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    Newsletter   
July 2016 Quick Look  
Exchanges 2016 President's Letter Other Clubs
Exchanges 2017 Member News International Conference
Columbia Cascade Inbound Exchange Club News FFI News
Georgetown Inbound Exchange Past Meetings Shuttle Service
Exchanges for 2018 Upcoming Meetings Zia Samsy
China Exchange Report   Extras

 
President's Letter

Hello everyone.

Your Board continues to work on a new strategic plan for our club. Thanks to all of you who have sent us your ideas and suggestions. We sincerely appreciate the input. But there is still more we must do to keep our club active and one of the top clubs in the U.S.

Current Situation

There are a number of challenges facing our club. If we want to improve club we must decide how to respond to these challenges:
1. Aging membership: The average age of our club keeps moving upward. We have members who can no longer travel due to health reasons. Others have downsized and no long have room to home host.

2. Lack of participation in inbound exchanges: When we have inbound exchanges, we have members who do not volunteer to home host, day host, host small dinners, coordinate events or take part in exchange activities. We have other members who volunteer each time. It is fun to host our guests and show them our city but the same people should not shoulder all the responsibility for the exchanges. We need everyone to participate as this is the reason our club exists.

3. Participation only in outbound exchanges: We have members who only volunteer to travel when we have outbound exchanges. They do not participate in inbound exchanges.

4. New leaders: The same people have served on the Board, served as Exchange Directors (inbound and outbound) for several years. While these members take these roles because they want our club to be successful and they enjoy doing the jobs, they need a break and the club needs new people with new ideas to take leadership roles.

5. Programs: Planning and coordinating monthly programs is difficult and time consuming and few restaurants can accommodate our club at a reasonable price. We have experimented this year with changes in programs.

It is costing the club money that must come from our general funds to have meetings in restaurants and there are few restaurants that can accommodate us. In prior years we had monthly programs at restaurants. Restaurants that have private rooms large enough to accommodate us are rare and few. If we are not in a private room, we disturb other restaurant patrons and they disturb us. Members rightly complain they cannot hear the speakers. If a restaurant opens just for us, or lets us use its private dining room, it generally wants a guarantee of a certain number of meals. Too often over the last few years, our club has not been able to meet that number. In those cases, the club must make up the difference and pay for meals that were not eaten.

The cost of meals also determines how many members attend. We try to keep prices around $15.00 but that is not always possible. If the price exceeds $15.00, attendance goes down. There are few places that will provide a meal for that price. Additionally, most of the restaurants that can meet this price do not have private rooms we can use.

We have had several meetings in a Dallas County library this year. The cost is minimal. The facilities are very nice, they have a projector and screen and other items we need. We only have to leave the room clean and put away tables and chairs when the meeting is over. Members can then go to a local restaurant, on their own or with others, for dinner if they wish.

Moving Forward

The Strategic Planning Committee and the Board have studied these challenges and are working to come up with solutions. But we need help from all members.
1. We want to keep our aging members who have contributed so much to the growth and vitality of our club in the past but we need new younger members. How do we recruit and keep new members?
2. How do we get members to participate in inbound exchanges and not just outbound exchanges?
3. How can we get members to become leaders?
4. What kind of programs should we have?
5. Where should we have our meetings-restaurants, library, other?
6. Should the club meet in restaurants and pay for uneaten meals? If so, how does the club raise the funds?
7. Should we hold meetings in restaurants that charge more than $15.00 for meals even if attendance drops?

An active, vibrant club gets exchanges, both inbound and outbound. There are clubs that do not get exchanges because they do not have enough members who participate. Your board does not want Dallas FF to become one of these clubs.

Speak Up

Each member will be invited to a small meeting with other members and with members of your Board to discuss these issues and solicit your input. We want members to fully understand the challenges we face and help us find solutions. We anticipate these meeting will be held late this summer or early this fall. But I urge you not wait until you are invited to one of these meeting to speak up. Contact me or any other member of the board to volunteer and to give us your suggestions. If you have identified other challenges let us know now so we can address them.

