It is often said that community clubs take the longest to form yet last the longest. We have just added another notch in our traveling lectern and voices of confidence are beaming from the meeting place of the newest club in District 53. The Voices of the Mountains are here to stay.

It all started on March 3, 2004 in the beautiful Rogers Room of Hopkins Hall on the Williams College campus at an informational meeting held by then Area E1 Governor and Club Mentor Will Ryan and Club Mentor Marilyn Jess. At least a dozen people signed the attendance sheet and gave approval to have their names added to a list service which was used for club forming communications. Attendees included students from Williams College as well as business people from Williamstown, MA and Bennington, VT. Those in attendance agreed to hold a demonstration meeting on March 11.

The demo meeting was a success with then Lt Governor Marketing and Club Sponsor Paul Young as Toastmaster, then Division E Governor and Club Sponsor Sam Young as Topic Master and Will Ryan as Guest Speaker. Williams College staff member Ron Gallagher committed to assisting in the formation of the club and we were off! Meetings were held twice a month at Hopkins Hall and marketing and PR efforts continued month after month. Manual speeches were given all along by all with evaluations improving with time and practice.

Here is a clip from the May 2004 issue of the Demo Team Times:

The Division E Demo team has been very busy bringing Toastmasters to the Berkshires. It has been a real challenge for District 53 to form a Toastmasters club in the Williamstown area for years. This time thanks to the enthusiasm of Williams College Graduate Mark Orlowski and Area Governors and club Mentors Will Ryan and Marilyn Jess we are closer than ever, club Sponsors Paul Young and Sam Young have been clearing the ground and building the foundation for the mentoring, marketing and public relations work that comes with building a community club. The Advocate ran an extensive article on the Williamstown club that raised the level of attention and brought in many potential members. Club officers were elected at the last meeting; the new officers include Dave Gorson, Ron Gallagher, Steve Love and Laura Nesbit. The Voices of the Mountains club goal is to charter by year end.

Emiliano De Laurentiis joined the club in April and added organizational benefits for the group that helped keep the meetings flowing and officers communicating, he agreed to be VP Education and worked hard at keeping the ball rolling.

The clock in Williamstown Center struck seven pm 365 times and the club was still chugging along toward charter strength. The group decided to move away from Williams College to the Williamstown Financial Center and hopefully attract more community people at the new meeting space. Dave Gorson received his half way to CTM Certificate on 2/17/05 and Steve Love followed him in May.

The meetings continued with special themes added like Yodeling and special guests like Area E1 Governor Ann Bloch in attendance. The group struggled with small meetings and became discouraged at times even choosing a deadline to reach charter strength or disband and join local clubs!. Luckily for the residents of Northern Berkshire County the club reached number twenty in January of 2006 after almost 2 years of energy and enthusiasm with as many ups and downs as the horizon around Williamstown, Massachusetts.

This is living proof that anything worth while is worth waiting for. I might add that this was the third attempt to bring a Toastmasters club to this part of Berkshire County. This area of our district intersects with District 45 and many people had to drive long distances to reach a Toastmasters club. Now the Toastmasters experience is available to more members who might otherwise have difficulty reaching a club.

Please welcome this new club by sending a congratulatory message to Club President, Steve Love . I'd also suggest sending a "good job" message to Club Mentor Marilyn Jess at who tirelessly worked with this new club over the entire chartering process.

Club Charter celebration was held on May 25, 2006, see photo.