Hi friends,

Hopefully, you had a pleasant July 4th. Texas summer is in full swing with temperatures in the mid 90's. Don't forget your hats and high count sun-block. We are getting ready for the mini Journey in Dallas before the Boulder World Conference itself, starting July 23rd. We wish everyone safe travels and looking forward to hearing all the great information you will receive.

Recently, Art and I returned from joining a Greater Harrisburg Journey to Olympia, Washington. The Journey was great with many, many new places to visit and many new members to meet. Joining a Journey from another club means making a new group of friends not only from the host club but also the out bound club. The e-flyer is a great way to find out about clubs who have available spots on an out bound Journey to join, both domestic and international.

Plans are in progress for our outbound Journey to Cedar Rapids and Madison in September/October. We will be joining a club from Japan so this Journey will be multi-cultural. For more information about this Journey please contact edward perez, the Journey Coordinator at erperez54@acm.org.

Our dear friend Martha Durst is recovering from a fall and had to have surgery to fix a broken shoulder. She is now recovering at a rehab center (details below); she would love calls or visits. We wish her all the best for a speedy recovery.

Enjoy your summer and stay cool.

Julia Cooper, President

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Meetings coordinator – Paula Rose paularose2000@hotmail.com

The May meeting was cancelled due to inclement weather and Anne Neal’s presentation of the ‘Festival at Sea,’ about the FF cruise to South America, rescheduled to October.

June Meeting: Africa

       Mary Williams with Sandy and Roger Kaiser
       at the farewell dinner in Cape Town

At a luncheon meeting at Outback Plano on Saturday June 10th, Mary Williams presented a PowerPoint look at the club's Outbound Journey to the Cape of Good Hope club to Cape Town, South Africa in March where they had daily tours with a guide and chartered bus to the highlights of this beautiful area. The Cape of Good Hope club is one of three in the area.

The thirteen ambassadors came from Dallas, Montana, Sacramento, Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Madison, Australia, Germany and England. Seven ambassadors then went on a superb safari to Botswana, where despite drought conditions, they saw an abundance of animals. They visited nearby Victoria Falls on the last day.



July Small Group Dinners
Pat Andeweg, Coordinator

On Saturday July 13 and Sunday July 14 members met in small groups to share food and conversation. Thanks to the hosts: Diane and Marty Behannesey, Jackie and Michael Wald, Sandy and Roger Kaiser and
Barbara Taylor. As three hosts dropped out, Behanneseys got twelve! And those without a host opted to go as a group to a restaurant.



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Completed Journeys for 2019

Journey to Cape Town, South Africa
By Mary Williams, Ambassador Coordinator

                                Table Mountain cable car >

The Dallas Club was awarded a trip to the Cape of Good Hope Club for 2019 and I was chosen Coordinator for our club. My decision to take this post was anticipation of visiting one of the world’s most beautiful cities at the end of the world – a place I had never visited. In addition, I would be able to renew my friendship with CGH members Hilda Sedras and Ian Atwood who had visited me for a week in 2017. And to add to the prize – I could choose a safari to supplement our South Africa experience – and did choose the Okavango Delta of Botswana for a week add-on trip.

         

My anticipation was great, and the rewards even greater. Both homestay and safari were great experiences for the 13 ambassadors who participated in the homestay and the 7 who went on safari. We were an international group: three from Dallas, a couple from Sacramento club, two ladies from the Madison, WI club, a man from Oklahoma City, a lady from Missoula MT, a man from Australia, a lady from San Antonio, and a lady from Devon, England. Sadly we had a last-minute cancellation of our Canadian couple, but added a man from Germany. Our Dallas contingent lost Noah Coad and Martha Marin who got as far as Paris but were turned away at Air France due to lack of a visa for South Africa (Martha has a Mexican passport) required of Mexican citizens. Disappointments for those not able to make this trip – but an excellent time for those of us who made the long journey.

We saw most of the sights in Cape Town that were on the schedule. Two favorites were dependent on weather: Table Mountain (often covered in fog: it’s “tablecloth”) and Robben Island (often shrouded in fog or high waves, canceling ferries). We lucked out on Table Mountain, which we saw the first day, but missed Robben Island – even on a rescheduled day. But there were plenty of other things to do in the harbor area that were quite entertaining.


