The District 83 Hail and Farewell takes place on Saturday, July 22, 2017 from 11am-2pm at Thatcher McGhee’s Irish Pub and Eatery in Fairfield, NJ, and is organized by Margarita Estrada. The event is sold out. Thank you to all who are making this event a success.
Attendees will have an opportunity to “roast” Immediate Past District Director Paula Markert, DTM, enjoy a delicious brunch, listen to great speeches, welcome our new District officers and say thank you to last year’s officers. Division directors will receive the awards and recognition items earned by individuals, clubs, areas and divisions last year so they can pass them along to the recipients.
I attended one of these events when I first served as a District Officer. I found that it was good opportunity to meet other people from around the District. Some of the attendees decided to “roast” the Past District Governor, reminiscing about hilarious events that not everyone may have known about. I learned that some of the participants decided to deliver a speech from their Advanced Communication manual Special Occasion Speeches. Others delivered heartfelt words toward a speech in the Competent Communication manual.
The following year, I attended, but did not deliver a roast or a toast. If you are one of the Toastmasters presenting a speech, it is a good idea to highlight something about the person others may not know about. One of the women at my table who had served as an Area Governor looked crestfallen as the speeches continued. “I was going to say that,” she said. “That was most of my speech.”
In 2015 and again in 2016, I challenged myself to present a roast or a toast at the events. It was fun and I made sure to give my manual to an audience members in order to get speech credit. I wasn’t sure if I would receive the communication and leadership awards I had earned the previous year. I later learned that the awards are distributed to the Division Directors, then the Area Directors, who then present the awards to the clubs. I was really looking forward to receiving my Toastmasters International gift certificates in honor of my Triple Crown award. I wanted to donate them to my club so they could get some supplies. I had plenty of manuals and didn’t need anything. I learned to be patient.
I am looking forward to the Hail and Farewell in a few weeks. I am preparing a speech and will include highlights from my time working with Paula. When I told Paula I would attend and speak, she stated, “Remember, my sons are going to be there.”