| International Conferences | Dallas Exchanges | |
| 2011 Exchanges | 2010 Exchanges | 2009 Exchanges |
| 2008 Exchanges | 2006 Exchanges | |
| 2003/2002 Exchanges | ||
| Photos Jena/Gelsenkirchen | Photos Brasov, Romania | Photos Medicine Hat, Canada |
| Photos Bogota | Photos Romania | Photos Lima-Tarapoto |
| Photos Sacramento | Photos San Francisco | Photos Sibiu, Romania |
| Photos Harrisburg inbound | Photos Harrisburg outbound | Photos Turrialba, Costa Rica |
| Photos Montana and Newsletter | ||
| Note: Other exchange photos are in Newsletters following the exchange. | Photos La Libertad | |
| Photos Zagreb, Croatia | Photos N. Colorado and Newsletter | |
| Photos Inbound Tottori, Japan and Newsletter | ||
| 2010 SW Conference | ||
| Dallas Exchanges
Inbound exchanges and Exchange Directors: 2011 Ottawa, Ontario Canada - Mary Williams 2011
Jena/Gelsenkirchen, Germany - Hilda Klosterman
Naughton 2011 San Francisco Bay Area - Dale Klosterman
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Ottawa
Inbound
Exchange
Our inbound exchange from Ottawa, Canada took place from April 27- May 4, 2011. Mary Williams was Exchange Director for Dallas, with John Taylor the ED from Ottawa. Fourteen people from Ottawa, Gatineau Ontario and Lethbridge Alberta spent a wonderful week with us.
See Photos page 1
Our activities included a Welcome Brunch, Tour of Audubon Nature Center; Tour of downtown Dallas including Fountain Place, Dealey Plaza, Pioneer Plaza, ThanksGiving Square, Arts District, Crow Asian Art Museum and Sixth Floor Museum; Dallas Arboretum, Heritage Village, Small Group Dinners in homes, visit to Forth Worth for a tour of Sid Richardson Western Art Museum, Tour of Japanese Gardens, Lunch in the Stockyards followed by a Tour of the stockyards; Tour of Wilson House district on Dallas Swiss Ave, and a Farewell Dinner with entertainment. Good weather and active guests made our exchange a pleasure.
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See
the report in the |
SFBA Domestic Exchange 2011
See the Flyer, Domestic Application Form and Club Activity Form.
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An outbound exchange
went to
San Francisco
Bay Area Club - October 1-7, 2011. Though most members live outside of San Francisco itself, a one-day visit in San Francisco
was included.
Dale Klosterman was the Exchange Director for Dallas. 
See
the report from Dale Klosterman, in the |
We have just enjoyed two clubs from Germany who joined together for an exchange here on September 23-29, 2011. Hilda Klosterman was the Exchange Director. This was a second week for the German ambassadors, who visited Canada in their first week. There were a total of 11 ambassadors from Jena and Gelsenkirchen. Christine Legner was the German ED.
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Jena in just south of the Harz mountains in a forested mountainous area.
Gelsenkirchen is in the industrial Ruhr River valley near Essen, Dortmund and the Rhine Valley.
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An exchange committee has worked with Hilda (daleklosterman@sbcglobal.net) to put on a wonderful program. A first planning meeting was held on Sunday, March 27th, with event coordinators and committee chairs assigned.
This is the schedule for the week:
Friday – 23rd of September – Arrival from Toronto on Air Canada 4:19 pm
Whaley Coordinators) Thursday 29th – Departure Air Canada 11:05 o'clock am
Hilda and her committee coordinated home hosts, day host, dinner hosts and many helpers at the parties. Hilda is at daleklosterman@sbcglobal.net.
See Photos.
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Gelsenkirchen
visited Dallas once before in 1996, and we may see some old friends,
as well as a lot of new ones. Since the International Conference this
year will be in Germany, this is an especially timely visit to
us.
