How do they do that? World Friendship Day a la Sacramento

Many have asked this question after experiencing the phenomenon of World Friendship Day as hosted by the Sacramento club. Our president, Steve, and other FFSFBA members attended last year and were awed by what their club of 100+ members had been able to produce. Barry and I were lucky enough to attend this year and watch the spectacle unfold from the start of the set up. Arriving in the quaint Sacramento suburb of Fair Oaks about noon, we made our way to the community clubhouse. In the foyer, all of the carefully staged greeting table elements were being laid out by an attentive welcoming crew: event program, glossy new club brochure, and one complimentary door prize ticket for each guest. Inside the auditorium, at least 50 members were engaged in their individual tasks: erecting displays of  their travels on outbound exchanges, laying out their world travel themed boutique items (aprons, table runners, etc.), organizing the multi-layered display of “opportunity drawing” prizes that spanned the width of the stage (more than 50 donated items), setting out the finger food brought by the members.

Backstage, the MC was lining up costumed members and guests for the introductory international “fashion show.” Barry and I were drafted to participate, just as if we were club members. Other groups preparing to perform were Chinese and Japanese dancers and an African drum and dancing group. The club goes out of its way to invite youth performers, who, of course, bring their families along, too. An inspiring bonus of the youth participation is the respect and friendship that develop when these young people are able to see each other perform.

 Special guest for the day was FFI President, George Brown, who was the center of an informal receiving line for most of the afternoon, meeting as many attendees as possible and spreading the word of Friendship Force in his inimitable fashion. Barry and I had the opportunity to share many hours of conversation with him after we retired to the same host household for the night.

The program was a well paced, effective mix of entertainment, Friendship Force information, displays, food, and prizes. The message wasn’t upstaged by the spectacle. The result was at least ten new members signed up that day and more later, more than enough income to pay for their expenses, and attendance that, after four years, has outgrown this facility.

 Equally impressive as the event itself was the after party, an informal pizza gathering in a member’s home where the annual debriefing took place. Everyone involved in the event must have been there—at least 50—and the tone was thoroughly upbeat and triumphant. Most remarkable was that the two dynamic women who had initiated this event and organized it for the first three years had handed it off to the club, confident that they had established a workable framework. Those two were at that after party to salute the club’s continued success on World Friendship Day.

The dominant thought in my mind as I witnessed this remarkable event was that member involvement depends upon giving everyone something to do—whether it is bringing a plate of cookies, preparing a travel display, donating prizes, arranging entertainment, sewing boutique items, or serving as MC. Every club needs to evolve its own event that reflects its particular passions and displays its own special Friendship Force experiences.

 

Karen L. McCready