The Clubs of District 65 A Chronicle of Names, Dates and Places

During the past 58 years, the geographic regions of eastern, central, southern, and western New York State have seen the creation and the collapse of many Toastmasters clubs. Every club has an interesting and unique story that goes beyond the date and the place in which the club was created. Here is the chronological record of the 90 clubs currently in District 65.

The first Toastmasters club Rochester (#476) started functioning in New York State in May 1947. Two months later, Buffalo Pioneer came into existence and later merged with Grand Postprandial, and functions today as Grand Pioneer Toastmasters (#506) in Amherst. Syracuse (#580) was created in March 1948 and Lilac City (#687) in Webster was formed on January 1st, 1949.

The 1950's
It wasn't until four years later that Mohawk Valley (#1271) in the eastern most part of District 65 in Utica was founded in March 1953. A second club in Syracuse, the Empire Statesmen (#1427) was established in January 1954. The next two clubs, Kodak Park Toastmasters (#1491) and Lyceum (#1993) both located in Rochester, began functioning in April 1954 and February 1956, respectively.

Ten years after the opening of the first club in Rochester, in October 1957, a first club Endicott (#2584) was formed in the southern division in Endicott. Susquehanna Toastmasters (#2644) followed within three months in January 1958 in Owego, followed by E S B (#1747) in Tonawanda in April 1959. Of all the clubs formed during the late Forties and the decade of the Fifties, the above eleven clubs continue to function today.

The 1960's
These eleven pioneer clubs in New York State became part of the newly created District 65, in 1962. Of the eleven pioneer clubs, seven of the clubs have completed their 50 golden years in serving their members.

The decade of the Sixties also must have seen the inception of many new clubs in District-65, however, only two clubs exist today from that era, both in the Rochester area - the Postprandial Toastmasters (#3259) and Speechcrafters (#1044), started in November 1966 and March 1968, respectively.

The 1970's
Of all the clubs formed during the Seventies, there are five clubs that continue to function today. Interestingly, three of the five were launched in the Rochester area. TNT Toastmasters (#1831) in Rochester and Morning Knights Toastmasters (#2875) in Binghamton began in September and December, respectively in 1972. Westside (#1136) in Rochester was established in January 1977 and Speakeasy (#2325) in Orchard Park was founded in November 1978. The Communicators (#1990) in Webster was set up in March 1979, and is the second club in Webster to have survived, after Lilac City.

The 1980's
The Eighties saw a tremendous growth for D-65 and from all the clubs formed during this decade; nineteen of them continue to function today. Energetics (#2365) in Syracuse was started in August 1980, followed by Owahgena Toastmasters (#2153) six months later in Cazenovia. River City (#4524) in the Binghamton area was formed in May 1981, followed by Crown City (#2465) in Cortland in January 1982. Impressionist's (#4799) was established in Rochester in April 1981 and Ithaca Area (#4913) in Ithaca was initiated in June 1982. Utica National Toastmasters (#5194) started functioning in New Hartford during June 1983, followed by Wine Country Toastmasters (#5473) in Bath, during April 1984. Three clubs started in the western division, AM Lockport (#5460), in Lockport, in April, and Olean (#4191) and Downtown (#4350) in Olean & Buffalo respectively in May 1984. Savvy Speakers Toasters (#5659) in Syracuse started in September 1984. The Bristol Speaker (#5776) started in East Syracuse in March 1985, followed by two clubs in the greater Rochester area, Wayne Articulators (#5888) in Newark during June and Daybreakers (#3685) in Rochester during November.

Talk-Eaze (#4167) in Syracuse was formed during December 1985. There is only one club currently in existence that formed in 1986 - the Concord Spellbinders (#2993) in Fredonia in September. The club, High Noon (#4784) in Binghamton was formed on the first day of January 1987, followed by University at Buffalo Toastmasters (#6499) in Buffalo in April. Two clubs, Jabberwocky (#6740) in Skaneateles, and Illustrious Articulators (#6721) in Rochester, were created on the first day in September 1987. North Star (#6826) in Syracuse and Frederick Douglass (#6898) in Rochester, are two of the clubs remaining that were established during 1988. The only District 65 club functioning outside New York State is Barrier Breakers (#7290) in Towanda, Pennsylvania, which was originally formed in Waverly, NY in March 1989.

The 1990's
The Nineties witness similar growth, and another twenty clubs that were established in that decade continue to function. Five clubs were formed in the Rochester area, two in Syracuse, a whopping nine in the southern region of Binghamton, and three in the general Buffalo area. Speak For Success (#8265) in Buffalo and Toastitarians (#8789) in Rochester, both started in June 1991. Oneonta (#9253) in Oneonta was created in March 1993 and was followed three months later by Southern Division Advanced (#9520) in Ithaca. Speaking With Honor Toastmasters (#9760) in Binghamton started in February 1994 while SELECT (#7549) in Liverpool and CBORD (#4132) in Ithaca, were both set up in June 1994.

