FOOD HOSTING....If you cannot do your assigned food hosting date it is up to you to find a substitute. The substitute’s name will not be printed in the newsletter. If you inform the newsletter who your sub is, the name can be entered beside yours. It is up to you to check and make sure the substitute will be there for you. If there are extreme problems contact Judy Sanfilippo 706 376-7788

PRESIDENTS MESSAGE 

At the March meeting, Monday the 2nd, we will be hosting the members of Anderson University who participated in the Indonesia Teachers Exchange last spring. There has been significant interest by them in the Friendship Force concept. Merilee is preparing a special meeting agenda for our guests. It will follow some of the approach that she used last November during the membership drive meeting. Please plan on attending and greeting these folks. Merilee will be providing additional information in the newsletter so be sure to read her article. Also, with a larger number of guests than normal we will need to bring food items in greater quantities than for a regular meeting. Please consider this as you plan your contribution. Thanks! 
The Board of Directors has voted to purchase Memorial Bricks for both Bill Buziak and Wally Zust. These memorials will become a permanent part of the Botanical Garden managed by the Hartwell Garden Club and near Sacred Heart Church. Both Lilia Buziak and Barbara Zust intend to remain members of our club and we are delighted to have them! Thanks to all the members that attended the memorial services for our two departed members.  
As you are all aware, this spring and early summer are very busy with a concentration of Exchange activity. After the March outbound to Brazil we have two incoming exchanges that will follow, the Australians in May and the New Zealanders in late June. Susan Schafer has offered to direct the Australian exchange and has fairly well completed her plans and identified her committee chairs. I am working on the New Zealand exchange and am requesting interested members to volunteer for the typical activities. More can be found in the EXCHANGE SECTION of the newsletter. As every one should know, a successful exchange requires the participation of all of the club members. There are opportunities to assist for both exchanges so please contact Susan or me to volunteer. 
I received the resignation of Ron Sparling this week. He did not feel he could support the job of secretary in a manner consistent with the club requirements. The nomination committee has been actively pursuing his replacement and perhaps you will find an announcement of new candidates elsewhere in the newsletter. Keep in mind that the club business requires that we all contribute at one time or another to continue the success we have achieved. 
I am including below some news from both the Atlanta International office and the South East Region office for your review. I am using the newsletter to distribute this important information in an effort to keep our meetings to a reasonable length. Please review and contact me if there are any questions. 

Important News About Exchange Assignments for 2010
A. Regular Club Exchange Assignments
Over the next few weeks the FFI staff will be sending out the proposed exchanges for 2010. Club leaders, please be on the lookout for that email later this month. We now have 275 separate club exchanges proposed for a total of approximately 400 weeks of hosting for our global membership.
B. Something New for 2010: Global Exchanges
In 2010 we will introduce a new type of exchange, called a "global exchange," that combines the best of our traditional club-to-club exchange with the international dimension of Friendship Festivals and conferences. Here is how it will work:
Like regular club exchanges, global exchanges will be assigned to an ambassador club and a host club, each of which will appoint exchange directors (EDs). The ambassador ED will be responsible for recruiting and preparing a full delegation of ambassadors. However, rather than recruiting exclusively from the ambassador club, global exchanges will be open to ambassador applications from anywhere in the world, with half of the spaces reserved for these "global" applicants. The two EDs will work together to design very attractive host programs that emphasis cultural understanding in the host region. The ambassadors will be able to make their own travel arrangements to the host city from anywhere in the world. That is why we are calling the new format "global exchanges," with the hope that they will attract a diverse international mix of ambassadors. Note: While ambassadors will be welcomed from all regions of the world, English will be the designated language for these exchanges.
Why this new format? One of the emerging trends in the Friendship Force world is the opportunity for our members to join exchanges that are being led by other clubs. This is possible because of the increasingly flexible travel options that are available. While in previous years it worked best for all ambassadors to travel on the same itinerary this is no longer the case. This new trend is already reflected through the success that many club EDs are having in supplementing their own club ambassadors with those from other clubs. The global exchange format takes this one step further by designing the exchange for a diverse ambassador delegation.
If your club is one of those selected to be the ambassador or host club for a global exchange, you will be provided additional instructions in your proposal email this month. We hope you will agree to work with FFI on this new format and help us evaluate the results. As a new program format it will be limited to just a few exchanges. If successful, we will consider expanding the format in future years. For now, however, less than 8% of the exchanges will be global exchanges, with the great majority retaining the traditional club-to-club format.
C. Special Assignments
Each year there are a number of clubs who are eager to participate in outbound exchanges but don't have the capacity to fill an exchange with their own members. Clubs in these categories will be offered one of the following special assignments in 2010:
1) Cooperative Exchanges: In some cases we are able to offer a "cooperative" exchange with two clubs sharing one outbound opportunity. However, we have learned that this format is sometimes difficult to implement so we will be greatly reducing the number of cooperative exchanges in 2010.

