Aussies Enjoy FFNHS Hospitality

Post date: Jul 31, 2015 4:54:13 PM

The Australian ambassadors aboard the Gundalow Piscataqua. Courtesy photo   

DOVER — The Friendship Force of the New Hampshire Seacoast recently hosted 14 Friendship Force "ambassadors" from the east coast of Australia, representing clubs from Sydney to Cairns. They stayed in member homes and got to know our region through daily activities organized by club members.

Activities included group visits to Strawbery Banke, a ride on the Gundalow, a trip to Boston and up the Maine coast to Portland. While in Portland, the group attended a Portland Sea Dogs game. With their home hosts, our guests toured the Woodman Museum and explored Dover, went to Concord, the Shaker Village in Canterbury, Lake Winnipesaukee and Castle in the Clouds.

Friendship Force is an international organization of almost 400 clubs around the world. Headquartered in Atlanta, members commit to the mission of building international understanding and world peace through people-to-people exchanges among clubs.

Friendship Force of the New Hampshire Seacoast hosts two groups per year and travels internationally once each year to visit another club. In September, the club will host a similar sized group from New Zealand. In recent years the club has hosted clubs from Turkey, Japan, Brazil and Germany.

For more information visit www.ffnh.org or internationally www.friendshipforce.org. The local club meets monthly at 6 p.m. on the 6th of each month. Contact president Jim Verschueren for information, jd.verschueren@gmail.com.