The club rented a bus with a guide, so we were all together all the time and had the same history lesson and route. In Cape Town we visited the downtown Slave Lodge (with its history of slavery back to the 1700s through apartheid and reconciliation), the Parliament area and Victoria Park, with lunch in the park; the waterfront area with its museums, sculptures, shops and restaurants; the Kirstenbosch Gardens and Houts Bay, and the colorful Bo-Kaap area. <  A highlight was a visit to craft center where local artists made used tea bags into colorful gift items.


<  Boulder Beach penguin colony

We spent a day at Cape Point and Cape of Good Hope – the Southern-most points in Africa, visiting the lighthouse and park area at each place, and then on to see penguins at Boulder Beach.


On another day we drove out the Stellenbosch in the wine country where we had a wine tasting at the Spier Winery, which also hosting animals, craft items and sculptures and beautiful grounds. In the town of Stellenbosch some of us visited shops and other some of the vintage buildings preserved there.
 

We met our new friends at a Welcome Lunch after our mid-day arrivals, and bade them Farewell at a party where flags and gifts were exchanged; we sang and danced a little, and our ambassador Key Coy presented a magic act and Barbara Beaman told of an experience in Southeast Asia. The time passed way too quickly in this beautiful city.

< Farewell party



The safari in Botswana was attended by seven people and went quite smoothly. It was a wonderful experience for us all, ending with a quick look at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.













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Domestic Journeys
by Domestic Journey Coordinator – Sharri McIntosh

Pre-Conference Journey
July 19-23, 2019
Journey Coordinator – Pat Andeweg

Mini (4 night) Inbound to Dallas starting July 19th prior to the International Conference in Boulder, Co

FFD Members are invited to meet the Ambassadors at a Welcome party to be held on Friday July 19th at Julia and Art Cooper’s at 6:30 pm in Richardson. Please bring a dish enough for 8 - 10 people. Wine, soft drinks and dessert will be supplied.
Bring your swimsuit!

Saturday July 20th ..if you would like to join the Ambassadors on a tour of Fair Park including the Butterfly release at noon ($8.00) meet at 10am where Big Tex usually is during the State Fair. After the State Fair, lunch will be at La Calle Doce (pay your own choice) then we will be visiting the Arboretum.

Please let Pat Andeweg know if you intend to join us either Friday, Saturday or both so we will have numbers of attendees. If you plan to join us at the Arboretum let me know if you have membership or not so we can accommodate you.

Reply Deadline: Monday July 15th
Pat Andeweg:  pja72@sbcglobal.net

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Outbound Journey to Madison, Wisconsin and Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Sept, 25 – Oct 7, 2019
Journey Coordinator edward perez - erperez54@acm.org

We’re invited to enjoy the Autumn leaf colour and the other locations in Jthe area, with this club in October. This will be a chance to meet members in Madison and Cedar Rapids together with those from Aichi, Japan. The flyer for this Journey has been distributed to all club members, with the application deadline of June 29th.

The Board has appointed edward perez as Journey Coordinator for this trip. See more information and a link to the application on the Journeys page. This Journey is a GO - and we are limited to 10 people. See more information on the Journeys page.

UPDATE: There are still a few places available at both locations. Contact edward perez ASAP
if you are interested in this Journey: at erperez@acm.org


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Kaohsiung, Taiwan

The date of our international Inbound Journey for 2020 has now been substantially changed. We will be hosting Kaohsiung, Taiwan, which had been planned for June, 2020.

This has now been changed for them to arrive in Dallas on September 11 and leave on September 18. Be sure to mark that on your calendar and remove any notes about June. They will also be going to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in August, from there to Salvador-Bahia and Fortaleza, Brazil. From Brazil they will come to Dallas. It will be busy trip for them and we made this change to accommodate their schedule.

We are looking for a Journey Coordinator for the Taiwan visit, so if you are interested or would like to know more, please contact Ray at the address above.

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Opportunities with Other Clubs

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 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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Board Meeting

The next Board meeting will be Monday, August 12th at 1:30 pm at Julia Cooper’s house. All members are welcome to attend.

FFD Business Cards

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

You can also let your friends and family know about Friendship Force by sharing yours experiences on your social media account(s). 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/

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.

