FFSFBA Newsletter Jan/Feb 2007

A new year brings a fresh start and the chance to improve upon what you’ve done in the past. This year is starting out exceptionally well. The newly elected officers and our new board are working closely together to improve communications, update the "Standing Rules,” and define the nominating procedure. Our first event will be the World Friendship Day on February 25 in Fremont at 2 p.m. On WFD we will have a chance to relive our fantastic and challenging Philippines Exchange with the thirteen ambassadors from our club (and perhaps a couple from the other three clubs if they can fly in for the weekend). They will present videos, artifacts, pictures, and stories that made this exchange so memorable. The program and activities directors also have a number of interesting surprises for that day.

We are fortunate to have two inbound exchanges this year: Dunedin, New Zealand, in June and Madison, Wisconsin, in September. Katharine Kleinke will be in charge of the Dunedin folks, and Gail Boyd will lead us through the Madison exchange. Our outgoing exchange this year is to Hannover, Germany, and it is in the capable hands of Dee Gustavson. All three of these leaders can use all the help they can get, so please contact them ASAP to offer your assistance. (Check on the back page of this newsletter for phone and email addresses.)

This year, FFSFBA meetings will circumnavigate the Bay—in Fremont, Los Altos, San Jose, San Francisco, and Mountain View. It is my understanding that the Area Groups will be organizing interesting events in different parts of our greater Bay Area to try to get all of us involved.

If you haven’t checked out our website, ffsfba.org, you may have missed information, minutes of meetings, and pictures from our events. Over 13,000 people from all over the world are coming to our site to learn about FFSFBA.

Dee Gustavson, Karen McCready, and I will represent our club at the Friendship Force International’s 30th Anniversary Celebration March 1–7 in Atlanta, GA. Leadership training, city tours, and homestays are included in the week’s activities.

Do not forget to renew your membership for this fantastic year. You need to be a member to travel with us. Use the membership form in this newsletter to join. By the way, bring a FRIEND!

In friendship,

—Barry Rader, President

PROSPECTS—PLEASE SEND THEM IN!

Have you ever run into someone who seems interested in the Friendship Force, but you failed to notify them when the next meeting came around? In order to keep in contact with potential recruits, the club will start to maintain a Prospect List of people who have expressed an interest in the Friendship Force. They will be notified of upcoming events.

Please think today about prospects you know and forward their contact information to Louise Heiduk if they would like to receive notices. Louise would also be happy to send out membership materials to those interested.

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WORLD FRIENDSHIP DAY
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, IN FREMONT

Featuring Highlights from the Philippine Exchange

Please join us!

Third Annual
WORLD FRIENDSHIP DAY

at Christ the King Lutheran Church,
1301 Mowry Avenue (at Peralta) in Fremont
Sunday, February 25, at 2:00 pm.

Bring a potluck item—
main dish, salad, or dessert to serve six.
Show off your favorite international recipe.

In the spirit of international friendship,
wear an ethnic costume.

$5 per member at the door; no charge for guests.

RSVP to Karen McCready

This, the third annual celebration of our organization’s purpose, is scheduled a little early this year to avoid conflict with FFI’s 30th anniversary event in Atlanta. We are thrilled that the beautifully redecorated Carlson Hall at Christ the King Lutheran Church is available again this year. We will be inviting local dignitaries to share the festivities with us. Ambassadors from the recent exchange to the Philippines will entertain us with video and personal vignettes from their eventful trip. Plan on some whimsical activities to get better acquainted with other Friendship Force members. Remember, too, that this is a wonderful event to introduce our organization to prospective members. Do invite your friends! Don’t forget your Filipino neighbors who would love to join in the remembrances about their native land.

The Philippine Exchange Ambassadors would like to introduce you to the four F’s of Filipino culture:

Food • • • Friends • • • Flowers • • • Fiesta

Mabuhay!

—Karen McCready

Directions for the World Friendship Day Celebration on February 25th:

From 880, take Mowry Avenue eastward. Turn left on Peralta, then immediately left into the parking lot from the Peralta side of the church, across from Shinn Park.

Those coming west on Mowry, from Mission Blvd., should continue on the right branch at the Y (Peralta) and then turn left into the church parking lot.

The meeting is at the Christ the King Lutheran Church in Fremont, 1301 Mowry Avenue, 2 p.m.

