Friendship Force of Wisconsin

Dining on the 6th
2025-05-06 12:00 - 13:30 (America/Chicago) | Taza, 1900 Cayuga St., Middleton, United States
Taza is the place to enjoy authentic foods of the Mediterranean and its many unique cuisines. From Greece and Turkey, around the Fertile Crescent, and all along the southern Mediterranean Sea to Egypt and Morocco, these are the dishes that stir our passion for food! Directions: Recommend anyone coming from Madison to take Highway 12 & 14 and Exit Ramp #251. There are traffic lights on University Ave. Cross University Ave onto Cayuga St. Taza is on the right. They have an extensive lunch menu with appetizers, soups

Second Harvest
2025-04-30 12:30 - 15:30 | Second Harvest Food Bank, 2802 Dairy Drive, Madison, Wisconsin, 53718
Join us for our monthly community volunteer event. Second Harvest provides food to food pantries throughout South Central Wisconsin. Since 1986 Second Harvest Foodbank has provided nearly 241 million meals to our neighbors in need in Southern Wisconsin. Friendship Force is one of many volunteer organizations that helps in the preparation and distribution of all this food. We hope to have as many as eight volunteers every last Wednesday of every month from 12:30 to 3:30 at Second Harvest to help out in this effort. Last month volunteers Mary Crave, Gail Holmes and Diane Mertens helped prepare Granny Smith apples for distribution with fellow volunteers from Starion Financial. In addition they prepared and packaged boxes of mixed vegetables. The projects we work on are always varied, and we never know what our tasks will be each time

Annual Membership Meeting
2025-04-26 14:00 - 16:00 | Alicia Ashman Public Library, 733 N High Point Rd, Madison, WI, 53717, United States
Our annual membership meeting will be held on Saturday, April 26 at the Alicia Ashman Branch of Madison Public Library, 733 N High Point Rd, Madison, The meeting will begin at 2:00. The Registration Deadline, is Monday, April 21, 2025. Please join us for this important meeting!

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

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.

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

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

Second Harvest
2025-02-26 12:30 - 15:30, 2025-01-29 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.

Book Club
2025-02-17 07:00 - 20:30 | Wisconsin
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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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
2024-12-16 19:00 | Wisconsin
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Book Club - In Person
2024-10-13 19:00 - 2024-10-21 20:30 | Wisconsin
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.”

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

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

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.

Book Club
2024-09-16 19:00 - 20:30 | Wisconsin
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

2024-09-13 10:00 - 11:30 | Wisconsin
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

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!
🍉

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.
~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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

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.
