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Meetings

January Meeting

Check to Paula Rose by Jan 16. Please make checks out to Friendship Force of Dallas.

Date:

February 10th

Time:

5 pm

Place:

Pasand Restaurant (Indian) - 1377 W. Campbell at Coit - SE corner

Program:

Food:

Huge Indian buffet of appetizers, curries, bread, dessert 

Cost:

$16 including tip and tea/soft drink OR $20 at the door*

Reserve:

Send check made to Friendship Force of Dallas to Paula Rose by Feb 5

Mary Latham

Paula Rose and her committee are lining up programs for the year, and they will be posted in the Events section as they are finalized. A summary will also appear in the new yearbook. If you know of a restaurant with a private room that will handle 60-70 people with prices under $12 including tip, please let Paula Rose know!

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Past Meetings

In November we enjoyed brunch at three locations and had some lively conversations.

In December we met at the Chimneyhill Clubhouse that was all decorated for Christmas. We enjoyed a great feast with offerings by members and music entertainment by Balki, a delightful young man from India, who played a number of instruments and entertained us with songs we knew and could sing along to! (I guess that ages our group!) 

prez perez postcards

Wow!! What a year it has been! By the time you read this, the holidays will be upon us, the longest night of the year will have just passed, and the daylight will be getting longer and longer! Soon, it'll be spring!!

Before it gets here, though, let's reflect back on what has happened in the springs, summers, falls, and winters that have come and passed by. To those of you who have been members of our club for many years, even back to the founding, you know what I'm talking about. To those of you who have joined in the past few years, hopefully you've experienced (or will soon!) some of what makes Friendship Force a powerful people-to-people force and organization. FF Dallas of 2007 did not just happen. Back in the fall of 1993, eleven members took action to form the Dallas club, separate from the Ft. Worth club. Since then, many members, board members, exchange directors, committee members, and officers have given their time and energy to get us where we are today. Think about those fourteen years - probably 150+ monthly meetings (many presented by our own members); 18 inbound and 16 outbound exchanges (international and domestic); many small group dinners, holiday parties, and auctions; many computers given to schools for the visually impaired.

This year was no exception. We hosted three excellent exchanges and ventured out on one. We had eight great meetings and programs. We formed more great memories, made great new friends, explored fantastic new places. We learned how others live, work, travel, and play. We shared our passions, hobbies, favorite little holes in the wall, commonalities, and differences. 

Today, we are a vibrant club with over 110 associate and full members - interacting with and learning about each other as well as our new friends from six more parts of our wonderful world! Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada. Sibiu and Brasov, Romania [btw, Veronica Vasilache - newly pregnant when she was here - had her baby, pictured here.]  Bogota, Colombia. Tarapota and Lima, Peru. The web that connects Friendship Force of Dallas to the world is that much bigger and that much stronger.

To all who have helped out this year,
I truly appreciate your efforts!!!
Muchisimas grácias! (many many thanks)

With all that energy behind us and fueling us, we will be ready for what's ahead - meetings, exchanges, friendships, and memories. Inbounds from Charlottesville, Virginia [oops, they canceled just after I wrote this] and from Kempsey, Australia. Outbounds to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and to Turialba, Costa Rica. And planning for the 2009 Southwest Regional Conference here in the Dallas area. All with the goal of realizing FFD's purpose and mission - promoting peace and friendship in the world by building global goodwill through personal friendships.

As in the past, there will be many opportunities for you to be a part of that. Talk with any of your new board officers – Wendy Whaley (President), Teresa Wilkin (1st Vice-President), Brud Kisner (2nd Vice-President Membership), Paula Rose (3rd Vice-President Programs Coordinator), Georgia Sigalos (Secretary), edward perez (Treasurer), any of the committee chairs, as well as new and long-time members. Find an area - upfront or behind the scenes - where you can contribute your knowledge, your skills, your energy, your personality. I'll be there friend, come join me.

Peace and friendship be with you, 
edward perez

Club News

FFD Board News

Your board continues to meet to monitor club activities and finances, plans for 
upcoming exchanges, and reviews new business. If you would like to attend a board 
meeting, they will be held every 2nd Monday of the month at 7 pm at the home of Wendy Whaley.

