I had the morning off on Saturday as I was en route to Morgantown for the Area 62 Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest. As a Toastmaster of 15 years, this wasn’t my first rodeo. For the area director and contest chair, it was his first rodeo. The contest was held at the Morgantown Public Library, located downtown. The venue has hosted previous contests and thus is an ideal location for a big event. The staff was very friendly in helping lead me to where the contest was, so the library gets an A in my book.
For me, this was my first time in West Virginia since 2021. Coming by way of Fayette County and the Laurel Highlands, it was very foggy. I crossed over the bridge into West Virginia, greeted by the “Wild and Wonderful” signs. Interstate 68 makes for a nice drive in the Fall, whether going to a football game in Morgantown or a train ride in Cumberland. It was a busy morning downtown, with a farmers’ market going on across from the library. Thus, the downtown area was pretty active. As I made my way home after the contest, I saw plenty of signs of student housing. This is a much busier college town than I was used to at Slippery Rock.
It was my first time downtown, but I’m no stranger to Morgantown as I’ve traveled there for work in the past. But that was along the I-68 and I-79 corridors.
It wasn’t looking good at first, and then everyone shuffled in. You can blame the construction on I-68 for some of those late arrivals. I came in at the Sabraton exit (Exit 4) but got there with plenty of time to spare. It was a busy weekend with other area contests going on. One of Laurel Highlands’ members serves as Division Director, so he was at another contest. There’s an official whom we could have used. Other people had plans, and weren’t able to attend the contest. But, Gary was able to pull it together, getting his team of judges and timers and ballot counters lined up.
Three clubs were represented at the contest. Area 62 consists of Laurel Highlands, Western Maryland, Country Roads, and ESL (Elegant Speakers and Listeners). The contestants were all very good. For the judges, this was a hard contest to judge. One of the speakers talked about living in England. I felt tempted to talk about The Great British Bake-off but didn’t get the chance to. Doubling up was the keyword as our contestants took part in Table Topics and Humorous Speech. One of them served as an official.
The Table Topics Question: What is a piece of advice that in the past you thought was wrong, but as an adult knew was right. This question relates to the comments I read on social media. That is, how I’ve seen things in my youth are much different than how I have seen them as an adult. Just my two cents on the question that was given.
The winners of the contest will represent Division F in that contest coming up Octoner 17 in Blairsville. For me, it will be a nice end to my vacation week. I look forward to hearing the best speakers on a much bigger stage.
