Hello and Happy Holidays to you!!

I want to express my sincere thanks to the 2005 FFD board for their fantastic support. We have had a SUPER year. And I want to welcome the 2006 board (listed at the end of the newsletter) and let all of you new board members know how much I look forward to working with you. Remember, board meetings are the 2nd Monday of each month at 7 pm [unless otherwise stated]. Thanks to Marilyn McRae for letting us meet at her condo's clubhouse. This year, we'll be holding the board meetings at my house [so we can have coffee, tea, snacks]. I'll send out an email reminder and directions close to board meeting time.

FFD is really becoming known at FF International. George Brown, FFI President, may be at our Jan 8th meeting. He may be coming to Dallas to talk w/ Ed Edgren about the new FF club in Romania. The article about our Bridge Builder's project [which provides computers for schools for the blind in several countries] is being published in the February issues of FFI's "Friendship" magazine [see article in this newsletter]. Thanks again to Myrna Ridings for writing such a fine article about this program. Additionally, after talking with FFI folks at the International Conference in November, the board has authorized Ray Enstam to research, plan and hopefully lead an extra outbound to Colombia in Jan 2007. This will probably be a national outbound with Dallas leading.

We have some fine programs scheduled for the 1st quarter of '06 thanks to Ray, Gary Paramore, Don & Bev Erb, and Nancy Hicks. See the flyer for the January program. In February, we will return to Brazil Brasileiro for a program on Bolivia. In March, we will celebrate International Friendship Day with a program by Ann Marie Weiss-Armush.

Looks like a very good year to come! See you January 8th at El Fenix.

In Friendship,

Paula

Meetings

February, 2006

DATE:

PLACE: 

PROGRAM: 

PRICE: 

$15.00 per person includes buffet [Chicken, Beef, Seafood and Vegetarian], salad, dessert and coffee of tea. Reservation info and date to be mailed in late January 2006.  Deadline for reservations is Feb 6.

March 12, 5 PM 

Celebration of International Friendship Day with a program by Anne Marie Weiss-Armush. See Events.

Future programs 

We've shifted to a coordinator/assistants form for program planning this year. Many of the programs have been scoped out. However, if you have ideas of preferences, contact Ray Enstam, program coordinator.

Club News

Membership Renewals

It's that time of year again. We've had a great year and hope that you'll renew your membership in Friendship Force of Dallas. A membership form was mailed in November and will be resent in a separate email. Please send your renewal dues [check payable to Friendship Force of Dallas] by January 15 to Juli & Herb Ziev. Or bring them to the January FFD meeting on Jan 8.  Herb and Juli Ziev, Membership Chairpersons - julimdesigns@sbcglobal.net or hziev@sbcglobal.net. Click here for a membership form. NOTE: Please renew by February 1 to be included in this year's yearbook.

Board Meetings

The next meeting will be at 7 p.m. on Monday January 9th at Paula Rose's home. All Board Officers and Committee Chairs - please plan to attend so we will have a quorum for any decision-making. These meetings are open to any member or friend who wishes to attend.

For a copy of past board meeting minutes, contact Lillian Fipps -  For information about our financial condition, contact Wendy Whaley or any board member.

Newsletter Deadline

We publish our newsletter bi-monthly. Please send all articles, news items, photos, etc. to Edward Perez by February 10th for the next newsletter issue - erperez@acm.org.

Committees

If you know of any FFD member or friend who could use some Sunshine, contact
Susan Cooper - copertuz@flash.net 

Speakers

If you know of a group who would like to know about FFD, contact Jim Bourn - airbourn@comcast.net

If you would like to volunteer for any committee or project, contact any board member.

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2006 Friendship Force of Dallas, Texas Board

Officers
President: Paula Rose - paularose2000@hotmail.com
1st Vice President: Martha Durst
2nd VP, Membership: Herb & Juli Ziev
Programs Coordinator: Ray Enstam; members the Erbs, the Stahls, Nancy Hicks
Treasurer: Wendy Whaley
Secretary: Lillian Fipps

Administrative
Parliamentarian: Edward Perez
Ways and Means: Mary Suther

Exchanges

Exchange Coordinator: Ray Enstam
Croatia Outbound: Mary Williams
Fortaleza Inbound: tbd
Exchange Treasurer: Ana Marie Lee
Exchange Ambassador Gifts: Pam Varney-Terrell

