FriendshipForceofOlympia October2014www.olympiafriendshipforce.org Perspectives:NewMembers As the past president of Friend ship Force of Olympia (FFO) (201213), I would like to share thestoryofhowmywife,hillary Joseph,andIcametoFFO.Itisa storythatwillletyouknowthat youcanbeasengagedornot,as you choose and as other de mandsallow. In 2006, Hillary and I had just re turnedfromatreckinsouthamerica,doingtheincatrail tomachupicchuandtheperusideoftheamazonjungle, when we found ourselves at the wedding recepon of a good friend s family member.sing at our table was a memberofffowhohadaskedaboutourtravelsandthen spoke about hosng internaonal travelers in our home. We looked at each other and said "We're in, sounds like fun" and that's what we have been having ever since...fun. WejoinedFFOin2007.Becauseofourworkingschedules, we have not yet had the opportunity to travel with FFO, but in 2010, my work in construcon slowed down and gavemetheopportunitytobeexchangedirectorforthe Hiroshima,Japanexchange.Learninganewlanguageand the process of doing an exchange became my study.i wenttothefriendshipforceinternaonalwebsiteforma terialsandexplanaons,talkedtoothersintheclubwho Rocky Perrott Past President Callingallnewmembers have been Exchange Directors, and then just did it.we had a wonderful me with the Japanese Ambassadors, hiking,goingtoabaseballgameandshowingourbeauful area to them.we have seen and done things with that and other exchanges that we would not have, if not for FFO. Lastyear,HillaryandIhadthechancetogototheInter naonalconferencein NewOrleans.Thisyear,the con ferenceisinauckland,newzealand,andin2015,itwillbe inourbackyard,atvancouver,bc.ourclubwillhavespe cial opportunies with the 2015 Conference being so close. Many internaonal countries will be traveling throughourarea,andiamsurewewillbecalleduponto helpthemseetheirwaytotheconference. RickStevesisnowpartofourhistorytoo.ThankstoRick, we are experiencing some growing pains and now have 150 members of FFO, the largest growth since FFO was founded.ihopewecanallpaentlyaccepttheseaswe weavein ournewmembers. Wearenowofasizetobeposionedtodogreatthings for ourselves, our community and the world.this is a wonderfulorganizaon,andtogether,wecanbringpeace andfriendshiptotheworldoneperson,oneexchangeor oneeventatame.beinvolvedtothebestofyourability andwatchthechangeshappen!! Infriendship, Rocky Perrott DaveMilneisworkingontheexpandeddirectorythatwillincludepictures(recall,hetookmanyattheAlbees Garden Partyevent)andaddionalmemberinformaonforeachmember.Hewillbesendingeachmemberhis/herinfor maonandaskingeachpersontoreviewandapprovewhatheplanstoincludeinthatdirectory.itwillbesentout whenithasbeencompleted. Inthemeanme,arosterwithoutphotos,etc.,isbeingsentalongwiththisnewsleer.Pleasereviewtheinformaon underyournameandsendanynecessarycorreconstocynthiastewart,stewdahl@comcast.net.cynthiawillfor wardchangestodaveandtoourtreasurerandmembershipchair. 1
SocialCommittee StillPlanning... ThesocialcommieewillmeetonThursdayNovember6,attheTum waterlibrary.newmembersareencouragedtocometothismeeng togettoknowusandjoinsoourideaswillbefreshandnew.this commieemeetsoncemonthlytoplansocialgettogethersforall monthsexceptthoseinwhichwehavequarterlymembership meengs,march,july,septemberanddecember.pleasejoinuswith yourideasforhowwecanallhavefunwhilegengtoknoweachoth erbeer. By Hillary Joseph NovemberSocial PastaPotluck November ssocialeventisapastapotluckonnovember18,6:00pm,atunitedchurches,11th&capitolway,olym pia.eachmemberparcipangshouldbringacontribuonaccordingtoalphabetandlastname: ACbringcoldPastasalad DHbringGreenLeafSalad IJNbringHotpastaentrée OZbringdessert. Timetobringoutyourfavoriteoldmerecipe,tryanewoneordreamupanewrecipe...allarewelcome. FunwithRickSteves