Current Opportunities to Participate

We have opportunities for you to participate in upcoming exchanges in October and February and we will be electing new officers at our November business meeting. If you want to participate in an exchange contact Sharri McIntosh or Mary Latham, EDs for these two exchanges. If you want to be considered for an office, contact Mary Latham to be added to the list of potential nominees. The nominating committee will follow up with you.

Again, thanks to all of you who have already contributed to this process. Your suggestions have been valuable to us in identifying ways to improve our club for the future.

In friendship,

Mary Latham

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FF Dallas' Future
- You can help it stay strong and vibrant!

After last years’ FFI World Conference, several members of your Board
a) reviewed and revised several policies approved by your Board in years past (revised policies were published in last newsletter) and
b) completed a much needed cleanup and revision of our club's bylaws (they hadn't been revised in 16 years)
We will present them to the membership for approval in November.

With those two tasks completed, our next big job is to review and improve our club's objectives, strategies, and tactics. Rather than make our best guess at these, the Board decided that we should involve as many members as possible in this process.

So, over the next several months, Board members will hold small information gathering meetings to better understand - from the members' point of view - WHERE WE ARE as a club, WHERE WE WANT TO BE in 5-10 years, and, more importantly, HOW WE GET THERE (basic strategy planning. We will discuss our mission and vision, membership (attracting and retaining members), leadership (identifying future leaders), club programs and activities (types, frequency, days/times, locations, themes), inbound and outbound exchanges (membership and community involvement), communication and publicity (to membership and community) and finances.

On behalf of your Board, I formally invite you to one of these meetings to let us know your thoughts, your skills, your passions, your ideas, your connections, your contributions, and your commitments. One of the Board members will be contacting you in the next few months to invite you to a meeting.

In friendship,
edward perez,
Vice-President, FF Dallas

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Meetings

 
July Meeting – Santiago Exchange Presentation

Date/Time: Sat July 9, 1 pm
Place: Outback Restaurant - 1509 N Central, Plano TX 75075 (NW corner US 75/Central Expwy /   15th St.)
Program: Santiago Chile exchange and Peruvian Amazon tour. Extra! Easter Island
Presenters: edward perez and Gerry Arens
Cost/Meal: $10 - choice of Outback burger and fries, coconut shrimp and mixed veggies, chicken quesadilla and mixed veggies, or cheese quesadilla and mixed veggies
Reserve: BY JULY 5 - Send check for $10 per person made to Friendship Force of Dallas and choice of meal/s to Paula Rose
Info: paularose2000@hotmail.com
Reservations made on or after July 6 or at the door = $15
Specify your choice:
_____ Outback burger and fries
_____ Coconut shrimp and mixed veggies
_____ Chicken quesadilla and mixed veggies
_____ Cheese quesadilla and mixed veggies
See the meeting flyer for a form to send with your reservation.


August Event – Sweet and Savory

Date/Time: Sun Aug 14, afternoon time TBD by host
Places: Members' homes
Event: Share sweet and savory snacks
Cost: Free; bring a dish

Volunteer to host by July 20 or reserve by Aug 4.
Contact Sharri McIntosh - mcintosh.sharri@gmail.com.

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Meeting Change

The program for the November meeting on the China trip led by Zia Shamsy has been changed to a presentation by Mary Williams on the Birmingham Outbound exchange. Time and place remain the same.

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Past Meetings

May Meeting

On May 15 members enjoyed lunch or dinner out at Best Thai or at Paesano's. Good food and good conversation.

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June Meeting

Thanks to Felicity Sentance who presented a program on her experience at the La Mariposa Eco Lodge at La Conception, Nicaragua. She participated in a Spanish Immersion program last November with lots of Spanish lessons and practice plus some sight-seeing in the area.

The school was founded by a determined English woman, Paulette Goudge, about 11 years ago. Paulette had adopted a girl, Guillermina, orphaned during the Sandinista revolution. She found it difficult to raise her in England because of racist remarks, so moved both of them back to Nicaragua here she bought the land and founded the hotel and school in about 2005. La Mariposa is a resource for the community; providing local employment and community support along with environmental projects. Most of the meals are vegetarian and food is grown and cooked locally.

