Virtual Experiences

This orientation is geared toward new members but it can also serve as a valuable resource for clubs when onboarding new members.

Not sure how to navigate my.friendshipforce.org or the Help Center? Join us for a Zoom session where we’ll provide a virtual walkthrough of both platforms. We’ll start by exploring myFF from a member’s perspective before diving into Club Admin functions and tasks.

This orientation is geared toward new club leaders and covers common terminology, an exploration of our organization’s history, staff, clubs, journeys, the annual cycle, and details regarding travel insurance.

Jeremi Snook, CEO, and Dana Jackson, VP of Fund Development, share an overview of what to expect from the 2022 Friendraiser event where members will receive packaged information to help them rebuild their clubs after the pandemic.

Interview with Kathy Hart of the Friendship Force of Sacramento, a large and successful club in the US Northwest, on how they keep a healthy calendar of local events and opportunities for members to engage with one another.

Kimberly has been with Friendship Force for five years as the Regional Support Manager for clubs in Australia and New Zealand. She will share some ideas about engaging your club members when you’re not traveling and hosting journeys.

Rick Thomas has been a member of FF Memphis for over fifteen years. He has served as a Journey Coordinator and helped his club membership grow despite the pandemic. Rick has also coordinated Open World programs for FF Memphis, including an urgent program this past July from Ukraine, which focused on intensive care and burn treatment.

Allison Lindsey, Vice President of Member Engagement, talks us through the ins and outs of Club Recruitment. Allison has worked with Friendship Force for nearly twenty years and is a wealth of knowledge. Please access Allison’s powerpoint presentation on recruitment by clicking on this link.

A panel of successful Friendship Force club leaders and board members from the US, Canada, and Australia join staff members Jeremi Snook and Allison Lindsey to look at what clubs are doing to gain, train, and maintain their club leaders. Secret advice for communicating, coaching, and being kind to one another will be revealed along with many more tips and suggestions in this 20-minute overview.

Jeremi Snook interviews Ron Thompson, president of the Friendship Force of Dayton club. Ron offers up his advice and experience on keeping and growing membership, engaging new leaders, and connecting leaders and members to relevant resources.

Jeremi Snook is joined by 3 members of the FFI Technology Advisory Group: Mitch Tanaka of FF Western Tokyo, Chris Smith of FF Sacramento, and Juergen Czischke of FF Norderstedt. The group offers up advice about technology for clubs and individuals, what to prioritize, and how to leverage technology to enhance club operations and communications.

Debbie walks us through our new public website, www.friendshipforce.org. Debbie’s past roles at FFI include volunteer and club support, the Journey matching process, program development, and planning FF World Conferences. Since the pandemic started, Debbie has been managing our communications and overseeing the development of www.friendshipforce.org.

Dana Jackson, Vice President of Fund Development, will explain the nuisances of Fundraising for Friendship Force International. Topics will include: General Donations, Restricted Donations, Monthly Giving, Planned Giving, Fundraising at the club level, Ways to support FFI without donating.

Dana is the Director of Open World programming. Open World is an amazing program sponsored by the U.S. Congressional Office of International Leadership. This program directly supports FFI’s mission by providing rich cross-cultural experiences for members. Open World gives our U.S. clubs the opportunity to share global perspectives and reinforces the notion that national security and peace can be achieved through citizen diplomacy and cultural exchange.

Take a virtual trip through Brazil with Thiago, as he gives us highlights of the sights and sounds of his home country. He’ll share about his life and culture, as well as what you can expect when you visit this beautiful country.

Believe it or not, every time you eat a meal you are engaging in the act of culinary diplomacy. Culinary diplomacy is the use of food to connect people from different backgrounds. Join us as we discuss the three pillars of culinary diplomacy and how you practice it in your daily life. FF Sacramento hosts this program which is presented by Kelsey Maher, a culinary educator and program manager living in California.

Isaac will take us on a virtual trip through Ghana, giving us highlights of the sights and sounds of his home country. He’ll share about his life and culture, as well as what you can expect when you visit this beautiful country.

This virtual trip through Hiroshima and Miyagi will give a valuable insight into their typical foods, culture, sites, and, of course, the warm hospitality of their peoples.

