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 Julia Cooper know if you plan to go. The Cincinnati Club would like to have an idea of how many are coming.

Get more information and a registration form on the FFI website: https://ffregionalcincinnati.weebly.com/

http://epaper.dallasnews.com/html5/reader/production/default.aspx?pubname=&edid=312bc7bc-dc60-4964-92ee-8e1b01a78491

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Communications

Don’t forget to post your Club information on our Facebook page and share Facebook postings on your own page. https://www.facebook.com/FriendshipForceDallas/?ref=bookmarks

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.

Membership News and Updates
edward perez, Vice President, Membership

Just think - only two or three more weeks until spring!! After the frozen January and the rainy February, I hope March comes in like a lamb.

Several people have joined since the beginning of the year (see below) bringing our membership numbers to 81 - 75 members, 3 emeritus and 3 associate members. There were 36 and 30 members at the January & February meetings, respectively, and 7 guests.

By staying involved with our club, you'll learn about other members, our club, other clubs, and Friendship Force. So, please continue to attend our programs, events and journeys. Contact others in the club and share a ride to an event (see the list of members sorted by zip code - pages 23-24). Or use our volunteer shuttle service (see back of yearbook). Then, share your Friendship Force experiences with your friends and invite them to attend an upcoming monthly meeting, an event or an inbound or outbound journey.

Another benefit of being a member of the Dallas club, you can apply for outbound journeys led by other clubs or by FFI. Find out who is going where by going to the FFI website. Then, you, too, will "Experience Different Views. Discover Common Ground" in the USA or elsewhere. http://friendshipforce.org/journeys/ . Click on Other Clubs.

We held our first "Friendship Gathering" on Feb 22 at Tantuni Restaurant in Richardson. Six members braved the damp and cold weather to visit with each other, learn about each other, discuss our trips, and enjoy the delicious Turkish and Mediterranean foods. I'm planning a meeting for March and April. These will be casual events, lunches or dinners. Occasionally, I let you all know about wine tastings, arts performances, and other events. Some will be held on weekdays and some on weekends. If you have ideas for places or events, please let me know – erperez@acm.org/.

Remember, if you change your mailing or emailing address or phone number(s), be sure to email me 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.

New members

A BIG Friendship Force of Dallas WELCOME to our newest members
* Randy Carsch (a friend of the Kaisers)
* Terry Gibson (a friend of Sharri McIntosh)
* Betty Levy (a friend of Elizabeth Umana)
* Beverly Weber (a friend of the Kaisers).

A BIG WELCOME BACK to Sue Priest who has rejoined.

Please extend your hand in friendship the next time you see them!

Membership Updates

The 2018 yearbook includes a list of members sorted by zip code (pages 23-24) so you can see who is near you. Maybe you can carpool w/ them to events or meet for friendship. Is this useful? Let me know!

By the time you receive this newsletter, you should have received via email a one-page membership update. Let edward  know if you didn’t receive it.

Other News

The next Board meeting will be Monday, April 16th, at 1 pm at Julia Cooper’s house. All members are welcome to attend. There will not be a Board meeting in March.

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

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

FFI has published new Journey Guidelines 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.

See our new club brochure at the next meeting.

Sunshine Report
Cathy Ignatin, Sunshine Chair

Lee Latham is continuing with his treatment

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Shuttle Service

A BIG THANKS to our six Shuttle Drivers for providing  rides to/from the airport

And a BIG THANKS to our members who requested rides and contributed $800 to our club (about 13% of total club revenue).

Remember, this 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

By edward perez

Welcome to winter!! With our 2017 membership renewal drive over, we now have 76 members (including 3 emeritus and 3 associate members), down about five from last year. Compared to other clubs I've talked with, ours is a mid-sized club. Many clubs have fewer than 50 members!

Average attendance at meetings/programs has held steady at about 35 members. Good news is that more and more members are participating in inbound journeys - 46 members participated in the Saskatoon inbound in October!

By staying involved with your club, you can learn about other members, our club, and Friendship Force. So, please continue to attend our club's programs, events and journeys. Contact others in the club and share a ride to an event (members listed by zip code will be in your yearbook). Or use our volunteer shuttle service (see back of yearbook). Then, share your Friendship Force experiences with your friends and invite them to attend an upcoming monthly meeting, an event or an inbound or outbound journey.

And remember - as a member of the Dallas club, you can also participate in outbound journeys led by other clubs or by FFI. Check them out by going to the FFI website. And hopefully, you will "Experience Different Views. Discover Common Ground" in the USA or another country. http://friendshipforce.org/journeys/

Starting in February, I will schedule "Friendship Get-togethers". These will be casual events, lunches or dinners, wine tastings, arts performances or events, etc. Some will be held on weekdays and some on weekends. If you have ideas for places or events, please let me know.

Membership Updates

Now that the membership renewal drive is over, I will have new yearbooks at the January meeting. If you are not able to attend, I will mail your yearbook to address on record.The yearbook will also have a list of members sorted by zip code so you can see who is near you - maybe car-pool to vents or get together for friendship.

New members

A BIG Friendship Force of Dallas WELCOME to our newest members - John Percy and Eileen Stade. John learned about our club from Doris Rodriguez, while Eileen learned about us from Felicity Sentance. Their complete information will be in the 2018 Yearbook.

Please extend your hand in friendship the next time you see them!

Anniversary Dates

One of the things I like about this club is that we have longevity of memberships. Here are some of our long-term members and some newer members.

25 + years
Brud Kisner - one of the charter members in 1993!!

20 + years
Martha Durst

10 + years
Cathy Ignatin
Dale & Hilda Klosterman

5 + years
Ava Blais
Haiya Feder-Naftali
Galen & Lou Ann King
Sharri McIntosh
Angela Salazar


Photography Cluster

FFI has introduced "Photography Club Clusters." Mary Latham is heading our Dallas group - opern to anyone who is interested in joining other club members to learn more about being a great photographer. Contact her at:  mary_m_latham@yahoo.com.


Sunshine Report
Cathy Ignatin, Sunshine Chair

Lee Latham is continuing with his treatment. Cathy Ignatin has recovered from pneumonia which was complicated by having a full renovation of her kitchen.

Robin Yaklin is in remission from cancer and is thrilled to say that, after a ten year wait, she has just had surgery to remove a bunion using a joint insert ….a newly FDA approved procedure.

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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.

We've had approximately 130 people take advantage of the Journey Coordinator Training webinars training 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

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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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We have received information from the Fort Worth club about their pending Journey to Morocco.
November 1- 5, 2018
Total cost for home stay, FFI fees and tour is $2,270.00.
Contact: Linda Doyle - ljdoyle@wildblue.net

If you are interested, here is where you find out more:
Morocco-FW-2018.pdf
Morocco-FW-prices.pdf
MoroccoTour-FW.pdf

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