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Schedule:
Afternoon free
museums on your own Lakewood. PM: Bluebonnet photos stockyards. Dinner Habaneros in stockyards. Billy Bob's line dancing; return
evening train Cafe?) Tour Delaney Vineyards in Grapevine. Evening - farewell dinner at Chimneyhill clubhouse
In addition, we participated in these Domestic Exchanges:
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The
Dallas club
enjoyed an outbound to Greater Izmir, Turkey - in October and an
inbound from Haliburton Highlands, Canada - in April. 
FF Northern Colorado is a large, very active club whose members live in Fort Collins,
Loveland, Greeley, and Longmont. We visited nearby Boulder, Rocky Mountain National Park
and Estes Park; two sculpture parks in Loveland; Centennial
Village in Greeley where Poudre Trail, noted for its wildlife, is located; and
well-known breweries - Fat Tire beer and Budweiser with its
famous horses. We toured the Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory with its famous
Mint Room that takes your breath away and the interesting Leanin' Tree Card company
that has a wonderful collection of Western art. A trip to the Red
Feather area of Northern Colorado for the farewell dinner with a
stop at a Buddhist shrine was a wonderful end to the week. 
Outbound
to Great Falls Montana - August 21-27, 2010 - EDs:
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Exchanges for 2009
The Dallas club participated in these 2009 international exchanges and domestic exchanges:
Two of our members led special national exchanges in 2009:
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This
exchange was a great opportunity to visit Friendship Force friends in Sibiu and Brasov
and to tour within Romania, as
interest in travel to this region is continually growing. Since the two Romanian
clubs have hosted Americans and now wish to host people from other countries, this may be the last American exchange for awhile!
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Costa Rica Humanitarian Trip
Club member John Whaley joined a Friendship Force International exchange If you would like also to donate to the equipment fund, you can send a tax deductible check made payable to Friendship Force International, 233 Peachtree St., Suite 2250, Atlanta, GA 30303 attn: Ana Smulski. John will tell of his adventures at the June club meeting. Three photos from the school are shown here. UPDATE: This letter was received June 14, 2008 -
UPDATE: See the article on this exchange in the Second Quarter 2008 issue of Friendship Magazine. |
to Costa Rica in March, 2008. The group traveled to tiny Brasilito on the Pacific coast where
they brought school supplies and taught English for the town's school of 150 kids. The
school has very few resources and needs a computer and photocopier. The group hopes to
raise funds to provide these as well. Our club has donated $250 to purchase equipment.
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Inbound from Medicine Hat, Alberta
Inbound exchange from
Medicine Hat, Alberta Canada - February 19 Exchange Director was Gary Paramore. Click here for the week's schedule. Gary presented the January meeting program on Sunday Jan 14 about Alberta. See some Photos from the exchange.
Inbound from Sibiu and Brasov, Romania
I See a few Photos from the exchange. Also see photos of computers donated to Romania.
Outbound to Bogota, Columbia
Ray Enstam was the Exchange Director from Dallas, Ruby Reviere from Houston..
Click here for the itinerary - it was wonderful! Columbia is a country that is noted for its natural beauty, great tropical beaches and historical sites, and the Bogota club is noted for its hospitality. Bogota is the capital city, founded in 1536. It has about 8,000,000 residents. Located in the Andes Mountains at 8,500 feet of altitude, it has year-round spring-like weather. It offers many sights, including 42 museums such as the famous gold museum. Also see endorsements from people who recently visited there.
Read several recent articles about travel to Columbia from The Wall Street Journal and USA Today as well as tips for traveling to Columbia.
To see an English language video about Colombia click on the link below and then go to the middle of the page; you will see a section entitled Vive Colombia, and under that Vive Colombia (Ingles). Click on the link under that last label. www.colombiavivewa.org
Some photos from the exchange are posted here: Photos Bogota, Photos Columbian Families, Photos Day Trips, Photos Cartagena.
Ray Enstam, Mary Williams and John Whaley presented a PowerPoint presentation (and John's essay) at the August meeting. John Whaley's excellent article, "On Closing Doors Softly," was published in two installments in The Dallas Morning News that ran in the North Dallas/Richardson Neighbors section on Saturday Sept 15 and 22, 2007. The article appears in our Articles section with photos on the Bogota photos pages.