2) Regional Exchanges: In some countries with multiple clubs, members of smaller clubs will be invited to join one or more of the regular outbound exchanges from other clubs in their region.
3) Global Exchange Assignments: A few clubs will be offered the opportunity to reserve spaces for their members on one or more of the new global exchanges. This will enable the members of smaller clubs to travel together on an exchange without having the responsibility of finding a qualified ED or filling an entire exchange from their club. Clubs with this option will be provided instructions on how to reserve blocks of spaces so their members can travel together if they prefer. 
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Friendship Magazine
If your club sent money to Atlanta for the Friendship magazine, you may request a refund. In place of the printed magazine, FFI will expand email and website electronic publications to all members, at no cost. Presidents - please copy any electronic publications for your members who do not have email.
Domestic Exchange Directory
If you are interested in listing your club for a domestic exchange, fill out forms and return to FFI by Feb. 1st. Visits of 4-7 nights within the U.S. will be considered domestic exchanges and will have a $25 per person Host Club Program fee due to FFI. A directory will be emailed to all clubs that sign with an interest in domestic exchanges.
World Friendship Day 2009
World Friendship Day will be celebrated March 1, 2009. You may choose a different date for your club celebration, if you wish. Be creative in using this global event as a focal point for expanding Friendship Force within your community. Remember that this is a good time to raise funds for the FFI Legacy Campaign. You will receive further information from FFI for this day of celebration. Friendship Force of Lake Hartwell will celebrate World Friendship Day on Monday 2nd with our regular meeting and hosting guests from Anderson University.
Host Club Program Fees for 2009
As you plan your exchanges, remember that the 2009 host club program fees for international exchanges have been increased to $100 per ambassador. These apply for your outgoing and incoming exchanges.
SE Region Presidents' Meeting - March 27-28, 2009
The Florence, SC club has invited us to their homes for the 2009 Presidents' Meeting. We will not have a regional conference this year but will have a Presidents' meeting for 2009 and 2008 club presidents. Club members in Florence will host them. Fri. and Sat. nights and are available for Thurs. night as well, for those who will travel long distances. Our meeting will begin Friday at 3 p.m. We will meet again on Saturday, probably from 9-12 and 2-4. A representative from FFI will be in attendance.  
SE Club International Exchanges for the first 6 mos. of 2009
March 6 - Lake Hartwell to Curitiba and Belo Horizonte, Brazil
Two weeks of home hosting, followed by optional excursion. There are openings. Contact ppchambers@hartcom.net.
March 29 - Greater Atlanta hosts Medicine Hat, Canada - 12 ambassadors
March 27-28 - Florence hosts SE Region Presidents' Meeting (for '08 & '09 club presidents)
April - Greater Atlanta to Santiago, Chile. Exchange going well in Atlanta.
May 15-23 - Florence to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
Three openings for this exchange. Cost $1800 includes air from Myrtle Beach, SC to Manchester. Contact Jeltodd@yahoo.com.
May 6-21 - Birmingham to Cankaya, Turkey
Openings for this exchange. One week home hosting plus tour. Land cost $1843.
Contact marlygil@aol.com or 205-421-9704
May - Lake Hartwell hosts Southern Sydney, Australia
May - Big Canoe hosts Wairarapa, New Zealand
June 12 - Memphis hosts Howick & Auckland-North Shore, New Zealand
June 20 - Lake Hartwell hosts Howick & Auckland-North Shore, New Zealand
June - Huntsville hosts Central Coast, Australia

