Chartering on January 19, 2014, Amarillo Coffee Weekenders became the first new club in District 23 since the beginning of the current Toastmasters year and will hold its official Charter Ceremony on March 8, 2014 from 10:30AM to 12:00PM with a reception to follow including invited family members and District leaders. The regular club meeting, from 9:30AM to 10:30AM, will include the club’s spring speech contests.
A visiting guest, charter member Cheryl Gentry, charter member Larry Boyer, DTM, and his wife Anne
Like many clubs, it was a long time in the making. The idea for the club came about at a 2011 Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) during a new club brainstorming session. Natalie Waters pointed out that there were no weekend clubs in Amarillo. Over the course of the next two years, open houses and more brainstorming sessions set the stage for a June 2013 demo meeting hosted at a Panhandle Pro Club meeting. Of the six non-Toastmaster guests, three joined the new club and a fourth joined a different club in town (because it fit his schedule better.) After the demo meeting, the club began holding regularly scheduled meetings and built the membership up to the required twenty members.
To round out the remaining membership, the club began an aggressive campaign to get more exposure. They created a Facebook site, advertised on social media, promoted on local calendars, and visited companies within a five mile radius of the Coffee Memorial Blood Center (7500 Wallace Blvd, Amarillo, Texas) where the club meets every 2nd and 4th Saturday from 9:30 AM to 10:30 AM.
“I think it was invaluable to have a Club Building Mentor – Robert Barnhill, DTM, AS – whom early on and through the process, I was able to ask pertinent questions and get timely answers about setting up the demo meeting, financial matters, sequence of events for the meeting, and how to handle chartering questions,” said Natalie, who was a Club Sponsor for new club.
Pantex Lunch Bunch member Ramon Saldana, then Area 53 Governor Natalie Waters (currently District Secretary), and then Area 52 Governor Monica Herrera (currently Area 24 Governor)
Fellow Club Sponsor TK O’Geary worked with Natalie and Club Mentors E. Roamee Caranto and Janet Tarr to bring the club to life. They also enlisted help from the Pantex Lunch Bunch club and Raging Toastmasters to support the evaluator and working member roles as the club developed. Pantex Lunch Bunch also helped the club manage its finances until the club could officially charter and open a checking account.
Natalie credited the new members of the club with the successful chartering.
“The club members are the real heroes. They gained a sense of ownership, asked and brought friends, family, bosses, and kept showing up for meetings prepared. They made it a reality.”