Sunshine Report
Cathy Ignatin, Sunshine Chair cignatin@hotmail.com

Martha Durst, a longtime member of this club, is recuperating from a fall when she broke her left arm and shoulder. On July 15th, she is to move to:
Highland Springs Rehab,
8000 Frankford Rd,
Dallas 75252
Her NEW email address (note the name ‘durst’ is all upper case): DURST6070@twc.com

Should you want to phone her please contact Cathy Ignatin for the number.

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.

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 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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Photography Clusters

Here is the latest update from Roz Worrall who will be in Boulder at the International Conference, so if you’re attending she’d love to meet with you.

Interested in photography? Want to learn how to be a better photographer to record your Journeys and help sell FF to others? Unfortunately, we now have no leader for this group, so if you’re interested in heading it up contact our president, Julia Cooper, or email directly to Roz Worrall in California at FFIPhotoCC@gmail.com who is heading up this nationwide group and has lots of great ideas.

Here’s a message from Roz:
You are always welcome to contact me at FFIPhotoCC@gmail.com if you are interested about what FFI Photography Club Clusters are all about, in signing up to start a cluster, or need some help and inspiration in getting your photo cluster started. Likewise, I would love to hear from you if you have photography resources to share, suggestions, ideas to contribute, or would like to be a part of the FFI Photo CC volunteer leadership team. For those of you attending the World Conference in Boulder, Colorado in July, I look forward to meeting you in person!

Rozlynn Worrall
FFI Photography Club Cluster Coordinator
FFIPhotoCC@gmail.com

Projects:
MF7 July "SEASON" (Starts July 1, Ends July 31)
As we begin the second half of 2019, and the third quarter of the year, we are into the SEASON wherever and whatever that may be in your part of the world. It could be a climatic season, solar season, hunting season, ski season, television series season, football season, etc. Whatever the season, make your photos even more interesting by including human involvement of the season. Here is some more information and resource links to MF7 SEASON.

2019 MF7 Season - Intro and Resources
This Monthly FOCUS MF7 for July is Season. There is broad definition of season with a couple of meanings. Gene...
Wouldn't you love to see FFIphotoCC photographs from all around the world for SEASON? I would. But we can't see them if we don't take them and share them. You can see Friendship Force of Sacramento's previous Monthly Focus submissions here.

Shutterfly
QC3 "SHARED EXPERIENCE" (Started Jan 1, Ends September 30)
One of the joys of our Friendship Force Journeys are shared experiences with our new friends around the world. Our organization's signature program of immersion homestay is what makes Friendship Force unique and provides the best photographic opportunity to share with the rest of the world of how we create friendships and build peace.

Yes, we eat together and pose for group photos in interesting destinations (most common and least interesting photographs to non-members), but we may also be engaged in activities that are of higher interest to potential members who are looking for cultural experiences beyond what they would see and do with travel clubs or accommodation services organizations. As an ambassador, you may experience a wedding, a birthday party, a first day of school celebration, a game night, harvest, floral arranging, cooking, sports activity, milking a cow, fixing a fence, grocery shopping, setting the table, teaching in a classroom, service or art project with your host family. These are shared experiences that distinguish Friendship Force hosted home stays. You become a member of your host family. Shared experiences change casual acquaintance relationships into friendships.

If you have not experienced these types of home stays as an ambassador, think about how as a host club you could create these types of experiences for inbound journeys. Once a shared experience is happening, step back from your involvement and with your camera take the photos of others that capture the moment of the Shared Experience. These are the unique photos that FFI would love to share on a global stage.

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by Vice-President Membership - edward perez, erperez54@acm.org

Membership Updates and News

It's summertime, summertime, sum-, sum- summertime!
Hope that you will be able to take a Friendship Force journey this year and Explore and Discover Common Ground.

Membership Updates

We now have 83 members (including 3 emeritus and 3 associate members).
Welcome to our recent members - Amy, Vicki, Sally, Barbara, Lisa, Charlotte, Jack and Anne - all joined as a result of an informational meeting that Leslie Parker and Sandy & Roger Kaiser organized and held in Fairview. Mary is a friend of Doris Rodriguez.
Please extend your hand of friendship to them at an upcoming meeting or event!

Amy Allen
Vicki Hubbard
Sally Dyer
Barbara Reyes
Lisa Stripling
Charlotte Tarell
Mary Weis
Jack and Anne Young

I recently emailed a directory update. If you did not receive your copy or were not able to print it, please let me know.

THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE INVITED YOUR FRIENDS TO MEETINGS AND EVENTS.
Word of mouth is one of our best ways to attract new members!!
If you know of a group or organization to which we can present info about Friendship Force of Dallas, or if you know of any advertising media where we can get out the Friendship Force word, please let me know (see contact info below).

Remember - if you move or change your contact information (phone number, email address(es), etc.) or need a replacement badge ($14, $10.50 if you pick it up in Richardson), let me know via email to erperez@acm.org or via phone at 214-675-3063. I'll update the records and let others know (telephone tree, email list manager, etc).

If you have an idea for a friendship gathering (food tasting, arts event, festival, etc.), please let me now (see contact info below).

Friendship Gatherings

* Meals with Gatherings
We hold these casual events (either at lunch or dinner time and either on weekdays or weekends) to allow you time to meet with other club members and share stories about our lives and journeys.
“How can I help?"

Know of a restaurant than can accommodate 10-20 in a separate space??
Want to host a "Meals with Gatherings" or a "Wine Tastings with Friends"??
Have an idea for a different kind of friendship gathering (food tasting, arts event, festival, etc)??
Want to coordinate these events??
If so, please let me know (see contact info above).

* Wine Tastings Update

Once autumn arrives and the weather cools down a bit, we'll hold several of these. These will be small groups. Dates, times, and costs to be announced.

If you would like to host a "Wine Tastings with Friends" or would like to coordinate these events, please let me know at the email address above

"How can I help?"

Know of a restaurant than can accommodate 10-20 in a separate space??
Want to host a "Meals with Gatherings" or a "Wine Tastings with Friends"??
Have an idea for a different kind of friendship gathering (food tasting, arts event, festival, etc)??
Want to coordinate these events??

If so, please let edward know (see contact info above).

You can also visit with another member by using or being a driver in our volunteer shuttle service to go to/from a local airport or to/from an appointment (see page 43 in your 2019 yearbook).

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2020 Journey Fee Announcement

After nearly a year-long discussion about the rising cost of doing business, the International Board of Directors unanimously approved a small increase to FFI Journey fees starting in January 2020.

It has been five years since Journey fees have increased, and in that time, global inflation has increased nearly 8%. Friendship Force International continues to use both Journey fees and donations in efficient, cost-effective ways. These funds support existing clubs, create and sustain exceptional friendship-building programs, and help establish new opportunities to encourage peace through friendship around the globe. This small increase in Journey fees will help us to remain in step with rising business costs worldwide and better support our mission now and for years to come.

The Board is optimistic about the upcoming launch of FFI’s new strategic plan as well as several new clubs that are currently in development. Although we cannot avoid fee increases from time to time, our greatest strength remains the sustainability of our clubs and growth of new ones to carry us into the future. Thank you for your continued involvement and support of Friendship Force!

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Additional Address for FFI

In an effort to expedite mailed checks, letters, and other items to FFI Headquarters, we have acquired a P.O. box designated for immediate receipt of mail. Please use this mailing address for any and all payments or other mailings that you need us to receive immediately:

Friendship Force International
Attn: Finance Department
P.O. Box 570
Asheville, NC 28802
U.S.A.

Please note that our current mailing address is still active and open for use; this new P.O. box is just to supplement that. Be sure to have both addresses in your address book! Our current mailing address is still:

Friendship Force International
400 West Peachtree Street NW
Suite #4-980, Atlanta, GA 30308
U.S.A.

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e-checks

As an alternative form of payment, FFI has introduced e-checks for 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/

If you have any questions, please contact finance@friendshipforce.org.

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Member Resources

The Member Resources page is here to help make your involvement with Friendship Force easier!
If you have any questions, please contact finance@friendshipforce.org.

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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/

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International Conference in 2019



2019 World Conference Registration - Registration Closes May 23, 2019

Registration for our 2019 World Conference is open now! Reserve your spot to join us and members from around the globe in beautiful Boulder in July for a one-of-a-kind Friendship Force experience!

Conference location is Boulder, Colorado July 23 – 27, 2019. You should have received the registration information via email or you can register on the FFI webpage: https://www.eventleaf.com/2019FFWorldConf

More details about the Conference on the FFI page.


               

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