2010 Exchange Assignments: 
Below is the notice I just received from the Atlanta Office. As you will see....good news
and bad, well disappointing! This has become pretty typical since travel to the US has
dropped in interest around the world. Our plan is to turn it into a positive! The lack of
an assigned exchange does not preclude us from inviting clubs ourselves, both
international and domestic! This is how the upcoming New Zealand exchange was arranged.
We have contacts around the world so we can choose to invite whomever we would like!
With no international exchanges assigned we can be more aggressive with domestics
as well. We will work on making this happen. If anyone has a country or US club in mind
please share it with Bobbie.
Dear Friends in Lake Hartwell,
Friendship Force International (FFI) is pleased to propose these exchanges for your club in 2010:
Lake Hartwell, USA to Solo Surakarta, Indonesia - March
If you have no inbound exchange assignment at this time:

FFI is unable to propose an inbound exchange for a number of U.S. clubs in this early round of exchange assignments. One third of all Friendship Force clubs around the world are in the U.S., and our overseas friends have been hosted here so many times
already that the demand for exchanges to this country in 2010 does not meet the supply of hosting. In the coming months we will be looking for other ways to bring hosting opportunities to U.S. clubs, for example the Open World Program or special focus groups such as teachers and students. Another way we are trying to fill unused hosting in 2010 is by targeting clubs who have requested a one-week exchange to the U.S., and offering them the opportunity to visit two clubs for five days each. This means a shorter exchange week, but two different clubs will be involved in the hosting.

Skip Walter e_walter@hotmail.com 864.225.0666

VP NOTES

Happy 32^nd Anniversary to The Friendship Force…and here’s to many more years of making friends around the world!

On March 1, 2009,  TFF will mark 32 years of operation since President Jimmy Carter announced its formation to a gathering of State Governors at the White House.  Now 32 years later, Friendship Force clubs in over 50 countries observe World Friendship Day during the month of March to honor the efforts of TFF, which continues to be pledged to connecting the world, one friend at a time. Because of TFF we have met new friends from far away places and, also because of TFF, we will be celebrating World Friendship Day at our March meeting with friends that we've met right here in our own community.

For this meeting, we have issued a special invitation to the Anderson University group who hosted the Indonesian Teachers last May. Also, we hope all FF members will invite guests they would like to bring along, too.

See you there!

Bobbie Jones

PUBLICITY

I have relisted FFOLH with 2009 Fact Book Calendar of Events (thru Hartwell Sun).  Listed the web page and all meetings for the year, plus Skip's name and phone number as a contact.

Jeanne Howe

MEMBERSHIP NEWS BY MERILEE 

Help us celebrate!  The Friendship Force International Organization was founded March 1, 1977 by Wayne Smith and President Jimmy Carter.  We are planning a party on March 2nd at our March meeting.  Bobbie Jones, our Vice President, has extended an invitation to the Anderson University home hosts for the Indonesian Teacher Exchange last May to visit us at the March 2, meeting..  F.F.O.L.H. home hosted these same teachers for a second week.  We are expecting approximately 12 guests.  If any members missed the November New Member drive then this would be a wonderful time to bring those friends to a meeting.  I believe Jeanne Howe has some friends in mind from The Anderson Area. 

 Please call me at 706-376-7618 if you plan on bringing a guest! 

Susan Schafer will have a member give a brief outline of an incoming exchange using the Australian Exchange as an example. Susan had planned to give us a tutorial for an exchange but is unavailable that evening. There will be an opportunity to sign up for events for the Australian Incoming Exchange. We will ask several former E.D's  host a table to share their exchange experiences. Our Webmaster Chuck Thorne will have a display about our AWESOME website www.ffolh.com Please visit and acquaint yourself with all it has to offer. 

The social will begin at 6:30.  I will have the membership desk for the guests to register.  We will have our traditional  potluck meal to follow at 7:00pm.  Since I will not have a final count of guests, please prepare

EXTRA  food.  I am planning to have a large sheet cake decorated for the special event.  I am asking the hosts for March to prepare a large dish to share instead of the traditional desserts.  If we receive an overwhelming number of guests I will be making phone calls begging for food! 

This will be the last meeting before our members leave for Brazil - Pete Chambers is the E.D. and we want to give them a big send-off. 

