International Inbounds
Arts and Architecture of Dallas Global Journey
By Felicity Sentance
In May we welcomed 17 ambassadors to DFW for the Arts and
Architecture Global. It was the first time our club has organised a
Global and it was quite an experience!I know all the ambassadors had
a good time as they all submitted wonderful reviews of the Journey
and I think, despite all the hard work that went into it, we all
enjoyed it. One aspect of doing something like this is that one
learns much about one’s own city.
We provided a tour of the back-stage area of the Dallas Children’s
Theatre, a tour of the architecture of the Arboretum, a tour of the
engineering of the Wyly Theatre, 4 performances (they could choose
between 2 of them), many and varied museum and gallery visits, a
trip to Fair Park to see the Art Deco architecture, and a visit to
The Warehouse Gallery followed by a visit to The Valley House
Gallery – 2 very differing sites. We kept them busy, as you can tell
when looking at the photos below.
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Carolyn McMurray, Pat Hines, Patty Niemeyer
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Ray Enstam - Dallas Children's Theater
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Diane Oppedal, Rose Schultz |
Elaine Wilson, Roy Weaver, Isabella Iverson |
Sampling beans at Arboretum |
Esplanade - Dallas Fair Park |
Tram tour at State Fair Park
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Arboretum |
Coordinator: Felicity Sentance
Perot Science Museum tour
Fountain Place, Dallas Museum of Art
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Reception at Kaisers - Art Cooper, Sandy and Ron Hartley,
Julia Cooper |
Small dinner: Barbara McGuire, Barbara Taylor, Sandy and Ron
Hartley, Betty Mayeur |
Wyly Theater downtown |
DeGolyer House - Arboretum |
Klyde Warren Park - downtown |
Play - Diane Oppedal, Debbie Gibson, Patty Niemeyer, Rose
Schultz, Katy Goodwin, Kathy Jacobs, Elaina Habel |
Farewell dinner |
Kimbell Museum - Fort Worth |
Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge - Dallas skyline |
HOST / AMBASSDOR PICTURES
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Art Cooper, Dale Klosterman, Julia
Cooper,
Linda Supakoff, Carol Halbe, Hilda Klosterman |
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Gerry Arens, Isabella Iverson, Roy Weaver,
Elaine Wilson
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Jerry and Camille Daugherty, Anne Gabriel,
Pat Hines |
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Patty Niemeyer, Debbie Gibson, Rose Schultz,
Diane Oppedal |
Suzanne Gutterson,
edward perez, Paula Rose |
Jackie Wald, Jeanette Watling-Mills Felicity Sentance, Jo Brown
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Mary Latham, Katy Goodwin
Ron Hartley, Mary Williams, Sandra Hartley
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John and Wendy
Whaley, Elaina Habel Barbara Taylor, Barbara McIntire
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Brazil
Inbound
September
24-30, 2018
Update from Ray Enstam, International Journey Coordinator
Journey coordinator – Art Cooper
I have sad news. Our proposed inbound journey from Brazil in late
September this year has been cancelled. The
exchange rate of the US dollar against the Brazilian currency has
increased over 20% in the last few months, effectively increasing
the cost to the proposed ambassadors by 20%. For better or worse, we
have to live with the international exchange rates when pricing
travel. Our thanks to Arthur Cooper for many hours spent researching
and planning this. On the good side, we have found lots of new
potential sites to visit during future journeys.
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International Outbound
Israel
We
completed our first Journey of this year to Australia in March.
Our
second Journey, in October of 2018, will be to CENTRAL ISRAEL. This
is a country we have never visited and has very limited hosting
availability.
We are currently accepting wait-list applications for the homestay
portion of the Israel journey .
For further information contact Michael Wald
mwald999@gmail.com and Haiya
Feder-Naftali hnaftali@juno.com
who are Ambassador Co-coordinators for this Journey.
See the Tourist Israel website:
https://www.touristisrael.com/ for tour options, interesting
pictures, events and articles about Israel.
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Domestic Outbound
Dallas to
Reno/Lake Tahoe
Reno-Tahoe outbound dates are set: Aug 14-21. Reno can host a maximum of 16 ambassadors. Julia Cooper has been
appointed Ambassador Journey Coordinator - acjc1804@hotmail.com.
This Journey is filled - with 4 ambassadors on the waiting list..
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Discover
Costa Rica
October 10 – 20, 2018
By edward perez, Journey Coordinator
I will be leading a Discover Journey to Costa Rica from Wednesday
October 10 through Saturday October 20.
Volcan Arenal
Come get to see and know the best of Costa Rica - its people, its
food, and its scenery. You will meet a lot of "Ticos" (a colloquial
term for a native of Costa Rica) during a seven day tour and three
days of home-hosting by members of FF West Alajuela.