Learn some compelling aspects of Switzerland such as the country’s promotion of gender equality, vocational education, and the focus on fighting climate change. Hear about some of the cultural and historical highlights typical for a Friendship Force Journey to Solothurn.

How would you describe India? Ina from FF Lübeck in Germany will share her perspectives on India’s diversity gained during homestays with Friendship Force Nashik-Riverside in 2016 and 2017, in Germany and in India. Take this opportunity to hear her impressions of a wonderful Indian homestay.

In this second photo show, Ina will focus on her private tour to some of the main sights between Delhi and Mumbai after her Indian home stay in 2017. She covers things like travel, religion, food, and sights. Take this opportunity to hear her impressions of a wonderful Indian tour.

Our Eastern Canada Clubs met to discuss suitable recruitment strategies and methods for their clubs. Check out the recording to see if you can apply some of these ideas for new member recruitment in your club.

Les clubs francophones du Canada se sont réunis pour discuter de stratégies et de méthodes de recrutement pour leurs clubs. Visionnez l’enregistrement (en Français) et peut-être trouverez-vous de nouvelles idées à mettre en place pour recruter de nouveaux membres au sein de votre club!

In San Cristóbal de las Casas, Chiapas, Mexico, we celebrated our first Día de Muertos festival this November. It involved the tradition and culture of some of our Mayan Indian villages full of color, magic, mysticism and traditional altars. We also shared folklore & music, paintings and spectacular murals downtown, plenty of skulls and cempasuchil flowers. Watch the recording to hear all about this incredible event.

Join FF Florida Suncoast and guest speaker, Dr. Luke Williams, a board certified physician practicing concierge medicine in St. Petersburg, Florida, who will explain how to stay healthy during travel. How can you boost your immune system prior to your trip? What should you take with you? What exercises are recommended for plane travel, and what sort of things should you eat and avoid?

Nick and Diane share the story of how they met each other and the amazingly hospitable townspeople of Gander, Newfoundland, Canada during the 9/11 emergency plane re-routing. Their story is memorialized in the Broadway musical “Come From Away.” Here is a chance to learn how incredible support for strangers developed into friendships.

This webinar gives members a look into the Open World Leadership Program. US Friendship Force clubs have partnered with this unique program since 1999 to provide homestays and peer-to-peer professional programming for emerging leaders from all over the world.

Please accept a warm invitation from the members of the Friendship Force of Cottbus for a virtual visit. Come and get to know the members, their culture, the landscape of the region, and much more.

WhatsApp is an app that allows the sending of text messages and voice calls, as well as video calls, images and other media, documents, and user location. Have you ever considered the benefits WhatsApp can offer to your club? We’ll show how to create a club WhatsApp group and discuss how your members can benefit from using it for communication.

Come with us on a virtual visit to Bursa, an amazing city in beautiful Turkey, and get ideas for your next trip! Explore the 4th largest city of a unique country bridging two continents, Europe and Asia, and hear about the very best of Bursa from Sait Tosun. He will introduce you to his hometown lifestyle and some of the most attractive sights.

Come with us on a virtual journey through Ohio in the midwestern U.S.A. Representatives from Ohio’s three Friendship Force clubs will share the history, sights, culture and food of three separate areas of the state. You’ll learn from Ohioans what distinguishes Ohio from the other 49 states and what to expect when you visit the place we call home.

Located in east-central Canada, the province of Ontario is home to the nation’s capital, Ottawa, as well as its largest city, Toronto. Ontario offers something for everyone: history, nature, culture, food, adventure, fun…and lots of friendliness.

The nine Ontario Friendship Force clubs are excited to showcase their region.

Native Americans had been living in the Willamette Valley of Oregon for over ten thousand years before the first European settlers arrived. 170 years ago, the valley was the “end of the Oregon Trail” and was seen as an Eden, a land of plenty for the early settlers. Today the valley continues to hold great opportunities for natural resource wealth as well as scenic beauty.

Friendship Force members share photos and travel information about interesting or beautiful places not far from Sacramento. Please view the notes for more details.

Paraná, southern Brazil is an interesting destination, with Curitiba, the capital, the coast of beaches, and the nearby city of Foz do Iguaçu. Come explore these wonders together.