WWW.Mariposaspanishschool.com
TripAdvisor 2016 Traveler’s Choice

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Exchanges

2016 Exchanges

Birmingham, AL Outbound
By Mary Williams

Eight Dallas members completed a 7-day exchange to Birmingham AL from May 27 to June 3 joined by three members of the Memphis club for four days. Paraticipating from Dallas were Mary Williams, ED, Elizabeth Umana, Paula Rose, Roger and Sandy Kaiser, Gerda Kreyer and Galen and LouAnn King.
                      Paula Rose, Vicki Smith, ED Birmingham >

We were blessed by perfect weather and enthusiastic hosts. Activities included visits to the Civil Rights Museum, guided tours of the Arlington antebellum home, National Historic Landmark Sloss Furnace, Crossplex Sports facility, a vintage hotel and Aldridge Hydrangea Garden.


We attended a baseball game in Birmingham, explored Pepper Place Market, the Birmingham Botanical garden, Railroad Park, and the famous Vulcan statue overlooking the city.

We spent one day at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with a tour of the stadium and a visit to Bear Bryant Museum. We enjoyed southern style cooking at several parties and restaurants and spent relaxing free time with our hosts.

Sandy and Roger Kaiser at Birmingham Botanical Garden >

Mary Williams  will give a presentation on the exchange at the November meeting. We will host Birmingham June 3-9 next year.


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Global Exchange to China
By Zia Shamsy

Note: Zia Shamsy led a FFI trip to China April 1 to 15, 2016 and was prepared with pictures from the trip to show at the November meeting. He sent this report on June 6.

A Global Discovery trip to China was initiated by FFI, and promoted worldwide in their world catalog. Our group consisted of 9 people from Chicago, Asheville NC, Flat Rock NC, 2 from Huntsville AL, 2 from Missoula MN, one from NSW Australia, and one from Texas.

As you may know, there is no official FF club in China, and we all are still working towards starting clubs in that vast and important country. However we were invited for lunch by a Chinese family in Hutong, which is the old and historical part of Beijing, and is preserved specifically for tourist and visitors. After lunch we moved to the living room to enjoy a performance by a young girl playing a Chinese musical instrument. We also took a tour in rickshaws to see this old town.

In Beijing we visited Tiananmen Square, which is the largest public square in the world. Noteworthy is that nobody in China, including our tour guides, had any knowledge of the student uprising 30 years ago, which was brutally crushed and resulted in the death of thousands of people who refused to leave the square. The image of one young man standing in front of the tank and refusing to move, still is in the memory of many Westerners. However this event is black listed in China and is never recorded, broadcast or mentioned anywhere in China and it is a non-existing event. Therefor no one in China that we encountered admitted to knowing anything about this historical event and it is treated as a taboo subject. Either they did not know, or they did not want to admit knowing anything about it.

We also visited the Imperial Palace in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace - a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We also stopped at a pearl factory, to gain a little knowledge of fresh pearls.

We visited The Great Wall of China, one of the seven man made wonders of the world. It required a hike on a long steep slope of the mountain to reach the only cable car in the 800 miles stretch of the wall. Climbing the mountain was strenuous for some of us, requiring the help of a rickshaw. Then we rode the cable car to the top of the mountain to reach the wall. The wall is impressive; it is as wide as it is high, wide enough to ride a carriage on the top of the wall. The view was magnificent - to see the ancient defenses of Chinese empires against the nomadic tribes.

We stopped at jade museum to learn about jade. Jade has a history of at least four thousand years in China. Then we visited Beijing Zoo to see the giant pandas. The crowd of the visitors at the Zoo to see the pandas was such that it was very difficult to get close enough to see them. But with some struggle we managed to get close enough to see these magnificent animals.

