Greetings Division C Area Directors, Officers, and Club Members,
It’s now halfway through the Toastmasters year. I am proud of our five Area Directors and the division’s clubs, and the members who have achieved Pathways designations in the first half of the year. Let me also congratulate the Area Directors, who completed their first round of club visits on November 30, and are getting ready for the second round of visits.
Officer Training sessions are still going on with 2 more sessions left. Every club needs to get at least 4 officers trained before February 28/29, 2024. You can also find training in other districts if you miss these dates; just be sure that our Program Quality Director learns of your attendance from the other District’s leadership!
Area Speech Contests – I’m happy to report that all Area Contests in Division C were completed on 1/10/24. Congratulations to the winners!
Special thanks and recognition go to Sugan Kumar, Area 33 Director, who organized the contest initially for Area 33 and ended up adding Areas 32, 34 and 35. I’m proud to say that all the Area Directors attended the contests and played key roles in making the contests successful. Special thanks to One State Street Toastmasters club members who assisted too. Results for the Area Contests are posted here.
The Division C Contests, in conjunction with the Division B Contests (refer to D53 website for more details), will take place on 9 March 2024 at Manchester Church of Christ; the contest gavel comes down at 9 am! I’m grateful to Katie Vrabel, Area 32 Director, for agreeing to serve as chief judge (a32dir@d53tm.org); and to Paul Randolph, DTM for acting as contest chair. Please contact me at divcdir@d53tm.org, or Division B Director Ebru Unal at divbdir@d53tm.org, for answers to general questions.
Membership Dues season is almost upon us, with a deadline of March 31, 2024 for payment of the second dues from each club. Corporate clubs should get a head-start if their company’s finance office pays the dues of any members of their club, to ensure a successful on-time payment.
Finally, plan to attend the District 53 Annual Conference on May 10-11, 2024, at the Heritage Conference Center in Southbury, Connecticut. You’ll be able to see the end of the contest sequence, attend the Toastmasters District 53 business meeting, and participate in some great workshops on speaking and leadership.
Meet your goals in 2024!
Yours in Toastmasters service,
Selina Tourjee,
Division C Director 2023-2024