Well, we did it! The Open World Russian Leadership Program has just finished, and we believe that it was a great success. The Russians were very pleased and impressed with the program of hospital and social service visits that Margaret Ann arranged, and as they left on Monday morning they all told me how much they appreciated their hosts, and the social activities that they had experienced.
They were all lovely people and I am sure that those involved have made some good friends who would love to show us their country sometime.
Dr Vladimir Kryzhanovski, who is the Director of the Office of International Health at UVA told me at the farewell dinner that he was extremely impressed with the Friendship Force members involved in the program, and we discussed the possibility of an arrangement similar to the one we have with the JAG school where we could "mentor" visiting foreign doctors who come to UVA for varying periods. We shall talk about that at the next meeting.
The membership drive focused on an advertising campaign and presentations to churches, and has produced a good number of interest and enquiries. We hope that many will make their presence known at the potluck supper on the 28th, or the next meeting, on the 8th November. It is up to all of us to present a good picture of the friendship and experiences made available to us through the Friendship Force, and convert them into members.
We need an Exchange Director for the inbound exchange from Murray Bridge, Australia at the end of May. Please think about volunteering for this rewarding duty.
The planning for the Besancon exchange and preceding tour of Switzerland is progressing well, and I am sure that we will hear more details in the days ahead.
Finally, Bob and Dee Schwagerl will be representing the club, as well as Bob's own position as mid-Atlantic coordinator, at the International Conference in Sao Paulo, Brazil in early November. We wish them a safe journey, and a good time in Brazil.
The next meeting will be held at the Ponderosa Steak House on Pantops Shopping Center on November 8th. Dinner starts at 5:45pm with the meeting starting around 7:00pm.
The Russians were coming and we were excited!! The Russians departed and we were sad and lonely!! What a wonderful, warm, caring, enthusiastic, professional group of people! We hosted 7 doctors, 2 facilitators, and 2 interpreters. They were most enthusiastic about their professional program. Of course as home hosts, we saw them during their "leisure time". The small dinner parties introduced them and us to new friends. They thoroughly enjoyed their day at Monticello and Michie Tavern and loved their evening at a dance at the Senior Center. Some had the opportunity to go to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Luray Caverns as well as other interesting places. We enjoyed being hosted by the Russians at a shish-ka-bob party at the Ahearns' and we learned the proper way to toast with vodka! We learned much, had many misperceptions clarified, and came to love "our doctors" very much! Sazdarovea!
Cheryl Kasper
Dick and I really enjoyed hosting Irina Grigoryan. She could wear high heels all day and was still wanting to take walks in the evening.
I showed her a picture and recent e-mail from Slava, our Russian doctor from the last Open World activity. They were able to communicate with each other and Irina stated that she would write him a letter when she returned home.
On the last day, before leaving for the airport, she indicated that she wanted us to sit down for one minute. Apparently it is a Russian tradition that before taking a trip, everyone is to sit down and not to talk for a minute. It appears to be a good way to collect thoughts and bring good luck. At one time, Irina said to me, "why you use left hand?" Apparently there are few left-handed people in her country.
All of the guests expressed appreciation in short speeches during the Farewell Dinner followed by guitar playing, singing, and dancing. They were a fun group.
Arlene Bandy
Note: you can see 60 of Arlene's pictures at her online album. Click here to go to the pictures.
Rita and I just returned from our exchange to Moscow. The exchange was a success and we had a great time. Six Ambassadors from our club (Mark and Margaret Dryer, and Chuck and Lynda Johnson) were joined by eight Ambassadors from New Jersey and one from Washington, DC. on the exchange to Moscow. On the way we stopped in Helsinki Finland just long enough for a bus tour of the city. We visited the "Church in the Rock" and several other attractions before going on to Moscow.
