It is with sadness in our hearts to let you know that Henny Houston (FFD member since 2002) passed away in Nice, France on June 23 while traveling with her oldest son and his family.

Her daughter Neti (Annette) said: "She will be sorely missed. We will let you know about any Memorial arrangements, but I don't think that will be for another couple of weeks yet. It has been such an unexpected and sudden shock."

When we find out about the Memorial service, we will let everyone know. If you would like to send a card or note, you can send it to Henny's home address. Neti is staying there for the time being.

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Date: Sunday, July 13, 2014
Time: 1:30 P.M.
Format: Small Groups discussion with leader at Ethnic Restaurants –your choice of:

Zorba’s Greek Café
1501 Preston Road, Plano, Texas 75093 / 972-250-0002
(NW corner Preston Rd. & Plano Pkwy)
Appetizers: Soups, Salads from $4 - $13
Entrees from $12 - $17

OR

Nazca Kitchen
8041 Walnut Hill Ln, Suite 854, Dallas 75231 / 214-696-2922
(East of US 75 Central)
Appetizers from $8-$11
Soups and Salads from $5 - $10
Sandwiches from $10 - $13
Entrees from $11 - $20

Pay your own bill there. Reserve your place with Felicity Sentence by July 9th to fsentance@gmail.com.

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Date/Time: Sunday, August 10th – 3-5 PM
Location: Small Groups in Member’s Homes
Program: Savory/Sweet Sampler
Cost: No Charge
Bring your family’s ethnic specialty, snack, appetizer or sweet to share – or try out a recipe from a new cookbook.
Reserve your place to attend by contacting Felicity Sentence by Aug 3rd at fsentance@gmail.com.

NOTE: If you had signed up or let Henny Houston know that you would be a host or that you wanted to attend, please send a note to Felicity so she can restart the process.

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Hello FFDallas,

Our condolences to Henny Houston’s family on the loss of this wonderful lady. So many of us have been blessed to know her.

Happy beginning of summer to you all. And hello and bon voyage to the many in our club who are traveling and returning.

Our July and August club meetings will be smaller groups in restaurants and homes as a result of so many of us traveling more during these two months. Hope to see you at these meetings. Be sure to RSVP to Felicity Sentance for July and August if you are coming. We will not have a Board meeting in July due to the number of our officers traveling.

Patty Niemeyer and 19 ambassadors from our club will be heading to Columbia Cascades OR and Olympia WA for our domestic outbound July 23-Aug 4.

We will now have an inbound exchange in September! Gold Coast Australia will be here Sept 23-30. Mary Latham has been appointed as the Exchange Director for this inbound. Contact her if you can help. We are so happy to have an international exchange. Since only a few are coming from Australia (currently 8) we have opened the exchange to our region and at least 6 more visitors will be coming from NM, OK and FL. Our visitors will surely enjoy the State Fair, the Arboretum at pumpkin time, the Arts District and Fort Worth.

Hope to see many of you soon.

In friendship,
Paula Rose

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Nineteen members are now making final preparations for their July/August Domestic Outbound with Columbia Cascade (Portland) and Olympia Washington. The weather will be cool and the scenery magnificent! These clubs have some great tours lined up: Mt St Helen's, the Pacific Coast, Columbia River George, Mt Rainer, the Olympic National Forest and an inexpensive train trip from Portland to Olympia. This exchange is filled and is a great example of how exciting a domestic exchange can be.

UPDATE: This exchange has concluded.

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By Mary Latham

When one door closes, another opens. That is what happened to our club when Tuxla-Gutierrez, Mexico, was not able to come to Dallas as our international Inbound this year. Gold Coast, Australia, was scheduled to go to Russia and Ukraine but circumstances forced a change in their plans, too. FFI asked if we could host Gold Coast as our Inbound. Our club has never been hesitant to jump right in at the last minute so of course we accepted when this door opened to us.

Gold Coast will be with us September 23-30. Gold Coast is located in the southeast corner of Queensland eighty kilometers south of Brisbane. It is the tourist capital of Australia with miles (or kilometers) of beautiful beaches along the Pacific Ocean. At this time, there are eight from Gold Coast coming but the ED is actively recruiting. Gold Coast will also have exchanges with Colonial Carolina in North Carolina and Houston. As the group is small, we have opened this exchange to others in the US and are making this a combined international/domestic exchange. We already several members from other Southwest clubs who want to join us.

Although we have only about four months to prepare for this exchange, we are well underway. We have an exciting program outlined for the Ambassadors. We will take them to see how Stetson hats are made and let them shop for their own western hats, cowboy boots and other western wear. We’ll show them the city of Dallas and all that it offers including a stop at Klyde Warren Park and lunch from the food trucks. The Texas State Fair starts just days after they arrive so we will spend a day at the Fair introducing them to corn dogs and other fried foods - only the best Texas cuisine for our guests.