Elanore Decker presented a program for the San Antonio club in September. The July/August - page 4 issue of the Friendship Magazine features an article by Elanore Decker about her homestay with the Dallas exchange to Bogotá. Elanore is from the San Antonio FF club and she traveled with the Dallas Club. The article credits her as with the Friendship Force of Dallas. Congratulations Elanore. Way to go Girl!
Inbound from Lima and Tarapoto, Peru
Check these websites for more information on Lima: http://www.peru-travel-adventures.com/lima-peru.html and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lima and on Tarapoto: http://www.leslietaylor.net/index.html (her great jungle website) or to go directly to Tarapoto - http://www.leslietaylor.net/peru/tarapoto.htm.
Inbound
from Fortaleza, Brazil
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-26.
Outbound exchange with
the Houston club to 
Inbound exchange from
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Exchanges for 2006
Outbound to Zagreb, Croatia
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The
2006 outbound exchange to Zagreb Croatia was held from May 27 - June 3, 2006. We enjoyed visiting this wonderful country and meeting
many new friends. 
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Outbound to La Libertad (Trujillo), Peru
March 12 to March 20, 2005
Inbound from Tottori, Japan
September 26 - Oct 2, 2005.This was a return visit for Tottori; Dallas visited there two years ago and both clubs requested this exchange. Jim Bourn was Exchange Director.
Schedule
for the week included “Eat and Greet” Continental Breakfast, visit
to the Arboretum,
drive by stop at City
Hall and Cattle Drive sculptures; a day in Fort Worth Day
at Amon Carter Western Art Museum and lunch at the Kimbell Art Museum, a drive through downtown and to Stockyards and see 4 pm cattle
drive; a
Mission Trip to Romania
Ed described the mission this
way:
Brasov
(See Ed's e-mails from Romania on our Articles page.) UPDATE: As of February, 2006 there are three new clubs forming in Romania, and one of them may be visiting the Dallas club in 2007. There are more mission trips going to Romania. See Other Clubs.
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This
trip took place Sept 6th
Trip includes daily walking;
there are no accommodations for handicapped individuals as Romania was a communist dictatorship until 1989 and the infrastructure is in need of upgrading.
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2004 Exchanges
Inter-club Inbound visit: Asheville, NC - April, 2004
Outbound to Kiel, Germany and South Flanders, Belgium - June, 2004 Jim Bourn was Exchange Director for this trip. See his report of this successful exchange in the August 2004 newsletter.
Inbound: Cleveland County, England - October 9-16, 2004 We completed an incoming exchange in October, 2004 with FF friends from Cleveland County, England. Ray Enstam was Exchange Director for this exchange. Twelve ambassadors came to Dallas and continued to Tuxla, Mexico after visiting us.
Formerly
known as Teesside, this county of northeast England is industrially
oriented around the Lower Tees Valley and estuary. It is bounded by
Durham to the northwest, North Yorkshire to the south, and the North
Sea to the northeast. Winters are long and hard, spring late and short,
and summer temperatures generally cool. The annual rainfall (about 635
mm) is among the lowest in the country, thanks largely to the county
being located in the lee ("rain shadow") of the Pennine
uplands.
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Inbound
from Libertad,
Peru - Sept, 2003
Inter-club Outbound to Asheville, NC Summer, 2003
Inter-club Outbound to Lake Hartwell, GA - Summer, 2003
Outbound to Japan - Sept, 2002
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Past International Conferences
2011 International Conference August 26 - 30, 2011 Hamburg, Germany
The 2011 International Conference was held in Hamburg, Germany and in addition to sessions, a banquet and other meals, it included a number of tours and a homestay. Tours include walks and boat rides around Hamburg, a Rhine River boat trip, homestay in Freiberg, a tour of Hanseatic League cities and Berlin, and a tour of Germany.
