Message from the Council Leader

AUGUST 2011

Message from the Council Leader

Hello Everyone - Is it me or is summerflying away?Every year I start summer with so many projects in mind and then somehow there isn't enough time. I looked at my calendar for the remainder of the year and it’s getting booked up. August 19 is the day I begin my journey to Romania, Prague and Germany, along with 11 other Ambassadors. Phil, ED, has been working hard on this exchange while enjoying the beautiful Colorado Mountains, and Verna Bunn, our loyal Treasurer, has been handling all the funds for this Exchange. Thanks to all of them for their dedication and hard work.

As I look forward to the rest of 2011, I hope to see all of you at our regular meetings; Highway Clean-up Activity in September and the annual Christmas Party (plans are pending). I’m excited to be able to plan the two exchanges that our club is having in 2012. Niagara Falls, Canada/Milwaukee Outgoing Exchanges will be June 25 through July 8, 2012. The Incoming USA Discover Exchange will be sometime in September. Our club was one of Atlanta’s selections, out of 41 US Clubs, to participate in this new type of Exchange – “Showcasing the Heart of the United States”. Western Colorado Adventure Experiences will be the theme for this exchange and we’ll be inviting the World to come visit our area. I hope I can count on all of you to be a part of this great opportunity. I’ll keep you posted on the details.

We return September 10 from our Romania/Germany Exchanges and look forward to telling you all about our journey at November’s meeting. I hope you all are keeping cool through these last days of summer.

In Friendship, Sue Palmer

Western Colorado Chapter’s Leadership Council

Council Coordinator Sue Palmer 241-9122

Secretary/Historian Cindy Beckage 424-0419

Treasurer Verna Bunn 242-5929

Exchange Coordinator Phil Smith 243-5456

Membership Coordinator Bobby Rickerd 424-0851

Publicity/Newsletter Coordinator Linda Smith 243-5456

Newsletter Assist Alyse Wade 245-3780

Webmaster Vacancy

Notes From Your Leadership Council:

The Leadership Council did not meet in July due to vacation and travel schedules. However, as of this writing, we are all back in town and on-task again. The business of the Western Colorado Friendship Force club is conducted in the Leadership Council’s monthly meetings. In this way, hopefully the club’s general monthly meeting can be more interesting to everyone, including visitors, with Exchange planning, socializing with other members, and enjoying travel related programs.

The Council continues our recruitment efforts for the club’s new leadership for the coming year. Several of the current council members have served in leadership positions for three or more years. For a successful FFI club to remain viable, all members need to take a turn in bringing new ideas forward. This assures that new energy flows through the leadership keeping us fresh, growing and moving forward with exciting new club activities and Exchange opportunities.

Members who are considering a position of interest in the Leadership Council will be invited to attend the LC’s monthly meetings in order to begin their orientation. Outgoing Leadership Council members will conduct one-on-one training as requested.

We are again asking the membership to consider how they might best serve the Friendship Force of Western Colorado. Please contact Sue Palmer, Current Leadership Council Coordinator, to indicate the area of interest that best suits your interest and abilities for the upcoming year.

Reminders: Verna Bunn, Treasurer, asks that all members who’ve not yet paid their annual dues please send

them to: WC FFI, PO Box 3665, GJ, CO 81502. Note that dues for this fiscal year (July 1, 2011-

June 30, 2012) have increased to $30.00/person and $50.00/family.

Verna is also updating the Membership Directory to include member’s picture. If she has not taken

your picture for the Directory, would you please send her a picture of yourself ASAP.

Training Announcement

We’re still looking for a few good men, and women, to learn how to conduct a successful Exchange. It’s easy and it’s FUN. We will be offering a free Exchange Director’s Workshop very soon. Learn how to navigate a successful Exchange, both as Incoming ED and as Outgoing ED. FF headquarters has made this painless with an easy to follow manual as well as all necessary forms in order to perform this enjoyable and rewarding task. Contact Phil, 216-6804 or if interested in this learning opportunity.

Shiella Deininger August 1

Carol Chaffin August 7

Ed Roemer August 13

Vera Wagner August 24

Jacqueline Bennett August 28

Meet Susan Moyer

Sue Moyer has been retired from the Federal government for two years. She spent 30 years working for natural resources agencies, primarily in Colorado. The agencies include the Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Reclamation, and US Army Corps of Engineers. Most of the work was as a wildlife biologist, project manager, and deputy area manager.

She began her federal career in Washington, D.C. after leaving the State of West Virginia Dept. of Natural Resources where she spent three years working for the Wildlife Resources Division. Prior to that she was a student at WVU and grew up in St. Albans, WV, where one of her sisters still lives.

Sue now does consulting work part time on environmental documents and enjoys working in the spring at Meadowlark Gardens. Her interests include gardening, reading, and hitting the slot machines on trips to Blackhawk or Vegas. She has 2 grown sons, Mark who is finishing his Masters in Golden at the School of Mines and is married to Sarah, and Rod who is a senior at Western State in Gunnison. Her husband, Don, is still working as an independent landman.

Sue became acquainted with FFI when her mom, FFI member Virginia Taylor, hosted Ruth from Australia. When Virginia was planning an exchange to Peru, she invited Sue to come along. She had such a fun time and made a number of friends in Trujillo that she keeps up with on Facebook, so, naturally, she joined FFI soon after. Sue had a great time when Northern Colorado came over the hill for the Western Colorado Adventure Experience, driving our guests to a number of the activities. Sue looks forward to many more Exchanges in the future, and we look forward to getting to know this joyful lady. Welcome to the exciting world of FFI Sue.