$1920 USD includes FFI and host fees, tour, hotels, entrance fees,
transportation for eight days; seven breakfasts, one lunch and one
dinner.
If you are interested, more info and inquire via this FFI webpage -
https://friendshipforce.org/journeys/discover-costa-rica (click
on "Interested in this Journey")
You can apply via this FFI webpage -
https://tinyurl.com/ffi2CostaRica2018-application
Contact edward perez at
erperez54@acm.org
Application
deadline is Fri Jul 6. If accepted,
$1000 deposit is due Tue Jul 10 and final balance is due Fri Aug 10.
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By
Raymond Enstam, International Journey Coordinator
Update
Our international Journeys for 2019 are now set and are making progress
rapidly.
We now have the dates for the Outbound to
Cape of Good Hope,
South Africa. It is set for March 21 to 27, 2019, to be
followed by an 8 day/7 night extension to northern Botswana and Victoria
Falls. Some of the most colorful areas of Africa! This is our first
journey ever to Africa and should be very interesting along with the
safari touring in the famous African wildlife areas.
Mary Williams is the Journey Coordinator so anyone interested in
participating, or simply knowing more, should contact her. It is filling
up fast. She can be contacted at
mWilliamsTXTravel@yahoo.com
Our Inbound for 2019 will be from
Taichung, Taiwan
tentatively set for some time in June. They will also be spending a week
in Mexico, so this requires coordinating dates with all 3 clubs. This is
our first journey ever with Taiwan and should be very interesting. Mary
Latham has agreed to be the Journey Coordinator for this. That is still
a year away, but you will hear from her soon as she puts together her
committee to welcome our guests from this interesting area.
Cape
of Good Hope Outbound
March 21-27, 2019
One week homestay with sightseeing in this famous area –
Capetown, Table Mountain, Robben Island, penguins, gardens, wineries -
and meet the Mayor.
Followed by an 8-day/7 night safari in
Northern Botswana - Okavango Delta region with
Victoria Falls
UPDATE: We have had to let our camp spaces
go and will book another safari later in the year. But please see a sample of what we will be doing.
Journey to Cape of Good Hope cost: $480
Safari cost: $3950 + 2 flights in Africa $670.
Not included: International airfare, travel insurance
(DFW-Capetown roundtrip airfare approx. $1050)
Limited to 16 people – please express an interest ASAP to:
Mary Williams – Ambassador Journey Coordinator
mwiliiamstxtravel@yahoo.com
Applications and deposit of $100 for homestay due now. We now have
spaces open to other members of other clubs.
Balance due Dec 15, 2018. Make checks to
Friendship Force of Dallas.
Ambassador and Agreement Application
See pdf flyer for
Cape of Good Hope Journey.
See pdf file of
Cape of Good Hope Information.
See pdf flyer for details of a sample
safari to Botswana
and all costs. Deposits for the safari will be paid separately to the
safari company.
UPDATE: We have had to let go of our request for camp space and
will reschedule our safari later in the year. Please see the flyer to
see a sample to what we will book at that time.
See website for safari company and details of a sample trip:
http://wetu.com/Itinerary/Landing/3f102108-12d5-4698-83f7-adc3676fd479
Look at information on all the
tabs on this link for our locations.
Capetown, South Africa region
Northern Botswana: Okavango Delta, Linyanti Concessions,
Victoria Falls Zimbabwe
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Taichung, Taiwan Inbound
Mary Latham has appointed Host Coordinator for this June incoming
Journey. Dates TBD. Contact Mary at
Mary_M_Latham@yahoo.com
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2019 Festival at Sea
ALL ABOARD FOR FRIENDSHIP AND FJORDS!
15-Day South American Passage from Argentina to Chile aboard the
Holland-American line Zandaam
February 21 to March 8, 2019
Join us on the second installment of Friendship Force's Festival at Sea
cruises! This fifteen-day Voyage aboard the Zaandam will be one of the
greatest cruising experiences anywhere, with spectacular scenery and
wildlife: fjords, glaciers, waterfalls, volcanoes, penguins, eagles, and
whales. Whether you come alone or with friends, you will be right at
home with your fellow Friendship Force travelers during this two-week
voyage of workshops, team-building activities, and of course, plenty of
sightseeing in each of our ports-of-call! We will visit the following
locations:
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Montevideo, Uruguay
Puerto Madryn, Argentina
Stanley/Falkland Islands/Islas Malvinas
Strait Of Magellan
Punta Arenas, Chile
Cockburn Channel
Beagle Channel
Daylight Cruising Glacier Alley
Ushuaia, Argentina
Scenic Cruising Cape Horn
Canal Sarmiento
Chilean Fjords
Puerto Montt, Chile
San Antonio (Santiago), Chile
View a day-by-day itinerary on the Friendship Force catalog!
