Next May our club has the opportunity to show the world our city. We are hosting a Global Journey for everyone to see the Arts and Architecture of Dallas. It will take everyone in our club to make this a success. Felicity Sentance, the Journey Coordinator, and her committee has been busy this past year working on the itinerary, finding the best venues, and establishing relationships with other arts and architecture groups in Dallas so we can make this Journey the best Global ever.

But one thing we still need is for everyone member of Dallas Friendship Force to commit to helping make this a success. We anticipate people from all round the globe coming to Dallas for this Journey.

You are probably asking “How can I help? I am not on a committee but I want to participate.” I think you know the answer to that question but if you need a reminder, here are 10 things you can do to participate and promote the Global Journey and to help grow our club and…have fun at the same time.

1. Volunteer to help organize an activity on this Journey.

2. Volunteer to be a day host.

3. Volunteer to help with an activity. We always need members to help with dinners and other events. This is a great way to get involved and meet other members of our club and the visiting Ambassadors.

4. Volunteer to be a home host. We are anticipating 20 Ambassadors from other clubs to participate so we need all the home hosts we can get.

5. Attend the activities planned for the week. We will be visiting places that our club has not seen before, including some behind the scenes venues and private art collections that are not open to the public.

6. Get the word out to as many people as you can about our Global Journey and our club. If you take a Journey with another club, tell them about our upcoming Global Journey.

7. Distribute Journey fliers to FF members you know in other clubs.

8. Promote the Journey and our club on your social media pages. If you are on Face Book, share posts from our club’s FaceBook page. Click on the “share” button at the bottom of club posts to share with your friends. If a member of our club posts something about our club or the Journey, share that also. The more people know about our club, the more they will want to visit us. The more they know about our city and this Journey, the more they will want to participate.

9. If you are not on social media, share information about our club with members of other organization to which you belong. We have fliers you can hand out.

10. Invite a Dallas FF speaker to present a program for other organizations to which you belong. Did you know we have speakers who will happily present programs to other groups? If you happen to be program chair for your group, we can fill one program for you.

In Friendship,

Mary Latham, President

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September

Art Cooper gave a presentation on the outbound Journey to Southern New Jersey. The meeting took place at Outback Restaurant in Plano. The club traveled there last April and enjoyed a variety of activities representing the area including historical sites such as old Philadelphia and the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall and Christ Church.

Day trips to Valley Forge, Longwood Gardens, Winterthur house tour and an unusual sculpture garden near Trenton were much enjoyed. Julia Cooper was the Ambassador Coordinator.

Lou Ann and Galen King >


Front row: Angela Salazar, Elizabeth Umana, LouAnn King
Second row: Patty Niemeyer, Sharri McIntosh, Galen King, Sue Trout (SNJ club)
Back row: Art Cooper, edward perez, Julia Cooper, Kathy Jacobs, Lee Latham, Mary Latham

Many thanks to Art for this program.

There was no meeting in October as Saskatoon FF came to visit.

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Inbound Journey from Saskatoon

Host Coordinator was Patty Niemeyer.

With great pleasure, we hosted FF Saskatoon Oct, 16th – 23rd. Below is a note from Gloria Parton, Ambassador Coordinator given to us at the end of their successful stay:

Dallas FFD,
I know I can speak for all Saskatoon ambassadors ..... thank you so much for sharing your awesome city and opening your homes to us all. We have seen so much in our time with y'all. Each of us will take back wonderful memories of our time with you.

We will continue to spread friendship as we continue to journey just as you will.
May good health, wealth & happiness allow all of us to keep journeying.



Front: David Crossley, Bev Brown, Teresita Barut, Diane Luce, Nacy Sollosy, Jeanette Liberty-Dunns
Back: Gloria Parton, Ray Sladek, Cornelio Barut, Jocelyne Lavergne, Lynne Stade, Roberta Dubois

Saskatoon Schedule:

Monday, October 16, 2:38 pm: Arrival Ambassadors DFW
6:30 pm Welcome Dinner: 3883 Turtle Creek Blvd (party room)

Tuesday, October 17: Dallas Day
From Union Station bus tour of downtown Dallas and Arts District.
Lunch at Dallas Museum of Art Atrium
Free afternoon:
Small group dinners

Wednesday, October 18: Fort Worth Day
Stockyard Tour and Cattle Drive
Lunch at Reata Restaurant, downtown
Amon Carter Museum of American Art
Ambassadors take hosts to dinner