The Moscow Club did a great hosting job. A delegation from the club met us at the airport and took us by bus to central Moscow to meet our hosts. Since we arrived late, we went to our temporary homes for a good nights sleep. We found that Moscow is a big city and travel within the city was time consuming. It took a 20 min auto ride for us to get to the Metro and then 3 or 4 trains to get to the event meeting places for a total of at least 1 hour of travel time. The events were well planned and included a good mix of group activities and free time. The Moscow club provided a great tourist bus and a wonderful guide and translator, Oksana who is the daughter of the President and ED for the Moscow club. All the events ran smoothly and were very interesting.
We were very pleased with our Hosts. They were warm and friendly and their English sufficient to carry on meaningful conversations. They also liked to laugh and have fun. The food was good and gave us a feel for their everyday living. They made sure we were escorted everywhere and showered us with hospitality. They asked us what we liked to do and their free time events matched perfectly. We visited some beautiful parks, a plant conservancy and toured Moscow at night to take pictures of the lighted buildings in our free time.
The first day events started with a Moscow tour by bus with stops at several places of interest. Oksana was a very well informed tour guide and provided detail, history and insight for the attractions. She also gave us a feel for Russian tradition and culture.
The second day was a tour of the Kremlin with a special tour guide. A good tour with some free time in Red Square at the end.
Day three was a trip to Sergiev Passad to visit the monastery and seminary that is the center of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Day four featured a tour of the Tretiakov Art Gallery and more free time.
Day five was free until the farewell party in the historic peace facility. Our host took us to a park and arranged for a private tour of a large botanical conservatory. At the farewell party we were entertained by a group called Way To Peace which promotes arts for children. We presented them with a cash gift from our Ambassadors in the name of the Moscow Club to help them continue their work..
Day six was free Saturday with a performance by the Moscow Circus in the evening. We went to a palace with a park like grounds on the Moscow River. Afterward we took night pictures of the city, visited a biker bar hang out and walked around in Red Square and Freedom Park.
Day seven was free until it was time to meet our train to St. Petersburg. We went to a very large flea market and spent all day and some money there. Our hosts got us to the train station and saw that we were on board in our compartments and wished us well for the rest of the trip. .
We booked a guided tour of St. Petersburg with Comintour, a tour company located in St. Petersburg with offices in Moscow for independent travel after our Moscow exchange. They provided the tickets for the overnight train to St. Petersburg.
Their guide met us on the platform right outside our railroad car when we arrived in St. Petersburg with a baggage handler to take care of the luggage. Her name is Tatiana and she was with us until we got through security at the airport five days later. She spoke very good English and had an amazing depth of knowledge of Russian art, history and culture along with a wonderful sense of humor.
Our tour included four nights at the Hotel Pribaltiskaya overlooking the Gulf of Finland. It also included most of our meals and entrance fees to all the attractions. We rode in a full size tourist bus even though there were only fourteen of us on the tour so we had plenty of room. She arranged for optional events including Opera and Ballet including transportation to and from the venue..
Some of the major attractions were:
Sightseeing tour by bus of St. Petersburg
We expected St. Petersburg to be a beautiful city but we were surprised at Moscow. The buildings were beautiful, especially at night with the lights on them. And our hosts were wonderful.
Some of Darrell's pictures.
I am pleased to report that we raised $1200 for FFC through staffing either the soda concession or ID checking for six Fridays After Five or Pavilion Concerts. Many thanks to all who volunteered. Even though it was sometimes hot or rainy, mostly it was an enjoyable way to earn money for our club. Our next activity will be wrapping gifts at Barnes and Noble. I hope you will be as generous in your participation.
Cheryl Kasper
Word has just been received that George Wallace, husband of Kathy Wallace, passed away over the weekend of October 22. Notes and cards maybe sent to
Kathy Wallace
6825 Davis Blvd., #352
Naples, Fla 34104
Further information will be passed out when it is received.
The Friendship Force of Charlottesville meeting was called to order at 6:55 pm at the Ponderosa Restaurant by President John Webster.
The minutes of the last meeting were published in The Ambassador and therefore were not read. Three corrections to the minutes were identified and corrected:
The minutes were accepted as amended.
