Wednesday, March 19, 2025

What’s Up Wednesday!

RISE with Integrity. Respect. Service. Excellence!

Cead Mille Failte = means 100 Thousand Welcomes — an expression of Irish hospitality. Click the link to learn how to pronounce this beautiful expression.

REMINDER!! DUES ARE DUE!!

Kudos to the Area Directors who have at least three clubs that have timely submitted their dues as of March 17, 2025!

• Prakash Acharya, IP4, Area 21 Director
• John Mottram, PM5, Area 31 Director
• Archana Banubakode, LD4, Area 41 Director

Kudos to Frontier Division, Tommy Kenyon, Division Director, for the division having the greatest number of clubs renewed: 10.

Only 12 days remain!

There are just 12 days until March 31st for clubs to timely submit their dues. Why renew before March 31st?

1. It’s Contest Season!! According to Toastmasters International Speech Contest Rulebook, “(t)o be eligible to compete in any official Toastmasters speech contest, a member must be a paid member of a club in the Area, Division, and District in which they are competing. The club must also be in good standing.” Therefore, contestants must have paid their dues by March 31, and the club of which the contestant is a member must have at least 8 members paid dues by March 31 for the Division contests scheduled for April 5, 2025. District 50 highly recommends that all club members’ dues be paid.
2. Be Distinguished! One of the criteria to qualify as a Distinguished club is timely submission of dues.
3. Don’t get jammed up! Avoid the March 31st madness dues rush which triggers Toastmasters slow processing time.

DLC Nominated Candidates!

The results and the nominated slate are in! Please congratulate the nominated candidates who will run for District Leadership roles in the 2025 – 2026 Toastmasters year. We are so glad that you are saying “YES” to leading and serving our members in the coming year. Voting for these candidates will happen at our May 6th Annual Business Meeting for District 50. If you are a President, VP of Education, Division Director, Area Director, or senior 6 member, please make sure you join us and cast your vote! To learn more about our candidates, you can visit our Candidates Page. Please note that some of the details are still being posted and will be completed soon.

• District Director – Denise Castille, DTM
• Program Quality Director – Rhonda Bunte, DTM
• Club Growth Director – Shane Gilmore, EH5
• Eastern Division Director – Lue Drummond, DTM
• Frontier Division Director – Deb Cadet, TM
• Metro Division Director – Norman Lum-Hee, IP2
• Plains Division Director – Sathya Kandasamy, DL4
• Southern Division Director – Felicha Stanley, MS5
• Town North Division Director – Nadum Charles, PM5

Special Thanks 

Thank you to our District Leadership Chair and Committee for taking the time to get to know our candidates. On behalf of myself and our District, we appreciate the time and commitment to this endeavor. 

Calling All Outstanding Officers!

It’s that time of year when we would like to ask our members to nominate their Club Officers who embody our Toastmasters values of Integrity, Respect, Service, and Excellence. Simply click HERE to make your nominations. Winners will be announced and awarded a plaque at the spring conference in May.

Division Contests!

Congratulations to all of our Area contest winners who will advance to the Division level contests. Division contests kick off Saturday, March 29th! Come and see all of our creative and amazing Area winners compete for a slot at the District Contests! For locations and more details, visit the Contest Page on our D50 site.

March 29th 

• Metro Division Contest 10 am
• Southern Division Contest 11 am

April 5th

• Plains Division 10 am
• Frontier Division 1 pm
• Town North Division 4 pm
• Eastern Division 12 pm

Spring Conference

Mark your calendars for May 9-10, 2025, as we gather for a weekend filled with inspiration, education, and celebration. The conference will begin May 9th at St. Barnabas Presbyterian Church for the Tall Tales Speech Contest and May 10th at the Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center on the UTD Richardson campus.

This is your chance to experience the creativity and humor of our members as they compete in this light-hearted and imaginative contest. Then, get ready for a full day of learning and celebration at the main conference on Saturday, May 10, 2025.

A New Approach to Conference Pricing

We’ve made some changes to our conference pricing this year to ensure we can continue offering a high-quality experience for everyone. In previous years, clubs paid a flat fee while members covered the cost of their meals. However, this pricing model is no longer sustainable, so we’ve made some adjustments to it.

This year, clubs can still support their members by contributing a $100 flat fee, which reduces the registration cost for attendees. Members will still be responsible for purchasing their own meals. Meal prices will vary, and are as follows:

• Up to $17 for breakfast
• Up to $23 for lunch
• Up to $45 for dinner

Details on pricing are below: 

Why the new format? This allows the District to keep the conference affordable while providing the same exceptional value. We appreciate your understanding and support as we continue to elevate our annual conference experience.

The website to register, select your meals, and pick your educational sessions is coming soon!

What’s in a word?

🍀 St. Patrick’s Week Challenge Word! 🍀

This week’s Challenge Word is Blarney (noun).

Definition: Skillful flattery or smooth, persuasive talk. Exaggerated or misleading speech meant to charm or influence.

Origin: The word comes from the Blarney Stone in Ireland! Legend has it that kissing the stone grants the gift of eloquence.

Your Challenge: Use blarney in your speeches or Table Topics responses this week! Get creative—describe a persuasive speaker, a charming tale, or even use it in a humorous way! 😄🎤

May the luck of the Irish be with you as you dazzle us with your eloquence! ☘️

100 Thousand Welcomes

As a District, we set a goal in July to become a Distinguished District. We have been on this path and journey with you, our members and our clubs. Membership is currently up 1% as a District. That means we are seeing growth within many of our clubs! Getting to Distinguished takes all of us coming together to achieve this milestone. How can your club help? How can you help as a member? Renew those dues. Ensure that our clubs remain at 8 members or higher. Make sure that you are using the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) to gauge where you are with getting to your club goals. Remember, clubs must have 20 members or +3 members added to their base from the beginning of the year to be eligible to be Distinguished.

Why 100 Thousand Welcomes? Welcome to all of our newest District 50 Toastmasters who are taking their next steps in reaching new goals or overcoming fears. Thank you for choosing us and your new clubs. we are so glad that you are here!

Toasty and 100 Thousand Welcomes,

Kimberly Ross, DTM
District 50, District Director

❤️Would you like to share something with us? Remember that D50 Cares. ❤️