Our next stop was Xian, former capital of China, to enjoy the rich history of 5000 years. In 221 BC Quin Shi Huang became the first emperor to unify China and when he died, an entire terra cotta army was constructed to be buried with the emperor. It was uncovered in 1974 by a farmer, and became one of the century’s greatest archeological discoveries. We visited the Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum and the Terra Cotta Army replication factories. Noteworthy is the bust of president Obama on display, made in this factory.

Also in Xian we visited the Small Wild Goose Pagoda, and inside the Jianfu Temple, one of the famous landmarks of Xian.

Next we flew to Shanghai and then transferred to Suzhou, which dated back to 514 BC and sometimes it is called “Venice of the East.” We had a boat ride on the Grand Canal. The city is famous for its stone bridges and its lingering gardens. We visited a renowned classical Chinese garden recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. China is known for its silk, so we also visited a silk spinning factory and mulberry tree farm to feed the silk worms.

We visited Hangzhou’s vast tea production, one of the seven capitals of ancient China. Later we had a cup of Chinese famous Longjing tea at Green Tea Village.

In Shanghai we stopped at the city’s colonial European past - the famous Bund, the financial center of China, similar to Manhattan’s Wall Street, where financial transactions happen that affect both China and many other parts of the world.

We were fortunate during our visit in early April that the air was good and we did not have to wear masks. The tap water is not drinkable in China. Every day each one of us received two bottles of water in the hotel and two bottles in the bus. The major problem in China is to provide clean air and drinkable water for 1.4 billion people.

During our tour we had several banquets and stage shows. They were all very enjoyable; Chinese are masters of performing arts and spectacular shows. Along the way we tried to make eye contact with Chinese people and if possible have conversation with them. We tried to tell them the purpose of our visit, and promote the mission of Friendship Force. Hopefully sooner rather than later there will be clubs in China with home hosting opportunities.

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See articles from the Amazon that Michael Wald has posted on his blog - www.untroddenla.com. Copies are on the Articles page of our website.








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International Exchange Update
by Ray Enstam

All is now quiet on the international exchange front! Our only club inbound this year was from Trujillo, Peru but it didn’t make. Our only club outbound was to Santiago, Chile and to the Peruvian Amazon. It went very well and is now history. We will have a presentation about this exchange at the Club meeting on July 9. I hope you all can be there to see this. We will try to squeeze two weeks of adventure into 40 minutes!

As a reminder, we have several great exchanges planned for 2017, starting with an inbound from Sydney, Australia the last week in February for which Sharri McIntosh is the Exchange Director; in August we have an outbound to Saskatoon, Canada for which Paula Rose is the Exchange Director; and in October we have an inbound from the same club in Saskatoon, Canada, for which Patty Niemeyer is the Exchange Director. I thank each of them for taking on this important task. We don’t have all of the exact dates yet but will keep you posted. I hope you will plan to participate in these exchanges with those great clubs.

The next decision for us is that Friendship Force International will ask us this September where we would like to go in 2018 and we can then send in our requests. Next January they will announce exchanges for 2018. If anyone has suggestions or requests as to a destination, please let me know. No guarantees, but we can ask.

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Columbia-Cascade Inbound

We are getting ready for the Columbia-Cascade Club's visit to Big D on a return visit.
The dates are October 15-22, 2016 and will include a visit to the State Fair of Texas. We would like to reciprocate the wonderful hospitality they extended to us.

Exchange Director Mary Latham still needs the following volunteers: (Don't wait to be asked!)
- Home hosts
- Small group dinner hosts

Please contact our Mary Latham at mary_m_latham@yahoo.com and let her know how you can help with this exchange.

UPDATE: Some of the group will be arriving the morning of October 16 so our Welcome party will be lunch on Sunday October 16 at Chimneyhill Clubhouse. More details to follow.

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Georgetown Outbound Weekend

Last November we hosted a mini-exchange of 10 ambassadors (the "Georgetown Ladies") from the newly formed FF of Georgetown, TX club. They are now inviting us for a mini-exchange to explore and understand their town and community.

