This morning at Westmoreland County Community College, Toastmasters from District 13 got together for a big event. The event was the Division leg of the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest. For the first time since 2017, we held speech contests in the Fall. That was the year we stopped having the Fall Conference, going down to just one a year.
Just like that end of an era in 2017, this year marks the end of another. This is the last year for District 13 as it merges with District 10 to form the new Distinct 219. It’ll be exciting to see what happens next year as we join forces with the Akron/Canton and Cleveland markets.
Those competing in the three division contests who finished in the top two would advance to the District contest in two weeks. The number of contestants in each division varied. But overall, it was a great contest. The Table Topics varied for each division but the questions had us thinking.
The speeches lived up to their name and they definitely were humorous. For his first time, Gary of Western Maryland and Laurel Highlands did well and placed third in the humorous speech contest. Ryan finished second in the Table Topics contest and will be moving on to the District contest in two weeks.
This contest gave us a good barometer of who all will be competing in two weeks at the 2025 Fall Symposium Along with the keynote speaker, the event should be spectacular.
We had candy on the table to keep us nourished. Everything from little Tootsie rolls to hard candies. There were even a few Airheads thrown in. Just like every event, there were pastries. But if you wanted coffee, you were on your own. We had pizza and lemonade provided to us for lunch. I wonder if that was Rocco’s Pizza since we were in Youngwood. That unfortunately turned me off to the leftover pizza from the party that my parents got from Domino’s.
Today, Annabelle celebrated her birthday with her cousins and many of her friends from school and karate. This year, the venue was Hempfield Park and they had the party inside at the gymnasium. The kids had a good time and played some basketball and volleyball. While my absence was felt there, I did have a great time at the speech contest with my Toastmaster friends.
One of the best Table Topics questions from today’s competition was “what would your perfect age be?” This was for the Division D contest. A longtime toastmaster put a humorous spin on it and he just celebrated a birthday himself.
I wowed with my outfit today at the speech contest. Of course, I rocked the trademark cheetah cardigan and a green sweater tank top underneath. I’ve worn this on holidays when we’ve had company (Thanksgiving 2022, the last two Christmas Eves, and this past Easter). Maybe I’ll wear the red one when I have dinner with Kevin Thursday night. The cardigan has been worn at other Toastmasters events too and gets a lot of rave reviews.
Sweater weather is here and I’m ready to embrace the change.
My Gilmore Girls book arrived on Tuesday, the day of its release. The first chapter brings to life the understanding of the mother-daughter relationship and references some other famous TV moms including some from past 90’s shows. It also highlights how they found the actors to portray Lorelai, Rory, and Emily. I recently read Kelly Bishop’s memoir this Spring and she wrote about her experience on the show and the Netflix four part series from 2016, “A Year In The Life”.
I’ll bring “Meet Me at Luke’s” to the reunion to show to my cousins. My camera as well so I can get some good pictures.
Stylish 🍒 