Communications
Newsletter: Edward Perez
Flyers/Website/Yearbook: Mary Williams
Publicity/Communications: Myrna/Dick Ridings
Speakers Bureau: Jim Bourn
Telephones: John Funk

Outreach
Bridge Builders: Bob Langford, Ed Edgren
Hospitality: Joan Nolan, Klostermans, Behanneseys, Langfords, & Wrights
Prospects/Member Packets: Lee Latham
Sunshine: Susan Cooper

FF of Dallas History
Historian/Photo Album/Scrapbook: Mary Suther

Board Members Emeritus 

Mary-Helen Lyons, Brud Kisner

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Member News

Cares and Concerns

Our prayers and positive energies go out to the following members: 

Wanda Hamilton has been in the hospital since Thanksgiving due to a bacterial infection she may have picked up in Romania. Also, she had back surgery to fuse several vertebra. She was in Medical City. We'll find out room number and current status and inform you via email. [thanks to Kathy Morris for the update]

UPDATE: Wanda has been moved to the Victoria Gardens for rehab and is still 
experiencing a lot of pain. It is located at 310 S. Jupiter Road, Allen, TX 75002-3039, Room 201A. I am sure she would enjoy getting a card.

Jackie Bluhm recently had a pacemaker installed. Also, Jerry Bluhm, her husband, had an auto accident recently. You can send cards and letters to them. [thanks to Ed Edgren for the update]

John Funk was recently hospitalized in Baylor Hospital for chemotherapy for a very rare form of blood cancer. He's been home for the holidays and wishes everyone a joyous season.

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Betty Mayeur Visits England

This past holiday, Betty Mayeur and her family celebrated a "Dickens of a Christmas" in England. While there, she talked to Molly Wright whom members may remember from the British Exchange.She sends warm greetings to the club on behalf of herself and the Cleveland County Friendship Force. Betty returned greetings from our club as well. Molly was preparing for her 70th birthday on Dec. 27th and had recently visited Egypt where she hot-air ballooned over the Valley of the Kings. Such is the indomitable spirit of the members of Friendship Force.

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Myrna Ridings Honored

Myrna was featured in the Dallas Morning News. The following is from an article about a group assembling 4000 gift bags for the Visiting Nurse Association Holiday Gift Wrap, held Nov. 30 and Dec 1 for the homebound:

For many volunteers, the gift-wrapping session is as much part of the Holidays as decorating the Christmas tree.

Myrna Ridings of Richardson is a member of Spring Valley United Methodist and has been a part of the event since joining the VNA in 1975. "This is a Christmas tradition," she said. Ridings, a retired VNA nurse and former hospice volunteer coordinator for the organization, also drives for the Meals on Wheels program with her husband Richard. "He's very faithful on this venture. He's one of the soldiers in the trenches," she said.

Humanitarian Mission

FFD President Paula Rose and Newsletter Editor Edward Perez will be ambassadors on this mission to Cuba to help in the restoration of an Assisted Living Communities in Havana and Santa Clara. See http://www.friendshipforce.org/Events/Cuba.html for details. They will give a full report in the March newsletter.

BridgeBuilders

The article about FFD's BridgeBuilders program [expertly written by our multi-talented Myrna Ridings with info from Bob Langford, Ed Edgren, and Paula Rose] is now highlighted on the FFI website: http://www.friendshipforce.org/Events/Exchange%20Highlights/dallastoperu.htm.

The article will also be in the annual report coming out in February, so keep a look out for the article then as well. 

UPDATE: We have included the above article  in our Articles Section: Dallas BrigdeBuilders. 

UPDATE:  We have shipped our first computer to a school with visually deficient 
students in Galilee, Israel. 

UPDATE: The Richmond, VA FF club is going to Romania in May. Ed Edgren has been counseling with them based on his experience in Romania. He will be asking them to purchase and take two more computers to the school in Bucharest.

UPDATE: On Sat, 31 Dec 2005 Ed Edgren received the following letter from Meni Ciovica in Sibiu, Romania, one of the cities his group visited in September:

Dear Mr. Ed Edgren,

 

My name is Mariana Ciovica and we met last autumn in Sibiu, Romania for a late dinner in Continental Hotel. I hope you remember the Romanian group, don't you? Well, at that time, my partner and friend was Michelle Reitenauer. We did have a good time together. We talked a lot about all kinds of things and we became really good friends, sending e-mails quite often trying to know each other better and finding out interesting things about our different cultures.

