Rome

Thursday 22nd April


The day started with a visit to Rome’s most prominent landmark the Clock Tower which is situated on top of one of Rome’s Seven hills. The view from the top was spectacular which enabled us all to get a full perspective of the size and location of the city and its beautiful surrounding mountains. We then went back inside the clock tower and up to see the bell itself where Gareth was a little on edge due to all the spider webs lurking in the corners.

We then took a trip to the 911 Emergency Call Centre which was very informative before meeting a policeman with a real gun. He duly informed us that the state is making it easier for people to carry a gun on the street which although may seem a bit extreme for our UK readers, it’s considered a citizen’s right to ‘pack some heat’ around these parts. In fact, it’s quite legal to carry a loaded gun in the unlocked glove box of your car as it’s considered an extension of your own home. Well of course it is silly!

We then took a trip to the City’s water purification plant and it’s sewage treatment works which were very informative and educational. We noticed on the itinerary that we were also due to visit the local landfill site but unfortunately we did not get the time, however we do hope that our opposite numbers the USA GSE Team are not so unfortunate and get the chance of a full and detailed tour of Bredbury Tip at some point during their stay.

We were hosted for lunch by the Rome Rotary club where the team once again gave their presentation. This time to around 180 Rotarians and their respective guests which was the second largest audience thus far.

The afternoon saw each team member go their separate ways on individual vocational visits for the first time since arriving in Georgia. Gareth went to City Hall, Allison went The Chieftain’s House Museum, Andrea went to The West Central Elementary School, with special educational needs facilities, Steve visited The Fire Department of Rome and Roy got the chance to coach some local soccer scholorship boys and girls.

Steve muscled in on Gareth’s host family in the evening and went Mountain Biking with Stephan LaPoint. Stephan is an avid cyclist who’s collection of bikes, bits and tools would put Halfords to shame. A big shout out has to go to Cycle Therapy who provided Steve with a brand new Scott Spark 40 Mountain Bike for the ride.

www.cycletherapy.us

Meanwhile the rest of the team went to watch the Rome Braves baseball team where they were treated to a VIP Suite with food and drink being served throughout the game. Unfortunately the Braves lost although none of the team could really understand what was happening they cheered and booed when prompted.

Madison Day Two

Wednesday 21st April

This morning we all met up at Perk Avenue again after bidding farewell to our respective families. We enjoyed a lovely breakfast of various filled bagels and coffee. Andrea was very pleased to see English tea was on the menu and Gareth seemed to be reverting back to his old self by ordering a ‘porker’!

Our host Andy then kindly gave us the morning to enjoy the lovely town of Madison in our own time which is something we haven’t had much opportunity to do so far. Madison itself is a lovely town which had many quaint antiques shops a lovely little dairy fudge cafe. It has actually been voted the best small town in the whole of the USA by an American magazine. We were later told that the magazine went out of print some years ago but Madison is still proudly holding on to the title!

Roy, Alison and Andrea headed to the local park which was a lovely green lawned area complete with bandstand to soak up a bit of the beautiful sunshine of which we tend to view mostly from air conditioned rooms.

Steve ran as fast as his little legs could carry him to the toy shop to purchase his Tonka truck and proceeded to show us how he used to play with his original!

Steve also got the chance to visit Tim the Madison Fire Chief and Bank Manger
 

Andy then kindly passed us over to Betty who obviously noticed how malnourished we were looking, so she took us to a lovely all you can eat restaurant called the Blue Willow Inn. The buffet consisted of all things southern. New experiences included chicken and dumpling soup, which looked remarkably like wallpaper paste but the brave members who sampled it said it was actually quite tasty. We also tried fried green tomatoes and fried chicken livers. Yum!
 

Following much conversation over lunch on the group’s latest obsession ‘GUNS’ Ken, Betty’s husband gave us all a chance to pose for a picture with his 9mm semi automatic pistol. Not one passer by batted an eyelid as each member of the took turns to ‘pack some heat’ in the carpark.

Gangster Moll No1

Gangster Moll No 2

Gangster Moll No 3

Are you pleased to see me!

Our next destination was Rome and we arrived at Rome Country Club where the group spilt and headed back with their respective families to change for Dinner. Andrea and Allison were together and the three boys had separate families to stay with.

Rome Country Club is a grand place and Rome Rotary had kindly arranged a welcome dinner for our group and a select few of the Rome Rotarians. We discovered that Rome is the oldest and largest rotary club in Georgia with over 200 members. We all enjoyed a delicious meal and were made to feel very welcome by our Roman hosts who provided each team member with a goodie bag which included a full and detailed itinerary of our time in Rome.

Madison - Morgan County

Tuesday 20th April


Today was a busy day for the team, it began with an early rise and visit back over to Cartersville Rotary club for their early morning Rotary meeting.

We were not as bleary eyed as we thought we might be, as the breakfast clubs visits did at first appear to start at an ‘uncivilized’ hour. However we were bright eyed and bushy tailed, and ready to go!

We had breakfast and then another successful presentation, following this we were taken back to the hotel where we collected our cases and headed off to our next destination of Madison in Morgan County.

