International Festival at Overture Hall
2024-06-29 10:00 - 2024-06-30 17:00 (America/Chicago) | Overture Hall, 201 State St, Madison, WI, United States
Join in the fun! Music and Food from around the world. We will have a table at the festival to share information about Friendship Force. See the newsletters for information. Jan Barbone is still seeking volunteers to staff the table on Sunday.
10-5 on Saturday
1-4 on Sunday

Adopt a Highway Cleanup
2024-07-07 18:00 - 19:30 | WI
Please join us for our next highway cleanup events. Our community appreciates your effort to make our roadsides look clean and beautiful!
Sunday, July 7 at 6pm
Please meet at the Middleton Park and Ride off Hwy 12 exit 249. Contact Stephanie Vanden Bush at sljacobs2@gmail.com or (920) 676-1441 with questions and/or your RSVP.

Move & Groove Bike/Walk
2024-07-20 07:00 - 14:00 | McKee Park, 2930 Chapel Valley Road, Fitchburg
For the second year in a row, our Club will field a team in the annual fundraiserfor the Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County. July 20, 2024
Join FF Team Leader Larry Neuman and choose any of the following activities:: a 2-mile walk, a 5k run, or one of 3 different bike rides. You can also just come and groove to the band at the post- event party at McKee Farms in Fitchburg. There will be cold drinks, great food, family games and activities, and LIVE MUSIC!

Second Harvest
2024-07-31 12:30 - 15:30 | Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, 2802 Dairy Drive, Madison, 53719, United States
Join us for our volunteer activity. We support Second Harvest by sorting and packaging food for distribution throughout south central Wisconsin. Easy work and fun.

Ghana Outbound
2024-08-01 - 2024-08-15 | WI
Members outbound to Ghana

Adopt a Highway
2024-08-29 10:00 - 11:30 | Middleton Park and Ride, Hwy 12 Exit 249, Middleton, Wisconsin, 53717
Friday, Sept 13 at 10am
Please meet at the Middleton Park and Ride off
Hwy 12, exit 249. Contact Stephanie Vanden
Bush at sljacobs2@gmail.com or (920) 676-1441
with questions and/or your RSVP.
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Summer Picnic--RSVP by September 4
2024-09-07 17:00 | Marshall Park
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Marshall Park 5:00 Social time
2101 Allen Blvd 5:15 Picnic potluck buffet
Madison 7:21 Sunset ☀ 🌴
Grilled hamburgers and brats will be pre-
prepared by grill master John Baldwin. We will
have buns and condiments to dress them up.
Please provide a dish to share for the potluck
such as potato salad, vegetable salad or platter,
baked beans, hot dish, meat dish, hors d’oeuvres,
chips and dip, fruit tray, variety of desserts, or
your favorite picnic food.
Please bring your own beverage, alcohol is
permissible in this park; park rules prohibit glass
containers. Paper plates, utensils, napkins, and
cups will be provided.
The program following our potluck will be a big
“welcome back” to our Ghanian Ambassadors–
Coordinators Larry Neuman and Maureen Kind;
Dorothy Baldwin, David Blado, Ariel Ford,
Margaret Harrigan, Audrey Liimatainen, Magdi
Sebestyen, and Diane Mertens.
Those who are present will briefly tell about their
hosts, share a memorable experience, and
possibly show a souvenir.
Summer Picnic!
Easy directions to the Park:
From University Avenue at Imperial Garden, turn
north onto Allen Boulevard. At the bottom of the
hill, turn right into the right-side parking lot, and
walk up the incline past the playground to the
shelter. If needed, drive up the small driveway to
the shelter for drop-off and then return your car
to the parking lot.
***********
Reservations due by Wednesday, September 4,
so that serving supplies, tables and supplemental
food can be prepared.
Please indicate your potluck contribution
and your meat choice
when you make your reservation:
Gail Holmes
(608) 249-1846
glholmes@wisc.edu
Please wear your name tag!
🍉

2024-09-13 10:00 - 11:30 | WI
Please join us for our next highway cleanup events. Our community appreciates your effort to make our roadsides look clean and beautiful!
Friday, Sept 13 at 10am
Please meet at the Middleton Park and Ride off Hwy 12 exit 249. Contact Stephanie Vanden Bush at sljacobs2@gmail.com or (920) 676-1441 with questions and/or your RSVP.

