May/June 2017 Newsletter Explore Understand Serve http://ffbcng.org Upcoming Meetings and Events July 16 4:00 PM Canton IHOP; Reporting on our visit to the West August 20 Tater Patch Players, Man from La Mancha August FFI Conference, Manchester, England (No meeting) Sept 17 4:00 PM Group dinners to celebrate FFI 40th anniversary (Delayed from March) Oct 26 Nov 1 Incoming Journey from Willamette Valley, Oregon. Nov 12 4:00 PM Information on 2018 outgoing exchange Dec 3 3:00 PM Wileman/Hunsberger home; holiday party March Outgoing Journey 2018 Incoming Journey from Biarritz, France. May 2018 Incoming Journey from Thames/Coromandel club, New Zealand. ED is Alan Johnson. Be Sure to Mark Your Calendars! President s Message Thank you for a great journey to the West Coast both Sacramento and Willamette Valley were excellent host clubs. We look forward to receiving the Willamette Valley club later this year and Sacramento has expressed desire to visit our club next year. We learned that both of these clubs would like the opportunity to participate in community service while they are visiting on an exchange. We have some suggestions and would appreciate any ideas you may have involving community services in our areas. We have heard from the Ukraine club and they would like to visit our club the first week of October of this year. We are looking for members to host during the exchange. We are receiving the Willamette club the first week of November of this year. Sherry and Dan are journey coordinators. We are informing New Zealand that we are available for one of the first two weeks of May of 2018 for an exchange. The New Zealand club would visit Fort Worth on the other week. Thanks for the opportunity to serve you as your president, Yours in friendship, Linda May/June 2017 Page 1
FF Big Canoe-North Georgia Picnic and Meeting May 21, 2017 volunteered. In-coming journey Ukraine. Linda announced that we have been asked to host a club from the Ukraine next September. The club voted to accept the request. A director will be needed to follow-up. The FFI Pledge was held before the picnic. Finance. Robert Logan reported that all expenses for the journeys have been paid. We have a balance of $8,219.88. Outgoing journeys. Barry Kadechuk stated that more money may be needed for the bus fee for Crater Lake. He said to bring warm clothes as we may see snow, and to dress casually. In-coming journey - New Zealand. Linda stated that it will be April or May of 2018. The journey will be opened to all NZ clubs to get the maximum number. It has been requested that we put a description of the adventure in the FFI catalog. A committee was formed to help Alan with this: Jeannette W., Peggy, Sherry, and Linda Sherry stated that she is in contact with the club in Tbilisi. They would like to host us in October of 2018 and can accommodate 25 people. The August meeting will be going to a play in Jasper - "Man of La Mancha" - and then going out to eat. Alan is working on the restaurant. A sheet was passed to indicate interest in this event. It was announced that we have a new regional representative - Ellen from Shelby, NC. The Rotary Club is going to dedicate the Peace Pole next Wednesday in Jasper. Our FFI club has been invited to attend. Bob Anderson, the Johnsons, and the Waldrop s were planning to attend. Respectfully submitted by Peggy Anderson FF Big Canoe-North Georgia Board Meeting June 28, 2017 Finance Report - Robert Logan - We have a balance of $8072.69. May/June 2017 Page 2
Jeannette stated that, as CARES Chairperson, she has sent a note to Von Crawford who is home recovering from hip surgery. Linda relayed information that she learned from our journey to the West Coast. She liked the little card that had information including cell phone numbers, times, and places. The brochures that were passed out were exceptional. She stated that the other clubs had an exchange coordinator who was solely responsible for organizing exchanges - incoming and outgoing. This would not be the journey director for each exchange but the coordinator of all, whom, among other jobs, would get a journey director to head each exchange. She expressed an interest in using the 2 nd vice president position for that purpose. That would free up the President and 1 st Vice President to attend to other club business. There was much discussion. It was decided to check the by-laws on how to go about doing this. There is a new mailing address for FFI headquarters. The official office has been shut down and FFI