Thursday, October 19: State Fair of Texas
Big Tex photo op. Enjoy the art deco buildings, exhibits, shows and food
Evening free

Friday, October 20: Arboretum Day
Arboretum and picnic lunch
Free afternoon
Nasher Sculpture Garden “Till Midnight at the Nasher” music, wine, sculpture under the stars

Saturday, October 21: Free day with host
Small group dinners

Sunday, October 22: Wine Tasting at San Martino Winery & Vineyards in Rockwall
Farewell Dinner at La Hacienda Ranch

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Coordinators Needed

To  volunteer to be a Host or Ambassador Coordinator or Co-Coordinator for a Journey, please contact Patty Niemeyer - peanutpatti1@gmail.com or or Ray Enstam enstam@sbcglobal.net. If you have not been a Coordinator before, give it a try. You will get lots of help and training. There is a position open for Coordination for Outbound Reno/Lake Tahoe Journey in August, 2018.

UPDATE: Training session in Dallas February 10, 2018.

Keep in min that there are some financial incentives. These Ambassador and Host Coordinators are eligible for reimbursement for at least some of their costs. See the Club Policies on page 37 or the Yearbook for 2017.
 
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International Outbound

Sydney and Gold Coast, Australia
March  8-21, 2018

Our two week outbound international journey to Australia is scheduled for March. 2018. The trip will begin in Gold Coast on March 8th and we continue to Sydney on March 15 through the 21st. Lou Ann King will be the Ambassador Coordinator (replacing Mary Latham) and can be reached at king.la@sbcglobal.net.

See the Journey page for more details and application information. Since those interested each prefer their own additional visits to various places, an optional tour will not be offered.

If you are interested - don't delay! The deadline to apply is December 1. You will be notified of your acceptance or not for this Journey by Dec. 15 and payment of $905 is due by Jan 5.

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Central Israel

Our second Journey, in October of 2018, will be to Central Israel club (Tel Aviv). This is a country we have never visited and has very limited hosting availability.

Estimated costs as follows (subject to change):
A home stay (up to 17 Ambassadors) for one week in Tel Aviv, $400-$500; an optional Israeli tour of areas not covered otherwise beginning Oct 10th - about $2000 through Gate 1; and an optional pre-tour to Jordan, $600.

Michael Wald - mwald999@gmail.com and Haiya Feder-Naftali - hnaftali@sbcglobal.net are Ambassador Co-coordinators for this Journey.

UPDATE: They have more information - now available on the Journey page. Dallas members need to apply soon as the Journey will be open to others in December. Application information will be posted soon. Let either Michael or Haiya know of your interest.

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International Inbound

         
Something BIG is coming!

Our international Inbound Journey for 2018 will be the ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE GLOBAL JOURNEY scheduled for May 15th – 22nd, 2018. The Host Coordinator is Felicity Sentance. This special Journey needs a lot of participation but will give us a chance to go to places and do activities with the visitors that we rarely have done on our usual club-to-club Journeys. We will be needing home hosts, day hosts and many other positions, since there is no Ambassador Coordinator from another club necessitating our dealing with all the applications and screening usually done by the Ambassador Coordinator. There is a committee of sixteen members, many of whom have taken on dual roles.

The Journey is now on the FFI website at the link below and we’ve received numerous expressions of interest together with 8 applications so far. 
See: https://www.thefriendshipforce.org/journeys/arts-and-architecture-in-dallas/

Also see our Journey page for more information.

Felicity is gathering names of those who would be interested in hosting and otherwise participating in this Journey. So please contact her at fsentance@gmail.com  if you’d like to be involved. She’d love to have your help.

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Brazil Agriculture and Engineering Inbound

FFI requested, and our board agreed, that our club host a special inbound trip for a group of engineers from Brazil who have a special interest in engineering and the agriculture surrounding the city. Art Cooper has taken on the task of acting as Journey Coordinator for this – thank you very much, Art! He’ll be seeking help with this so please contact him if you can offer assistance or ideas.  artcooper99@gmail.com
 
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Domestic Journeys
By Patty Niemeyer, Domestic Journey Coordinator (in chief)

Reno/Lake Tahoe Outbound

Reno-Tahoe outbound dates are set: Aug 14-21, 2018. Reno can host a minimum 12 and a maximum of 16 ambassadors. If you would like to volunteer as Ambassador Journey Coordinator please contact Patty Niemeyer: peanutpatti1@gmail.com.