Friday, Sept 13 at 10am

Book Club
2024-09-16 19:00 - 20:30 | WI
September 16 – in person, at Maureen Kinds. Contact Marjie Marion to be added to the list and obtain the time.
Forty Autumns: a family’s story of courage and survival on both sides of the Berlin Wall by Nina Willner (2016 – 391 pp) 15 copies in the library

Second Harvest
2024-09-25 12:30 - 15:30 | Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, 2802 Dairy Drive, Madison, 53719, United States
To volunteer for September 25 please contact Judy Thorpe
(jthorpe12@charter.net or 608-772-5438) by
September 23.

Board Meeting
2024-09-26 16:00 - 17:30 | Zoom – within your own home!, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Monthly board meeting was rescheduled due to the Ghana outbound and Board conflicts in early September. This will be the September/October board Meeting

North American Conference in Milwaukee
2024-10-07 - 2024-10-09 | WI
A super regional conference with Canada and the Midwest will be held in Milwaukee. All are welcome to attend. Watch newsletter for details

Book Club - In Person
2024-10-13 19:00 - 2024-10-21 20:30 | WI
We have one book selected for our meeting on Monday, October 21. It is This is Happiness by Irish author Niall Williams and it appeared on the FF International book list. Margaret Renkl of The New York Times calls it “a book so beautiful and so funny and so true that it will make you love the whole human race and forgive it all its trespasses.”

Second Harvest
2024-10-30 12:30 - 15:30 | Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, 2802 Dairy Drive, Madison, 53719, United States
You may join FF friends and other volunteers the last Wednesday of the month from 12:30-3:30. The staff is friendly and caring and will instruct you as to your “job” for that day. You’ll be able to take a break during that 3 hour shift to have some goodies and chat with friends. Sign up by October 28-see newsletter for details and watch your email.

Chengdu, China, Presented by Lin via Zoom
2024-10-30 17:30 - 19:00 | Zoom – within your own home!, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Many of you have savored spicy specialties from the Chinese province of Sichuan (old spelling Szechwan) at local restaurants. Ready for another “taste” of southwestern China? In less than a week, Lin, a senior at UW-M majoring in philosophy and political science, will highlight her home city of Chengdu at 5:30 pm via zoom.
The presentation will begin at 5:30 pm and last approximately an hour. Additional time, if needed, will be devoted to questions and answers. We will open the zoom meeting at 5:15 pm to offer participants a chance to socialize.
If you are interested in joining this presentation, please notify David Blado at david-blado@sbcglobal.net or Mike Lambert at lambertmichaelj@gmail.com.

Dining on the 6th
2024-11-06 12:00 | Norski Nook, 100 East Holum Street, DeForest
Our November gathering will be for lunch at noon at the famous Norwegian Norski Nook Restaurant and Bakery in DeForest.
Please register by Monday, November 4, with host Gail Holmes, phone 608 249-1846 or email glholmes@wisc.edu.Looking forward to a beautiful fall day for our enjoyment. As always, please plan to wear your name tag.

Book Club
2024-11-18 19:00 - 20:00 | Zoom – within your own home!, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
And without further ado, the book for November will be The Light Pirate by Lily Brooks-Dalton. We will meet to discuss on Monday, Nov. 18 at 7:00 by zoom. Club member Dorothy Baldwin recommends this book, especially as it ties into the climate meeting attended by some members during the recent FF Conference in Milwaukee.

Book Club
2024-12-16 19:00 | WI
Our next book will be Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin, with meeting to be held by zoom on Monday Dec 16 at 7:00. The author was born and raised in Zambia, has worked in South Africa and Rwanda, and has written textbooks and children’s books in addition to her writing for adults. The book centers on a Tanzanian woman who has moved her family to Rwanda, and on her extended family and friends and the baking business that she develops to help to support them. Femina (South Africa) calls it “A wonderful, life-affirming novel…a funny, charming read filled with both the sadness and joy of Africa.” The FF International book club is reading this for their December meeting.

