Quick Look

The nominating committee has recommended a slate of officers for 2009, which was approved by the FFD board on August 11th. Other nominees, if any, will be considered at the September 13th meeting.

The 2009 officer nominees are:
President – Wendy Whaley
1st VP – Teresa Wilkin
2nd VP/Membership – Sandy Kaiser
Program Coordinator – Dora Stahl
Treasurer – edward perez
Secretary – Ruth Barrow

Looking ahead…
FFD is also busy planning the next SW Regional Conference on Feb. 6-8, 2009. It will be held at the Crowne Plaza Dallas (near the Galleria) and we are expecting over 100 members from clubs in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Kansas. It’s going to be a fun-filled weekend, so please plan on attending. Registration packets will be available next month. 

We are excited about the upcoming exchanges in 2009, including an outbound to Romania in May/June, an inbound in April from San Francisco, an inbound from Taupo, New Zealand in October, an outbound Discover China in September, and a Spanish language school outbound to Colombia in fall.

I hope that you will take part in one or more of these events.

In Friendship,

Wendy

Program:

1) Election of 2009 FFD officers

2) PowerPoint report on Harrisburg PA Outbound Exchange: Frits Andeweg ED – report; Mary Williams - photos

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Place/Time/

Reserve by e-mail or phone to Annette Dempsey by Oct 5th – asdrn@hotmail.com

Give your 1st and 2nd choice; Annette will confirm your reservation.

Program:

Club News

Election of Officers

An election, for new FFDallas officers, will be conducted at the annual meeting on Sept. 14th, 5pm, at the Oasis Palace Mediterranean Buffet. See meeting details above.

The Nominating Committee presented the following recommendations for FFDallas officers at the 11 Aug. board meeting. The recommendations were approved by the board.

FFD members may present other nominees, with the consent of the nominee, at the annual meeting.

Proposed 2009 FF Dallas officers:

President – Wendy Whaley
1st VP – Teresa Wilkin
2nd VP/Membership – Sandy Kaiser
Program Coordinator – Dora Stahl
Treasurer – Edward Perez
Secretary – Ruth Barrow

From the FFDallas By-Laws:

ARTICLE VII 
NOMINATION AND ELECTION OF OFFICERS

Section 1
At least five (5) weeks prior to the date of the annual meeting, the Board of Directors shall appoint a Nominating Committee. This Committee shall consist of five (5) members. The duties of this committee shall be to make nominations, with the consent of those nominated, and present the nominees to the membership in writing within fifteen (15) days before the annual meeting. Nominees will be reported to the general body at the annual meeting. At the annual meeting, the President shall receive from the floor any further nominations with the consent of the nominees.

Section 2
The election of officers shall be held at the annual meeting. Voting for officers shall be by ballot. Each member shall have one vote for each office. Only members present and in good standing may vote. There shall be no voting by proxy. In the event of a tie vote another ballot must be taken. If a quorum is present, the affirmative vote of a majority of the members present and voting shall be required to elect each officer. If there is only one nominee for an office, voting for that office may be by voice vote.

Section 3
Candidates for elective Club office shall be members in good standing and shall be elected for a term of one year. The elected officers shall assume office January 1. An officer may succeed himself/herself one time in that office.

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Treasurer's Report
By Edward Perez, Treasurer

As of August 9, 2008, the club's finances are still in great shape. We have sufficient funds in our Bridge Builder account [funded by the auction Ed Edgren led a couple of years ago], a certificate of deposit [funded by surpluses several years ago], club checking account, and exchange account.

In our club checking account, several people have taken advantage of our FF Dallas airport shuttle service. Scheduling rides to/from the airport and making donations to our club have totaled close to $400 so far this year. This is a great way to learn more about your fellow members and an easy way to help support our club. The major unbudgeted, but board approved, expenses this year include a) a computer, computer software, computer projector, and projection screen [for use at club meetings and the upcoming southwest region conference in Feb 2009] and b) new FFD lapel pins [due to arrive any day now]. The remaining major club income/expenses will be the membership dues and printing/mailing costs.

With regards to the Southwest Regional Conference, we have placed a deposit with the Crowne Plaza Hotel and for entertainment. We anticipate registration fees coming in during November and December. No other major expenses for the conference are expected until next year.

