Farewell Dinner at Heilo

  Heiloo, Netherlands
Wednesday, May 30, 2007

And so we all descended to Heilo for one last party to celebrate Group Study Exchange between our two Rotary Districts...

With the initial introductions made by the Rotary Club of Heilo, we were proud to hear that we broke attendance records for the biggest GSE Farewell Dinner the District has seen. Thank you so much to all of our Dutch friends, host families and Rotarians who we have met along the way.

We heard from GSE coordinator Koen Brocken, then showed our video of our time here, appropriately titled "This Is Holland"! For those following the blog closely, they may not have been aware of the existence of the Sloggi Museum or the true identity of Soddy, the 6th GSE team member. There were many requests for copies; we will send a video to Koen and Alfie upon our return to Melbourne for them to copy and distribute.


Following our video presentation and an overview from each team member about their vocational and cultural experience in Holland, we auctioned off the artwork we made last Thursday in Beets. With funds going towards "Only Friends", a project for disabled children we heard about at the District Conference, District Governor Alfie promised to match every dollar earned from the District. We raised €520, which duly became €1040. What a result!!

We said goodbye to all of our friends who made it to Heilo. We also met together as a team for the last time in Holland. From here, Marnie & Adrian fly home to Melbourne tomorrow night. Matt heads to Budapest in the morning. Walter and Vince fly to London and will also visit Barcelona and Rome. We reunite in less than 2 weeks back in Melbourne for our Welcome Home dinner.

Thank you Holland, and thank you to District 1580 for being such warm and friendly hosts. Thank you to District 9800 for giving us all the opportunity of a lifetime.