom during this time.

Club business:

* We need to plan for a holiday party in December;
* Toastmasters conference is being held in Mansfield this year. $115 per person. This is the first time the conference is being held in our local area.
* Next meeting is 4th Tuesday; meeting rooms were unavailable for the 3rd Tuesday.

Satish the President then turned the meeting over to himself as Satish the Toastmaster of the Day.

Theme of the meeting was "Daylight Savings: Changing Times".

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

spontaneous - \spŏn-TĀ-nē-əs\ - (adjective)
Happening or arising without apparent external cause; self-generated
"spontaneous laughter"

John was also Jokemaster, with a joke about an old man on his deathbed who dreams of one last taste of his wife's strudel.

In attendance:
* Linda Burtt
* Joseph Correia
* John Abreau
* Satish Srinivas

We had one prepared speech this evening. Linda gave a speech she had prepared for her Cyber Ethics class regarding the recently passed California Senate Bill 53 ("Artificial Intelligence Models: Large Developers"). The title of Linda's speech was "Transparency in Frontier Artificial Intelligence Act".

We had a lengthy discussion of Linda's speech in lieu of table topics.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, November 25, 2025.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on August 19, 2025

Manuia le taeao, Achievers! ("Good morning" in Samoan)

We had a small turnout at our August 19 meeting; we had 6 attendees, including 1 new member.

Meeting began at 7:07 pm and ended at 7:58 pm.

In the absence of the Sergeant at Arms, John Abreau opened the meeting with a reading of the Toastmasters mission statement, then turned the floor over to the evening's Toastmaster, Kunal Joarder.

Theme of the meeting was "Change of Season".

Annette Coleman was Wordmaster, with the word "legerity":

legerity - \lə-JAIR-ə-tee\ - (noun)
1. physical or mental quickness, nimbleness, or agility;
2. lightness or swiftness of movement.
"She responded with legerity, escaping conflict from the controversial question."

In attendance:
* John Abreau
* Maria Papalia-Meier
* Linda Burtt
* Annette Coleman
* Rasheed Mohammed (new member)
* Kunal Joarder

Jokemaster was John Abreau, with a joke about a police officer investigating a young couple parked at the local Lover's Lane.

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

We had no speeches this evening.

Kunal Joarder led the table topics. Questions were as follows:

* (John Abreau) - Describe your life as a water bottle.
* (Maria Papalia-Meier) - You have just arrived on this strange planet. Describe what you see.
* (Linda Burtt) - Describe that day when you were cooking and the pots and pans started speaking to you.
* (Annette Coleman) - You have written your debut novel. Promote it to these book lovers.
* (Rasheed Mohammed) - Describe that day when you turned into a fish in the ocean.

After Table Topics, we took a short break, from 7:39 to 7:51 pm.

Rasheed Mohammed won the vote for Best Table Topic.

Our next meeting is Tuesday, September 2, 2025. John will be Toastmaster.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on July 15, 2025

Selamat pagi, Achievers! ("Good morning" in Indonesian)

We had a small turnout at our July 15 meeting; we had 5 attendees, including 1 guest.

Meeting began at 7:01 pm and ended at 7:55 pm.

Our president, Satish Srinivas, opened the meeting with a reading of the Toastmasters mission statement, then turned the floor over to the evening's Toastmaster, Kunal Joarder.

Theme of the meeting was "International Ice Cream Month".

In attendance:

* Kunal Joarder
* Satish Srinivas
* Joseph Correia (guest)
* John Abreau
* Ashka Patel

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

extemporaneous - \EK-stem-pə-RAY-nee-əs\ (adjective)
composed, performed, or uttered on the spur of the moment
"The act began with rather an uninspired bit of extemporaneous dialogue.

Jokemaster was John Abreau, with a joke about a police trainee taking on a cold case.

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

We had one speech, by Satish Srinivas, from Level 5 of the Engage with Humor path. The title of Satish's speech was "Every voice, every goal, every step counts".

After the speech, we took a short break, from 7:25 to 7:32 pm.

After the break, Satish's speech was evaluated by Kunal Joarder.

Kunal Joarder. led the table topics. Questions were as follows:

* (John Abreau) - What makes you smile?
* (Joseph Correia) - Which is worse: failing, or never trying?
* (Satish Srinivas) - Where do you find inspiration?
* (Ashka Patel) - What is your definition of heaven?

Ashka Patel won the vote for Best Table Topic.

Our next meeting is tonight, Tuesday, August 5, 2025.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers

Summary of Achievers meeting on July 1, 2025

Góðan daginn, Achievers! ("Good afternoon" in Icelandic)

We had a good turnout at our July 1 meeting; we had 10 attendees, including 1 guest.

This is the first meeting of the 2025-2026 Toastmasters year.

Meeting began at 7:02 pm and ended at 8:25 pm.

John Abreau (me), the new Sergeant-at-Arms, opened the meeting with a reading of the Toastmasters mission statement, then turned the floor over to our new President, Satish Srinivas.

Satish thanked Kunal Joarder, our outgoing president, and then turned the meeting over to the evening's Toastmaster, Annette Coleman.

Annette welcomed everyone to the new Toastmasters year, then introduced the Wordmaster, John Abreau.

Word of the day was "modicum":

modicum - \MÄ-di-kəm\ (noun)
a small portion : a limited quantity
"“The job applicant was unqualified, as he had only a modicum of mathematical skills."

Theme of the meeting was "Hidden Gems".

In attendance:

* John Abreau
* Satish Srinivas
* Ashka Patel
* Jonathan Morales
* Vakula Daruri
* Linda Burtt
* Sujatha Karuppiah
* Kunal Joarder
* Prince (guest)
* Annette Coleman

Jokemaster was John Abreau, with a joke about a DEA officer inspecting a farm.

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

We had two Icebreaker speeches, from two of our new members.

The first speech, by Sujatha Karuppiah, was evaluated by Kunal Joarder.

The second speech, by Ashka Patel, was evaluated by Satish Srinivas.

After the two speeches, we took a short break, from 7:39 to 7:49 pm. The two speech evaluations followed the break.

Vakula Daruri led the table topics. Questions were as follows:

* (John Abreau) - If airports had therapy animals for stress relief, what animal would be waiting for you?
* Satish Srinivas) - If GPS had a sassy voice, what would it say after your 3rd wrong turn?
* (Ashka Patel) - Airport customs stops you because your suitcase is full of rubber ducks. Justify it.
* (Jonathan Morales) - You booked a luxury suite ... but your "room with a view" is facing a brick wall. Describe Yelp review.
* (Annette Coleman) - What's your most creative excuse for skipping a workout and did it work?
* (Linda Burtt) - If aliens judged Earth solely based on TikTok dances, what would they think of humanity?
* (Sujatha Karuppiah) - You are shopping with a toddler, your grandma, and a fashion blogger. Who causes the most chaos?
* (Prince) - This restaurant lets you pay with weird talents instead of money. What's your weird talent and what is it worth?
* (Kunal Joarder) - You just found out your soulmate is allergic to your favorite snack. What's your compromise?

Kunal Joarder won the vote for Best Table Topic.

During the reports, as General Evaluator, Linda highlighted Sujatha's use of the Japanese word "Ikigai".

According to Wikipedia, Ikigai (生き甲斐, literally. "a reason for being") is a Japanese concept referring to what an individual defines as the meaning of their life.

Our next meeting is tonight, Tuesday, July 15, 2025.

Hope to see you all there!

Regards,
-- John Abreau, Secretary, Foxboro Achievers