Next meeting - February 1 - the speaker will be Mike Slaveny, of Vandewall & Associates, introduced by JIM BRADLEY. Mike has 20+ years experience as a consulting planner, having worked in 34 states. He will talk about Dane County's expected growth, and the changes that will have to follow. February is "Transportation Month" for the Program Committee, and after next week's speaker predicts the problems, other speakers will present their version of the solutions, and tell us about what's already going on with the roads and the airport. Sounds like it's going to be an interesting and informative month. If you're going to live and work here, you need to hear what these speakers are going to say!

Last week we met amid the pillars of the Rigadoon Room, and ROSS ROYSTER stood forth once again as TailTwister. This time the requirement was a recognizable word or phrase in the Polish language, appropriate to the program to come. Outside of a couple questionable phrases, the only successful one that the editor heard was from OTTO FESTGE. Courtly and polite as always, OTTO rendered "Good Morning, Mr. Royster" recognizable. Your editor has always said that OTTO was the last mayor of Madison who knew everything that was going on, and he just proved it again. How does he do that?!

LINDA BERGREN presided, OTTO led the song, and DON NEVIASER, called upon at the last minute, gave a very appropriate and thoughtful invocation. The only guest introduced was Katie Cappozzo, of "Help On Board", the company that does the locally-based game of Monopoly as a combination advertising piece and fund-raiser for service organizations, which our Board of Directors is considering. It looks promising. If we can pull it off we should be able to raise a substantial amount for our service and hopefully get some public relations exposure for our Club.

Secretary JOHN JENSON passed around sign-up sheets for the District Convention, which will be at the Middleton Marriott on March 11 and 12, and the Multiple District (State) Convention, which will be at the Abbey in Fontana on May 13 and 14. The Club has traditionally picked up the registration and lunch cost for members who attend, and by going you gain more understanding about what makes the world's largest service club work. Make plans to be at one or both - the sign-up sheet will be around again the next couple of weeks, and of course you can call JOHN to put your name on the list if you miss the sheet.

It should be noted that STEVE BRIGGS, GEORGE ALBRIGHT, WALT PRIDHAM, Secretary JOHN JENSON and President LINDA BERGREN shared the Editor's table at lunch. Lots of good table conversation, one part of which led to this news item. Make of that what you will.

Our own TOM STEVENS was the speaker, introduced by President LINDA. He is an enthusiastic member of the Friendship Force, an association of local clubs worldwide. The goal is simply to establish personal relationships with people of other countries and have some enjoyable experiences in the process. There are about 350 local clubs in 58 countries, through which there have been 3300 exchanges involving 136,000 "ambassadors" (visitors) and 400,000 hosts. The organization was founded by Pres. Jimmy Carter as a way to promote international understanding and friendship. Members can join without having to leave home by serving as hosts, or can both host and travel. Trips are one to two weeks in duration.

TOM and his wife Marian went to Poland, from which his grandparents had come. Their group of 20 people originated in Madison, and had two pre-trip orientation meetings before they left. They landed in Warsaw and then traveled through Gdansk and Krakow to northern Poland, where the two of them stayed with a host family, after which they participated in an Elderhostel in the same area. They toured the local area, from which such notables as Pope John Paul II, the composer Chopin, Madame Curie, and the astronomer Copernicus had come. They also saw some things relating to Poland's suffering in WWII - Hitler's quarters, known as the "Wolf's Lair" and the Auschwitz death camp. Poland is 95% Catholic, and TOM noted that when he visited a church for a Mass at 9 PM on a Sunday, following several other services during the day, the church was packed to standing room only. He also said that, following the total devastation of Warsaw during the final battles of WWII, the Poles have almost completely rebuilt their city. Friendship Force is a way for ordinary people to participate in international visits and establish friendships with people in other countries. They are now starting a program to link and exchange people in similar occupations, to have a broader exchange of knowledge.