The more involved you become in FFOLH the more rewarding the experience.!!! 

In Friendship,

Merilee & Richard Brister ml7777@yahoo.com or merilee@ffolh

SUNSHINE

From the Sunshine Girl:     Please pray for Merilee Brister, who has that nasty flu that is going around, and Richard Brister, who has "walking pneumonia".  Also, David Leverette is having cateract surgery  (Feb. 16^th and March2nd. ) so we pray he has a completely successful surgery.

if any of you have any information about anyone in the club who is ill or a need cards for any reason, please let me know - 706-377-3115.   Thanks!

Sandy Martin

WAYS AND MEANS

The 50/50 raffle was won by Marti Reckdenwald.  Her lucky streak was continued from the day before when she won two of the quarter segments from the Super Bowl Game.  Congrats Marti and have you thought about buying a lottery ticket?. 

Susan Schafer

Greenville Drive Baseball Games 

I have contacted the Greenville Drive about tickets for this season.  Box seats near home plate are $8.00 each.  To confirm saving the seats we must pay for them when they are reserved.  I will not be at the March meeting so Dave Pursell has agreed to collect the money and I will order the tickets. I have two outings scheduled so far.  One in April and one in May.  The April 16th game is on Thursday at 7pm.  The game for the Sydney Exchange is on Friday May 15th at 7pm.  If you cannot attend the March 2nd meeting and you want to go to one or both of the games, please send your check to me.  I will be making the reservation right after the March meeting.  I will bring the tickets you have ordered for both the games to the April 6th meeting for distribution. 

Bill Schafer

WEB SITE 
How to navigate the Friendship Force Website! 
Click on and open your web browser.
In the url address space type in www.ffolh.com  and enter.
This will take you to the Friendship Force website's home page.
At the top of the page is the Friendship Force International logo and a banner stating Friendship Force of Lake Hartwell.
Below this you will see what is called the navigational menu section. This section identifies all the major web pages that are accessible by the viewer. Home Introduction About Us Upcoming Exchanges Previous Exchanges Friendship Force Int'l.

•  

  Events & Activities Schedules Newsletter Newsletter Archive Helpful Travel Links

  Resources/Online Forms Exchange Introduction Indonesia Exchange Videos Photo Gallery Contact Us What's Up! Books of Interest Trivia Members Only Members Profile FFOLH  Officers   Calendar

Home is the home page and gives a glimpse of  current happenings at FFOLH, a newsflash logo which if clicked on will take you to the newest addition to the website, exchange information, our pledge and a couple of exchange photos. 
You can move your curser (mouse pointer) over each one of the menu items and you will notice they are highlighted. When the menu item is highlighted you can click on that menu item and it will take you to that webpage. Example; if I want to look at the Photo Gallery, I move my mouse pointer over to the main menu item titled "Photo Gallery" and click on that item. 
You may go to a particular webpage and all you will see is some wording (example) Newsletter - Jan 2009. Just click on the wording and it will take you to the Newsletter. 
The only other major concern you need to know is the that some webpages are password protected like "Members Only". To access the information on these pages you will need a password. You can click on the Members Only webpage and a "Sign On/Sign Up" dialogue box will appear. If you are new and have not signed up you will need to sign up to obtain access. Remember your password when you sign up here because that will be the password that will get you back into the Members Only webpage information. There will be a delay in being allowed access since this is controlled manually by the webmaster to avoid unauthorized people access. If you forget your password just sign up again.......passwords are not controlled by the webmaster so if you do forget you must sign up again. 
The database in the Members Only section is for information only. You can make changes to the database but you must save it to your own computer.  Changes made will not be updated on the website database, this is controlled by the webmaster. So if there are changes required in the database contact the webmaster.
 Last but not least is the Members Profile webpage. This section allows us to identify to others who we are and our interests and we can put a face to others we meet. It is a interesting way to get to know each other, especially beneficial to other  new members of FFOLH and other exchanges.
Here is an example;

 
This is your website so any suggestion for improvement or additional content is appreciated, just email webmaster@ffolh.com . 
If you have further questions or concerns about navigating your website I will be happy to assist. 
Happy Navigating

Chuck Thorne

GOLF

Anyone who would like to join us for our golf outings please call

Dave Pursell 706-356-2632.

