Tuesday night we returned to our normally scheduled in person Laurel Highlands Toastmasters meeting. Last time, we couldn’t get our normal meet spot due to the room being unavailable. No worries though as the meeting was a success.
We heard about the International Convention from our Program Quality Director. Sharon was our backup speaker and her speech covered some of the changes that will be taking place in the next Toastmasters year.
I gave a speech from the Presentation Mastery path. It was an elective from Level 4 and the project was right up my alley. For my “Write A Compelling Blog” project, I celebrated 25 years (to the exact day) since moving into my dorm room at the Hiram G. Andrews Center. I shared the reason why I started my academic journey there and not at Westmoreland County Community College. The title of my speech was “Climbing the Mountain”. In it, I referred to college as a mountain that we climb. The top of the peak is the goal we want to achieve, I.e. graduating with a degree. I also cited the drive to the school as part of the climb, as we drove up through the Laurel Ridge on PA 271.
The theme for our meeting was “Summertime Simmer”. It was appropriate as the season is starting to wind down and we look ahead to (or dread) the Fall season.
We had a guest in attendance at our meeting, Josh, whom new member Will invited to the meeting.
I welcomed the Fall-like temperatures on Tuesday. Go figure as three months earlier, I wondered if we’d ever see warm weather and sunshine as the second half of May saw a damp and cool weather pattern. I would have even preferred snow flurries and 30’s. At the end of August, I’m enjoying this September-like stretch. After a mild start to the new month, cooler weather may be back for the start of the NFL season.
My speech got some rave reviews from some of the members as well as our guest. I also wrote a blog about “Climbing the Mountain”, which was my 100th blog post for 2025. Currently, I’m putting the finishing touches on #101. The blog post is more detailed than the speech I gave Tuesday night. It’s pretty impressive that I can recall some of the things I did during my first semester of college in the Fall of 2000.
Our next three meetings are scheduled for September 9, September 23, and October 14. That last date I will not be there as I will en route to Johnstown to visit their Toastmasters meeting in person. I signedeup to evaluate a speech at the September 9 meeting. That Thursday (September 11), I will be attending the Western Maryland Toastmasters meeting online.
Stylish 🍒 