ItwassuchanhonortohaveRickStevesgraceourcommunitywithhistalkonSeptember20anddonatetheproceeds notonlyofthenetfromcketsalesbutalsothegisheprovidedfornewmembers.pleasethankrickstevespublicly andwithanotewheneveryoucan,atrick@ricksteves.com. Herearesomepicturesoftheevent. FFI World Conference Seeimagesfromthisyear sffi worldconferenceinaukland, NewZealand,goingonright now,october1416.takea lookat hps://www.youtube.com/ watch? v=5picfrpzgvw&list=uuevoevz Z83doX68TOcvJKA FFI President Joy DiBenedetto (L), Rick Steves, and FFO President Gwen Harfst (R) 2
We hosted Friendship Force members from Montana, Oregon and Idaho as well as other parts of Washington who came to hear Rick Steves. Sharlon Jacobs organized a wonderful buffet for the members-only pre-event cocktail party Standing room only! Over 700 people came to see Rick Steves at the Washington Center Members only got to hear extras from Rick during the cocktail party 3
AndthentherewastheAlbees GardenPartyeventaweeklater. Gwen Harfst, President, and Dave Milne answered questions Elegance in a garden! A full house! Making new friends Our next out-bound exchange: 2015, Sao Paulo, Brasil Albees message could be ours as well 4
AboutFFI/FFO FRIENDSHIP FORCE INTERNATIONAL (FFI), anonprofit internaonal cultural exchange organizaon, headquartered in Atlanta,GA,wasfoundedwithasinglemissiontopromotepeace, understanding and friendship on a onetoone personal basis aroundtheworld.a1992nomineeforthenobelpeaceprize,it has 367 clubs acve in 55 countries promong friendship and goodwill through an extensive program of home stay exchanges. Supportedbymembershipandexchangefees,donaonsandfoun daon grants, FFI was founded in 1977 by its first president, Dr. WayneSmithandwasannouncedonMarch1,1977,byPresident JimmyCarterataWhiteHousegatheringofstategovernors.To day s president is Joy DiBenedeo. The web site of FFI is www.friendshipforce.org. TheBoardofDirectorsfortheOlympiachaptermeetat6:30p.m. onthefourthmondayofthemonthattheelksclub,18184thave nue East, Olympia, WA,except for March, June, September and December when quarterly meengs for all the membership are held.thequarterlymeengsareheldatvaryinglocaonswhich aredesignatedpriortoeachquarterlymeeng. ThewebsiteoftheOlympiaChapteris www.olympiafriendshipforce.org. Anynewsarcles,photosshouldbesubmiedtoeditor,Cynthia Stewart,stewdahl@comcast.net Oficers&CommitteeChairs President GwenHarfst 3609430831 VicePresident LeslieTrue 3607544556 Secretary PatMcLachlan 3608667031 Treasurer SharonRuhl 3604914434 ExchangeTreasurer CheriePerro 3602735380 PastPresident RockyPerro 3609434557 CommunityEvents AlanJacobs 3608666842 Historian SybilJones 3604261857 Membership Dave&Laura 3603529179 Anderson Newsleer CynthiaStewart3604131210 PhoneCalling LibbyPenney 3604385070 Publicity Vacant SocialAcvies DanFilip,Hillary3609434557 Joseph,Joan (Hillary) Boileau CalendarofEvents WeekofOctober2026 Smalldinnerpares(arrangementshavebeencommunicatedin dividually) Monday,October27 6:30pm,FFOBoardMeeng(opentoallmembers),ElksClub, 1818FourthAvenueE.,Olympia Thursday,November6 3:00pm,SocialCommiee,TumwaterLibrary,7023NewMarket Street(oIsraelRoad),Tumwater,WA Tuesday,November18 Saturday,December13 UpcomingEvents December(dateTBD) January(dateTBD) February(dateTBD) April(dateTBD) 6:00p.m.,PastaPotLuck,UnitedChurches,11011thAveSE, (11th&CapitalBlvd),Olympia 2:005:00pm,QuarterlyMembershipMeeng&HolidayParty, VistaVillage,3300CarpenterRd.,Lacey SavetheDate! QuarterlyMembershipMeeng Dinner&Movie@McMenaminsOlympicClubCentralia SmallDinnerPares(Progressive) Tacoma swaterfront&museum May(dateTBD) LocalHikeandMexicandinneratalocalrestaurant 5