Frank Boylan will host golf next month at Cateechee.  Remember to sign up at the March meeting. 

Golfers please circle September 16th and 17th on your calendars.  Barb has agreed to host the “Zust Open” again this year.  It is our only two day outing and has proven to be the highlight of our golf year. 

Dave Pursell

MINUTES February 2, 2009

Skip Walter called the meeting to order and thanked food hosts Dennis & Jeanne Andrews (subs. for Chuck & Arminda Thorne), Al & Barb Watson, and Jerry & Millie Weber. Jerry Cleveland gave the blessing.

Many birthdays were celebrated in song.

Treasurer’s Report – Jerry Weber gave the treasurer’s report. We had a beginning balance of $10,545.32, income of $3,767, expenses of $1,066.68 for a balance on hand of $13,235.64 and a CD valuing $1,913.31. Jerry noted that much of the funds on hand were because of the upcoming Brazil and Montreal exchanges. Jerry will have a request for funds form (probably on our web site) that he would like members to use when requesting funds. This will help keep his records straight.

Exchanges:

Brazil – Pete & Paula Chambers – Pete hopes to have the final figures for the last week’s tour sometime next week. Some of the information has been slow in coming because this is Carnival and not much gets done during Carnival. He also hopes to have the placement of the ambassadors with their home hosts soon . The ambassadors will be getting together this next week to go over the trip.

Australia – May 13-20 (Wed.-Wed.) – Susan Schafer – Susan should have the names of the ambassadors within the next 3-4 weeks. Please contact Susan if you are willing to host. She has sign-up sheets for day hosting, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and outings. Please look them over after the meeting.

The tentative schedule of events is as follows:

•  

  Welcome dinner on Wed. the 13^th (at the Brister home)

  Dam or BMW tour

  Greenville Drive baseball game

  Outing on Lake Hartwell

  Bluegrass Express

  Biltmore (hopefully we will be having a bus for the trip to Ashville)

  A day of shopping

  Farewell Dinner (at the Walter home)

May 14^th will be the “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” evening. Susan asks that we prepare a regular type meal so that the ambassadors can see the foods we normally eat.

New Zealand – June 22-29 (Monday-Monday) - Skip Walter – will have a tentative schedule and sign-up sheets for events in the next couple of months.

Membership – Merilee Brister – At this month’s meeting members came in and drew a number out of a basket to find the table they would sit at for dinner. It gave everyone a chance to mix with different members of our club. Merilee said we would do this every so often. Great Idea Merilee!

Merilee & Bobbie Jones have asked the Anderson University’s home hosts from the Indonesian Teacher’s Exchange to attend our next meeting (March 2^nd) it will be a membership meeting. The hosts are Chuck & Arminda Thorne, Jack & Phyllis Zygmont and Kathryn Allen. The club will provide the main dish and club members should call or e-mail Merilee to get a suggested side dish or dessert idea.

This is also an opportunity to invite potential new members.

Susan Schafer will be doing a short program on what being an incoming/outgoing exchange director involves.

Newsletter – The Executive Board has decided to mail the newsletters from now on unless you specifically request not to get the “snail mail” version. If you only want our newsletter via e-mail, please let MaryLou know.

MaryLou will have the new directories at the next meeting.

Parliamentarian – Dave Pursell – has a committee working on reviewing the by-laws

Golf – The Beasley’s are in charge of Feb. golf. It will be on Thursday the 19^th at Anderson GC (weather permittiing) with a noon “T” off time. Dinner will be at Logan’s RoadHouse on Clemson Blvd. He would like to have at least 12 people.

Old Business:

The club will be doing plantings at the Botanical Gardens in memory of both Wally Zust and Bill Buziak.

Baseball – Bill Schafer – The Greenville Drive’s opening day is April 14^th. Bill would like to get a group of at least 25 to attend a game once a month. We will be taking the Australians to a game on May 15^th.

He also asked for a show of hands if anyone is interested in ordering a windshirt or golf shirt with the FFOLH logo on it.

50/50 Raffle – of $42 was won by Marti Reckendwald

The meeting was adjourned at 8:20 pm

Respectively submitted,

Jeanne Andrews, subbing for Ron Sparling, Secretary