August! August! August!

How do you survive a month without a holiday and long warm days? Well, you can start by

enjoying all of the many things this valley has to offer - Palisade peaches and Olathe sweet corn, throwing your line in the flowing water, camping in cool mountains – for just a few suggestions.

When you check the ads in the newspaper, “Back to School” is featured prominently. Most of us are past having to worry about that process, but this is a chance for you to help children who may not be able to purchase school supplies. Pick up a ruler, a pack of paper, a box of pencils, or other appropriate item. If you bring it to the next meeting, it will get to the proper place.

There are more opportunities coming up. Remember all those ambassadors you’ve hosted? Send them a newsy e-mail or card or better yet e-mail a copy of our newsletter to them. What are you going to do with all those pictures? Make a collage and ask a former employee if you can post it on their bulletin board. Okay, just make one for yourself.

What a perfect time to clean out that closet! Any number of charities will be glad to recycle good used items. Speaking of recycling, I take some items that I pick up at a thrift store when I go out of the country on a Friendship Force trip. That way I can substitute souvenirs and ask my host where I can recycle the items. It has never failed so far. Of course visit-ing friends and family could be on your list.

Now if you still have time on your hands, please e-mail me a short paragraph about an interesting experience that you have had on a Friendship Force trip. These stories will be used in future newsletters, with your permission. If you do not wish your name in the article, please indicate when you send me the item. E-mail or you can write me at 460 West Scenic Drive, Grand Junction, CO 81507. I hope to see you in print.

In Friendship, Alyse Wade

MEMBERS ON THE MOVE

Christian Foundation for Children and

Aging Bogota Mission Awareness Trip

I was asked to share a few words about my May 2011 travels to Bogota, Colombia. The whole story begins in 2002, when I requested to sponsor an "aged" person with the organization commonly called CFCA. I knew of other people who had sponsored children through CFCA, and I knew CFCA ranked highly on the website Charity Navigator. As I wanted to honor my deceased grandparents, I chose to sponsor a senior. Maria and Cindy

"Sponsoring" a senior means sending CFCA thirty dollars a month, which is tightly squeezed to provide health care and medications, nutritional seminars, food,clothing, birthday and Christmas gifts, and social outings to places near to their home where they have never been before. Through the organization we can write letters to each other, letters that will be translated into each person's native language. I was delighted to begiven awidow woman in Bogota, Colombia. Thankfully,Maria Delores Panquevalivesin a home with a zinc roof, cement floor, windows and doors, and indoor plumbing;a lot ofseniors don't have what she has. She shares a small bedroom with 2 otherrelatives and is blessed to have a grandson who will write letters for her, as she cannot. She has a small beautiful garden and a colorful parrot to keep her company during the day when the others are working and going to school. Her family of five survives on about $150 US dollars a month, so Maria being sponsored really helps the whole family.

My first trip to Bogota on a mission trip to meet her was in 2007, and now 4 years later I was as excited to see her again as I was the first time.There were 13 other sponsors from all over the US. Out of the 15 of us, only 2 sponsored seniors, but we all were able to meet and spend time with our "friends." We had assignedtrans-lator as only a few sponsors spoke excellent Spanish.

We traveled by private bus to several different "projects" to see the workings of schools and community centers, and each time we were met with singing and dancing and food, as our little group really represented all sponsors everywhere. With our "friends", we participated in a 2 mile "Solidarity Walk" in the country, to symbolically walk with co-founder Bob Hentzen, who just recently finished a 16 month, 8000 mile walk through 12 countries in Central and South America. Maria, at 80 years of age, even participated. On another day we all walked through Bogota's Botanical Gardens, and of course the variety of flowers were incredible.

All too soon it was time to say Adios, but my memories will linger for a long time...... can you imagine Colorado school kids routinely pouring a bucket of water down the seat-less toilet after each use? Can you imagine them practicing a cultural dance for weeks, then dressing up in hand-me-downs and performing for a bunch of strangers, smiling all the while? Can you imagine feeling like a rock star, where hundreds of people want to shake your hand and say "Thank you"? With tears streaming down my face, I can tell you that's how I felt. I hope I can return to visit Maria and Bogota again. In Friendship, Cindy Beckage

GRAND MESA HIGHWAY CLEAN-UP AND PICNIC

Come one, come all on Saturday September 17th, 2011and join our happy, rag-tag, Beautify America Group,as we walk a mile along the wilderness highway in the splendor of the Grand Mesa.

We will meet at 9am sharp in the parking lot next to Starvin Arvin's, off F Road in Clifton andcarpool to the Grand Mesa.We will find the area belonging to the Western Colorado Chapter of Friendship Force Intl, don our gorgeous orange safety vest,accessorized with an equally bright orange bag, and commence to beautify America! Last year the weather was perfectly fallish and we were done with our stretch of highway in 1 hour.

The Leadership Council will provide an enticing and FREE lunch for all highway clean-up workers?

Call Cindy Beckage and let her know you are coming, so she can get an exact count for the pending lip-smacking"FREE" picnic lunch! (424-0419)

EXCHANGE NEWS

East European Exchange - August 19 to September, 10 2011

All is ready, Airline tickets bought, the monies have been paid, the home hosts are set, the tour schedules are in place, the sign up closed, the extracurricular elements finalized, Hosts and Ambassadors are talking, and the FUN is about to begin ! By the time you read this, most of the bags will be packed and the level of anxiousness will be topping out ! I have ordered a clock speed accelerator to reduce the time left before we go and ease the wait for the Exchange to get started !

Sibiu, Romania Prague, Czech Rep Vogtland, Germany