They can host  20 people. Reno declined a visit to Dallas in 2019 as they have Journeys to three Texas cities in 2018 and do not feel as though they want to return.

Southern New Jersey Inbound

Dates TBD in 2019. Patty Niemeyer will be Host Coordinator.

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This meeting will be held in Cincinnati, OH - April 20-22, 2018 and will replace our Southwest Conference.    
It will include three provinces:
  GREAT LAKES
  MIDWEST
  SOUTHWEST
Location: Radisson Hotel Cincinnati Riverfront
668 W. 5th Street
Covington, KY 41011

Please join the Friendship Force of Greater Cincinnati for the Great Lakes 2018 Super Conference. Arrive at 2:00 pm on Friday for the “Executive Board” meeting and depart on Sunday at 11:00 am after the “Farewell Breakfast.”

The clubs of Kentucky, Ohio and Michigan are planning many special activities. Louisville and Dayton will have home hosting before and Cincinnati is planning home hosting after. Cincinnati was once called the “Queen City of the West.” Come and see all the special attractions in both Cincinnati, Ohio and Covington, Kentucky.

Please let our president Mary Latham know if you plan to go. The Cincinnati Club would like to have an idea of how many are coming.

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Dues are due

Please complete and return the Membership Renewal Form with your check for $35 per person to join the Dallas club or renew your membership for 2018 [pdf format].

Let us know how you can help your club with your skills, time, and energy. Then plan on participating in our activities, events, and journeys sponsored by our club, the Southwest region, other FF clubs, and FF International.

Deadline is DECEMBER 15, 2017. Mail it to edward perez - address on the form

You can also complete and return your form and check at the Saturday Nov 11th meeting or at the Sunday Dec 10th Holiday Party. We will have renewal forms at both meetings.

If you cannot open the file, contact edward and he will mail you a printed copy. Thanks for your prompt attention.

In Friendship,
edward perez
Vice-President, Membership
FF Dallas

Nominating Committee

The Nominating Committee headed by Ray Enstam with Martha Durst and John Whaley presented the following slate of officers for 2018:
Julia Cooper - President
Carolyn McMurray - First Vice President
edward perez - Second Vice President, Membership
Pat Andeweg - Secretary
Lou Ann King - Treasurer

Facebook - Thanks to so many people who posted their photos and notes on what fun they were having on our outbound Saskatoon Journey and International Conference. If you don't usually see our Facebook page, take a look - lots of photos. While you're there, LIKE us if you have not already done so. Then SHARE the Facebook news you get to spread the word about our organizations to your friends. It is a great way to increase awareness of what we do, to get new interested members and matches with other clubs. Continue to post your photos, travels and comments about our club.

Remember - you can order your own FFD business cards from Mary Williams. Give them to people who ask about Friendship Force. Free to you.

The next Board meeting will be Monday, November 13, at 1 pm at Pat Andeweg’s house. All members are welcome to attend.

Send any changes of address or email to edward perez who manages our database - erperez@acm.org. When you receive changes, please update your yearbook and email list.

FFI has published new Journey Guideline and edward perez, Lou Ann King and Patty Niemeyer are working on recommendations for the use/allocation of funds for our Domestic Inbound Journeys and dealing with budget deficits on Inbounds.

Where do we want to go in 2019? The Board decided to put in request for Taiwan, Japan, Belgium and Bavaria. Ray Enstam, our International Journey Coordinator-in-Chief, should hear back from FFI in January or early February, 2018 as to our assignments.

See our new club brochure at the next meeting.

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

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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FFI - New US website

FFI has a new website specifically for this country where you’ll find helpful information and some of the following training and which some of our club have attended. At the time of publication, this site is unavailable; if you try it later, it will be back up and running https://sites.google.com/thefriendshipforce.org/usclubs/home


Training Opportunities

Thinking about being a Journey Coordinator but not really sure what that entails? Want to know how to organize one? Our Field Reps have put together a webinar program - you take it online. Kay Binder, our Field Rep, conducted these two this summer and will present more as requests for future trainings keep coming in.

[Update] We will presenting this training here in Dallas in lieu of our February 2018 meeting -
Saturday February 10, 2018 at Chimneyhill Clubhouse. Kay Binder, our Field Rep from Austin will be presenting it. More information on time/cost/meals are being arranged.