We still need volunteers to sign up as soon as possible. There are still openings for home hosts, day hosts, small group dinner hosts and for helping with the Welcome and Farewell parties. If you are new to Friendship Force, sign up. Participating in this exchange will show you what Friendship Force is all about—establishing new friendships and teaching our Ambassadors all about Dallas. Remember you can also attend any of the daily activities with our Ambassadors.

To help with the exchange or for more information, please contact Mary Latham at mary_m_latham@yahoo.com as soon as possible. Later we will send a sign-up sheet for you to reserve a place at the parties and daily activities.

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Visit historic and World Heritage sites, resorts on the Black Sea and Caspian Sea, gorgeous mountains and cities from old to new - in the ancient crossroads between East and West. Truly change the way you see the world!

Departing DFW May 10, arriving in Baku, Azerbaijan May 11, 2015
You may choose any or all of these four options:
• Sight-seeing in Azerbaijan, including Caspian Sea - May 11-18
  (Estimated price $750/person double Occupancy; $815
  Per person single occupancy (includes all meals)
• Homestay in Baku, capital of Azerbaijan; hosted by FF Baku, May
  18-25, $590/person
• Transfer by air - Baku to Tbilisi
• Homestay in Tbilisi, capital of Georgia; hosted by FF Tbilisi, May
  25 - June 1, $693/person
• Sight-seeing in Georgia, including Black Sea; June 1–8, departing
  Georgia June 8; estimated price $750/person, double occupancy,
  $850/person single occupancy (incl. breakfasts & dinners

Costs for the tours may vary depending on the number of people who go. If you select all four options with double occupancy, your total would be approximately $2783.

One roundtrip air ticket (not included) will cover our flights from the USA to both countries. Transfer by air between the countries is included. Sight-seeing tours are optional.



This Exchange is moderately challenging with walks every day to explore historic city centers. We will walk on cobblestone streets or a natural trail as well as use public transportation in urban areas. This Exchange is open to all Friendship Force members or potential members. Dallas members receive priority up until September 15, when the exchange will be open to other clubs. ee the full itinerary and additional information on the Georgia/Azerbaijan flyer. Included in it is a form for you to request which weeks you want.

Send that form and the Exchange Application and deposit of $250 (check payable to Friendship Force Dallas) to Zia Shamsy, Exchange Director, by September 15; final deadline is November 30, 2014. A late fee of $250 will be added after that date.

More details are on this flyer and application, which you can also request from Zia - Zia_Shamsy@yahoo.com. The itinerary is listed on Exchange Information page.

NOTE: When you download a pdf file, you are taken off this website and will have to get back on to continue.

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We have also been assigned two international inbounds for 2015. The first is from Bandung, Indonesia in March of 2015. This will be a new adventure for the Dallas Club as we have never had any contact with this interesting part of the world. Henny Houston had been named Exchange Director for that exchange; that position is now open. For more information or to volunteer to be Exchange Director, please contact Ray Enstam at enstam@sbcglobal.net.

The second inbound will be from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in October of 2015. Since the International Conference of Friendship Force International will be in Vancouver in November 2015 and many of us will be attending that, this inbound is of special significance. It looks like a great year coming up! We are looking for an Exchange Director for the Vancouver inbound. If you are interested or simply want to know more about the job, contact Ray Enstam at enstam@sbcglobal.net.

The Board has approved a domestic inbound exchange from Columbia Cascade club.  UPDATE:The date has been changed from 2015 to 2016 because of scheduling conflicts in both clubs.
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New! Michael Wald announced that he and Jackie will be leading another Discover exchange to Panama January 18-27, 2015. More information coming later. UPDATE: See Exchange page. If you missed Panama last year, put this one on your calendar.

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The next Southwest Friendship Force Conference will be hosted by the Houston club. The dates are set for March 27 - 29, 2015 at the beautiful South Shore Harbor Resort and Marina on Clear Lake. Reserve this weekend on your calendar.

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Our hosts for our 37th World Conference are the members of the Friendship Force of New Zealand. They are working with FFI staff to arrange an unforgettable program as well as a variety of optional tours offering an authentic and memorable experience.

In the nation known as the ‘Land of the Long White Cloud’ spectacular landscapes, grand movie productions, 'kiwis', silver ferns, fantastic local seafood and wines, good friends rule the day! We will enjoy beautiful accommodations at the Rendezvous Grand Hotel in Auckland, an unforgettable Maori powhiri welcome, engaging, interactive FFI presentations and leadership training, updates from clubs around the world, cultural workshops to ‘change the way you see the world’, the city's finest dining, shopping and entertainment at your doorstep, a selection of interesting day tours around Auckland, and lots of incredible surprises!

