Thursday night I attended the Western Maryland Toastmasters meeting online. This was my second time attending as my first time was in July, just after the club had chartered at the end of May. While I was attending virtually, the club meets in person at Mr. Toad’s Pottery in Lavale, MD. Lavale and Cumberland are only a 50 minute drive from Somerset and easily accessible from US 40 and I-68. Not too far from where the club meets is the Rocky Gap Casino, where the club had its red carpet celebration last September.
This meeting was the first time I heard two ice breaker speeches and the speakers were husband and wife. There were three speakers at the meeting and they all gave great presentations. I left some nice comments in the chat for all three speakers. The secretary/treasurer closed off the speaking portion of the meeting by taking us on a journey. In the second ice breaker, I learned a lot about our speaker, as he worked different jobs and what life was like growing up in Keyser, WV. Football seems to be as big there as it is in Texas.
At the beginning of the meeting, I gave a little introduction to tell the club who I was. Mentioned by our club president was the Spirit of Toastmasters award that I won in 2020 for my goodwill to the district. The club mentor for Western Maryland (Nate Stephens) also won the award that year. Both Nate and I were part of a Spirit of Toastmasters panel discussion at the Winter TLI in December of 2020.
The Imeses served as Toastmaster (Sharon, club President) and General Evaluator (Gary, Vice President Education). Autumn (Vice President Public Relations) was the Table Topics Master and Timer. I assisted her as Timer during the Table Topics section of the meeting. I’m looking forward to meeting her at the Spring Conference in a few weeks and attending Sharon’s workshop that weekend at the conference. The key to a great conference is staying focused and not looking at social media all the time. However, I want to get my own pictures from the weekend too. Whether or not I meet up with my fabulous sister (Rae), the weekend will be great. She’s busy at her new job and has a lot going on at the moment.
Laurel Highlands Toastmasters and Western Maryland Toastmasters are both competing to make it to President’s Distinguished. For Laurel Highlands, this will be their highest achievement yet. At the present time, they are Select Distinguished. For Western Maryland, to get it as a first year club would be a big achievement. This is the first club in the area since the 1990’s when a corporate club in the area disbanded. Western Maryland Toastmasters is the first community club in the area. Our club president knows we can become President’s Distinguished at both clubs. She will be our Program Quality Director in the new Toastmasters year beginning July 1. I enjoyed being a guest at the meeting and getting to do Table Topics, being one of three participants. I won’t be at the Laurel Highlands meeting on April 22. But I am looking forward to gracing Johnstown with my presence online in what will be a big Toastmasters week for our District, culminating in the Spring Conference that weekend.
Stylish 🍒 