The 2020 series continues as we turn the calendar ahead to April. We are now officially into the Fall of 2020, which is now when this series will take place the next few weeks. Restrictions have eased on eating out but everyone is still playing it safe. Malls have opened back up but are on limited hours. Schools are taking the necessary precautions to keep kids and teachers safe in the new school year. The hype from my blog has worn off after a red hot start to the year.
I’m about a year into having received my Distinguished Toastmaster award and coming up soon is the 2020 Fall Symposium. This event replaced the Fall Conference in 2018 when the first one was held in Erie. I would have attended that one; however, I was keeping old traditions alive by attending Homecoming at my alma mater for the umpteenth time. I began to realize that this ritual had truly become stale but it was best that I found out on my own. The inaugural Fall Symposium was a success and there were plans for one next year.
I attended the 2019 event and put SRU Homecoming to rest after 15 years of taking part in the event (including the years I was a student). This one was close to home for me and it was excellent. I knew I’d done well coming here and listening to a World Champion of Public Speaking give his speech and tell us his secrets for delivering a winning topic. It was also one of the last events held at the Ramada in Greensburg, as that hotel would soon be closed and eventually demolished.
The 2019-2020 Toastmaster year was great in the beginning before everything went to hell in March. Our district was growing and we had high hopes for another great year. For me, I was taking part in attending Division contests and visiting other clubs in the District offering my goodwill in 2019 and part of 2020. With the pandemic shutting most in-person events down, we had to resort to attending meetings online. That meant I could visit other clubs I wouldn’t have had the opportunity otherwise.
The 2020 Fall Symposium was held online and while the main part of the event would take place in the afternoon, the morning was reserved for awards. We showed off our DTM medallions when our names were called. The Spirit of Toastmasters awards were next up and three great people were nominated with that honor. One of them led a club back to Distinguished after it came close to being Extinguished due to low membership. That club went from three to thirteen and became the talk of the town.
I was honored with my Spirit of Toastmasters award due to my work being a goodwill ambassador for the District. Also, my enthusiasm for visiting other clubs (Cranberry High Noon and Earlybirds come to mind) and taking part in the meeting really paid off. I had fun sharing my DTM medallion and Spirit of Toastmasters award with my WIS family and making a nice impression on them. We took our Spirit of Toastmasters celebration and would eventually turn it into a panel discussion at the upcoming Winter TLI in December. There, we would answer questions pertaining to Toastmasters and our success in winning the award.
If you had a wedding planned in 2020, chances are it was scrapped or you had a small ceremony. My friend Rick and his bride were able to have theirs at their church that same day that the Fall Symposium was held. I was able to attend and I left right after the awards portion of the event. It was a sunny, but windy day. The music was beautiful and “Theme from St. Elsewhere” was one of the songs played. I congratulated the newlyweds and wished them many happy years together.
While the early days of the Fall season looked nice, we weren’t out of the woods yet when it came to COVID. As the series continues next week, I talk about my experience in supporting small businesses during the pandemic. Looking ahead, my mood began to be affected by the events going on around me related to the pandemic.
Stylish 🍒 