Journey Coordinator Training webinars - We've had approximately 130 people take advantage of the trainings that have been offered so far. Kay also presented Everything Google Training webinar about how to use Google products to coordinate Club and Journey Events. We will let you know when more will be offered.

More information from Allison Lindsey - allison@friendshipforce.org
 
E-checks

FFI has introduced e-checks as a form of payment for travel insurance, Journeys and club dues. This will be a form of payment directly from your bank to theirs. Unlike credit card payment, which are immediate, the process will take up to 7 days to process but, like credit card payments, are secure. For more information look for the ‘Payments’ tab under the member resources section of their website here https://www.thefriendshipforce.org/resources/

Stories of Friendship

Send stories of your FF experiences that have helped eliminate barriers that separate us and bring us closer together. Send to: http://storiesoffriendship.org/

Rick Steves

Some really exciting publicity we are a part of - Rick Steves is asking for feedback and reviews - and PLEASE comment on his Facebook post!!

He is gathering info for his second edition of his excellent book, Travel As a Political Act, and it seems we will be listed in that book upon publication! He asks to let him know “if you have any experience with these groups,” so please chime in on his initial Facebook post or on his website's blog to second his endorsement of FFI! Leave your comments at: https://www.facebook.com/ricksteves/posts/10154860587037745

Photography

FFI has introduced ‘Photography Club Clusters’ and spoke about it in their latest e-newsletter which you should have received if you’re on their mailing list. Mary Latham is asking anyone who is interested in forming a group to contact her as she is an avid photographer. Contact her at: mary_m_latham@yahoo.com.

FFI's 40th Anniversary Campaign

Dear Friendship Force member,

As a member, you know that Friendship Force has a vibrant 40 year history that we are excited to build upon as we continue to grow and adapt to our ever-changing world. You have dedicated your time, energy, and passions to overcoming the barriers that separate people in order to achieve a more peaceful, friendly world. And it is you, as an FFI member, who will help us continue that work as we engage in new programs, support our clubs, and expand our membership into new parts of the world.

Our 40th Anniversary Campaign aims to raise the funds necessary to expand our core, engage future leaders, and activate a new, socially-responsible travel network. Since the campaign was launched in May 2017, we have received many questions from our members and leaders about what the campaign will accomplish, how we will reach our goals, and what we will do to ensure the donations received will be utilized as promised. Thank you for showing such interest in the campaign!

We’ve heard your questions and prepared information to help answer them, with three helpful reference items:

The 40th Anniversary Campaign Plan, which gives additional details on all of the programs we hope to implement within the goals listed in the Case for Support.

A list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) and answers for your reference.
A presentation for club members and leaders to help explain the purpose and goals 40th Anniversary Campaign, in both a traditional Powerpoint presentation and as a narrated video of the presentation.

We truly want you, our members, to understand the campaign and its purpose. This is not a standalone fundraising campaign with programs that will be forgotten in the coming years. The goals of the campaign will also be a part of our upcoming strategic plan currently being finalized by our Board of Directors and Staff, guiding our organization into the future.

One of our recent donors stated, “I believe FFI makes a difference in the world. We contribute to make the world a little more peaceful.” By donating to the 40th Anniversary Campaign, you are helping to ensure that we will continue providing opportunities for our members to promote global understanding, make new friends, and create a more peaceful world. By combining your financial support along with donations we are seeking outside of Friendship Force, we will build an exciting, sustainable path forward for this organization that we all cherish.

Please take the time to learn more about the 40th Anniversary Campaign. If this inspires you to invest in the future of FFI with a donation, please click here. Thank you so much!

As always, if you have any questions, please contact either of us - Pallie Savoie pallie@friendshipforce.org or Jeremi Snook jeremi@friendshipforce.org and we will be happy to help.

In friendship,
Jeremi Snook
President/CEO

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When you travel with another club you help fill their seats and make new friends in another club as well as your destination club.

See the FFI openings: https://www.friendshipforce.org/journeys/

They are also listed on our website on our Other Clubs page.

If you are interested in any of these journeys, contact the Coordinator ASAP. The decision for a journey to go or to cancel occurs at least 90 days preceding a scheduled date. Notice of remaining seats can be out of date as journeys fill and there are cancellations. Contact the coordinator concerned for the most current information.

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