Boasting 300 days of sunshine a year, with clear, dry air at elevations of 5,000-12,000 feet, Northern Colorado has a lot to offer. Sculpture parks, small unique museums, rivers, lakes, hiking trails, wildlife, microbreweries, mountain views, are among the many features you can experience when you journey to Northern Colorado. Have a look at the recording and see what to expect!

This webinar will give ambassadors from around the world a brief tour through New Zealand and its Friendship Force clubs. It will also highlight some of the great scenery we have in this very small country at the bottom of the Pacific. The New Zealand club members hope they will be able to share it again soon with our friends from around the world.

Join us to learn all you need to know before heading to Mexico. We’ll be talking a little bit of everything: cultural traditions, customs, food, tips and more! Mi casa es su casa and welcome to beautiful Mexico!

Join us as we take a virtual trip to France, where FFI staff member Valerie Malfara will tell you all you need to know about her home country. She will share about her life in France, the culture, must-see places, fun facts, and much more.

Camelia from Sibiu, Romania, extends to you a warm invitation to learn about her country. Her virtual tour will take you to some of the cultural and historical highlights to be encountered on a Friendship Force Journey in Sibiu.

Representatives from three Northern German Friendship Force clubs share sights, culture and food of their region and introduce you to their clubs. Please watch
FF Varel from 00:00:00
FF Hamburg from 00:22:00
FF Norderstedt from 00:42:47.

Representatives from three Northern German Friendship Force clubs share sights, culture and food of their region and introduce you to their clubs. Due to technical issues, we had to improvise. You see a short intro of FF Lübeck, then FF Schwerin’s presentation followed by FF Lübeck’s movie clip. The last presentation is about FF Kiel. Q&A’s for all three clubs can be watched at the end.

Find out what makes East Africa so unique. One of our well-travelled members of the FFI International Board of Directors, Tracy Mirembe, talks about Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and Tanzania, discussing both the commonalities and differences between these countries. The tribes and ethnicities, the languages, places to visit, must-try specialties…

Ian will help you to improve your spoken English and introduce you to some Australians whom you will be able to interact with. Let us tell you about our Australian way of life. You will be a guest in Ian’s home and interact with him in his home environment and the homes of other Friendship Force members also.

Ian will help you to improve your spoken English and introduce you to some Australians whom you will be able to interact with. 

This event was organized by our longstanding partner, the Vietnam-USA Society (VUS), based in Hanoi, Vietnam. In addition to learning about Vietnamese culture, you can find out more about next year’s Special Journey “Discover Vietnam Tour & Homestay” (April 5 – 16, 2023). Please click on this link to view the presentation slides. Check out the proposed itinerary by clicking on this link.

Join us to learn all you need to know before heading to Russia. We’ll be talking a little bit of everything: cultural traditions, customs, food, and more!

The Friendship Force of Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley formally began with a meeting of twenty-two world-peace-thinking individuals. In this celebration event, you will learn about some of the club’s history, hear from their first president, and enjoy stories from club members and friends from other clubs.

Located in the Kyushu region, Fukuoka is a city that enjoys regular tourism from Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. With over 30 years of history, the Fukuoka club has hosted guests from all over the world and would like to introduce the club and its hosting program to you. Activities usually include making soba (buckwheat noodles), origami, calligraphy, kimono dressing, traditional tea ceremony, and other things that our ambassadors are sure to enjoy.

Guest Speaker Paul Bardwil talks about the current relationship between Cuba and the United States, legal travel to Cuba and the reality of Cubans living in Cuba. Each American presidential change brings a new policy change between Cuba and the United States. COVID has brought new challenges to Cuba in many ways.

Paul Bardwil is the owner and president of Global Educational Facilitation. Bardwil has been directing educational travel to Cuba, Mexico etc. since 1995.

Scientists believe that by acting NOW we can still minimize our ecological footprint and slow down the consequences of climate change.

Scientists believe that by acting NOW we can still minimize our ecological footprint and slow down the consequences of climate change. Join us for part two of this presentation and discussion on what we can do to reduce our carbon footprint.