Dates are Oct 14-16. Many exchanges are also planned before and after the conference. It's not too late to register. See http://www.friendshipforce.org and click on the Conference button for information.

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FFI is thrilled to announce that the 2015 World Conference will be held in Vancouver, Canada. The conference will take place August 29-31, 2015. [UPDATE: This date has been changed.] More details will be available as the time approaches.






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By Isabella Iverson

Last year in March, Gerry [Arens] and I travelled to Morocco with the Oklahoma City Friendship Force club. We were 22 ambassadors from all over the United States. This FF Morocco Culture Tour was one of the best trips we have ever taken. Besides making friends with all the ambassadors, we were fortunate to interact with the locals and learn about the Moroccan culture.

Our guide for the entire trip, Ali, was phenomenal. He was a wealth of information and explained everything to us. We learned about the three main Berber groups, history of the country, how to make tea and tangines. We visited a women’s co-op where coffee from dates is made, a school for the deaf and a Berber Cultural Center. The four Imperial cities - Fez, Marrakesh, Meknes and Rabat - were on the tour.

Casa Blanca was our arrival and departure city and it is the home of the Hassan II Mosque, the third largest mosque in the world. The beautiful mosque holds 25,000 worshippers inside and 80,000 outside. I really enjoyed the medina in Fez which is the largest medina in the world (543 acres). One can easily get lost in the maze of 9,000 twisting alleys and streets.

I could write so much more about what we saw but I encourage you if you see another FF trip to Morocco, sign up. I might just see you there.

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A PowerPoint presentation and report on the March outbound exchange to Taupo and Nelson, New Zealand was given by edward perez. Taupo, in the North Island is situated by a lovely lake and mountains and is near interesting sights of Maori culture that the group enjoyed. The 20 ambassadors, led by Exchange Director Paula Rose, traveled to the South Island by bus, with a day in the Capital of Wellington. There they met members of the Wellington club for dinner.

Nelson members met them on the other side of a ferry ride for their trip to Nelson, in a more rural area. There they visited some interesting museums, partied and edward was able to join his host for some fishing. He and Paula visited friends after the exchange and went whale-watching. Edward stressed the beauty of the country and the friendliness of the people there. Mary Latham also showed an 8 minute slide show of some of her beautiful photos.

Several of the group also toured the South Island on an optional tour following the exchange. Dale Klosterman described some of their adventures in the May 2014 newsletter.

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Isabella Iverson was appointed as the Dallas delegate to the conference in Auckland.

There will not be a Board meeting in July.

Shuttle Service

The Friendship Force of Dallas Board recently revised the donation policy for member provided shuttle rides to/from airports and other locations in the Dallas metro area.
The new policy is - after a shuttle trip, the passenger sends a charitable contribution they feel is reasonable to the club treasurer – Lou Ann King. The money goes into our club's general fund which helps subsidize our inbound exchanges. Previously, the policy was to donate $30 or more.

See page 42 in the Yearbook for detailed information or to be a driver. Or, just go to ffdallas-shuttle@googlegroups.com.

If you would like to manage the shuttle driver list, send an e-mail to edward perez - erperez@acm.org, and he’ll help you learn how to manage the list; you just need access to e-mail and the Internet. Remember to support our airport shuttle service and help our club.

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Please welcome new members:

Mona Elia
meelia2000@yahoo.com

Pat Bailey
patricia_bailey37@yahoo.com

Marion Klein
Marionklein@hotmail.com

Add e-mail for new member Mary Hanna: maryhanna123@yahoo.com

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Remember you are welcome to join other clubs on their exchanges if there is room. Please contact clubs well in advance, as an exchange may cancel if the Exchange Director doesn’t know about your interest. Among the many members who have done this were Isabella and Jerry Arens who went with another club to Morocco. (See above article) When Dallas went to Romania in 2005, there were six members from Dallas club and sixteen from around the country. Here is a sample of an available exchange:

Western Australia and More
 
Exchanges - October 17-31 (Leave DFW Oct 15)
Optional World Conference - October (14-16) (Leave DFW Oct 12)
Optional post-exchange tour - Nov 1-4
Contact Randy or Jo Thomson: randy@fwfriendship.org

Fort Worth is going to Western Australia this October, and the exchange is scheduled so that those who wish can attend the World Conference in Auckland prior to the exchange. We currently have openings, and are offering it to members of our region before it gets posted in the June FFI brochure. You may have been to Australia, or maybe not. But, have you been to Western Australia?

See http://www2.thefriendshipforce.org/exchanges/ for more details, or go to the World of Friends Catalog that has a listing of all exchanges. There are more exchanges listed on our Other Clubs page.

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