In our exchange account, we collected fees for the Harrisburg and Turrialba outbound exchanges and tour extension and we distributed those fees to FFI, the FF clubs, and the extension travel agency. There may be refunds due to Turriabla ambassadors if all of the contingency funds are not needed.

Let me know if you have any questions or need specific info about our accounts, income, or expenses.

edward perez
Treasurer, Friendship Force Dallas

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Dues Collection - 2009

As you know, we must collect dues annually from those FF Dallas members who want to remain members for the following calendar year. The past problems we have experienced in accomplishing this were discussed at the 11 Aug board meeting. The details are still being worked out, but the basis of our membership renewal policy this year follows. All members are urged to renew their membership as early as possible. We will be sending a dues application form in October.

1. Your membership must be renewed, and your dues payment must be received, by Dec 15th.
2. The first renewal notice will be emailed/mailed to FFD members in mid-October.
3. A second, and final, renewal notice will be emailed/mailed in mid-November.
4. It will be the personal responsibility of each FFD member, if they intend to continue their membership, to pay their 2009 dues by Dec. 15th 2008. There will be no individual phone calls or emails this year to members who are late in paying their dues.

Any FFD member who feels that they may be unable to comply with the new policy may voice their concerns at the next board meeting, Monday, Sept. 15th. Please contact Wendy Whaley, or any board member, for time and place of this board meeting.

Ken Walker
Newsletter Editor/Board Member

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Newsletter

Peggy and Ken are planning to spend most of next year traveling the US in their RV. To replace them during this period, we will need a new Newsletter Editor after February 2009. Contact Wendy Whaley if you are interested in publishing the newsletter - 6 issues per year. There is help from others on e-mailing and mailing.

If you have traveled somewhere (especially if it was an FF trip with another club) and would like to share your experiences in this newsletter, please send an article and photos to Ken Walker.

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Membership

HELP WANTED -- FROM YOU
Help get the word out. Help build our membership.
Our best source of new members is word of mouth.
Spread the word about the great experiences you have had with FFD.
Spread the word about our next meeting.
(Martha Durst would like your ideas for good places to publicize FFD events)

Friendship Force SW Regional Conference Dallas Club is hosting the best conference ever! See how we can put into practice FFI goals to 
                              

Explore • Understand • Serve

More on SW Conference 09 page NEW!

including flyer, registration form, directions to hotel, Discover China flyer 

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UPDATE received September 4: John Funk has passed away after fighting a blood disease for many years.  The funeral will be private but, a memorial service will be held at 2:00 PM on Friday, September 5, at the Northwest Bible Church, 8505 Douglas Ave, Dallas.  The family is in mourning, but I am certain a card sent to Betty Funk would be appreciated if you cannot make the service.

John - we will miss you!

Exchange News

 The following exchanges are in the planning stage for 2009.

Put these on your calendar and set aside time to be involved. Even if you are a new member, there are many opportunities to participate our exchanges. If you have not yet had an opportunity to be a host, sign up. If you can’t accommodate visitors, be a day host. Several committees will need assistance during the planning stage. There are many ways to get involved with our visiting ambassadors.

There are many other opportunities to participate in the exchanges of other Friendship Force Clubs. Go to www.thefriendshipforce.org. Scroll down a bit and check out the ‘Immediate Departures’ links on the left side. From ‘Daily Departures’ on the FFI website.

From July 1-7 sixteen members of the Dallas club joined with new friends in Harrisburg to explore the capitol city, Hershey, Gettysburg and the Amish country. Frits Andeweg (right) was the Dallas Exchange Director, while Don Covalesi (left) was the hospitable Harrisburg ED. 

See a report and photos from this fun exchange.

We had a record attendance, over 70 members and guests, at the Oasis Palace Mediterranean Buffet. If you missed their outstanding buffet, you will get another chance at the September meeting, which will be held at the same location. 

Visitors included Kurt and Marty Adamson of Dallas (Paula's neighbors); Marie and Allan Lai from Fairview, friends of Sandy and Roger Kaiser; Gabby Suezo from Chile, guest of Yolanda Lackey; Denise and George Bouhasin from McKinney (they were at the small group dinner hosted by Ray Ensta); Virginia de la Garza of Dallas, friend of Ana Marie Lee; and Ramona Briggans' son and daughter, who are both students.