by Robi Ley, DTM, District Director
On April 3, 2019, the Waco Early Birds celebrated 50 years as a Toastmasters chapter. It was a great meeting with every current member showing up, plus five visitors, some traveling from as far as Arizona. The level of Toastmasters experience ranged from Don Ferris (a charter member) to our newest member David Haskovec. In addition to our out-of-state visitors, we had Toastmasters present from a majority of Waco chapters, as well as our Area 45 and District 25 Directors who came down from the metroplex. Through anecdotes of charter member Don Ferris, Rosemary Horton, and Randy Hickerson, we learned about the start of the club and all the ups and downs it has faced over the years. The club members could not be any more proud of being part of this Early Bird family.
We began the meeting with a tasty breakfast including coffee and beverages, donuts, and kolaches, brought in by Laura Zambrano-Vazquez. Daryl Biberdorf presided as the Toastmaster of the Day. While a video played scenes from the past decades, Rosemary Horton presented our 50-year history with an engaging, genuine, and humorous approach. The table topics session was ably run by Randy Hickerson. President Landon Lewis ran the last third of the meeting as our General Evaluator. Our membership is very active, and we continually work on completing our program projects and growing our skills.
It was a joy to see so many coming together from such diverse sources. This potpourri of talent produced an event that we will all remember for a long time. Our thanks to all who participated.