Learn how climate change is impacting the life of the people of Japan. During this workshop you hear about the effects of global warming and natural disasters, endangered fauna and flora, and how FFI members from Oita are working to raise awareness for a more sustainable world. After the presentation, the participants were invited to discuss, compare and share practices, goals and ideas from their country.

Erfahrt mehr über den Klimawandel und darüber, wie sowohl einzelne Friendship Force-Mitglieder als auch Clubs den ökologischen Fußabdruck reduzieren können.

What makes a good photograph? What makes a photograph worth “a second look”? In the workshop we will view and explore photographic examples of good composition, light, and subject. The goal is to learn how to go beyond documentation to create meaningful art worth a second look (maybe even a third or fourth look!)

We will follow the cycle of observing, discovering, creating, and experiencing as a way to “celebrate” our special moments. Linking text with a photograph provides the opportunity to “observe” and “discover” the visible as well as the invisible elements. Using our photos to “create” art allows us to “experience” the joy of celebration. How can we celebrate? Let us count the ways!

Dr. Sharon Swallwood presents tips, tricks, and gear to help capture the beauty around you. Learn to take more powerful photographs and communicate your vision and ideas. (Our main focus is improving composition – not technical topics like shutter speed, ISO, or aperture.)

Check out Sharon’s work on her website.

A Facebook page is a great tool for promoting your club to your wider community. Your members can chat, write about FF Journey experiences, and post photos, then share the page with their friends and those in your community. We’ll show you how quick and easy it is to create your club page, so you can start sharing your club’s activities and memories right away!

Find out more about how FFI matches clubs together in order to assign Journeys each year. This presentation will also look at planning for travel in 2022.

In social distancing times, it’s always good to learn as many different ways as possible to connect! Zoom is a great tool used for it. Join us for a quick and basic training on this app’s main features!

We’ll take you on a visual journey of the Friendship Force Enrichment Voyage of 2014, organized in partnership with the Semester at Sea program. Starting in Hamburg, Germany, this first part of the presentation covers the southern coast of the Baltic Sea with stops in Germany, Poland, Lithuania, and Estonia. 150 of the 700 passengers on board were members of Friendship Force.

This is part 2 of the Friendship Force Enrichment Voyage of 2014, organized in partnership with the Semester at Sea program. After three days in St. Petersburg, we headed back west to Helsinki, Finland, and then Stockholm, Sweden, our point of disembarkation. 150 of the 700 passengers on board were members of Friendship Force.

Have you ever heard of WhatsApp? WhatsApp is a free app which allows you to send messages, pictures, videos and even voice recordings, as well as make voice and video calls over the internet for free. Join us to learn more about the features available in this amazing app!

The hosts and their club, FF Sacramento, share a slideshow of their multi-club journey in Germany. They joined with Friendship Force clubs from around the world for a ten-day adventure in stunning Bavaria. They were home hosted near Nuremberg, then hiked from hotel to hotel through the beautiful countryside. 

Can you imagine hiking 500 miles in northern Spain, retracing a pilgrimage route many centuries old? Join the Friendship Force of Sacramento to hear from two people who’ve done this and created the memory of a lifetime. Learn why they did it, how they did it and what they got out of it.

Rakugo has been enchanting audiences for over 400 years, the kimono-clad performer using voice inflections, gestures and facial expressions to portray all the characters of his tale, with only a fan & handkerchief as his props. The storyteller takes the listener on a magical journey, giving insights into Japanese customs, culture, and traditional lifestyles in a light-hearted, humorous way.

Cherry blossoms are deeply rooted in Japanese culture, and they are also very popular with visitors from overseas. Osaka Club members will introduce the etymology and history of cherry blossoms using videos and photos of cherry blossoms in various regions of Japan.

Kyoto is a place to encounter all that is ‘uniquely Japanese.’ Walking through its cobbled streets lined with temples, shrines and old wooden buildings is like a journey back in time. The golden Kinkakuji Temple and the endless rows of vermilion torii gates of the Fushimi Inari Taisha Shrine are always a fresh surprise to the visitor. Kiyomizu-dera Temple, with its “Kiyomizu-no-butai” stage, offers a far-reaching view of the city, while Ginkaku-ji and the bamboo groves of Arashiyama are stunning escapes from the hustle and bustle.