P.O.W.E.R. (#7385) in West Henrietta was founded in September 1995. Listen to the Blues (#7775) in Binghamton had its inception during February 1996 followed by Cayuga (#4998) in Ithaca in September 1996. Port City (#4448) started functioning in March 1997 in harbor city of Oswego. Prime Time Speakers (#8118) in East Syracuse started during April 1997 and Speak Up (#8182) in Batavia began in June 1997. The year 1998 was a busy year with many new launches including Advanced (#9207) in Pittsford in March, Rochester High Noon (#7620) in Rochester in June, Preferred (#8830) in New Berlin in September, Johnson Toastmasters (#2064) in Ithaca during October and finally Corning (#5257) at Corning Toastmasters in December. Toy Town Talkers (#6566) in East Aurora and Westwinds Advanced Toastmasters (#6635) in Amherst were formed in March and April of 1999.

The new millenium
From the clubs formed between the years 2001 and 2003, seventeen clubs continue to function today. They are Life Learners (#4323) in East Rochester and Gateway (#1058) in Skaneateles Falls both formed in June 2001, immediately followed by Verbal Spartans (#2703) also in Skaneateles Falls in July 2001 and Spirited Speaks (#1945) in September 2001 in Utica. Above And Beyond (#4054) in Niagara Falls was established in December 2001. The year 2002 saw the initiation of GSAR (#3361) in Syracuse in June, followed by Raymond (#9795) in town of Greene, in September, and just five days later, Ithaca College (#9817) was formed in October 2002. In the year 2003, a total of nine clubs were formed, four of them during the month of March, including Stearns & Wheeler Toastmasters (#6644) in Cazenovia, Money Talks (#7363) and What To Say Wednesdays (#7382), both in Buffalo area, and Leaders And Learners (#7438) in Binghamton. In April, RSA (#8299) in Amherst was established. The month of June 2003 saw the formation of three clubs - MCC Toastmasters (#4840) in Rochester, followed by clubs IM Talking (#9927) in Williamsville and Fluid Speakers (#9943) in Seneca Falls. The year 2003 ended with formation in December of B&L Visionary (#587292) in Rochester.

During the years 2004 and 2005 (up to end of October) we have seen the growth of eleven new clubs. Mercury West (#608344) in Rochester started the 2004 year with its inception in March, Moog (#639290) in Buffalo was created in April, PAETEC Communicators (#665361) and Toasted Sage (#670636) were established in June and July in Rochester and finally Roman Orators (#715396) in Rome started in November 2004. The year to-date 2005 new clubs include Simon Toastmasters (#736703) in Rochester and Liquid Toasters (#686681) in Buffalo, both formed during the month of February, followed by Purple Toast (#752470) in Amherst and McIntalk Masters (#754612) in the Buffalo, in April and June respectively. Getz Speaking (#794500) in Getzville started in July 2005 and Blues Expression (#762906) in Rochester, our newest club to-date, was formed in September 2005.

The year 2005
In District 65 today, 7 clubs (8%) are over 50 years old; more than half the clubs or 48 clubs (53%) were formed during the past 15 years (1990 to 2005); and clubs formed during the mid-fifties to end of the nineteen eighties (1955-1989), 35 clubs (39%) continue to function today.

Eastern Division
Of the 22 clubs currently functioning in the eastern division, 16 clubs (73%) are open community clubs, 3 are closed corporate clubs, and 3 are open corporate clubs.

Central Division
Of the 27 clubs in the central division, 18 clubs (67%) are open community clubs, 5 are closed corporate clubs, one open corporate club, 2 are closed college clubs, and one advanced club (CTM or higher).

Southern Division
Of the 20 clubs in the southern division, 13 clubs (65%) are open community clubs, 5 are closed corporate clubs, and 2 are college clubs of which one is an open club.

Western Division
Of the 21 clubs in the western division, 9 clubs (43%) are open community clubs, 10 are closed corporate clubs (highest number of corporate clubs in any division and almost 50% of the total clubs in the western division), one, an open college club, and one advanced club (CTM or higher).

This chronological summary is for the general information of the Toastmasters in District 65. It is dedicated to all those wonderful Toastmasters - past, present, and deceased, who helped to create these clubs. The current District 65 leadership salutes them, especially the past district governors and thanks them for their dedication, involvement, and continued support to the Toastmasters program.


Sam Mehta, DTM
Lt. Governor of Education and Training - District 65
October 31, 2005