162nd Gavel Meeting

162^nd meeting marked the dawn of a new era of Gavel history. It was the first meeting done by the newly appointed board which was held on 24^th of December, at CSLR of CSE.

People all around the world were preparing to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. Christmas Day is a day everyone is celebrating regardless of the religious faiths they have.  Then why Gavel would miss it? Therefore this meeting was declared as “A Silver Christmas at Gavel”.  It was a candle night at Gavel in which the hall was nicely decorated with a Christmas tree and other decorations. The new President Pasan Pethiyagoda, called his first meeting to order mentioning importance of that meeting. Then everyone stood up for the national anthem lead by Schile Athapaththu.

The toastmaster for the Silver Christmas was Hasini Abyewickrama.  She did a wonderful job by conducting round robin session in a different way. A plate containing strips of paper was passed around. Each member had to take one strip from the plate.  Each strip had a name of an item which would be the gift decided by Santa to be given to that particular person. Each person had to talk why Santa had decided to give that item to him/her. The round robin session was really enjoyable, but at the end making everyone surprise toastmaster was suddenly interrupted by Santa who came all the way to our meeting with a bag of presents. Then the control was handed over to Santa to carry out the table topic session. He had come up with a nice set of topics relating to Christmas, so it couldn’t stop members of the house coming to the stage. Every member wanted to have a gift from Santa, it seemed. After the table topic session Santa went and it was time for the prepared speech session. The author of the club Samawath Mallawarchchi broke his ice delivering a sincere and a marvelous speech. After having evaluator’s report once again Toastmaster was interrupted by Santa. This time he came to do something he had forgotten to do last time. He wanted us to sing carols with him. Thanushan was invited to assist the crew with music. It was a fantastic moment when everyone was singing carols having a lightened candle in their hands.

Next, the President took control and adjourned the meeting. The gathering was served with small refreshment. 

161st Gavel Meeting

The date was 18^th of December 2012; the day on which Gavel family was handed over to another crew to be taken care of.  The installation ceremony was held in a grand scale at Bolgoda Lake Resort where past and present gavelliers got together after a while. While sisters and brothers were murmuring their stories since they met last time the hall was darkened and a video was played. The video was a small recap of how Gavel had spent its life throughout the last year. It was crystal clear that the outgoing board had put immense effort to take gavel to greater heights. The President Niles Perera called his last meeting -161^st Gavel Meeting to order. Everyone stood up for the National Anthem lead by Hasitha Kulathunga. The president gave a very descriptive speech mentioning what had been done throughout the last year, the achievements and the obstacles.

Next, to carry out the proceedings toastmaster for the special day, Chathuranga Kannanagara was called. Continuing Gavel traditions President Bash was raised up as the round robin topic. Unfortunately the audience was in lack of facts to bash the president thus they appreciated his work. Then special invitees for the day, President -Toastmaster Club IESL Mr. Mahesh Amarasiri, District Governor Mr. Z. Saleem, President- Toastmaster UOM Dr. Jayathu Samarawickrama and Staff Advisor – Gavel Club UOM Mr. Indika Sigera were requested to give voice to their thoughts. Two table topic masters for the day Amila Gamage and Rajasooriyar Canagasooriyar were invited to the stage with a nice introduction per each. This table topic session deviated from the conventional one.  There were two bowls, one carrying names of gavel members and another carrying special topics. A speaker who would take a strip of paper from bowl one had to build up a story about the particular gavel member so that the audience could guess the one. A speaker who would take a strip from bowl two had to deliver a speech on the given topic so that the audience could guess the topic. It was a really cheerful and an enjoyable session.

Then there was a newly introduced event in the agenda to recognize Gavelliers who have completed Competent Communicator manual and Competent Leadership manual.  Being a legend the outgoing President Niles Prera was offered with two certificates for completing both the manuals. Another two Gavel legends of the time Pasan Pethiyagode and Dinesh Kenady were recognized for completing five speeches and for completing six speeches respectively. The control of the meeting was then handed over back to the President.

A special session was carried out to recognize club members who had completed more than three projects of CC manual. Further, members of the club were recognized for their extra circular activities and achievements during the past Gavel year. The fact that Gavel members are outstanding in every territory of fields was proven by their diverse achievements.  Then it was time for one of the most important items in the agenda of the installation ceremony, declaring the Gavellier of the year, an award a Gavellier can have once in his/ her life time. Charith Akalanka was lucky enough to be lined up with previous winners of the award Harinda, Niles and Kenady.

The event came to its climax. It was time to announce the 8^th President of Gavel Club – University of Moratuwa. Making almost all the guesses correct Mr. Pasan Pethiyagoda, Champion of the Speak Olympiad 2010 and reserved finalist of All Island Best Speaker 2012 was appointed as the President for the year 2012-2013. New President addressed the gathering mentioning he and his board would try their best to make Gavel stronger. Then he appointed his crew to help him to take care of the Gavel family in the upcoming year. The control of the meeting was handed over to the newly appointed Vice President Education – Hasini Abyewickrama to appreciate the immense effort put by the outgoing board to write another successful chapter in the Gavel story. The video played next carried out sweet memories of the past year and it was much appreciated. Tokens of gratitude were presented for the outgoing board.

Then the meeting was adjourned after inviting the gathering to enjoy the dinner. After having the dinner an entertainment session lead by Akalanka was started. Ishan and Thushan were assisting the choir with music while two singing stars of the club Nirmal and Hasitha were followed by the gavel fellowship. This marked the end of another wonderful evening with Gavel family.