My Top Five of ’25!

Tonight is a recap of some of my best moments from the year that was 2025. It was a year that I was scared to enter because of what may happen. But for the most part, it turned out just fine. This countdown is different from previous ones, as I leave it unranked. 

First Fall Speech Contests in Eight Years!

The universe worked in my favor this year when it came to attending Toastmasters functions. I had the opportunity to attend speech contests in the Spring as the schedule gods worked in my favor. I was even able to help out at a few of them. The Spring Conference was in my plans, as well as the Fall Symposium in October. We had our first Fall speech contests since 2017 when the District held Table Topics and Humorous Speech Contests. At the Fall Symposium, I served as a Sergeant at Arms for Table Topics. 

Rite Aid, Joann Fabrics Close their Doors!

Rite Aid filed for bankruptcy in 2023 and closed some of their stores in the Pittsburgh area. One of those was the Greensburg location across from Walmart that will soon be a Sheetz. This year, the company closed all of its remaining stores. For rural areas where a pharmacy is nowhere near to be found, this poses a problem. Giant Eagle has stepped in and picked up a lot of the prescriptions. They’ve also opened a few standalone pharmacy locations in the Pittsburgh area.

Other chains like JoAnn Fabrics and Party City have also done the same. For craft enthusiasts, they’ll have to go to Michaels or Hobby Lobby. Why does this affect me? It really doesn’t, however these stores are a link to my past as I counted a volume of them when I worked for WIS.

New Contract Approved by Labor Union

In June, we voted on a new contract at work as our current one was set to expire at the end of the month. Coming from a job that didn’t have a union, this was my first time in a situation like this. Being a member of a union runs in my family. The contract was approved and it was in our favor. Vacations can’t be taken over the holidays, however. But that’s no issue for me.

Toastmasters Clubs Achieve Success!

I was proud to part of a Toastmasters club that was successful during the 2024-25 Toastmasters year. Laurel Highlands Toastmasters, started in 2021, was the first club to be founded as a hybrid club. Hybrid means that the club is in person and virtual. They achieved President’s Distinguished. Also getting high honors was Western Maryland Toastmasters, and they did it in their first year. In June, Country Roads Toastmasters was launched and they too have done well. All three clubs are part of the same area.

This is from last week’s blog, but I figured I’ll share it again. In the new year, my resolutions for Toastmasters are to:

• Understanding the new Pathways enhancements. These additions bring me back to the manual days. We were required to give canned speeches for advanced leader and speaker awards. We’ll have to present those again to complete a level in our path.
• Giving myself more time to prepare my speeches. This is a bad habit I’m guilty of. I commit to speaking and then I don’t put effort into preparing my speeches. Do I resort to note cards or cancel. I want my clubs to have a great agenda. Part of that success begins with me. 
• Third, investing in equipment to aid in my online experience. I want to be more involved in doing more videos and become more confident behind the camera. A tripod would aid in that and it would help me take better pictures. That’s been lacking on the socials and I’d like to change that in 2026.

Time to close off the blog.

Cutie’s was my Go-to for Coffee in 2025!

Cutie’s Coffee Company made my top ten in 2024. It did so again in 2025. Even though I didn’t rank anything this year, Cutie’s is my unofficial number one. Greensburg has many great coffee shops (that I plan to visit in 2026). Great coffee (with amazing seasonal drinks), wonderful staff, and Bible study. The outdoor Bible Study went through its share of obstacles and, unfortunately, met a premature end for the season. However, they’re not giving up. Improving my walk with God is another New Year’s goal I have for the coming year.