Rotary Club
Rotary Club
GROUP STUDY EXCHANGE –to- District 5390 Mantana
May 1st 2001 , a date that our District GSE team have had engraved in their minds and hearts since they were selected last September.
May 1st is the day they fly out to Rotary District 5390 Montana, and for the next five weeks will see the people, the sights, and the sounds of Montana in a way that would be impossible for the mere tourist.
The team, being all from the emergency services will have the opportunity of seeing for themselves how the ‘West was Won’ with visits to the local court house and sheriffs offices, The opportunity for some real rough house stuff will present itself at the annual Bucking Horse sale in Miles City on the 19th May when apparently the atmosphere gets a little like the England football supporters club --- with guns!! But there will be a ‘Quick Draw’ contest beforehand so the team will have some practice!
The Rotarians in 5390 will be taking our team on many ‘behind the scenes ‘ visits and giving them a number of Vocational experiences including ‘ride along’ sessions with the Police and Paramedics.
Bar –B-Q’s could be a bit of a problem as two of our team are vegetarians!
If you look at the map of Montana you will realise how vast it is and how huge tracts up in the mountains are relatively unknown. I always thought that Nepal was off the beaten track, and so it is, but I’m sure that parts of Montana are just as isolated and cold up in the high peaks with nothing but grizzly bears to keep you company
Our team -- Richard Berry, Paramedic, sponsored by Itchen Valley RC,
Kirsty Blaylock, Police Inspector, Southampton West RC, Sharman Carr Police Sargeant, Hamble Valley RC and Steve Blunn, Prison Officer, Shaftesbury RC all led by John Willats, Basingstoke Deane RC ---will arrive in Bozeman and then travel to Livingston for the District Conference then on to Billings, arriving in Miles city on the 15th May. They then move on to Roundup/Lewistown/Havre, finishing up at Great Falls where they fly out, no doubt tired and exhausted, on 4th June.
The Welcome Home Presentation by the team will take place at the Lyndhurst Park Hotel on the 16th July 7.00 for 7.30 ---book now it should be good.!!
It has been an interesting and rewarding experience for me in my first year of arranging the District GSE programme and I must say that I have made some good friends both in this District and in Montana and I am grateful to Rotary for that.
Next year it is District 3130 Pune, India and already the e/mails are buzzing with preliminary dates and details .The team will be environmentally based and will arrive on the 14th September and leave on the 15th October 2001 so between now and then there is a lot of work to be done.
I have had offers to host and take the team on visits from 25 Clubs including Hamble Valley! which is very encouraging. However I shall not be able to make any firm arrangements until after their team has been selected on the 18th June. It is only then that I will know exactly what the team does and will start to fit them into companies throughout the District that suits their vocations.
The plan is to place them with companies for 3 or 4 days in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the visit so that they get a much deeper insight into our environmental work. The remainder of the visit will follow the usual arrangements of general and cultural visits around the District.
This is the first time this format has been tried, certainly in this District so I shall be looking for all the support I can get!!
In between all of that we have to select our team and the leader to visit Pune between the 5th February and 5th March next year. Interviews for the Leader will take place at the end of July and District interviews for the team will take place at the beginning of September, but first I have to find out what environmental facilities they have in District 3130 so that we can match our team to suit
So it’s ‘Goodbye Cowboys -the Indians are coming’ and I need a secretary!!
It’s a great life if you don’t weaken!
David Holt
