The Friendship Force of the New Hampshire Seacoast recently hosted 15 Friendship Force "ambassadors" from the Hamilton/Burlington, Ontario club from June 8-15, 2018. They stayed in member homes and got to know our region through daily activities organized by club members.

A Welcome party at a member’s lakeside home on Saturday was followed by a ‘free’ day for ambassadors and their home hosts on Sunday. Some of them traveled as a group to Canterbury Shaker Village. They learned of the Shakers very progressive philosophy and ingenuity, which led to many inventions and contributions to societal life. They then visited the New England icons of LL Bean and Newick’s Lobster House. Others traveled the New Hampshire Seacoast and explored the beautiful Fuller Gardens in Rye.

On Monday, the group traveled by train to Boston. They toured the old campus at Harvard where the highlight was the statue of John Harvard, also known as the ‘Statue of Three Lies.’ The statue is labeled as “John Harvard, Founder, 1638. There are no known likenesses of John Harvard so the sculptor used a student as a model, the College was founded in 1636 and John Harvard was not the founder but a benefactor (he donated his library and half his estate). They also visited the Swan Boats and the Duckling statues in Boston Garden, Quincy Market, Faneuil Hall and the Rose Kennedy Greenway.

Tuesday was ‘Maine’ day. The ambassadors took a trolley tour of Portland, walked the Marginal Way in Ogunquit and visited Nubble Light. One of the ambassadors got some blueberry pie ice cream and pronounced it this new favorite flavor! Another new experience was the sight of lobster buoys led to a discussion of how they are caught.

Portsmouth Day (Wednesday) started at the Discover Portsmouth Center with a brief orienting film about the history of the city followed by a tour of the current exhibition, Gertrude Fiske:  American Master. Ambassadors moved from the exhibit and onto a walking tour of the Black Heritage Trail. At noon they boarded the M/V Challenger for a trip to Star Island where lunch was enjoyed in the historic dining room of the Oceanic Hotel. Despite the rain, a group of ambassadors and hosts climbed the hill to the highest point on the island and enjoyed a brief visit to the chapel, to Stone Village, to the conference lecture hall and to a cottage where all were able to view guest rooms furnished with original bedroom sets from the hotel.

On Thursday, the ambassadors toured the Woodman Museum in Dover and had a guided tour of the historic Dover downtown area. Thursday evening was our farewell dinner where the ambassadors sang the Canadian national anthem and the ‘Hockey Song’ for all of the NH Seacoast members in attendance.

Friendship Force is an international nonprofit organization, headquartered in Atlanta, GA, dedicated to the mission of building international understanding and world peace through people-to-people exchanges among clubs.. A network of 400 local clubs worldwide participate in annual exchanges which include home stays and rich cultural exchange. The local club, Friendship Force of the New Hampshire Seacoast, began in 1984. Our 70 members participate in many ways, from hosting ambassadors from other clubs or Open World programs to planning events and, sometimes, traveling themselves on an international exchange. Monthly club meetings are largely social affairs, bringing people with similar interests in international exchange together.

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 us at ffnh.seacoast1@gmail.com.