Peggy Benton modeled terrific new vests with a FFD on the back at the November Board Meeting. The vests will be modeled for all members at the January meeting, and orders will be taken at that time. The cost is yet to be determined, but, of course, we will know by January. The vests are great when we travel as a group, or when we welcome incoming groups.

New Officers and Chairpersons

Elected Officers:
  Wendy Whaley - President
  Teresa Wilkin - 1st Vice President

  Brud Kisner - 2nd Vice President– Membership
  Paula Rose -  Program Coordinator
  Georgia Sigalos - Secretary
  edward perez - Treasurer
 
Appointed Chairpersons:
  Parliamentarian: edward perez
  Ways and Means: Mary Suther
  Newsletter: Ken Walker
  Publicity/Communications: Martha Durst
  Speakers Bureau Coordinator: Jim Bourn
  Telephone: Frits & Patricia Andeweg
  Website/Yearbook: Mary Williams
  Exchange Coordinator: Ray Enstam
    International: Ray Enstam
    Domestic: Ed Egren
  Exchange Treasurer: edward perez
  Exchange Ambassador Gifts: Pam Varney Terrell
  BridgeBuilders: Bob Langford & Ed Edgren
  Hospitality: Paula Rose 
  Prospects/Member Packets: Teresa WIlkin
  Sunshine: Judy Cornell
  CD/Media/Technology: Ken Walker
  Board Members Emeritus: Mary-Helen Lyons & Brud Kisner

Exchanges/ED:
  Kempsey, Australia inbound - Gary Paramore
  Harrisburg outbound - Frits Andeweg
  Turialba, Costa Rica outbound - Ray Enstam, Peggy Benton and Ken Walker

Yearbooks / Membership

Brud Kisner is finalizing the database for our yearbook. If you intend to be a member in 2008 and have not yet paid dues, contact Brud immediately. Mary Williams is working on the yearbook to have it ready for our January meeting.

BridgeBuilders - Reach Out and Touch Someone

Through our BridgeBuilders project, we are planning to send refurbished computers to a school for the blind and partially sighted in Brasov, Romania. Tentative plans are also in the works to send computers to schools in other places that have a need. 

Exchanges

Outbound - To Turrialba, Costa Rica in November, 2008. The exact dates and price have not been set yet, but we expect to have that information to all members soon. An optional trip through other regions of Costa Rica following the exchange will also be available, and we are waiting to get prices, etc. There is a high interest in this exchange because it is a joint exchange with Austin and the number of places is limited. Ray Enstam is the Exchange Director; Ken Walker and Peggy Benton will be Ray's assistants. 

Outbound - To Harrisburg, Pa., in July 2008. This inter-club exchange will take place during the holiday week of July Fourth. The Harrisburg club has a number of great activities planned. This trip is full and applications are no longer being accepted. Frits Andeweg is the ED. UPDATE 2/1: One person has dropped out so there is room for one more person.

Inbound - From Kempsey, Australia in early May 2008. Looks like Australia is shaping up as a go. More information will be arriving later. Gary Paramore will be the ED.  UPDATE 1/21/08: Kempsey has canceled.

Inbound - From Charlottesville, Virginia in March 2008 has been canceled. 

Member News

Members in the News

In December, Myrna Ridings' photo was in the Richardson/North Dallas Neighbors section of the Dallas Morning News at the Holiday Gift Wrap at Spring Valley United Methodist Church. Myrna and Dick are retiring this year as our publicity chairpersons after 10 years of service. We have had wonderful coverage in the area newspapers due to their efforts.

Welcome new member Lynn Leon, who joined at our December meeting.

Margie Tareilo has a new e-mail: margiet@consolidated.net.

More About...

Please welcome Rafael and Martha Carrasco, two of our new members. They were born in Colombia, and Martha lived with her parents for eight years in New York. Rafael lived in New York at the same time, but they never met until they both returned to Colombia. Martha's mother decided that Rafael would be good husband for one of her other daughters, but when he and Martha met, they both knew they were really the ones for each other. The rest of that story is that they have been married for thirty-five years.

They came back to New Jersey, commuted to work in New York, and later were transferred to Dallas. Like the time when they first met, they knew that Dallas is where they belonged. They have lived here for twelve years.

Two of their sons, and two grandchildren, live in the Dallas area, and the third is working on his PhD in London, Ontario. Rafael is a Customer Service Representative for Data Systems Alliance, and Martha teaches Preschool at the Grace Presbyterian Christian Day School in Plano.

