Jun. 13—CUMBERLAND — Several area individuals pulled together 25 people to form a Toastmasters International club in Allegany County, the organization’s first group chartered here since the 1960s.

Toastmaster is a nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping people develop communication, public speaking and leadership skills.

The Western Maryland Toastmasters was founded last month by Griffin Detrick and Gary and Sharon J. A. Imes. Sharon Imes is the club’s president; Detrick is the treasurer.

“It’s really exciting,” said Sharon Imes. “We needed 20 to get it started and we wound up with 25 people at our first demonstrating meeting.”

The group’s first gathering was May 23 at the LaVale Library.

“Toastmaster was surprised,” said Sharon Imes. “Within seven days we had our charter. Some groups are trying to form for years.”

Sharon and husband Gary, who is the CEO of Lashley Construction in Frostburg, had been involved with Toastmaster for more than 20 years.

“Before I met Gary, I lived in New York City and worked on Wall Street for Standard and Poor’s,” said Sharon Imes. “I managed more than 500 people in the S&P finance group. Toastmaster was my secret weapon. It allowed me to be effective while I did that.”

Detrick, who lived in Baltimore for a few years, moved back to Cumberland in 2016. Both Detrick and Sharon Imes said they couldn’t find a Toastmasters Community Club near Allegany County.

“The closest was Hagerstown and Winchester,” said Detrick. “Pre-COVID there were no hybrid Zoom clubs. So I had it in the back of mind that I’d like to start one here. I felt we had enough people in the area. I linked up with Sharon. She had wanted to start a club, so we were put in touch with each other.”

On the charter, in addition to Detrick and the Imeses being officers, Autumn Jose, a 1998 graduate of Keyser High School, is the vice president of public relations. She had left the area to work at a bank in Sandusky, Ohio.

“I moved back three years ago,” said Jose. “I have a lot of speaking opportunities so I thought, if I’m going to do this I need to join something to help with my personal development skills. I saw a sponsored ad on Facebook for the Toastmasters.

“I thought that is right down my alley, so i called the number and spoke to Sharon. When I went to that meeting I didn’t know what to expect and I found the energy was great and people were so kind. I thought I have to join this club. I was wowed.

“This club will help bring me out of my shell even more and the networking and people that you meet is going to be nice,” said Jose, who described herself as “very introverted.”

Club membership is open to residents of Allegany and Garrett counties in Maryland, Mineral in West Virginia and Bedford County, Pennsylvania.

“Anyone that wants to come,” said Sharon Imes. “People can show up.”

“We’re really excited,” said Detrick. “The last club in the area we think was a Celanese Corporate Club but it shut down decades ago. To my knowledge, this is the first community club in Western Maryland.”

“We couldn’t get it going without the many charter members,” said Sharon Imes. “We have some really dynamic people. Most of them are business leaders, senior management and executives.”

“I believe that communicating effectively and leading confidently are the two must valuable (traits) a person can learn in life,” Sharon Imes said. “I stuttered growing up through every syllable. I had to overcome that. I’m passionate about people being able to learn these skills in a safe environment like Toastmasters.”

The group meets on the second and fourth Thursday of every month from 6-7:30 p.m. at the LaVale Library and can be accessed via Zoom.

For more information, phone or text Sharon Imes at 440-497-0172 or email westernmdtoastmasters@gmail.com.

Greg Larry is a reporter at the Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter @GregLarryCTN.