The exchange begins Saturday November 5 [arrive mid-day after traveling to Georgetown] and ends Monday November 7 [depart after lunch]. Tentative plans include a tour of the "Most Beautiful Square in Texas" and the courthouse, dinner at Southwestern University (the oldest university in Texas - see link below), lunch at a German restaurant in Walburg (a German American settlement from 1880s), a tour of their community Sun City and a farewell lunch on Monday. So, come join us for a relaxing and enjoyable weekend as we explore a part of Central Texas!

edward perez - erperez@acm.org
Exchange Director

Domestic Ambassador Application

Brief history of Southwestern University [chartered in 1875 as successor to four universities initially started in 1835]: http://www.southwestern.edu/about/history.php



Georgetown TX Mini-Exchange


Dates: November 5-7, 2016 (two nights homestay)
Exchange fee: $80 (includes FF Georgetown, FFI and FFD fees).
Maximum number of ambassadors: 10-20 (depending on number of couples and singles)
Mobility: mostly short walks around town, the university, Walburg, nothing super-strenuous
Applications and fees due to edward perez by Sept 9
[see link above to get a copy of the application form]

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Contact Patty Niemeyer to volunteer to be Exchange Director for either of our domestic exchanges: peanutpatti1@gmail.com.  It is time to start planning them.

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  Exchanges for 2017

  INBOUND INTL EXCHANGE
  Sydney, Australia to Winnipeg and Ottawa, Canada
  and  Dallas, USA - February 23 - March 2
  Sharri McIntosh, ED

  OUTBOUND DOMESTIC EXCHANGE
  Southern New Jersey Club (near Philadelphia) - April
  This is an area rich in history and sights to see!
  ED needed.

  INBOUND DOMESTIC EXCHANGE
  Birmingham, AL (return visit)  – June 3-9, 2017
  ED needed.

  OUTBOUND INTL EXCHANGE
  Dallas to Saskatoon, Canada - followed by tour to
  Canadian Rockies - August
  Paula Rose, ED

  INBOUND INTL EXCHANGE
  Saskatoon, Canada to Itanhaem and Ribeirao Preto,
  Brazil and Dallas, USA
  October (during State Fair)
  Patty Niemeyer, ED





Exchanges 2018

• Inbound Domestic Exchange with Southern New Jersey - Dates TBD in 2018.

Dallas Global Exchange
The Dallas club considering sponsoring a Global Themed Exchange in 2018 which would focus on the arts, architecture and culture of our city. The first organizational meeting will be held in late August or September. If you would like to be involved in planning contact Felicity Sentance - fsentance@gmail.com or Mary Latham - mary_m_latham@yahoo.com.



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We have a Friendship Force page on Facebook. If you are on Facebook, you can type Friendship Force Dallas in the search line and get our page. Then LIKE us and you will receive regular notes, news and photos from our page.
• The Facebook page is up but we need a person to manage it and post photos and notices.
• The position of chair of the Ways and Means committee is open.
• The position of Newsletter Editor is open.
• A committee is being formed to search for volunteers for our unfilled positions.
If you are interested in any of these positions, please contact Mary Latham - mary_m_latham@yahoo.com.

Dues

FFI raised our member affiliation fees last year (cost not passed on to our members) and discontinued family memberships this year, leaving only individual memberships. The Board has voted to also discontinue family memberships and set the individual member dues at $35 per year, beginning January 2017.

Policies and Bylaws

Edward perez has headed a committee revising our policies and bylaws. The last policy changes have received Board approval and were listed at the end of the last newsletter and are on our website. In addition to policy changes (which may be changed by the Board), there will be by-laws changes published in a fall newsletter for a vote by the membership at the November meeting.

Board Meeting

The Board will not meet in July. Next Board meeting will be August 15, 1 pm at Mary Latham’s.

Shuttle Service

If you want a ride to an airport or other location or a pickup:
• Look in the back of your FF Dallas yearbook. You send an email with the place, date and time you need to go - to the Shuttle Drivers list. If someone is available, they'll contact you. When your ride is complete, make a donation to the club. Easy!
• How do you know if you have a driver? Since all of the drivers get your request, the person who can drive you will Reply to All including you so the other drivers know you have a driver. Respond (Reply to All) accepting the ride.