Holiday Party
2025-01-04 12:00 - 15:00 | Vintage Brewing Company West, 674 S Whitney Way, United States
Holiday Party Saturday, January 4, 2025
12 noon – 3 pm
Vintage Brewing Company West 674 S. Whitney Way Madison, WI

Book Club
2025-01-20 19:00 | Zoom – within your own home!, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Apeirogon by Callum McCann will be the book for -January 20 7:00 by zoom

Second Harvest
2025-01-29 12:30 - 15:30, 2025-02-26 12:30 - 15:30 | Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, 2802 Dairy Drive, Madison, 53719, United States
Join us for our monthly service activity. Each month we sort, repackage and in general give our partners at Second Harvest a hand. Second Harvest distributed over 26 million pounds of food to Food Banks across South Central Wisconsin in 2024. The need is greater than ever. If you can help or if you are willing to coordinate our efforts, please contact Gail Holmes.

Dining on the 6th
2025-02-06 12:00 - 14:00 | Liberty Station, 2161 Rimrock Rd, Madison, Wisconsin, 53713
Thursday, February 6, 2025
12:00 noon for lunch
Liberty Station American Tavern & Smokehouse
2161 Rimrock Road, Madison
Join your friends for lunch at Liberty Station, American Tavern and
Smokehouse, a culinary endeavor from Omaha, Nebraska. The menu uses
many locally sourced ingredients, fresh seafood, and high quality meats made
in a custom smoker on the patio.
Please register by Tuesday, February 4, with host Gail Holmes, phone
608 249-1846 or email glholmes@wisc.edu so that we have a place at the
table reserved for you.

Amazonian Brazil with Magdi
2025-02-12 17:30 - 18:30 | Zoom – within your own home!, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Magdi Sebestyn will share her experiences traveling in the Amazon with another Friendship Force group.

Mission Focused Travel
2025-02-15 10:15 - 12:15 | Fitchburg Public Library, 5530 Lacy Road, Fitchburg, Wisconsin, 53711
Join us for a work shop discussing mission focused travel. This initiative grew out of our strategic planning this spring. Four main priorities were identified to take the organization forward. One of those priorities is developing mission-focused travel and cultural experiences. Snacks and lunch included.

Book Club
2025-02-17 07:00 - 20:30 | WI
Farm Boy by Tom Miller – Feb 17, unless we choose another date or time. Possibly in person. Tom has offered to do a reading from his book detailing his life growing up on a farm in North Dakota. We are considering an afternoon meeting with Tom presenting. Stay tuned for more or contact Marjie or Marian for more details.

Book Club
2025-03-17 19:00 - 20:30 | Zoom – within your own home!, Madison, WI, 53706, United States
Reading the Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen

Open World- Kosovo
2025-03-28 12:00 - 2025-04-05 12:00 | WI
Incoming Open World program around the topic of Sustainable Energy. Delegates arrive in Madison March 28.

Welcome for Open World Kosovo Delegation
2025-03-30 17:30 - 19:30 | convenent Presbyterian, 326 S Segoe Rd, Madison
Join us in welcoming our 6 delegates from Kosovo. They will be hosted in our families for 8 days. Our committee has also worked hard to develop the required professional program around the topic of Renewable Energy, Security and Market Stability.
This is a pot luck. Let’s share our best midwestern foods with our guests! YUM.

Adopt A Highway
2025-04-13 14:00 - 16:00 | Intersection of Hwy 51 and Tower Road
The first Adopt-A-Highway clean up for the season will be on Sunday, April 13, We have been assigned a new location just east of Stoughton onHighway 51. Meet at the intersection of Highway 51 and Tower Drive. This is a quieter stretch of Highway. You should be able to park along the roadside. Contact Stephanie Vanden Bush
