There’s lots to talk about from this weekend’s Toastmasters festivities. Conference weekend is a lot of fun and it’s nice to catch up with old Toastmasters friends while making new ones along the way. Before I recap the weekend, let’s look back at Thursday.
This past Thursday was my monthly Thursday Night Dinner with Mr. Clougherty. I’m using that name instead of the Dinner Series because it ties in to Gilmore Girls which I’m rewatching for the second time. We met at Primanti’s and one of our talking points included the 2025 NFL Draft and who the Steelers were going to draft (and whether or not they would draft a quarterback). I tried to stray from politics and the sad state of the high school. But, I walked right into what I didn’t feel like discussing when Kevin mentioned the tariffs. That’s what is delaying the construction at the best high school in the nation, Hempfield Area High School. Politics and high school aside, let me tell you what I ordered.
I ordered the PB Reuben with a Kosher Dill pickle and water to drink. That’s because I made a stop at Cutie’s before I would meet Mr. Clougherty for dinner. I planned on going the day before but I was busy putting together a basket for the Spring Conference. I went with a gardening theme and called my basket the “Green Thumb Basket”. It was a hit with our club president at Laurel Highlands and the Program Quality Director-elect. The basket chair liked it as well. She’s from the Western Maryland Toastmasters club and serves as their Vice President of Public Relations.
Getting back to dinner…
The service was excellent and our server was patient and professional as Kevin and I took the time we needed to order our food. The Pitts-burger is one of my faves and on my last few trips, I’ve gone with the features (the Dangeruss and the Primanturkey) and both were hits. The reuben was calling my name on Thursday night though. I was happy with my sandwich and the sauce added a nice kick to an already good sandwich. I’ll do my review on Yelp. During our time together, I also explained to Kevin 20, 25, and 5 and the meaning behind those numbers.
20 marks the years that I’ve been out of college, and when I had begun my social media journey. I’ve been on Facebook since it was only for college students. Surprisingly, I’ve stayed with it, for better or for worse. 25 marks the years since I graduated high school and later in the summer of 2000, when I started college. I took classes for a semester at the Hiram G. Andrews Center and then moved on to the local community college in early 2001. We decided that I’d attend the former and the latter as a way for me to learn how to be independent, before transferring to a four year college if that was my plan. Finally, five marks the years since our world shut down due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. That period during COVID was a wake-up call and a turning point for me.
During the week, I started the process of packing for the conference. I tend to overdo it but you can’t be too careful. I did the same thing when we went to Hershey back in November for the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. In my next blog, I’ll recap the Saturday portion of the conference. By late afternoon on Friday, I was en route to the hotel where the 2025 Spring Conference would be held. In the next blog, I’ll go into detail on how I got there. Here, I’ll highlight Friday’s activities.
Early in the evening, there was an authors’ round table. Some of our Toastmasters are accomplished authors and that includes one of the people from my home club, Greensburg. Our keynote speaker has written many books herself including “Heart of a Toastmaster”. I had a coupon for a free book and did I use it? I’ll tell you in the next blog.
The best part of Friday Fun Night was the fun Casino games that we played and the Murder Mystery that we had to solve. Last year’s trivia at the DoubleTree in Washington was also a lot of fun and we almost won had I known the answer to the final question. No hard feelings though as we had a lot of fun. I met lots of people and played some roulette with my friend from the Johnstown club. Things got really interesting as the music stopped and the lights went out, and then we had to figure out who the murderer was.
I wrapped up my Friday night by going to the bar with friends where I had my first Cosmopolitan, and impressed everyone with my knowledge of geography. Then, it was time to get to bed as I had a full day ahead of me on Saturday.
Stylish 🍒 