HOLIDAY LUNCHEON

Fifty Friendship Force members celebrated the holiday season at Michael’s Shoreline Restaurant on December 10. The tables were festively decorated with poinsettias.

Gail led the members in singing holiday songs, including a comedic rendition of “My Favorite Things,” listing ailments and medications for the 50+ crowd.

President Barry Rader presented Certificates of Appreciation to past board members and committee members.

Election of officers was held. Officers for 2007 are: Barry Rader, President; Karen McCready, Vice President; Mary Pelland, Secretary; and Don Pelland, Treasurer.

Thanks to Gail Boyd and Ron Greenwald for coordinating the event. Next year’s holiday luncheon will again be held at Michael’s, on December 9, 2007.

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INCOMING EXCHANGE FROM NEW ZEALAND
JUNE 3–10, 2007

This is our opportunity to host an incoming international exchange for 2007. We will host the Dunedin club, a new club, so all of our experience will make this a memorable first exchange for them. As ED (again) I am calling for hosts, and committee members to help organize to make this a successful exchange. Please contact me by email or telephone to offer your valuable assistance. If we work together we’ll all have a good time.

The first organizational meeting will be held February 1 at my house at 1:30 p.m. Please RSVP if you plan to attend.

—Katharine Kleinke, Exchange Director

EXCHANGE TO HANNOVER, GERMANY
OCTOBER 9–16, 2007

A meeting is planned for late January to discuss the exchange and brainstorm ideas for a pre- or post-trip. This exchange will be shared with the Rocky Mountain Club, whose exchange director is Dianne Betts of Estes Park. I will invite the list of 26 interested members to the meeting. If you’re not on the list, but are interested in participating, please contact me by email.

—Dee Gustavson, Exchange Director

A "MABUHAY" RECEPTION
AT THE PHILIPPINE CONSULATE

It was one of those ideal September mornings in San Francisco. Twenty-one of us convened from our various parts of the Bay Area, arriving by BART, ferry, and carpool to enjoy a cultural program at the Philippine Consulate on Sutter Street. The Vice Consul, Raphael Hermoso, and the Director of Tourism, Rene de los Santos, briefed us on the tropical, laid-back style of their native culture, lovingly describing its many scenic and recreational highlights. They graciously and candidly answered several questions from the eleven exchange ambassadors in attendance. For example, the answer to the question about “Filipino time” was that we might expect an event scheduled for 6:00 PM to get underway at 7:00 PM. Each of us received a packet full of guidebooks and a tourist DVD.

All twenty-one of us moved on to Luques Restaurant for a delicious lunch in the Chancellor Hotel, only a block down Powell Street from the consulate. Needless to say, we virtually took over the restaurant. Of course, the social time was enjoyed by all: Mary and Don Pelland, Gerry and Ed Shannon, June and John Cademartori, Lyn Teifert, Gail Boyd, Katharine Kleinke, Ron Greenwald, Barry Rader and Karen Mc-Cready, Dee and Dave Gustavson, Bernice and Dean Batchelder, Roger Riffenburgh and Darlene Boyanich, Joy Hillman, and Diane and Burt Demo.

The final “Send-off” event for the Philippine Exchange took place on Sunday, October 15, after the board meeting, just ten days before our departure for Southeast Asia.

—Karen McCready, Exchange Director

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VIP'S—AKA FFSFBA'S AMBASSADORS
TO THE PHILIPPINES

Brass band receptions, keys to the city, dinner with the mayor…. This may not sound like any exchange you’ve ever experienced, but such was the ceremonial welcome that greeted us during our two weeks in the Philippines this past November. After three days in Singapore and five days exploring Cambodia’s capital and the temples of Siem Reap, narrowly missing a hurricane, we finally met our Manila hosts and were whisked off to their homes to enjoy the first weekend with the families. The highlights of our Manila stay, besides the reception at City Hall, included a tour of Corregidor, an audience with our American ambassador at the Embassy, and several school programs featuring the best of their student talent. Hopefully, the nightmarish traffic of the city will not be the most indelible memory. Several of our ambassadors had to endure up to two and a half hours of commuting to gather at the Philippine Women’s University in the center of the city for our daily group functions. We have to admit, however, that another highlight was the whole group’s being treated to a ride in a "jeepney,” a hybrid take on the jeeps left behind by the Americans after World War II. These stretched out, narrow vehicles hold twenty passengers, ten on a bench on each side, paying 14 cents apiece. The religious icons adorning them eloquently express Manila drivers’ fatalistic attitude.