Prices start at $2,684 USD
Interior cabins from $2,684 for double; $4,033 for single
Ocean view cabins from $2,884 for double; $4,383 for single
Vista Suite Verandah cabins from $4,434 for double; $7,983 for single
Mid-ship Vista Suites from $4,854 for double; $8,823 for single
*All above prices include FFI Fee.
Flyer:
https://friendshipforce.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/FAS-2019-Flyer.pdf
Online registration form has not been working. Call Sherry Riggs at
1-502-420-4615. While there are plenty of spaces left, the Ocean view
cabins are most popular and are filling up quickly.
* Note: Several Dallas members plan to go. One lady is still looking for
a roommate for this cruise in an ocean view cabin. Contact Mary Latham
for more info.
mary_m_latham@yahoo.com
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Journey Coordinators
From Ray Enstam, International Journey Coordinator:
I would like to remind our members that we offer a little incentive. The
coordinator of an outbound journey will receive reimbursement of his/her
travel expenses up to an amount not to exceed $100 per traveler, plus a
waiver of part or all the Friendship Force International fee of $165.
The coordinator of the inbound receives a $300 credit that can be
applied against the cost of an outbound journey by the Dallas Club
during the following two years.
If you would like to apply to act as a Journey Coordinator, or simply
ask some questions, contact Ray Enstam, International Journey
Coordinator, at
enstam@sbcglobal.net.
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Opportunities with Other Clubs
Want to travel elsewhere with another club? When you travel with another
club you help fill their seats and make new friends in another club as
well as your destination club. Go to the FFI website:
https://www.friendshipforce.org/journeys/
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.
Right now the Georgetown/Houston clubs are needing people to fill their
Journey to
Turialba, Costa Rica: September 10 – 17, 2018
Journey # 14173
Cost: $399 + airfare and travel insurance
Contact: Evelyn Barringer (Georgetown) - evelyn@barringers.net
See their flyer and respond to Evelyn ASAP if interested
The FFI page currently lists 23 interesting journeys - Washington,
Russia, Canada, Germany, Hungary, Australia, Myanmar, Costa Rica, Egypt,
Guadeloupe, Jordan, Peru, Morocco, Iceland, India, China, Kenya, Brazil,
Colombia, Ecuador, Festival at Sea Cruise, Mongolia and Siberia.
Your FFD website also lists Journeys from
Other Clubs.
There is a link on the Home page and Journey page.
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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
The next
Board meeting will be Monday, August 13th at
1:30 pm at Julia Cooper’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.
Remember - you can order your own
FFD business cards
from Mary Williams. Give them to people who ask about Friendship Force.
This service is free.
Facebook
Don’t forget to post your Club information on our Facebook page
https://www.facebook.com/FriendshipForceDallas/?ref=bookmarks
However, remember Facebook rules: Anyone may post comments or photos on
our page, but only posts about FF are acceptable. The club can get in
trouble with the IRS for posts that advertise or endorse commercial
products or businesses, so please do not do that.
Thanks to Mary Latham for posting photos of our Global Inbound on this
page. Look at it for lots of memories.
Sunshine
Report
By Cathy Ignatin, Sunshine Chair cignatin@hotmail.com
Lee Latham is happy to have completed his treatment.
If you know of anyone who needs anything from Sunshine, please give me a
call: sometimes I don’t hear of a need until they are well. Thanks
Wine Tastings for you oenophiles (a crossword word for
you)!
Here's an idea for fellowship and friendship. Katy Goodwin (one of the
Arts & Architecture ambassadors from FF of Sarasota, Florida) said her
club has a wine tastings group that meets throughout the year.
One or more hosts invite members, who pay $8-10 or so. The host buys
wine and the members bring hors d'oeuvres, snacks, desserts, etc.
Everyone enjoys the wine & snacks, catches up, shares stories, etc. Is
this something you would like our club to begin? If so, contact edward
perez: erperez54@acm.org. We'd need a wine tasting coordinator, hosts,
and interested members for this to happen.
Photography
Cluster
Presently the members are Mary Latham, Mary Williams and Al Currie.
Please contact Roz Worrall, FFIPhotoCC Coordinator at
ffiphotocc@gmail.com and
cc our members, if you’re interested in joining.
Shuttle Service
The shuttle service is available to any FF of Dallas
member who needs transportation from their home to either airport or
from the airport to your home. You can also use this service to
destinations other than airports. After your ride, you make a donation
to FF of Dallas.
If you need a ride, send an email to
ffDallas-shuttle@googleGroups.com [or call 214-699-7574] and all
club members who are shuttle drivers will receive your request.