officials are now working from their homes. Phone numbers and emails are still in effect. New Zealand In-coming - It was decided that Linda would notify Allison at FFI that we need a response from NZ by August 1 st whether they will be coming the first 2 weeks in May, 2018. After that, those dates will become available to Japan or Sacramento. Linda expressed concerns about our "program" to other clubs, for example, line dancing. We discussed a skit involving line dancing and a better music output. We discussed our gifts for other clubs. Hospital art would be a nice gift that we could do ourselves and then give to others. We can finish the project rather than paint the whole picture. In regards to the Rotary Peace Pole Park, we voted to decline a monument there. The Rotary Club had something different in mind than we did. Jeannette agreed to let Rotary know our decision. Bob suggested that we look into the Chapel Terraces bricks with a monument on the side. Peggy agreed to ask the Terraces committee or the Trustees at the Chapel to find out if there are any opportunities there. It was mentioned to pursue the Land Use Task Force at the POA also. Sherry has received a 12 day schedule from Tbilisi, Georgia, for our trip on Oct. 15, 2018. She asked if we wanted to visit Armenia or Ukraine also. She was encouraged to get an exchange number from FFI. She stated that they can host more people than our number who have signed up and we should open it up to clubs and people with whom we are familiar. The Ukraine club will be coming to visit the first week of October, 2017. Bob and Peggy have agreed to be the Journey Coordinators. They will begin contact with their JC and make sure that visas can be obtained. Sacramento has agreed to accept our invitation to visit in 2018. We are looking at dates that will work for us and will need to get a Journey Coordinator. Japan wishes to visit also in September, 2018. We will need a JC for that also. Our club wished to go to Canada in 2019. We will need a JC for that also. Membership dinners will be the 3 rd Sunday in September. Peggy will be writing up a description of this for our newsletter and coordinating this adventure. Respectfully submitted by Peggy Anderson May/June 2017 Page 3
Membership News For our September 17th meeting, we will be having group dinners instead of one big meeting. Club members as well as potential members will be invited to these group dinners. Be thinking of someone who has expressed an interest in FFI to invite. We will be asking for volunteers to host or help host the dinners at the July and August meetings. Please check your calendars for September 17 to hold the date open. Reminder About FFI and BC-NG FF Club 40 th Anniversary Don t forget to mark your calendars for this September 17 th club event. The club will be holding dinners in Big Canoe, Cumming, and Canton in September to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Friendship Force International and our FF club. The dinners will be hosted by FF club members. We hope that all members will plan on attending and invite friends or acquaintances who might be interested in learning about FF. We look forward to seeing you at the dinners. Happy June Birthdays! Linda Kadechuk 8 Janet Vandenbark 8 Charlotte Hale 16 Tony Hicks 17 Happy July Birthdays! Von Crawford 1 Margie Bowyer 2 Tom Eubanks 13 Harry Yarbrough 18 Floyd Hale 21 Martha Mars 21 Jean Mosshart 24 Linda Schneider 26 Future Exchanges 2017 Incoming Exchange Biarritz, France Willamette Valley, Oregon 2018 Outgoing Exchange Ottawa, Canada 2018 Incoming Exchanges Thames/Coromandel club, New Zealand. ED is Alan Johnson. May/June 2017 Page 4
President Linda Kadechuk 706-268-1149 blkade1@yahoo.com Officers Newsletter Editor Cecil Schneider 706-579-1286 cwsfromga@gmail.com First Vice President Alan Johnson 706-253-4891 eajohnson@etcmail.com Second Vice President Jeannette Waldrop 706-268-1072 jpswaldrop@tds.net Treasurer Peggy Anderson peggysue48@windstream.net Robert Logan 770-479-8459 rflogan@windstream.net Membership Bob Anderson bobanderson48@windstream.net Web Site Historian Publicity Mary Ellen Johnson 706-253-4891 eajohnson@etcmail.com Ray Bowyer 706-268-3913 raybowyer@earthlink.net Margie Bowyer 706-268-3913 margiebowyer@earthlink.net Past President Bob Anderson bobanderson48@windstream.net Activities Sherry Wileman 404-386-9224 slwileman@mindspring.com Exchange Directors Open World - 2017 Sacramento - 2017 Barry Kadechuk 706-268-1149 Blkade1@yahoo. May/June 2017 Page 5