The day was more overcast than on previous days and we experienced a drop or two of Georgia rain on the way over.

On our arrival in the town we had chance for a brief visit to a few of the Main Street shops before we were taken to the Chop House, where we were to have lunch and give an afternoon presentation.

Madison

Our guide for today was the club president Andy Williams, not the famous crooner but one of the youngest Rotary presidents in the country at only 25 years old.

Gareth with Andy Williams in Perk Avenue

From lunch, Andy took us on a brief tour of some of the historical houses of the town, the properties were beautiful – think Gone With The Wind style grand colonial homes, you can almost imagine the local militia marching past, although it appears today they would most likely use a Ford Pick-Up Truck. We also had the benefit of a professional tour guide for these various homes.

As we had been on our feet for such a long time, we were taken for a brief rest to the delightful local coffee shop called Perk Avenue. It is independently owned like most businesses in the city. There was a great look and vibe about the place, more types of coffee than you could shake Rotary flag at and some very tempting looking food.

We could have spent longer at the cafe, it was very much similar to the Central Perk Cafe on friends and this cafe alone was a good enough reason for us all to considering Madison our new home town!

Later on after we had visit to the locally based and very interesting Cultural Centre but prior to being taken for our evening meal; Steve, Roy and Gareth were taken to their accommodation for the evening, the Brady Inn. The accommodation was excellent and resembled one of the grand homes we had been visiting previously. The owners were very obliging, we had the building to ourselves, they provided us with soft drinks and wine and a great place to sleep.

However sleep was not the priority at this point, as we’d not eaten for over an hour it meant it was time to go for dinner. Tonight Andy took us Tequila Express, which served homed cooked Mexican and Greek food.

We were well looked after by the owner Ricardo and introduced to some new flavours and food, although the conversation involved Andy being brow beaten into benefits of the British way of restaurant etiquette and our obviously unquestionable reputation for good food!


Just as we were thinking the night couldn’t get any better, we were taken to the beautiful home Shauna Von-Hounstein.

This was to be the girls accommodation for the night, to say the house was ‘big’ was an understatement. It was situated on a complex of other large homes but with a rear woodland backdrop, providing a completely natural view.

We were also treated to a fabulous evening of cocktails, games of pool, good conversation and all in the surroundings of Shauna’s social wing of the house, which had its own bar, concealed fridge freezer holding nothing but drinks and ice, large screen TV with surround sound, covered outdoor veranda and ‘hot tub’ in which ‘some guest’ chose to end their evening.

Both Andy and Shauna really looked after us all, showing us everything that is great about where they live, I’m sure we’ll remember our new friends from Madison, Georgia.


By Gareth (aka Garth)

Monday 19th April

Monday was a very busy day. We were out of the Holiday Inn at 8am and headed straight for the Cartersville Fire Department. We were met by Chief Carter who took us for a fascinating tour around the building. Steve got a chance to talk shop with his American counterparts and the girls (including Gareth) enjoyed a trip up the 100ft extending rescue ladder which gave us a magnificent view of the town of Cartersville.

A view of Cartersville from the rescue ladder

Chuck (our tour guide and Rotarian host for the day) then took us the scenic route to the Booth Museum – dedicated to celebrating the Wild West and Native American art and culture. We were thoroughly spoiled as they opened up especially for us and our tour guide was Jim Dunham, an expert on all things western. The art was inspiring and the museum itself beautifully laid out with a fantastic interactive area for children (and big kids too!). We even got to hold Jim’s gun and see his gun slinging skills.

Next, we were whisked off to give our presentation to Cartersville rotary club and enjoyed a good lunch. It was lovely to meet local Rotarians and we even posed for a photo with Avery who was celebrating his 94th birthday!

After lunch we were again on the road. Chuck drove us past the Etowah Indian mounds on the way to meet Diana Tate (leader of the city council) who gave us a guided tour of the City Hall and explained how Cartersville is run. It was refreshing to see how much the public is involved and valued in the decision making process. This was particularly interesting for Gareth who works for a local government authority back at home.

Straight from Diana’s warm hospitality we were taken to Adam Wade at the Tellus Science Museum. What a place! The museum is enormous and yet again the minerals, fossils, automobiles and other exhibits were laid out beautifully to inspire, inform and bring home the wonder of our planet. We enjoyed a show in the planetarium and all posed as US astronauts. We also did some ‘panning’ for minerals and discovered fossils in another great interactive child and adult friendly area. You can tell the Americans (and especially Cartersville residents) really value culture and learning and are rightly proud of these institutions. We may even end up in the local paper as we had to pose for the photographer – America, we have arrived!

Apollo 11

16th-24th July 1969

Don't know when I'll be back!

Finally, Chuck took us back to the Holiday Inn and gave us a leisurely 20 mins to change and make our way over to the BBQ at the outdoor pavilion back at the Tellus Museum. All the rushing was worth it though. For those of you back at home we have uncovered one culinary difference between our two cultures – BBQ over here means meat (pork/chicken) shredded and in sauce. BBQ as far as we know it is called a ‘grill’ over here. Very tasty whatever you call it!

