#95 OCTOBER 2016 F r i e n d s h i p F o r c e N i a g a r a President s Message Karin Lampman All of our exchanges, be they inbound such as Newcastle, Australia, Lincoln, Nebraska and Global Food & Wine or outbound such as Hay River, NWT, Missoula, Montana and upcoming Hiroshima, (formerly Oita) Japan, have been wonderfully supported by our members. Without you, our club would not exist or survive and that is why I am asking members to step forward and continue to keep our club viable by taking on a position on the Board. There are openings for First Vice- President, Second Vice-President, Treasurer and Social and Fundraising. Please consider a position on the Board. Your input is invaluable. For 2017, we have two inbound exchanges and three outbound exchanges and dates have been confirmed for most of them. We are still in need of an ED for our Nelson, NZ inbound exchange. Canada s 150th (sesquicentennial I love this word which means one and one half) birthday will be celebrated across Canada in 2017. There are plans in the works with other FF clubs to help celebrate this occasion. More information will be forthcoming in the new year. Our AGM meeting will held on November 22, 2016. Please mark the date on your calendars. As my year as President comes to a close, and another year as President opens, I have volunteered to be your President for another year where I hope we, as a club, can keep listening and learning from one another. In friendship, 1
Nominations for 2017 Circle of Friends The committee has met to look for candidates for the 2017 Executive Please consider volunteering to fill these vacant positions: 1st Vice-President - 2nd Vice-President Treasurer - Social & Fundraising 1st Vice President s Clarice West-Hobbs ED / DED Nelson N.Z. ( Sept. 26th to Oct. 2nd) 2017 Outbound #13240 New Hampshire Sea Coast Sue McEwen ED / Clarice West-Hobbs DED May 31 June 7 -Meeting @ Sue & Doug McEwen Oct. 25th #13241 Tucson Arizona Mary/Bill Armbrust ED - Mike/Annelie DED They will accept 20 ambassadors. Looking at the beginning of November. #13242 Turrialba Costa Rica Karin Lampman ED Carol Liboiron DED March 27 to April 3 They will accept 20 ambassadors Inbound #13111 Riga Latvia Marilyn Weber / Peggy Champion ED Early September for their visit. #13209 Nelson NZ We are in need of an ED Looking at September 26 to Oct. 2 DATES TO REMEMBER Oct. 18 Nov. 10 Nov. 15th Nov. 22nd Dec. 6th Hiroshima (Oita) Japan Board Meeting AGM Membership Meeting and Book Sale Christmas Party 2
2nd Vice-President Report Marilyn Weber Membership - Bill and Mary Armbrust Bill and Mary will be collecting Memberships at BOTH the Executive meeting (Nov. 15th) and The AGM Membership meeting (Nov. 22nd). The cost of membership is $84 (eighty-four dollars) for a Couple and $42 (forty-two dollars) for Single. Cheques are the preferred method of payment. IF unable to attend either meeting PLEASE send your Membership Dues cheque to Bill & Mary Armbrust, 20 Tulip Tree Common, St. Catharines, L2S 4C8. Make cheques payable to Friendship Force Niagara. PLEASE send cheques by NOVEMBER 18th (if mailing) Archives - Marilyn Weber Sunshine Lady Grace Bowslaugh Webmaster report Bill Harkness What s new on the club website, ffniagara.ca? Friendship Force International will celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2017. A link to the anniversary conference information has been placed on the front page. Friendship Force International is presenting a 40th Anniversary Cruise in 2017. Cruise details are also available at ffniagara.ca on the front page. All outbound exchange ambassador lists for 2017 have been up-dated. Please log in to the Members Only section to review those lists. The photo albums for all inbound exchanges have been posted and are ready for viewing. Both the Hay River and Missoula outbound albums are available as well. Note that the 2017 inbound from Nelson, New Zealand to Niagara, Canada, September 26 to October 2, is currently without a leader. The club calendar is up-to-date. Remember, you can use that calendar to update the calendar on your computer or smart phone. 3
Database Coordinator s Report - Martha Abra Social Committee Annelie Hedden CHRISTMAS DINNER Date: Tuesday December 6th, 2016 Time: 5-6 pm Complimentary Wine Tasting 6 pm Business Meeting 6:30 pm Plated 3 Course Dinner 7:15-8:45 Brad Boland Entertainment Location: Rockway Vineyards 3290 Ninth Street, St. Catharines Cost: $35.00 PLEASE bring payment to Nov. 22nd meeting (if not attending meeting MAIL cheque to Diane Love: 12 St. Andrews Ave. Grimsby L3M 3R8 Contact: Diane Love ( dslove@sympatico.ca) 4