Baguio's Mayor gives us the Key to the City

Baguio City, 130 miles north of Manila, provided welcome respite from Manila’s heat and traffic, in spite of the seven hours it took to get there. (There is no such thing as a freeway, at least not in the areas we visited.) We did take a few detours to visit important sites along the way. One of these was a church that had been half buried by the lava and ash of Mount Pinatubo’s 1991 eruption. Particularly significant to our FFSFBA members was our side trip to a mango grove, the future site of a “Gawad Kalinga,” dedicated to the memory of Astronaut Willie McCool, the pilot of the tragic Challenger mission and Yvonne and Remus Bretoi’s daughter-in-law’'s uncle. Two of the G K organizers met us at the site to explain their program of building cinder block homes and helping to rehabilitate the lives of poor Filipinos.

Set in the pine forested mountains at 5,000 feet, Baguio’s weather is reminiscent of San Francisco. It is every Filipino’s ideal of the perfect family vacation spot. Just ask any Filipino that you know. Again, we enjoyed a quiet weekend with our respective families before resuming a busy weekday schedule. The acting mayor, a young university professor, summarized Baguio’s history for us during the reception at City Hall and continued the discussion of politics and civic issues at a dinner he hosted for us at a local Chinese restaurant. Like our Manila hosts, the Baguio folks outdid themselves with their generous hospitality and their efforts to show us all the local highlights, including Burnham Park, dedicated to and named for the Chicago architect who laid out the design of the city (as well as that of many American civic centers, including San Francisco’s). Of course, a visit to the Philippines isn’t complete without an evening of karaoke singing! The welcome and farewell parties were down home family affairs with lots of singing and home cooked local specialties.

We’re received at the Philippine Women’s University,
the hub for all our activities in Manila.

I would like to close with a tribute to those 18 stalwart and cheerful ambassadors who joined me on this exchange of a lifetime. They dealt with long flights, tricky and changeable security regulations, illnesses, injuries, tropical weather, tedious commutes, but, most of all, they immersed themselves in a new culture, became members of their host families, and left lasting impressions of the best that we can be. For me, it was a challenging learning experience far beyond my expectations, and I hope that I am the better for it.

—Karen L. McCready, Exchange Director


The Shannons set the scale for the massive root problems at the Bayon Temple in Cambodia. —photo courtesy of Ed Shannon	The key to Baguio is a lovely piece of wood carving!

You thought you had root problems? —photo courtesy of Ed Shannon	We sang our special version of “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” to our hosts in Baguio, at our farewell party.

We are received in the Manila Mayor’s office, following our brass band welcome!	This is the key to Manila. We’re not sure which gates or doors it unlocks, but the Mayor assured us it is very powerful!

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REMUS BRETOI

With sadness we report the loss of one of our long-time members. Remus Bretoi of Palo Alto passed away on December 28. He and his wife Yvonne have been active members of our club for several years. Burial will be in Minnesota in mid-January, and a local service is being planned.

If you wish to send condolences, mail them to Yvonne Bretoi.

THE FFSFBA WEBSITE

During 2006, our club’s website received visitors from many parts of the world. Our website was visited about 13,900 times, with about half of those visits made by visitors who stayed around to look at least two pages. Most visitors visited the photo gallery. Addresses that included country abbreviations showed that visitors came from countries all over the world, most frequently from Germany, Brazil, Australia, Singapore, Canada, the Netherlands, Japan, and India.

The FFSFBA website now includes club documents that you can open and print out (handy if you've lost your original). You can print out a membership application for new members, a membership renewal form for present and past members, and a payment request form to get reimbursed by the club for expenses you have helping to provide club activities. You can also read or print out the most recent newsletter as well as newsletters from 2003–2006. Just a click on the underlined words in the left green band of any page will get you to the club document.

If you’d like me to add photos of exchanges or club activities to the photo gallery, email them to me or send me prints. Questions about the website and suggestions for changes to it are always welcome! Check out the club’s website: http://ffsfba.org

—Geri Bechtle, Webmaster

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AREA COORDINATORS' MEETING

The Area Coordinators met at Elizabeth Shumway’s San Francisco home on January 11. Attendees included June Cademartori, Steve Cooper, Dee Gustavson, Joy Hillman, Louise Heiduk, Karen McCready, Janis Maurry, Barry Rader, and Elizabeth Shumway.

