Rotary Unity Run, Soldotna -- July 21, 2010

Here are a few pictures from our community 5K and 10K fundraiser footrace, the Unity Run between Soldotna and Kenai. The day was cool and a bit drizzly, which was good for the runners but not so great for those who were cheering for them. Our club was well represented, helping prepare the food to serve hundreds of hamburgers and hot dogs, with all the fixin's. It was a fun day!

The "Traveling Twenty" International Rotary visitors -- July 10, 2010

The last few weeks were busy, planning for and carrying out the big group of International Travel and Hosting Fellowship Rotarians coming from the Montreal international convention to spend two weeks in Alaska, hosted by local Rotarians in Soldotna, Homer, Seward, Anchorage, Wasilla, and Talkeetna. As General Coordinator for the whole state I have been up to my ears in emails, planning meetings, scheduling activities and soliciting host families. But everything worked out beautifully, the guests had a wonderful time and all of us Alaskans had a lot of fun, too. We made many new friends, and hopefully some of us can go visit these folks in return. Our guests came from Australia, England, Jamaica, Nigeria, and U.S. states including Arizona, Missouri, Kentucky, Iowa, and Illinois.

Many more photos are posted here: http://picasaweb.google.com/kristinalaska/RotaryITHFGroup#

Having fun with Gary from Missouri...
and below with the group at our Kenai Wildlife Refuge Headquarters Lake

Above is the entire group, in front of the Talkeetna Library, and below at a picnic at my house in Soldotna.

Above is most of the group around a campfire on the 4th of July afternoon, and then later that night after they had gone on to Denali Park,
we brought my Aunt Pat from her Talkeetna hostel for dinner, and she told us some old-time Alaskan stories.

Below I am with my friend Sandra and Bala from Nigeria, then me with friend Steve Yoshida from Homer and Hilo, past ITHF president.

It's an amazingly small Rotary world! I met Umberto Laffi from Italy (on the right) in Barrow, November 2003, then again in Pisa, Sept 2008, and this month I met Russell Huggins from England (on left) in Alaska, June 2010. They have known each other for years, and now we are all good friends! As Umberto said, "We had the opportunity to meet each other around the planet, from the extreme northern Barrow to the megalopolis Chicago and the Mediterranean Pisa, and always blessed with a warm friendship."

and here are some of my favorite pictures from the group's visit:

You can see that everyone was having a great time... the last photo is of the drivers in the group who covered hundreds of miles in the two rental vans.

I have accepted a couple of Rotary positions, concentrating on the international activities that I enjoy. I will be Vice President in Alaska of the Rotary International Travel and Hosting Fellowship for the next two years. I think it makes all the difference if you stay with local people when traveling, share meals with them and have them show you around, and hopefully I can travel on a limited budget. I enjoy the international perspective, traveling, and making friends abroad. I'm also on the scholarship committee to select Ambassadorial scholars and award Peace scholarships, for which I suggested we request applications from returned Peace Corps volunteers. I will be busy, but for a change it's work I love. I always hoped that I would be able to make Rotary my retirement career, and this might be a good start! I am also Fellowships chair for our Rotary District 5010, which includes all of Eastern Russia, and am President Elect of my own club, which I founded before going into the Peace Corps in 2007.