2007 International Conference
The 30th year anniversary conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia - March 1- 4, 2007. Preceding and following the conference a tour of Atlanta was offered, and after the conference homehosting in the several state area was offered. See our Events Page or the Friendship Force International website for more information - www.friendshipforce.org/.
2006
International Conference
The 2005 conference was held in Sao Paolo, Brazil from November 3-6, 2005. Home hosting for four days followed the conference and after that a six-day tour to Iguacú Falls and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
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Veja-O Aí! 2004 International Conference
The 2004 International Convention was held in Los Angeles - November 4-7, 2004. The LA Conference committee was led by Nancy Arnheim [who was in Dallas for the 2002 International Conference!]. Conference events included: A "California Casual" opening reception and banquet; twelve different workshop topics addressing membership, exchange experiences and relationships with those you encounter through the Friendship Force; optional tours in the city and in Hollywood/ Beverly Hills; speeches from a space architect, an expert on California's gold, and FFI President George Brown; the glamorous "Be A Star" gala dinner and dancing event; award presentations for significant volunteer achievement and the conference's friendliest delegate; not to mention a fabulous four-day fiesta where old friends were reunited with and new ones from around the world made!
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The Friendship Force of São Paulo welcomes you to experience the lure
of Brazil! Come discover a country with thousands of different landscapes,
a huge blend of colors, wonderful sounds and smells, but above all
the people. If Rio has gained fame for its striking postcard
harbor, São Paulo's attraction lies in its people and its vibrant cultures. A
more cosmopolitan city than its counterpart, São Paulo possesses significant ethnic communities making it the perfect
place to host Friendship Force's 29th International Conference.
Brazil's most modern city has much to offer in terms of
outstanding cuisines, fine museums, coastlines graced with many
lovely beaches, entertainment and an exciting nightlife. Post-conference
home hosting is available for 4 nights by the clubs in the São Paulo area. Following the conference or after the home hosting
there will be optional tours to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
| Southwest Conferences |
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Southwest Regional Conference 2010
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Dallas hosted the 2009 Southwest Conference on February 6, 7, 8, 2009 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Dallas. Wendy Whaley was conference coordinator.
Explore •
Understand •
Serve Friday:
Meet new friends and renew friendships from the ten clubs in our Southwest Conference in
our Hospitality suite with private patio. Attend
small group dinners at area restaurants hosted by FF Dallas members Saturday:
Attend
buffet breakfast, hear speakers, FFI representative, morning workshops; see club displays,
have lunch, attend afternoon workshops and SW Club reports, enjoy social hour, evening
banquet and entertainment. (Three meals and parties
included in the fee!) Sunday:
Attend optional
buffet breakfast and say farewells in our Hospitality suite. Host and/or participate
in one-day post-conference home stay
SW Conference 09 - more information |
Rio Grande Valley club
hosted Friendship Force Southwest Region on Feb 5-6, 2010. FFI President, George Brown,
was the featured speaker.
Southwest Regional Conference 
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Southwest Regional Conference 2008
The 2008 FF Southwest Regional Conference was held Friday-Saturday January 11-12th, 2008 at the Holiday Inn Select in Baton Rouge. The Baton Rouge club followed a Mardi Gras theme and provided interesting speakers, including our President George Brown who spoke on the FFI strategic plan; informative workshops, great food, and a good time. Conference planners worked very hard to provide a smooth-running conference and were delightful homestay hosts for an extra day in Baton Rouge for sightseeing. Bob Duncan, FF Baton Rouge, was the Conference Chairman.
Dallas group attending: Teresa Wilkin, Paula Rose, Nishi Bhatia, Mary Suther, Wendy Whaley, edward perez, John Whaley, Mary Williams, Jim Bourn
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Southwest Regional Conference 2007
The 2007 conference was held January 26-28, 2007 in San Antonio at the Radisson Market Square Hotel. The theme of the conference was Friendship, Deep in the Heart of Texas. Thanks to the San Antonio club for hosting a wonderful event!
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Southwest Regional Conference
2006 – Oklahoma City
SPIRIT OF THE SOUTHWEST
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Jazz in Fort Worth
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