Toastmasters District 55 - Austin and San Antonio, Texas

Remembering Atheria Scott, DTM
by Wendii Lord, Division F Director

Atheria served as D55 District Governor 2006-2007, and she was Region 3 Advisor 2018-2019.

Her soul shone so bright, you couldn't miss it. No matter where you were, you knew Atheria was in the room. Small room, big room, ginormous room, you knew she was there. If you didn’t hear her laughing first, you’d see her bright clothes, and of course, a hat. I joked with her, I never saw her wear the same thing twice. What she wore was her heart made visible. Multicolored, joyful, and in love with life and everyone in it.

Atheria was always excited. No matter what it was, it was a great new opportunity. I looked at my emails from her, and every other word was EXCITING and PERFECT and GREAT, in all caps and with at least 3 exclamation marks. No matter what you did, how big or small, she made you feel like you climbed Everest, she was so excited by your progress.

Atheria knew what the good was in anyone, and she knew how to draw it out. How many people have told me in the last week that she was their mentor? Hundreds. How many say, I'm a Toastmaster, I'm a Director, I’m a something because Atheria asked me and told me I could do it, and supported me through it? Hundreds. Thousands maybe. She never tired, and she was never impatient. She always had time. And somehow, all of us thought that we were the center of her attention. I wish I’d asked her how she did that.

One thing I’ve learned about Atheria in the last two weeks is how little I knew her. I knew she taught Sunday school, but I didn’t know that she could keep 30 3 year olds spellbound for an hour. I knew she had lots of Toastmaster friends, but I didn’t know how many people considered her their mentor. I knew she gave out stones with messages during training, but I didn’t know how many people kept those in their pocket or on their desk in view at all times. I knew she treated everyone as if they were her friend, but I didn’t know that she had friends all over the world, and from the top to the bottom of every organization. I knew she was musical, but I didn’t know she played the harp. I knew you could drive down the street and know which house was hers, but I didn’t know she loved pinwheels.

Grief leaves one with so many regrets. Regrets about the things we didn’t say, the things we didn’t ask, the things we didn’t do. My life has an Atheria-shaped hole in it, surrounded by a sea of regret. I hope that these regrets will cause me to be more like her in future. I hope too that your memories of her will help you be more like her, because the world needs more people like her. People filled with love and light and joy.

When I knew she was sick, I told her that my word for 2021 was joy, and I needed her to get better so that she could teach me how to be joyful like her. Her word for the year was rebuild. And we will. But I’ll miss her every moment.

TLI Registration Open

Visit the training page for the full schedule. Scroll down to the bottom to see the table of all TLIs.

Join us for the second round of VIRTUAL Toastmaster Leadership Institute Sessions starting with Division F on Saturday, December 5th. In order to receive credit, 4 full hours of training is required. Agenda and Zoom link will be available as soon as they become available. You must register for on Constant Contact and on Zoom, both, to attend. Week-night classes are split into two two-hour segments with officer breakouts in part two.

District Events/Meetings are being held Online until further notice

We invite all our Clubs to host their meetings online. See this page for more resources on how to conduct virtual meetings.

Join an Online Club Meeting by checking this list. Consider holding hybrid meetings to increase membership.

Contact d55dd@tmd55.org if you have any questions or concerns and stay well and safe.

Calendar Snapshot

Click for more information

District 55 is pleased to announce the expanded and enhanced Continuing Education Program “Training Tuesday.” Every Tuesday you will find informative training to help you grow as a Toastmaster communicator and leader and based on feedback we got from you! We have also included a Tuesday devoted specifically to Pathways (advanced and beginners) and a section to help you learn other cool skills that every Toastmaster should know, such as social media, website building, Power Point presentations. Click here for more information.

D55 Professional Development Certificate
now available

Club Officers and members, if you have completed the Club Officer Training requirements and you are interested in providing proof of professional development hours to receive credit from your professional organizations (e.g., nursing, engineering, project management) or for your employment file, we can help. Please email the Program Quality Director (link) Kathy Moore with your name as you would like it to appear on your certificate. After we verify your attendance and that you have met the minimum required four hours, we will create a signed digital certificate like the one in the example with the issue date and send it back to you. You need not be a Club Officer to request a certificate. All TLI attendees are eligible. Please note: if you do not receive your certificate back within 72 hours, please inquire by replying to the same email you had originally sent.