I am 51 years old and I work as an English language officer for Sibiu County, that means managing and controlling the activity of all teachers of English in Sibiu county. My job is very demanding but I enjoy doing it. Sometimes I even organise training sessions for beginner teachers to help them teach. I have to confess that I was really impressed by the activity of the Friendship  Force and I consider it a great chance for people all over the world to have in order to know each other better, to understand and accept different traditions and ways of leaving. Our world needs this kind of communication more than ever and maybe one day we will live in a better world. I may be a dreamer, but I like this dream of mine and I will never stop thinking and believing that one day it will come true. Well, Michelle told me that you are trying to set up a FF in Sibiu. 

So, if you consider that I can be of any help, I am willing to do whatever I can to make it work. Now as in a few hours we'll say good-bye to the year 2005. I wish you, your family, and all your friends A Happy New Year and may all your dreams come true!

Mariana Ciovica

Sibiu- Romania

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Exchanges

Exchange Preferences

Hopefully, you sent Ray Enstam your exchange preferences last month. He has
compiled the votes and will present the list to the FFD board at the January 9 meeting. Contact Ray for more info or to submit your last minute preference.

FFD to Columbia

At the FFI Conference in Brazil last November, FFI asked clubs to consider
going to Columbia since few have been going there and the Columbian clubs are getting discouraged. Ray Enstam talked w/ the exchange coordinators and the
FFD board approved him to research an Outbound Exchange to Columbia in either
2006 or 2007. This would be in addition to our outbound to Croatia in May and any outbounds offered by FFI.

UPDATE: Our request for Colombia has been honored; we will offer a June 2007 outbound exchange to Bogata. We have two-three possible inbound exchanges pending approval by our Board and the clubs involved.

Outbound Exchange to Zagreb, Croatia

Dates for the exchange are May 27-June 3. 

UPDATE: This exchange is a GO, but we could use a few more people. Please contact Mary Williams if you are interested at txtravel@flash.net.  The preliminary tour has been cancelled due to an insufficient number of interested people. However, there are commercial tours available. See information on Croatia.

Inbound Exchange from Fortaleza, Brazil

This is a fall exchange (no dates established yet). UPDATE: Gary Parramore has been appointed Exchange Director. 

Other Exchanges

FFI periodically updates the list of exchanges scheduled for 2006, including many very interesting destinations. Check out exchanges with Other Clubs on our Exchange page.

Southwest Region News

2006 Southwest Region's Outbounds

Updated 2/23/06

Here are the 2006 outbound exchanges from clubs in the southwest region.
3/1/2006 - Fort Worth to Tuxtla-Gutierrez and Comitan, Mexico [full]
3/1/2006 - Oklahoma to Trujillo, Peru [cancelled]
3/15/2006 - New Mexico to Cairo, Egypt [open]
5/15/2006 - Oklahoma to Merseburg and Hamburg, Germany [full]
5/27/2006 - Rio Grande Valley to Zagreb, Croatia (with Dallas) [need 4 more]
6/1/2006 - San Antonio to Bohemia, Czech Republic [cancelled]
5/27/2006 - Dallas to Zagreb, Croatia (with Rio Grande Valley) [a GO, but need more]
9/6/2006 - Kansas to Mongolia (Special Exchange) [need 10 more]
10/27/2006 - Baton Rouge to Sydney and Hobart, Australia [full, but can take 2 more]
9/2006 - Houston to Sherbrooke, Canada [trip reassigned to Lincoln, NB]]
11/6/2006 - Austin to Yogyakarta, Indonesia & Newcastle, Australia 

Information is updated as we receive it. Look at Exchanges, Other Clubs (or click here) for more details.

FF SW Regional Conference 

SPIRIT OF THE SOUTHWEST
Geneva Hancock, Conference Coordinator
Friendship Force of Oklahoma

UPDATE: The Friendship Force of Oklahoma hosted the Southwest Region February 17 & 18, 2006 in Oklahoma City. FFI President George Brown and Ambassador Edwin Corr (Associate Director of International Programs at the University of Oklahoma) shared their experience with us. Various workshops were also presented.

The conference was held at the Clarion Meridian Hotel in Oklahoma City.

Friendship Force International

Friendship Magazine

Featured articles from Friendship are now available on-line!
http://www.friendshipforce.org/Events/Features.html