Fall 2019

Never has the phrase “Time flies when you are having fun” been more evident in my tenure as President of the Toronto Transportation Club. As most of you are reading this, we are in the twilight of the summer of 2019 and one can only hope there are warm fall days ahead as we move into my last quarter representing this club. I cannot say it enough times; how proud I am to be part of this great organization and its storied past. This year has been most rewarding and my devotion to making this club all it can be will not waiver as I move to the famed “Hall of Past Presidents” table.

Like the changing seasons the club is looking forward to our new incoming President Cynthia Nagamatsu and our 2nd VP, Barbara Leece, as our new 1st VP. Two extremely strong individuals that the club will rely on to continue its greatness for 2020 and 2021.

We have a very diverse and strong board that has helped the club to continue to evolve and grow with the ever-changing times and marketplaces to which we all work in. I am most proud of their combined efforts in making 2019 a memorable and ever impactful year for the club.

In 2019 we introduced our quarterly newsletter, “The Link”, to which this letter is attached. It has become a show piece for the club, the board and all its members’, one which will keep everyone up to date on “new news” and perhaps more importantly to showcase some of the great accomplishments of our membership. Every newsletter gives us the opportunity to celebrate the past, present and future of the club. I have been most fond of our “human interest stories” that give a little more insight into some of our member’s accomplishments.

Also, this year we introduced another scholarship making it four in total, as well as opening the availability of these scholarships to all full-time employees of our corporate members. This has had a positive impact as we have seen record numbers of people applying for the four that are available this year. Each child that has had the fortunate benefit to have received a scholarship has a story to tell and we hope to get some of those out to you via The Link.
Last but not least we introduced two new events to our lineup in 2019; “The Need for Speed”, which was a huge success and the TTC’s take on “Oktoberfest” which is coming later this fall. (If you have not ordered your tickets then please get them soon as we are expecting another sell out).

What makes this club most successful are our members who have been so supportive either through sponsoring events, attending events or both. We are celebrating 3 years of sold out events; all that have been extremely successful and have led to the growth of this club. Be it the new “Link” newsletter, new events or the ever-growing support of our scholarship funds this club is in fact about its people. It is a networking and social club, a club where we can all get together and enjoy each other’s company, a few laughs and a few stories about our treasured past. We have no political aspirations, no agenda, nothing really other than to celebrate together in this somewhat crazy Transportation industry.

I am proud to be part of that story and look forward to my seat with the rest of the past presidents who have all helped make this club the best, the biggest and most successful transportation club in North America.

I look forward to seeing you at Oktoberfest and the Annual Dinner where we will be celebrating our 107th year anniversary!!

James Mitton
President, The Toronto Transportation Club