A Grand New Beginning

At the first sight of President Sharen Chan, you are impressed with her graceful demeanor, so was I when I first saw her in Grand two years ago. When Sharen delivered her inaugural speech at Grand's Installation Ceremony Wednesday evening, July 3rd, I couldn't help wondering if she was Kate Middleton in disguise, the Duchess of Cambridge. Sharen won the hearts of the audience with her sweet smile by vowing to lead Grand to be the President Distinguished Club in her term.

Grand's Installation Ceremony 2013-2014, 38th Anniversary, as well as House Warming Party took place at the new meeting venue, Catholic Sanipax Socio-Medical service & Education Foundation. It is right across Roosevelt Road from Cardinal Tien's Institute. The address is 8F, No. 245, Section 3, Roosevelt Road. Many thanks Helen Lin for finding the new sweet home for Grand.

Upon the request of Past President Gina Cheng, I helped her prepare Salad Nicoise with the ingredients of boiled King Oyster Mushroom, Chicken Breast, Eggs. To our surprise, it became the most popular dish on the table. Both Gina and I love French Cuisine, maybe we can jointly prepare more mouth-watering appetizers for Grand's regular meetings in the future.

It was a gathering of grand families, Past President Arlene Chen was seven month pregnant, Past President Annie Chou brought her first grader son, Past President Helen Lin brought her kindergarten twin daughters. In twenty years, they will become Toastmasters!

Many congrats to hardworking outgoing President May Hwang for winning Grand Select Distinguished Club in District 67 2013-2014. We gave her a big round of applause, hugs and kisses, and a special photo album at Grand's Installation Ceremony. Helen and Gina came up with the wonderful idea of Grand President's Photo Album and it'll be definitely become one of Grand's traditions from now on!

After the ceremony, it was a quarter to nine, still early. I invited a few members to hang round. We gathering in a circle to mimic three animals (elephant, giraffe, monkey) in a group of three. No matter who was called upon, the center person must mimic the animal head, the side persons must mimic hands and feet. The popular warm-up exercise of drama class worked well to build teamwork among members. Maybe we should try more group games before or after the regular meetings in the future.