The Friendship Force of 
Northern Colorado

2006 Meetings & Programs

DECEMBER

The year ended with our traditional holiday party held this year at Johnson Corner.  The evening was filled with good conversation, lively music, and dancing.

NOVEMBER

Highlights of the FFI International conference were shared by Anne Brown, a presentation by Roger Kipp, LPN, was given on the effects of altitude on visitors and what to do to help, and a report on the Ottawa, Canada exchange was given by ambassadors who attended.

OCTOBER

Professor Emeritis Griswold gave an interesting presentation on the Middle East and the History of Islam.

SEPTEMBER

On September 21, the week following our first meeting of the 2006-7 season, members of the Northern Colorado club welcomed ambassadors from the Ottawa club at a special lunch following their visit to the bronze foundry and sculpture park in Loveland.  It was quite a group -- there was lots of lively conversation and good fun. 

In addition to our regularly scheduled meeting the 2006-7 season started with a special potluck ....   

and a visit from Calamity Jane.

The Russian women were our honored guests.  They were completing a one week training session as part of our 6th Open World Forum.

Some of our members were also planning for an upcoming visit from the Ottawa Friendship Force Club.

AUGUST

In August the club had their annual picnic in Cheyenne.  About 30 attended.  There were members from the Northern Colorado Club, the Cheyenne Club, and the Estes Park Club.  A good time was had by all.

MAY

The May meeting began with pizza and visitng.  Nancy and Ed Brigden shared their recent experiences in Biloxi, Misisspippe as part of a HandOn team. They spent a week helping residents clean up the aftermath of Katrina.

The May program was presented by our Ambassadors from the February exchange to Myanmar.  Their purpose was to deliver humanitarian supplies, but, of course, they also enjoyed the scenery and learned a lot about the culture.

APRIL

At the April meeting Gwen and Joe Kelly presented information and pictures on Slovakia.  They have made several trips there. The last trip, in September 2005, was a heritage tour to the village Gwen's paternal grandparents left over 100 years ago.

The very next Saturday the 2006 Legacy Fundraising dinners began at the Clark's house.  The theme was India.  The food, atmosphere, and conversation were sensational.  What a great way to spend an evening.  Larry even provided a wonderful musical concert.

MARCH

Kay Sheehan was at the sales table where nice gifts, at a reasonable, price, are available for members to purchase. The profits support club activities.

Margaret Stockover just recently returned from Afghanistan where she is director of a sewing project which employs 19 very poor women.  Most of these women work at home.  The project is under the direction of the Afghan Women's Self Sufficiency Project. She shared information about the country and her experience in getting the project started and keeping in going.  Everyone enjoyed the evening a lot.

 Items made by the women were available for purchase. 

Several club members tried on Margaret's burka.  The most frequent response was, "it is really difficult to see in here."

FEBRUARY

President, Ed Jakubauskas, presided over the business meeting while Betty Demersseman, membership chair and ED for the Ottawa exchange, gave a report on the upcoming exchange scheduled for late May.

Tasty snacks during the break were a part of this meeting.  Our hospitality committee is very much appreciated.

    A club member, Bob Wilhour, gave an excellent presentation on his recent trip to Jordan as part of a Habitat for Humanity building project.

JANUARY

In January Nancy passed the gavel to Ed who presented her with his gift -- a beautiful set of hand woven table mats from Lithuanian.  The club, in appreciation, gave a $50 gift, in Nancy's name, to the FFI legacy fund.  One of her presidential goals in 2005 was to help the club meet their pledge of $5,000 by 2007 -- over $3,000 had been raised by December 2005