by Diana Patton, DTM, District Webmaster
I was born in Springfield, Missouri, and began my first ‘real’ job with the Frisco Railway in 1969 which merged with the Burlington Northern Railroad in 1980 and then the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (now BNSF Railway) in 1996. I moved to Overland Park, Kansas in 1983 then to Fort Worth, in 1992. I retired at the end of 2006. I worked many different positions on the railroad from yard office clerk to Sr. Manager in the Safety Department handling report to Federal Railroad Administration and internal reporting. Merging over 25 years of computer records into one system at the time of the 1996 merger was a major undertaking and something I’m very proud to have been a part of.
I joined BNSF Toastmasters Club in 2003. Every Thursday at noon, Marketing Building, Conference Room #3, was where you would find me with my fellow Toastmasters. My first officer position was VP Membership and Club President.
During the 2006-2007 Toastmasters year I served as Area Governor then on to Division Governor, Contest Quality Chair, Lt. Governor Marketing (Club Growth Director), Lt. Governor Education & Training (Program Quality Director), and District Governor (District Director). During my first year in the top three District offices the District was President’s Distinguished finishing fourth in the world The 2006-2007 year began six consecutive years of District 25 being Distinguished or better.
I then served the District as Treasurer (Finance Manager) for two years. I’ve served as webmaster officially (and unofficially) since 2006.
It was an exciting time to serve with Ron Davis (Public Relations Manager at the time) at the end of 2017 to develop a new District 25 website. My goal has been to have accurate and helpful information available to our members in a timely fashion to support not only District officers but club officers and members. District 25 has historically provided a wealth of information to our members in order to help them on their Toastmasters journey.
I appreciate the opportunity to serve the members of District 25.