INBOUND EXCHANGES - 2016 FF Lincoln s Exchange to FFN Aug 24-31, 2016 Thanks to the contributions of SO many members, the Lincoln Exchange was a great success. My thanks go, too, to FF Lincoln s Exchange Director, Pat Novak. She was extremely helpful, timely and cooperative in all arrangements. There were 21 Ambassadors from FF Lincoln. 16 of our members were Night-Hosts, 27 members were Dinner-Hosts, 11 members were Day-Hosts and/or helped with events, 27 FFN members attended the Welcome Dinner, and 20 attended the Farewell Dinner. So as you can see, the Club s participation rate was fantastic (especially for the last week of August when so many members have other commitments) and our efforts were recognized in the Evaluations where the contributions of all the Hosts were listed as the favourite part of the Exchange by almost every Ambassador. As well as the usual events (Niagara Falls Day, Shaw Day, Crawford Lake & Mountsberg Raptor Centre Day, Welland Canal Day), we also had several different activities: Deputy Mayor Bill Phillips as speaker at the Welcome Dinner, a wonderful garden party dinner for the whole group at Sandra & Ernie Yemms place, and a tour of the Meridian Centre. So all in all it was a great Exchange that was enjoyed thoroughly both by the Ambassadors and by the Hosts! My thanks go to all the Hosts, and especially to the Inbound Committee members Carol Liboiron (DED), Margaret & Len Ewert, Irene Millington, Gerri Palmer, Clarice West-Hobbs, Sandra Yemm, and Karin Lampman (Executive Adviser). Ted & Joy Fretz were also very helpful in organizing this Exchange. Our thanks also go to Bob Rouble for leading the Niagara Falls Day, to Judy & Jim Westell for the tour of the Morningstar Mill, and to Wendy Hammond for leading the Welland Canal morning. Our FFN members were an amazing team who constantly showed their talents & their willingness to do whatever was needed to make it a great week! Martha Abra, FFN Exchange Director Niagara Food and Wine Global Exchange: Sept 27 Oct 3, 2016 Seventeen ambassadors from across the USA and from Sweden participated in the Exchange. Other than our traditional Niagara Falls day, the destinations each day were different from the usual FFN program. Four lunches and three dinners were also included. The evaluations confirmed that the program and meals were excellent. All of the ambassadors remarked on the hospitality of the day hosts, dinner hosts and especially the night hosts. Each of the committee members took responsibility for specific pre-exchange and Exchange needs and independently worked well to make the Exchange a success. Thanks to: Marilyn Weber DED, Martha Abra, Peggy Champion, Sandy Harkness, Bill Harkness, Diane Love, Karin Lampman and Clarice West-Hobbs. Respectfully submitted Elaine Duffy, FFN Exchange Director 5
OUTBOUND EXCHANGES - 2016 HIROSHIMA EXCHANGE AND ADD-ON TRIP October 18 November 10 Our itinerary is set and we are ready to depart on October 18. The exchange consists of 8 FFN ambassadors, 2 FF Ottawa, 2 FF Victoria, 1 FF Toronto. We will have friendly visits to Nara, Tokyo and Hiroshima City and our official exchange with FF Hiroshima in Fukuyama. We will also visit Kyoto, Kobe and Himeji. OUTBOUND EXCHANGES 2017 New Hampshire Exchange Sue McEwen ED Clarice West-Hobbs DED Planning for the Exchange is under way. We will have our first meeting Tuesday October 25th @ 10:00 am st Sue McEwan s house. IF you no longer wish to be on this exchange list for New Hampshire PLEASE notify Sue as soon as possible. Thanks You In Friendship N E B R A S K A 6
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Friendship Force of Niagara Executive Committee 2016 President Karin Lampman kllampen28@gmail.com 1st V. President Clarice West-Hobbs clariceros.westhobbs@gmail.com 2nd V. President Marilyn Weber lin167@myfastcom.ca Secretary Pat Billingsley pat.billingsley@gmail.com Treasurer Michael Hedden hedden @mcmaster.ca Membership Bill / Mary Armbrust armbrust@vaxxine,com Social & Fund Raising Annelie Hedden hedden@mcmaster.ca Newsletter: Janet Guembel jaguembel@gmail.com Webmaster Bill Harkness bharkness@cogeco.ca Database Coordinator Martha Abra marthaabra@gmail.com Archives Marilyn Weber lin67@myfastcom.ca Sunshine Lady Grace Bowslaugh ghutch@cogeco.ca 8