If you want to volunteer to drive:
• Contact edward perez at erperez@acm.org to volunteer.
• What do you need to be a shuttle driver? Email (to receive requests and post replies) and a car (to take people places).
• How many times do you need to shuttle? As much as you're comfortable with, once a year, once every few months or whatever.
• What if you cannot do it anymore? Contact edward perez at erperez@acm.org and let him know.
• Do you need to collect any money/checks? No, the rider(s) is/are on their honor that they will send a donation (recommended $30) to the club's treasurer. If the rider wants to give the money/checks to you to mail/deliver, that's up to you. The rider may offer you toll fare or gas money. It's up to you to accept or decline.

Thanks to all drivers and riders who help support our club.

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Newsletter 

Send your news to Mary Williams, mwilliamstxtravel@yahoo.com - by August 20 for the September Newsletter. Share what you are doing with your FFD friends.  

If you have writing and computer skills and would like to be the Newsletter Editor, contact Mary Williams for more information – mwilliamstxtravel@yahoo.com.

Sunshine

Contact Cathy Ignatin to let her know about members who could use a little sunshine - a call or card. cignatin@hotmail.com

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Website and Email

Remember to use our website for your club questions, dates, opportunities to travel with other clubs, photos, articles and much more.

When you get mail from our FFD e-mail address, please do not hit REPLY; that address is not monitored every day. Reply to the person organizing the meeting or exchange. Our address and email:

   Friendship Force of Dallas
   P. O. Box 551151
   Dallas, TX 75355
   friendshipforcedallas@yahoo.com

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Zia Shamsy

We were shocked and saddened by the sudden death of our long-time member and one of our founders, Zia Shamsy on June 13, 2016. Many members were able to attend either the funeral or memorial service for Zia this past month. We mourn the loss of an ardent Friendship Force member and supporter and send our condolences to his family. He led exchanges to Germany, Turkey, Azerbaijan/Republic of Georgia and China in recent years.

His partial obituary from his family:

We will celebrate Zia’s life at a memorial service on Saturday, June 18th, at 3:00 PM at the Plano Baha'i Center, 4200 Hedgcoxe Rd, Plano, TX 75024.

At 86 years, and with a real zeal for life and the energy of an 8 year old, Zia Shamsy was a super hero who defied his age. Like an eternal flame, the childlike twinkle of mischief in his eyes burned bright, and hinted at the ageless soul of the man within.

Educated and degreed in Germany, he was an exacting engineer with a limitless curiosity. He seemed to know how to fix anything, and wasn't afraid to try. Growing up in Qazvin, an ancient center of the Persian Empire and the modern capital of Iranian calligraphy, he was molded by the muses of science, art and wanderlust. His birthplace was lofty, too, surrounded by mountains and over a mile high.

As he grew, his character became as solid as the snow covered peaks and his dreams as high as the majestic ranges rolling to the Caspian Sea. He saw Soviet tanks thunder into Tehran during World War II and decades later he would make his own mark on international peace efforts. He led Friendship Force groups into the heart of Soviet Russia to establish the first Sister City alliance between a Texas town (Plano) and its counterpart (Ivanovo). Citizen diplomacy became his life’s work, driven by the Bahá'i belief that “the Earth is but one country and mankind its citizens.”

His dedication to his community was birthed in Qazvin as well, his emerging engineering prowess helping to bring electricity to his hometown 93 miles northwest of Tehran many years ago. One of his greatest accomplishments was his work in helping create the Plano Bahá’i center, which has become a spiritual haven for the Bahá’i friends and the wider community and where he spent his final minutes.

To our entire family, he was a devoted husband, father and friend who committed his life to building bridges for peace and friendship. He was a globe-trekking world citizen -- visiting every continent several times in a list of countries too numerous to document. And, never stopping. He led a tour group just last month all over China. His planning and passion for travel, leading to his ultimate journey he is now on – to the next world.

