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January 28, 2007 Dear Pete, I have been a Rotarian since 1963 and have 38 years of perfect attendance
(bona fide-no phony substitutes). I
have attended several District conferences and hosted PDG Andy Haynes conference
in 1967 while serving as President of the Clifton Springs Rotary Club. All of
these pale and become mere shadows of the past when compared to the most
memorable Rotary experience of my lifetime
now that I have experienced the joy of participating in the Milt
Matthews Host Program. I'm sure it was the "luck of the draw", but there could never
have been a more perfect match than you made by allowing Hellon and I to host
DGE John Dumbrell and his lovely wife Jean. If we live long enough, both Hellon and I look forward to visiting John
and Jean at their home on the Thames River. God willing, we both hope to be able to participate in this Host Program
in 2008. Sincerely Hellon and David Retchless |
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February 3, 2007 Dear Pete, Our guests from Nelson, New Zealand: Rex and Jo Morris never have snow on
the ground at home. To see snow, they
have to travel to their Southern Alps.
So they were quite excited to experience our pretty snowfalls We traveled to Charlotte, Ontario Beach Park, one day, and walked on the
snow-covered sand at the beach; and another day, we took photos of the ice
blocks on Canandaigua Lake and the frozen waves at Conesus. Rex learned two new skills while he was
here: brushing snow off the car, and shoveling snow from the sidewalk. Unfortunately, he will not have a chance to practice at home. They were also fascinated by squirrels in our backyard, as there are no
squirrels in New Zealand. Needless to
say, they did not attempt to introduce the species to Nelson. Our Rotary Club in Avon had a welcome get-together at my home on Monday,
January 22, for Rex and Jo, and we were delighted that DG Jim and Jane Holden
were able to join us, and to bring their guests, Sumo and Sola Omoniyi, from
Nigeria. As our prez, Jim Tompsett,
said, "This certainly proves the "International" aspect of
RI: where else can members meet and
chat with visitors from two such widely-separated countries, and experience
their cultures, than in Rotary?" Barbara Herman |
From John Spare, Canandaigua Rotary: Thanks for cluing me in regarding fotos. It was a pleasant experience once again. The Argentines clearly want to experience our life as we live it yet there is a sliver of incompatibility with our dinner hour. Horatio explained it to me that because his home town is so hot in the middle of the day, everyone takes a nap between 2:30 and 3:45 after their mid-day lunch. They work the second half of the day from 4 to 8 PM (during which time they often have one cup of expresso to help them stay alert for dinner at 10 to 11 PM. Our 5:30 to 6:30 dinner hour just doesn't hit the mark. |
From: Andrew Rothstein, Elmira RotaryIt was a pleasure to host Bobby and
Nina Senaweera of Sri Lanka. Very
impressive people. Very interesting
to learn of their lives in Sri Lanka and the numerous capital projects their
club has been involved with. We took them to the wineries, to Taughanock
Falls and to Cornell. Other club
members took them to Quarry Farm, where Mark Twain summered, and to the
Corning Glass Museum. Thanks for the opportunity to take
part in this program. |
From Barbara and Paul Humphrey, Honeoye Lake RotaryWe so enjoyed having our
Australian guests. We took them to a family birthday party. to the George
Eastman House(Michael's father worked for George for 32 years in England).
The next day we went to Niagara Falls and an evening Rotary Meeting. Saturday
was a layed back day with a trip around Honeoye and a visit to the Wizard of
Clay.It was a great time and we would gladly do it again. |
From: Axel & Carol Schreiner Rush_Henrietta RotaryGuests: Rolf and Maria Vieten,
Göttingen, District 1800. We had a lot of common interests
-- Axel was a member in district 1790 prior to moving to the US, Rolf was
part the City of Osnabrück's
government when the university was founded where Axel later was a professor. Rolf (and Axel) took many more
pictures, but mostly of buildings, ice, and snow... |
Sandy Mclellan, Spencerport Rotary February 18, 2006 Governor Elect
Hospitality Program….. This is a view of the Governor-Elect visit that Judy and I hosted which started February 12th. We were hosting a couple from New Zealand, Graham & Carlene Douglass. This program is hosted by the Brighton Rotary Club. Over the past 37 years, our District has hosted 469 Governors-Elect from 41 countries. Hope you enjoy. Day 1, Sunday Feb
12: Judy and I where Host#2, so we needed to travel to Mt. Morris on Sunday to exchange with Host #1 from Nunda at the Genesee River Hotel. This being our first time for us we had no idea what to expect. We arrived just before noon, paid for the luncheon (little expensive), and was assigned table 19. Host #1 Gerry and Alice Thompson arrived with Graham and Carlene and we started to get to know each other better. Wine was available at the bar, so that helped. Tables were assigned by district, and Graham was D9940, which was the highest number, so we were sitting at the last table. Program started with some remarks from Sherri Woods, President of the Brighton Rotary. We had 22 districts represented, from 12 countries. Two Governor-Elects were not present, they were stuck in Washington DC and New York because of the snow, scheduled to arrive later this day. We had 44 hosts, and one exchange student from Brighton. Lunch was served, and as expected, we were last. The rest of the program was handled by Peter Schwarz from Brighton, chair person. Peter has been doing this for a number of years. Each Governor-Elect was asked to speak no more than three minutes. Peter had a light system, green to speak, yellow to indicate you have 30 seconds, and Red to stop talking. Your right! didn’t work very well. As each governor elect spoke, a slide of their country was projected, showing their district. This was totally educational, and enjoyable, but long. Governor Eric was last to speak, then we adjourned at a little after 3:00 pm. Time to get the luggage and head back home, and I do mean luggage. Found out later that during their training they need to wear suit and coats, along with some very formal wear, clothing for all kinds of weather. It was a tight fit, but we got it all in the trunk and headed out. We arrived back home a little after 4:15 pm, time enough to watch the NASCAR shootout. Unpacked, light dinner, talked about the schedule of events, and about each other. Everyone was a little beat, so we all turned in about 10:00 pm. Day 1 completed. Day 2, Monday