Coordinators from South Bay, North Bay, and Mission San Jose at Fremont were asked to submit members’ names for board approval for the nominating committee.

Each coordinator suggested several interesting ideas for future activities within their group. When possible, the activities should be open to the general membership, and be publicized in local newspapers when appropriate. It was suggested that get-acquainted coffees and progressive dinners be planned, especially for new members.

Karen McCready suggested that the coordinators ask members within their areas to be responsible for setup and cleanup at general meetings, as well as provide refreshments.

Dee Gustavson invited the Central Peninsula and South Bay members to a Woodside restaurant for breakfast on January 25. Those who are not from these areas, but who would like to attend, can contact Dee for more details. The reserved semi-private room only holds 30 people, so it wasn't possible to invite the entire membership.)

The next coordinators’ meeting will be held at Dee Gustavson’s home on April 19 at 10:30 a.m..

—June Cademartori, Area Group Coordinator

NOMINATING COMMITTEE

A nominating committee will be selected by the Area Coordinators, subject to approval by the Board at their March meeting. After that date the nominating process will be operating for the officers of 2008, so you can give the committee your suggestions.

—June Cademartori, Area Group Coordinator

MEMBERSHIP RENEWALS DUE

If you haven’t renewed your membership, remember that you can save $5 if you renew before Jan. 30. Thanks to all of you who have renewed already. We have a good start on the year as a result of your promptness.

If you’ve lost your membership renewal form, you can find one online at http://ffsfba.org/MemApplic.pdf or you can call me.

—Louise Heiduk, Membership Chair

MEMBERSHIP INCLUDES MAGAZINE

The FFSFBA Board decided to include a subscription to the Friendship magazine in our membership benefits this year. The consensus of the board was that the magazine helps to keep us aware of the bigger picture of the whole FFI organization, and that it gives us a useful recruitment tool when we want to show a friend or neighbor what Friendship Force is all about.

—David Gustavson

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2006 FFSFBA COMMITTEES

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President: Barry Rader
Vice President: Karen McCready
Secretary: Mary Pelland
Treasurer: Donald Pelland

STANDING COMMITTEES

Activities Chair: Darlene Boyanich
Membership Chair: Louise Heiduk
Newsletter Editors: Dave & Dee Gustavson
Parliamentarian: Joy Hewett
Publicity Chair: Roger Riffenburgh

EXCHANGE DIRECTORS

Inbound
New Zealand: Katharine Kleinke

Outbound
Germany: Dee Gustavson

Domestic
Wisconsin (Inbound): Gail Boyd

SUPPORT COMMITTEES

Exchange Banker: Herb Clough
Merchandise Chair: Lois Smallwood
Foresters: Don Dillon and Karen Mitchell
Forest Records: Mary Alice vanDoorn
Program Chair: Karen McCready
Area Group Coordinator: June Cademartori
Special Events Chair: Elizabeth Shumway
Sunshine: Darlene Boyanich
Webmaster: Geri Bechtle

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2006 CALENDAR

February 25	World Friendship Day 2:00 p.m., Christ the King Lutheran Church, Fremont
March 1–7	FFI's 30th Anniversary Celebration & Conference Atlanta, George Homestays
March 25	FFSFBA Board Meeting noon, at Louise Heiduk's
April 22	FFSFBA Birthday Meeting Los Altos Library
May 20	FFSFBA Board Meeting, noon, at Barry Rader's
June 3–10	Incoming exchange from Dunedin, New Zealand
June 24	FFSFBA Annual Picnic Prusch Park, San Jose
August 26	FFSFBA Board Meeting noon, at Darlene Boyanich's
September 11–16	Incoming exchange from Wisconsin
September 16	Annual Meeting and Farewell Party for Wisconsin San Francisco
October 9–16	Outbound exchange to Hannover, Germany
November 4	FFSFBA Board Meeting, noon, at the Gustavsons'
December 9	Holiday Luncheon, Michael's Shoreline, Mountain View

FFSFBA website: http://www.ffsfba.org

Friendship Force International
34 Peachtree Street, Suite 900
Atlanta, Georgia 30303
Phone: 1-404-522-9490
Fax: 1-404-688-6148
Website: http://www.friendshipforce.org

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