If you would like to be a shuttle driver, contact edward perez
and he'll add you to the list. Take this opportunity to help out your
club while meeting and learning about your fellow club members. You are
not obligated to handle every request, but please do what you can.
If you would like to manage the shuttle driver list, contact
edward perez and he'll help you learn how to manage the list. It's very
easy - you just need access to email and the internet.
In friendship,
edward perez
Shuttle Service Manager
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Member News
Membership News and Updates
edward perez, Vice President, Membership
Welcome to summer!!
I am glad that so many members were involved in the Arts & Architecture
Journey that our club hosted in May. 47 members attended one or more
events - 18 members were home hosts; 10 were day hosts, 11 were small
group dinner hosts. 32 members attended the Welcome dinner and 35
attended the Farewell dinner. Hosting and meeting our ambassadors is at
the heart of what Friendship Force is all about - Promoting friendships,
understanding, cultural education and citizen diplomacy with people from
different parts of the world.
Eight new members attended a new members' gathering in May at the home
of Julia & Art Cooper. They shared a bit about where they came from
(from New York City Dallas, Kansas City, Central Texas, St. Louis,
Oklahoma, Michigan, and Pennsylvania). Board members who attended shared
info about their roles and duties. I showed one of the FF International
videos. We then enjoyed a delicious lunch and dessert and shared more
about our club and Friendship Force. All of the new members offered
their skills to help out with Journeys, Committee Leadership,
Membership, Programs, Publicity & Communications, Shuttle Drivers, and
the Telephone Committee. THANKS for your offers of help!!!
Contact info updates
Sandy Kaiser has changed her email -
coachsandykaiser@gmail.com
If you move or change your contact information (phone number, email
address(es), let me know so I can update the records and let others know
(telephone tree, email list manager, etc). I will publish a list of
updates every few months which you can use to update your yearbook and
email address book.
Our telephone tree, led by Doris Rodriguez, contacts members prior to
monthly events. If you haven't been receiving calls, contact me so I can
make sure you are on the calling list. Also, if you know a member who
has not be attending recently, please give them a call and invite them,
perhaps offering to carpool with them. Pages 23 & 24 of your yearbook
lists members by zip code.
Friendship Gatherings
I'm planning another "Friendship Gatherings" for August or September in
eastern Dallas County on a weekend, perhaps at Lake Ray Hubbard? These
are casual events either at lunch or dinner time and either on weekdays
or weekends. If you know of a restaurant than can accommodate 10-20 in a
separate space, please let me know. And if you know about wine tastings,
arts performances, or other events, let me know and I'll share to the
club.
Experience different views
Discover common
ground!
Want to learn about other members, our club, other clubs, and Friendship
Force? Attend our programs, events and journeys. Then let your family &
friends know by forwarding our meeting announcements or newsletter. If
you are on any of the social media networks, share your Friendship Force
experiences with others and invite them to attend an upcoming monthly
meeting, an event or an inbound or outbound journey. FF of Dallas has a
Facebook page that you can like and follow as well as share with your
other FB friends. https://www.facebook.com/FriendshipForceDallas/
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Save the Date - 2019 International Conference
New location and dates for the International Conference in 2019
Due to the lasting impact of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico, the
Conference location has been changed to Boulder, Colorado July 23 – 27,
2019.
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
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.
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.
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
Want to read about other ambassadors' experiences? Then head over to
http://friendshipforce.org/stories or click on the "Tell Your Story"
button there to share your own experiences. "Experience Different Views.
Discover Common Ground." Send stories of your FF experiences that have
helped eliminate barriers that separate us and bring us closer together.
Send to:
http://storiesoffriendship.org/
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New
Jersey Garden
You might be interested in visiting this link – it’s the
wonderful sculpture garden in New Jersey our club visited last year:
https://www.facebook.com/NJ.com/videos/10155938950956234/
Friendship
Force of Dallas Sponsorship of Brasov School for the Blind
Leyla Akgerman was recently in Romania on a journey where they
visited the Brasov School for the Blind. Notice Ed Edgren's and our name
listed as one of the sponsors (about 2/3rds of the way down). Ed was
instrumental in helping folks in Brasov and Sibiu form a Friendship
Force club there. Their first outbound in 2007 was to our club and the
Oklahoma City club.
Travel
as a Political Act – Rick Steves
To follow up on the requests for information to put in Rick
Steves’ 3rd edition of his book ‘Travel as a Political Act’; Steves has
cited Friendship Force in a section called ‘Take an Educational Tour’ by
saying – ‘A non-profit organization, FF focuses on person-to-person
exchange, with locals welcoming travelers into their homes. Each one to
three week programme includes cultural experiences such as making lavash
bread in Armenia, visiting historic Brazilian Fishing villages or
tobogganing on sand hills in Australia’s Hunter Valley’
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.Hello
friends, 
July
August 
June