Feb13: Breakfast and off to Wegmans. Kathy Magin had arranged a private tour of the Pittsford’s show case store. Graham owns his own grocery store in New Zealand, been in the food business for over 30 years, and he was really looking forward to this tour. We met Kathy about 11:00 am and she had two guides with her to take us through. What a tour. Graham was so happy with the information that was shared by everyone from Wegmans. After the tour we had lunch at Wegmans, where we could eat upstairs and over look the store from above. After lunch, this being the day before Valentines, we pick up some cards and did a little shopping. Great job Kathy, Graham and Carlene were very impressed with you and Wegmans. Being we had a long night of activities ahead, we headed home to prepare for the Monday night Rotary meeting. We were expecting the 37 guests for the Spencerport Rotary meeting which included two additional Governor-Elects, one from Greece Rotary, Kenneth and Margaret McDonald from Australia, being hosted by Elizabeth and Dan Richardson, and from Hilton, Bobby and Nina Senaweera from Sri Lanka, being hosted by Cheryl Ohls. The program was presented by Terry and Don Bardeen from the Assembly of God Church on Canal Road. They were back from Africa for a Vacation Bible program which we helped with financially. President Dick had taken charge of the decorations and food, and everything looked great. Beside the program, each host introduced their guests, and each GE’s having a few minutes to speak. President Dick exchanged flags with each Governor after their talk. We adjourned about 8:00 pm, really not too bad for all we had planned. Headed home, ending Day 2. Day 3, Tuesday Feb
14: Full day planned. After breakfast we headed to the Strong Museum. We toured the children’s area, then the second floor of the museum. We had lunch in the dinner at the museum, and it’s a good thing we gave ourselves plenty of time before meeting the Rotary tour at the Eastman house which was arranged by Peter Schwarz. Tour started at 2:30 pm and took us to almost 4:00 pm. After the tour we headed home to rest and get ready to attend a gathering of Governor-Elects at Peter Schwarz house, which was an open house from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, which included food, which we did not know about. But first we were treated to a dance concert next door produced and directed by my grand kids. They even served pop-corn. Graham and Carlene got a big kick out of this. Great job kids….. We arrived about 7:30 pm. at Peter’s house. There was a large crowd, Governors, Brighton Rotary members, Hosts, and others. We headed home about 8:45 pm. Day 3 came to an end, and my feet were killing me. Day 4, Wednesday
Feb 15: Graham and Carlene, and most all other Governors-Elect wanted to go a little slower as they prepare for their trip to California. They had already been to the Fall’s, so we did some touring of the area, including Spencerport, Charlotte, and Greece. We had lunch at the Char-Broil dinner in Charlotte, which they totally enjoyed. Carlene is a very accomplished weaver of wool crafts, and wanted to visit a store in Ogden which Judy knew about. We did, with the owner know Carlene from articles she has written. Go figure. We did a little shopping, returned home for dinner and packing. Day 4 completed. Day 5, Thursday Feb
16, very early: Graham and Carlene needed to be at the airport by around 5:30 am for their 7:05 am flight. We loaded the luggage and unloaded the luggage at the airport. We found a cart to put every on, I parked the car. By the time I got back to the terminal, they had already checked the luggage, and were waiting in the security line, which was long but moving very well. As all of you know, Judy and I could not go any further and follow them through security, so we said our good bys and took some more pictures. Unfortunately, their visit came to an end. Some comments: For Judy and I this was a great experience, our first with this program. I want to thank Judy for all her hard work in getting the house ready and preparing food as needed. I want to thank Kathy Magin for her help in setting up the tour at Wegmans, and Dick Dubois for his support and for a great Monday night meeting. I have had many comments for Hilton and Greece on how well everything went, thanks Dick. Lastly I hope that more of you will join us in hosting next year. We have made some friends for a lifetime, I hope we see then again. This program is truly the best example of “International Understanding and Goodwill”. “Service Above Self” Sandy Mclellan, Spencerport Rotary, Host #2, 2006. |
Notes from Dave Luitweiller, Victor Farmington Rotary Victor-Farmington Rotary Club Hosts Rotary Visitors February 12-16 The Victor-Farmington Rotary Club hosted three Rotary International officials who were in our community prior to attending a training conference in California.. As part of their visit they were in the Victor-Farmington area for four days. The visiting officials, all of whom were accompanied by their spouse, included Governor-Elect Andrew Suggett, and his wife, Betty, from District 9780, Australia; Maria Cisneros de Marsiglia, and her husband, Juan Carlos, from District 4910, Argentina; and, Miguel Vicente and his wife, Marilena, from District 4920, Argentina. Also joining the group, and being hosted by the Bloomfield Rotary Club, was Governor Elect Guillermo Federik and his wife, Matilde, from Parana Norte, Argentina. .