Newsletter- was e-mailed and sent by regular mail to those without e-mail. Extra copies were passed out at the meeting.
Treasurer's Report- Briefly given by Rita Stoll. $5,739 in the bank. A $107 payment was made for party supplies for the last meeting.
Election of Officers- Chuck Johnson announced that Rita Stoll will be the President, Mark Dryer, the First Vice President, Arlene Bandy, the Second Vice President. Lynda Johnson will continue on as Secretary and Dave Ahearn, as Treasurer.
Membership- our membership has reached a crisis stage. We are losing members and not replacing them. Rita Stoll, membership chairman, reported that recently we had 100 members but are now down to 60. The committee has recommended an advertising campaign. Members can approach church groups or other organizations that they belong to and ask for time to give a presentation citing the advantages of belonging to the club. Bob Schwegerl distributed copies of a letter that he had sent to the pastor of The Church of the Incarnation, which has a membership of 600.
The committee recommends having a campaign starting in October. The committee is asking for a budget of up to $2000 to spend on advertising. This would include 3 ads in the Daily Progress for 3 weeks; 4 weeks of ads in C'ville, and in the Fluvanna Review. Total cost would be about $1000. Also, Atlanta has a new professionally printed brochure. We could purchase 3,000 for about $300. Dave Ahearn, treasurer, had expressed concern about investing this much of our capital in advertising. John said that we have the money to spend on this project. Rita made a motion to spend up to $2,000 on an advertising program for membership. Dee seconded the motion. All in favor. Passed.
Bob Schwagerl said that one of his jobs as regional rep for the 13 clubs in our region is to increase membership. All but one of the clubs in our region are having problems. The one successful club had each member take 5 engraved invitations to a wine and cheese get together, and have them send them to friends and neighbors.
Kathy Saurman mentioned the potluck supper that the committee is planning for October 26 to encourage new memberships. The cost will be $5 for each member plus a dish to pass. All guests would be free. Each member should bring at least one guest. This will be at the Church of the Incarnation.
Rita commented that everything that we do for the next 15 months should be membership related.
Chamber of Commerce- John Webster said that we joined the Chamber for exposure. We are entitled to free parking in the East Main garage for 2 hours. We will use them to promote FF in the commercial and business community.
C'ville Newcomers- Will be having a coffee to introduce new residents to what's going on in C'ville. Gary and Cel Zeiner agreed to host a table display at the event, on Monday, Sep. 13.
Kathy Saurman said the Lake Monticello Newcomers will meet on Sunday, Sep. 11. Bob Schwegerl will make a brief presentation. He will show the FF video after the meeting.
JAG School- Chuck Johnson reported that they have 4 students this fall. He asked for members to foster each of them. Ceryl agreed to foster the one from Ghana. Rita Stoll, Chcuk Johnson and Saurmans agreed to contact the other three.
Fund raising- Friday Afternoons at Five. The last one is on the 15th, doing ID checks, needing 8 members. We make $200 each time. Cheryl has the cookbooks and the Virginia books. John have FF pins.
Russian Leadership Program- Oct. 15th Ann Bearden and Peter Almonte will host welcome dinner. They hope that weather will be okay to go out on boats. Ann asked for side dishes. Also, there will be a farewell dinner.
Pot Luck dinner on Oct. 28 for new members. Christmas party will be Dec. 6 at Mama Mia's 6:00-7:00 cocktails; dinner at 7:00. Cost: $25 per person.
World Friendship Day will be Tuesday, February 28 and will be our meeting night.
Drawing- Bob Schwegerl drew Dee's ticket number. They agreed to donate the total amount to the membership fund.
Next meeting on Nov. 1 at the Ponderosa.
Meeting adjourned.
Respectfully submitted, Lynda Johnson, Secretary
The Ambassador Friendship Force of Charlottesville, Virginia LeRoy Moyer, Editor 1863 Thomas Jefferson Parkway Charlottesville, VA 22902-7520