We had such a good time at the Lucas County Historical Society Wednesday morning while showing these distinguished visitors from New South Wales, Australia, around the museum. They were accompanied by Dan Morrett (far left), one of our board members. Together, the party of six represents a 30-year legacy of Friendship Force International, a Nobel Peace Prize-nominated organization sometimes described as an exchange program for adults that still has 15,000 members worldwide although Chariton no longer has a chapter.
Thirty years ago, however, during 1987, Chariton was thought to be the smallest U.S. city supporting a Friendship Force chapter.
The destinations of that year's ambassadorial journey from Chariton were Australia and New Zealand. Plans were announced in January when sign-up began and registration commenced in mid-April. In the end, 42 people, a majority from Lucas County, participated in the trip, leaving Des Moines International Airport during mid-October on the first leg of the long flight to Sidney followed by a four-hour bus trip north to the New South Wales city of Kempsey, population at the time about 22,000. John Vredenburg and the late George Holder were the Chariton group's official tour guides.
Dan was one of the ambassadors on that trip and members of our delegation of visitors on Wednesday were among the hosts. The visitors are (from left) Scott Bone, Melissa Bone and Helen Barnett, of Kempsey; and Annie Clough and Don Watts, of Tamworth, New South Wales.
Their visit to Chariton this week reflects bonds of friendship established 30 years ago that have been maintained to the point that ambassadors and hosts now look upon each other as extended family. I didn't get a chance to visit with all of the visitors, but Melissa told me that she had made a return visit to Chariton with her grandfather some 28 years ago, so for her this week's gathering is something of a homecoming.
After spending about two hours with us, everyone headed uptown to visit Piper's --- and a reunion gathering was planned for Wednesday evening. We're grateful to have been included on a busy schedule.
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The Rev. Wayne Smith, a Presbyterian minister from Decatur, Georgia, launched Friendship Force during 1973 and enlisted Jimmy Carter, then governor of Georgia, in the project. The force was brought to the attention of state governors during a 1977 White House gathering and First Lady Rosalynn Carter served as honorary chair of the organization until 2002.
The goals of the organization remain promotion of peace, understanding and friendship through face-to-face visits worldwide.
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