On Monday, February 13, the group toured the Daily Messenger, a newspaper based in Canandaigua. The group was addressed by the owner/publisher, George Ewing, and the Executive Editor, Robert Matson. They toured the newspaper operations. Following a tour of the newspaper, the group next went to the Gideon Granger Homestead in Canandaigua for a tour of this historic home built in 1816 by Mr. Granger who was Postmaster general of the United States. The next stop for the group was the north end of Canandaigua Lake for a winter view of one of the beautiful Finger Lakes. Following their visit to Canandaigua, the entire group then went to Eastview Mall in Victor for a hosted lunch at Biaggis Restaurant, followed by an afternoon of shopping at the Mall. That evening, the visitors had a chance to sample a number of Western New York delicacies, including Buffalo Wings, Beef on Wick, white hot dogs, cheese potato skins and barbecue ribs at McGhans Pub in Victor. The owner, Clem McGhan, saw to it that the platter was loaded with tasty samplers and personally met each visitor. The group also had the opportunity to sample regional beverages, including New York wines. On Tuesday, the day began with a hosted breakfast at the home of Victor-Farmington Rotarian Mark Donahue. Joining the group was Antonello Marghinotti, a Rotary Exchange Student from Italy and hosted by the Victor Farmington Rotary Club. Upon finishing a tasty breakfast, the group proceeded to the Wegmam’s store on Monroe Avenue in Pittsford where they were joined by other local Rotarians and visiting Governor Elects for a tour of this flagship supermarket. The next stop was the Memorial Art Gallery and lunch with the Rochester Rotary Club. Following lunch, the group proceeded to the George Eastman House for a tour of this famous landmark and museum. That evening, several members of the Victor-Farmington Rotary Club, and their spouses, joined the four visiting Governor Elects and their spouses, for a Rotary Club presented heart-shaped boxes of chocolates to each of the four international lady guests, as well as a bottle of Highland Lilac Perfume as a remembrance of their visit. On Wednesday, the day began early as the entire group attended the morning breakfast meeting of the Bloomfield Rotary Club. Each Governor Elect spoke briefly and presented their club flags to President Joel Steele of the Bloomfield Club. A second Rotary Exchange Student, Sheila Evelin Camargo, who is from Argentina, and hosted by the Bloomfield Rotary Club, joined the group. After the Bloomfield meeting, the group traveled to the New Energy Works/Pioneer Millworks complex in Farmington for a tour of this local company that specializes in reclaiming wood from very old buildings and using it in modern building construction. Upon finishing their tour of the millworks complex, the group then toured the New York State Police, troop “E” Headquarters, in Farmington. The Troop Commander, Major Steven T. White, and his staff, spoke to the group on law enforcement services and also presented several demonstrations including forensic techniques, firearms training and a chance to inspect a State Police patrol car. The final aspect of the hosting program was the noon meeting of the Victor-Farmington Rotary Club where greetings and presentations were made to the Governor Elects by Victor Mayor John Holden and Farmington Town Supervisor Ted Fafinski. Each of the visiting Governor Elects was presented with a commemorative book celebrating the bicentennial of the Town of Farmington. Each of the Governor Elects spoke briefly to the group, followed by an exchange of club banners with Victor-Farmington Club President Galen Powers. That evening, the Victor-Farmington Rotary hosts had a farewell dinner with their guests at a Canandaigua restaurant. |