… To his fellow man – he was a tireless advocate and a selfless servant. To God – he was a gift on loan to the world to teach us how to live life without regret, to not rest for a single moment and live life to the fullest, savoring today because tomorrow is not guaranteed.

Rest in peace, Baba. We were all enriched by you. Your legacy is a standard we all pray we can approach.

Zia at the International Peace Garden in Waterton, Canada >

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Other Members:

Pat Andeweg is recovering well from her surgery, though she will have limited mobility for a while.

Brud Kisner had a T.I.A last week and is sorry he missed Zia’s service.

Audrey Schlect has been in rehab from knee and hip surgery at Signature Place and has returned home where she will continue therapy.

Bill Pierce is at home and having therapy there. He is hoping to feel well enough to attend the meeting July 9th at Outback Steak House.
 
Mary Williams entertained Marlene and Roy Fennell from the Brisbane club in April. They were here for a week following an exchange in New Orleans and Baton Rouge.






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Conferences

2016 International Conference - Marrakech, Morocco

Friendship Force World Conference Registration is open. Conference website is: https://www.eiseverywhere.com//ehome/150979

Fee $375
CONFERENCE DATES: Sep 16th (9:00am) -19th (12:00pm), 2016 – Plan to arrive 9/15
CONFERENCE HOTEL: Kenzi Farah Hotel, Avenue du Président Kennedy, Marrakesh 40000
Morocco. The conference venue/hotel is in the L'Hivernage district of Marrakesh, a 10 minute drive from Marrakesh Menara International Airport (RAK).

See the FFI page on the Conference for more information.



2017: International Conference

Location and dates have been announced: Manchester, UK - August 25-28, 2017 - Midland Hotel

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Friendship Force International

Stories of Friendship

This is a new feature on the FFI website. Send stories of your experiences that have helped eliminate barriers that separate us and bring us closer together. Send to: http://storiesoffriendship.org/

I'm In

It is hard to believe that just a few short months ago we launched the "I'm In!" Campaign at the 2015 World Conference in Vancouver to raise money for a much needed website and database. When it was clear Friendship Force needed to set a new goal of $100,000, we were unsure how far we would get in reaching this goal. We have been truly amazed and humbled by the generosity of Friendship Force clubs and members like you in reaching our current $85,074 - more than doubling our original goal!

The back-end database that helps facilitate exchanges and manage club and member information is about 80% complete. Prototypes of the new website offer a refreshing glimpse of Friendship Force International's effort to put our mission first in everything we do as an organization. The hope is that you will not only be inspired by how the organization presents itself to the world, but encouraged by this new recruitment tool available to prospective members.

If you have not contributed yet to the campaign, in these final days I hope you will consider helping your organization realize its $100,000 goal. With such a short distance to full success - $14,926 to reach our goal - every dollar helps. To the 111 Clubs and 340 individuals who have given to the "I'm In!" Campaign helping make possible one of the largest investments in FFI infrastructure in more than 20 years, THANK YOU! Your investment is helping make possible a bright future for the organization, and Friendship Force could not have done this without you!

In friendship,
Bob Duncan / Cecile LaTour



Friendship Force has relocated to: 260 Peachtree St NW, Suite 402, Atlanta, GA 30303
Same phone number 404.522.9490.

See the latest news from FFI on 2016 policies and plans on the FFI page.

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Join Exchanges with Other Clubs. Remember that 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.

See where these and other clubs are going on the Other Clubs page.

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Extras:

Interested in DNA and how we are all connected? This short video is a must watch for everybody and anybody! http://www.momondo.com/letsopenourworld/

Want to know what Road Scholar offers on a trip to Dallas/Fort Worth?
https://www.roadscholar.org/find-an-adventure/22664/Signature-City-Dallas-Fort-Worth-Urban-Art-and-Culture

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Contact Information
Postal address: P. O. Box 551151, Dallas, TX 75355
Phone and fax: 214- 699-7574 
Electronic mail
General Information: friendshipforcedallas@yahoo.com
Webmaster: mwilliamstxtravel@yahoo.com