Page 3 - march

Dues?

Phyllis Harmon, DTM, PDG - Publisher/Editor

March is done. April looms on the horizon. Did you remember to pay your

dues? Finish a project or two? Support your Club mates by volunteering for
meeting roles? Volunteer to be a judge, a timer, or a Sergeant at Arms for one
or more of the speech contests underway? Did you get everything accomplished
in March you intended to do?

If not, why not? My entire litany of questions rests on the first one. Did you pay
your dues? Apparently many have not. According to stats I was provided a couple
days ago, 29 clubs have not met th. minimum requirement of 8 active members, 10
Clubs are suspended, and 29 Clubs have not submitted dues at all for this renewal

cycle. Only 72 Clubs of our current base of 139 are in good standing. And only
members of those 72 Clubs are eligible to compete. If I remember correctly, only
officers of active Clubs can vote at the District Annual Business Meeting in May.
Our District is shrinking. The days of 183 viable clubs, when people were

eager to improve their communication, social, and leadership skills seem to have
dissipated. I acknowledge that the pandemic is a handy excuse. However, significant EDTORIAL
shrinkage had been occurring prior to March 2020.
It’s as if we’ve lost our mojo. If we don’t find it, we will continue to shrink to

a precious few. Perhaps too few to remain a viable District. Being the perennial
optomist, I don’t believe it’s too late to turn this shrinking ship around. It’s up to
us—all of us. It’s not someone else’s job. It’s ours. Yours and mine. As freewill agents,
each of us can participate in the demise or growth of our Clubs. So I return to my

original question: did you pay your dues?

Volume 8 Issue 08 FEBRUARY 2022 Monthly Columnists 2021-22 Officers Administrative Manager
Publisher David Freedman, IP3 District Director Graham Smith, PM2
Phyllis Harmon, DTM Eldred Brown, DTM Eldred Brown, DTM
Harvey Schowe, DTM Public Relations Manager
Senior Editor Jennifer Schmidt, EH2 Program Quality Director Stephana Johnson, DL3
Phyllis Harmon, DTM Jim Robison, DTM Lorri Andersen, DTM
Lee Coyne, ATMS Club Growth Director
Associate Editor Lorri Andersen, DTM Jim Robison, DTM Voices! is published monthly by District 7
Leanna Lindquist, DTM Paul Fanning, DTM Toastmasters. First issue published August
PJ Kleffner, DTM Finance Manager 2014. Submit articles or contact us at
voices@d7toastmasters.org
Stephana Johnson, DL3 Jamie Gould, CC

VOICES! | MARCH 2022 3