The Carrascos learned about Friendship Force when their cousins, Carlos and Fabiola Alfonso, were the host family for John and Wendy Whaley when the Whaleys went on the Friendship Force Dallas outbound to Colombia this year. 

2008 Southwest Conference

Friendship Force of Baton Rouge will be hosting the Friendship Force Southwest Regional Conference the weekend of Jan 11-13, 2008. Contact edward perez for information ASAP. There is also additional information on our Events page. FF Dallas will host the 2009 Regional Conference.

FFI Board Meeting and New Board Members

The annual meeting of the Board of Directors was held in Atlanta September 9-11 with all 12 active members in attendance. The board received regular operations reports from the staff and approved a preliminary budget for 2008. A major portion of the time was spent looking to the future of Friendship Force with a strategic planning session, led by John Suddes who was one of the speakers at the 30th anniversary conference in Atlanta earlier in the year. The results of the strategic planning process will be announced later in the year. The board expressed its appreciation to all the club leaders around the world who responded to several surveys, which were very useful in helping shape the discussion.

An important part of the annual meeting is the election of officers for the next year and also filling of vacancies on the board. For 2008, the officers will be as follows: Donna Lambeth (North Carolina) will be Board Chairperson; Arifin Mochtar (Indonesia) will serve as Vice-Chair; Thomas Dortch (Atlanta, GA) was elected Treasurer; and Rita Powell (Oregon) will serve a second year as Secretary.

Four new board members were elected to fill vacancies. Each will serve a four-year term beginning January 2008 and ending December 2011. The new members represent different countries and have a variety of backgrounds.

Cang Jian (known to FF members as Jack) is from Nanjiing, China and is 42 years old. He is married and has a 12-year-old daughter. Jack has degrees from both Peking University and Nanjing University. Jack speaks English, Hebrew and several Chinese dialects. Jack is the director of the Department of International Liaisons at the Jiangsu International Cultural Exchange Center. This organization is FFI’s partner organization for the Nanjing exchange program that has been very effective in both hosting FF delegations and also in organizing outbound exchanges. He has participated and planned exchange programs to Canada, France, Japan, Russia and the U.S. Jack became involved with the Friendship Force in 1995. Since that time China has hosted nearly 40 inbound exchanges.

Elza Maria Fernandes dos Santos (known to FF members simply as Elza) is 51 years old and lives in Sao Paulo, Brazil with her husband Eduardo de Cillo. In addition to Portuguese, she speaks English and Spanish. Elza graduated from Ibero Americana University and worked in human resources and sales before opening her own business. She is now retired. Elza joined the Friendship Force in 1988 and served as club president from 2001 to 2006. She was the host chair for the 2005 International Conference in Sao Paulo, and has recently served as Vice Chair of the FF Council of Brazil. Elza has traveled extensively with the Friendship Force and participated in a three-month homestay with a family in Colorado with another organization.

Andrew Sterling is 62 years old and from Ottawa, Canada, but he was born and raised in Adelaide, Australia. He has degrees from the University of Adelaide and Flinders University of South Australia. After completing his education, Andrew moved to Canada where he worked at Atomic Energy of Canada, Ltd. before retiring. He speaks both French and English. Andrew and his wife are widely traveled around the world. They joined the Ottawa club in 2001 and have participated in 15 outbound exchanges since that time. In 2002 he was elected to the Ottawa club’s board of directors and has served as president. During his professional career, Andrew traveled to Japan on 12 occasions and multiple times to countries throughout Europe, Asia and the South Pacific.

Dave Kalan is 52 years old and from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has lived his entire life in the U.S. He has engineering degrees from the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee and Marquette University. Dave worked professionally for S.C. Johnson Wax for 21 years. While there he traveled frequently while supporting offices in London, Amsterdam and Sydney. Since retiring seven years ago, Dave has spent much of his time volunteering. Dave has been active with the Friendship Force for 17 years and has been on 16 Friendship Force exchanges and exchange director on 9 exchanges. He held the positions of Midwest field representative, club president, club vice-president and club treasurer. In addition to Dave’s travel with work and the Friendship Force, he travels with friends on a regular basis. He recently traveled with a friend to Senegal, West Africa.