A few weeks ago at the Division C International and Humorous Speech Contest, I made plans to visit a few clubs in April. I spoke to a few of the officers and got their contact information. Last week, I visited Indiana and last night was my Johnstown visit. Both visits were online through Zoom.
Indiana was an early morning meeting, starting at 7am. In person, it looked like it was a full house plus several members and guests online were in attendance. The club welcomed two new members who recently joined. Indiana used to meet downtown at Caffe Amadeus (on Philadelphia Street) on Wednesday mornings at the same time. I’m not sure when they made the change in venue and day of the week but whatever they did worked. The present meeting location is the Indiana Regional Medical Center (IRMC) at the same time.
I was greeted warmly by the President and had the opportunity to hear some excellent speakers. It looks like some of the members also work at the hospital (IRMC). To account for time, Table Topics was shortened. I would like to have given my two cents at the end of the meeting but I will get my feedback to the club president via email.
Friday was a chilly day with snow flurries in the air, so I was grateful to meet online. I made sure not to wear opposing school colors, since Indiana Toastmasters meets near the IUP campus. Their main rival is my alma mater, Slippery Rock University. It was the party school long before Slippery Rock was though.
The meeting began a little bit after 7am but we stayed on task and wrapped it up a little bit after 8am. The club meets on the first and third Friday of the month.
I think a kind gesture for the club is to get a small group together and spend a day at the Jimmy Stewart Museum which is located downtown. Stewart is a famous actor and Indiana is his hometown. Not only is Indiana the home of Jimmy Stewart but at Christmas, the perfect Hallmark Christmas town (in addition to Ligonier, Bedford, Canonsburg, and Strasburg). When the festivities go on, get out there and promote the club. You might just a few guests and prospective members out of it.
Last night I continued toasting with style, visiting the Johnstown Toastmasters club. I’ve visited them before but the meeting location has since changed since I last attended a meeting there in 2019 (pre-COVID). The club used to meet downtown at Somerset Trust Bank but have since moved to Arbutus Church of the Brethren near Richland Township. I attended many meetings there, as well as contests and make-up trainings. The new location is better for winter meetings.
Just like Indiana, I was greeted warmly by the officers. The meeting agenda was plentiful with three speakers scheduled. The club president saw that I had DTM next to my name and explained what that was. The club has two DTMs (Distinguished Toastmaster) and TJ (Johnstown’s current Vice President of Education) is working on his. I’ve met the members before, when I sat with them at Winter TLI and chatted with them at the Division Contest back in March.
Just like Winter TLI, Sandi complimented me on my fashion sense and that made me feel good. I need to get to the point where I don’t need to explain myself when all they tell me is to just be me. No teasing or getting made fun of. I’m better now than I’ve been the last couple of years and I think I’ve beaten those critics for good.
The club will celebrate its 70th anniversary at their next meeting on April 23. While I’d love to be there either via Zoom or in person, I’ll be at Laurel Highlands. Not to fear as I am planning an in person visit this summer to Johnstown and attend a club meeting. It will either be in the summer or early Fall. Rachel and Barb have already made sure to save me a seat for me at the “Girls’ Table).
The Girls’ Table might just be as household to me as “DTM Huddle” was. I picked that one up at my last in-person conference when Cranberry High Noon’s newest Distinguished Toastmasters celebrated the high honor of winning the award.
Can’t leave out the iconic “Pink Cherry Dress” either. Both of those terms made my pre-pandemic life in 2019.
Stylish 🍒 