Unless otherwise noted, Quarterly Membership Meetings begin at 6:30 PM on the first Friday of March, June, September and December. The business meeting and presentations are followed by a time to socialize, with light refreshments. The December meeting is traditionally our Holiday Party and the meeting where official business and election of officers takes place. Members, guests, and interested persons are invited to attend any of our meetings. Location and details will be published in the newsletter, and provided below.
In concern for the health of all our members, the Board has decided to restrict all FFFW meetings to attendees who have been vaccinated. Please do not join our meetings until you have been fully vaccinated. Masks are optional. Thank you.
Holiday PartyDue to the fact that catering costs have drastically increased, we plan to make this year's party a pot luck.
The cost will be $15 per person, to cover cost of the facility and main course, which the club will provide. BYOB.
For a special optional treat, we are encouraging party attendees to make online reservations for the LightScape event at Botanic Gardens for 8:30PM on Dec. 8, so we can attend as a group. Tickets can be purchased HERE
This is also our annual general meeting of the club, when official business is conducted. We will be electing officers for 2024 and conducting any other necessary business. Nominating committee results will be published here soon.
Mail checks to Friendship Force of Fort Worth, c/o Peter Lombard, 5713 Whitman Avenue, Fort Worth, TX 76133.
Your 2024 membership dues are also requested no later than December 15, and may be paid with your party reservation. Dues for 2024 are $50, which includes a $10.00 increase in FFI dues. You may submit your dues by check with your dinner reservation. Please include your new or renewal printed application with your check.
Board meetings generally are held at 2:00PM on the third Saturday of each month at the Benbrook Public Library, 1065 Mercedes St., Benbrook, TX 76126, and are open to all membership. No Board meeting is scheduled for those months with a quarterly meeting. Contact an officer or Board member for information, if you wish to attend a Board meeting.
Our January Board meeting will be on Saturday January 20, immediately following the Ethnic Dinner. Members are invited to attend the Board meetings
Ethnic dinners occur monthly, on the third Friday, except during quarterly meeting months. Meeting time is 6:00 PM, unless otherwise noted. If possible, please contact Judy Williams (817) 680-9316 [text, not voice] by Wednesday prior to the dinner, unless otherwise noted below, in order to assist in determining a reservation count.
Restaurants have come and gone. Do you know of a new ethnic restaurant or an old one that we haven't visited in a while? Contact Judy Williams and let her know. She would really like to have your suggestion.
Location to be announced. THE DATE AND TIME ARE CHANGED FROM OUR PAST DINNERS. We are going to experiment with moving the
Ethnic Dinner to Saturday a noon.
Check back soon for details.
Join us for good food, good friends and lots of good conversation. Guests and interested non-members are always welcome.
We have not been assigned an inbound journey for 2024.
Tuxtla Gutierrez, MexicoWe hosted fifteen ambassadors from Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico in early June. They were great fun to be with, and had a great time in Fort Worth.
Linda Doyle did an excellent job of organizing the Journey with help from a number of members.
New Zealand, November 8-21, 2024
Yes! Once again we will be journeying to two clubs, Northland and Christ Church, with a possible pre- or post-journey tour of the South Island. This is a "don't miss it" opportunity. This journey will be popular, and the best way to make sure you are included is to volunteer to be the Journey Coordinator or Assistant Journey Coordinator. Contact Linda Doyle soon to let her know you are willing to assist with the Journey.
Guadeloupe
Our journey coincided with Carnival and several of our ambassadors attended it in person. Others viewed the activities on TV.
Our hosts were very gracious, and lots of fun to be with. They gave us an extensive experience of the island, including bus tours to North Grande-Terre and both north and south Basse-Terre.
During our second week extension, we stayed in a guest house, and filled in some of the places that we didn't get a chance to see during our hosting experience, including two museums in Pointe-a-Pitre.
We will be sharing our experiences at a future Quarterly Membership Meeting.
Memphis, TennesseeThe Memphis club will be visiting us next May, and we want to really show them around Fort Worth. We will need 8-10 hosts to accommodate 12 ambassadors, so if you are willing and able to host a person or a couple May 7-13, or if you would really like to become a part of the Friendship Force experience and assist with this journey, contact Journey Coordinator Tanya Doyle.
Sarasota, FloridaAfter our Journey to Sarasota, we will do a reciprocal hosting of Sarasota some time in October 2024 (days to be established). We anticipate 12 ambassadors, so if you are willing and able to host a person or a couple October, or if you would really like to become immersed in the Friendship Force experience, consider volunteering to be Journey Coordinator. New volunteers will be mentored with experienced past coordinators. Contact Linda Doyle if you would like to volunteer..
Sarasota, FloridaWe will journey to Sarasota in February 2024. The Sarasota club is preparing a remarkable experience for us, which will likely include:
The cost will be $325 plus travel. Current round trip from Fort Worth is about $300.
The number of ambassadors will be limited to 13-15, and the selection process will begin Oct. 31.
Contact Linda Doyle if you are interested.
Twelve ambassadors traveled to Killispel, Montana in August 2023 for a very interesting and fun Journey.
The Friendship Force of Flathead Valley has planned some very interesting experiences for us including
The ambassadors were unanimous in their opinion that this was a wonderful Journey. Thanks to Sharon Jackson for all her efforts coordinating with the Flathead Valley club to make this happen.
If you have an interesting place, within 150 miles or so, that you think our club would enjoy, and would be willing to help organize, contact Jeri Edmunds (682) 559-9335. We can put it on the list for this year or next.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, FFI and other groups created numerous interesting and entertaining opportunities for Friendship Force members to help us stay involved in international "virtual" cultural events. Many of these activities, including the Book Club, are still going on, post pandemic. The latest Virtual Experiences are available HERE on the FFI website, or go to your My Friendship Force member portal.
FFI also includes a time zone converter link on appropriate Virtual Experience blog entries.
Tour of National Weather Service Fort Worth/DallasDid you know that the National Weather Service responsible for weather watches, warnings and forecasts for 46 counties across North and Central Texas is located in north Fort Worth? Come join us as we tour their operations area where the warning and forecast process takes place. They will give us an overview of their operations, history and how they fit in with the rest of the NWS.
At the end of the tour we will get to watch one of two daily weather balloon launches done simultaneously at NWS facilities all across the country.
More information about the Fort Worth/Dallas Office can be found HERE
Our tour is limited to 20, so if you are interested, contact Jim Young by email, text or phone at (817) 233-1092 (682) 559-9335 by Tuesday, January 9, 2024 to reserve your spot.
International Game NightOur Game Night has been rescheduled on March 11. Hopefully members and guests will have a less busy schedule and a good participation can be expected.
We will join small groups of appropriate size and play the games. Each group will have the opportunity to play each of the games.
Our last game night was several years ago, and everyone had a great time.
Guests are welcome to join us.
Games we will be playing are
Contact Jeri Edmunds (682) 559-9335 for more information.