Finally we went back to the hotel, Steve and Gareth did the blog and we sharpened up our speeches. It was a long day but great fun and very informative. We were made to feel very welcome and slept soundly – thanks to Chuck and everyone who treated us so well.

By Allison

Back on the road

Sunday 18th April

We hit the road again today and headed back up North towards Atlanta. The roads are long and straight so to pass the time we alternated between playing trivia and eating Gummy Bears. We pitted our witts aginst the American team but matter how hard we tried to let our gracious hosts win we failed miserably.

The midway  point in our journey saw both teams stopping at Longhorne Steak House for a flame grilled lunch. What we have all come to realise, much to the detrement of our ever expanding waistlines is that the food portions here are extreamly more generous than what we get back home. This is a big country with a big apetite.

This stop saw us bid farewell to our new friends from the  US GSE Team for the time being. This was a sad moment as we had shared so many good times together and bonded so well since our arrival.

The US GSE Team at Longhone Steak House

When we reached Atlanta we briefly stopped to swap drivers. We said goodby to Gary Moore who handed over to Candler Ginn who showed us round the palatial HQ of Georgia Power. We then headed onwards for the final leg of our journey which brought us to Catersville where we spent the night in a Holiday Inn.

Jekyll Island Day 3 - The presentation

Saturday 17th April


Today was the big day as it would be our turn to take to the stage and address the conference with our presentation that we have all worked so hard on over the last six months. But before that there was the small matter of the 5k charity race for which we have received so much sponsorship money from various rotary clubs back in the UK. We had to get up even earlier this morning as the race was due to start at 07:00.

Getting ready for the 5k race at sunrise

Those of you who did donate you can be assured that you got your monies worth as a fantastic effort saw all the team finishing well up the front end of the field with Steve coming in as overall race winner. Roy was pleased to be awarded first place in the veterans race although his pride took a bit of a hit when he found out the only other veteran walked the whole distance finishing a full 30 minutes behind him. All the money raised will be going towards Rotary’s work to eradicate Polio throughout the world.

It was then straight back to the hotel for a shower and change into our uniforms before heading off for our moment in the spotlight. Backstage in the ‘green room’ everyone was feeling nervous with a tinge of excitement, wondering how we would be received by our Georgian hosts. As we were introduced to the stage the crowed got to their feet and put their hands together and gave us the kind of welcome usually reserved for royalty. One by one we stepped up to the microphone and addressed the crowd with our individually prepared speeches. All the hard work we had put in over the previous six months paid off as the claps and the laughs came in all the right places and every member of the team each received a standing ovation. We were then given front row seats in order for us to watch our opposite numbers, the outgoing US GSE Team deliver their presentation which they duly did in a slick, polished and professional manner. It was such a relief for both teams to have finished and performed so well, everyone had a beaming smile from ear to ear as individual praise was given out to us from our fantastic hosts as we left the building.

The US GSE Team on stage just after their presentation.

(OUR TEAM PHOTO TO FOLLOW ONECE I GET IT!)

The afternoon saw both GSE Teams dolphin spotting just off the coast of Jekyll Island, which was a great way to relax after such a busy morning.

Dolphin watching off Jekyll Island

Everyone looked stunning as they dressed in their finest for the black tie evening.

District 6910 Dinner Evening

During the course of the weekend we have been hearing about so much of the good work that is carried out by individuals and clubs in the rotary district 6910 and this was highlighted this evening when one young 19yr old woman from Lebanon gave an inspiring speech describing her experience as a GRSP student in Georgia, which brought it home to all of our team how influential and life changing such cultural exchanges can be, and the important role they play in creating bonds between the four corners of the world.

The evening ended in a fabulous firework display

Jekyll Island Day Two

Friday 16th April


We were all up bright and breezy this morning for our first ever Rotary Club Breakfast and it seemed a little strange sitting down at 07:30 watching the Master of Ceremonies giving out awards to deserving Rotarians for all the good work they have been doing in the district. It was the type of event that we would usually associate happening in the evening.

After our breakfast it was off to the main conference hall where the trooping of the colours officially opened the proceedings.

US Soilders who trooped the colours

That was then followed by presentations from various clubs from District 6910 about the charitable work they have been doing around the world, helping those who are much more unfortunate than us. It was a humbling experience so say the least and the passion showed by some of the Rotarians was inspiring.

The Confrence Centre

The afternoon saw the team take a tour around the Historical District of Jekyll Island. Some of the fabulous properties we got to see belonged to America’s wealthiest families including the likes of the Rockefellers.

The Historic District of Jekyll Island

The evening saw the team attend a beach party which was almost a contradiction in terms as it was indoors. However if you put your ear to the fire escape door you could hear the waves crashing against the shoreline just outside. That said the dress code was beach casual so the spirit was there even if the sand was not.

Roy handing over a gift to District Governor Shane Burr

The Beach Party

Gareth, Jeremy, Steve, Roy

Adrea, Allison, Ali

After all the awards were handed out, The Swinging Medallions took to the stage to sing and everyone danced the night away to varying degrees of ability and a great night was had by all.

The Swinging Medallions