In this event, you are introduced to FF Dayton’s Journey plan for 2023. Which destinations were chosen and what can first-time visitors see, observe and experience? You also learn about some characteristics of Japan – geography, history, environment, lifestyle and the people and much more.

Are you curious about what school would be like in Japan? April is an exciting time for Japanese students as they move into the next grade, meet new friends and teachers, and have a ceremony to mark the new term.

An Oita club member and school teacher in Taketa City walks us through these and other aspects of school life for students, including school lunches, how students clean their school, and term exams.

Our theme is autumn… the scenery, food, events, customs and art in Japan and elsewhere! Kikumi lives in Taketa city and will speak of its famed Bamboo Lantern and autumn in the arts, namely Haiku and music. She will also explain about Shichi-Go-San (七五三, literally “Seven-Five-Three”), a November festival and traditional rite of passage celebrating the growth and well-being of young children.

In this event we talked about 七夕：The Tanabata festival also known as the Qiqiao Festival, is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of the cowherd and weaver girl in mythology. The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month on the Chinese Calendar.

We focus on moon-viewing in Japan and how the moon ties in with Japanese culture. For example, the oldest Japanese story, “The Tale of the Bamboo-Cutter,” tells the story of Princess Kaguya, who was born from bamboo and returns to the moon. It has also been said since ancient times that there are rabbits on the moon. On the Otsukimi holiday, people decorate the house with soot, consume special ‘moon-viewing’ dumplings and sake, and admire the beautiful moon.

Ikebana is the delicate Japanese art of flower arrangement. FF Ribeirão Preto’s Eleni Craveiro will give a step by step demonstration of this amazing practice and its meaning. If you want to create your arrangement alongside Eleni, you will need the following: flowers, leaves, a vase, scissors, a little towel, a bowl and a jar with water.

Friendship Force of Oregon’s Mid-Willamette Valley is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. As a way of celebrating Friendship Force’s impact, members of the club told the story of their most memorable Journey experience and how it changed their lives. Participants were invited to join and share stories as well. Friendship Force matters.

Learn about what is considered Art Deco and see some amazing art in Sacramento including Art Deco buildings, murals, paintings, and sculptures. Many of the treasures are rarely seen items from Sacramento’s libraries and archive collections. Our speaker, Bruce Marwick, is a board member of the Sacramento History Alliance and Preservation Chair of the Sacramento Art Deco Society.

The Friendship Force of Sacramento has regular membership meetings with presentations on various culturally interesting subjects. This month Chris Smith will lead a discussion on Murals and Graffiti, focusing on his travels to Colombia and also the murals that fill his hometown of Sacramento. Community art, especially murals, is a strong and effective tool to inject life into abandoned public spaces, and often reflects on the local people, neighbourhoods and the city’s history.

Hear about the famous Renaissance painter, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and see some of his masterpieces. To be able to fully appreciate the details in his drawings and paintings, you also get some background information about his life and the period he lived in.

Helen shows us how to prepare for “going home to a place you’ve never been before.” Whether it is combing libraries and historical archives, sleuthing out locations where your family lived, worked and were buried, connecting yourself to events in American history, or just getting the feel of their country of origin, seeking your ancestors through travel will give you a new perspective on the places and people that are your own personal history.

Solo travel can seem intimidating if you’ve not done it before. In this workshop we discuss the benefits of traveling solo, how to best plan, destinations to choose from, tips for staying safe, and how to connect with locals and other travelers.

* No recording available, only PowerPoint presentation.

Learn some new delicious salads for the summer! Tired of the same old thing? Try a few of these options. We’ll be making salads with grains, greens and fruit.

Learn how to cook Paella live with chef Alirio Ardila, owner and founder of 48paellas. Discover how to cook this version of one of the most famous dishes from Spain, learn the history of Paella, and how it has been present in many Latin American countries.

Please check the list of ingredients here.

¿Te gusta la paella? Únete a nosotros para aprender a cocinarlo. Puedes cocinarlo junto con nuestro chef Alirio Ardila. ¡Todo lo que necesitas es comprar los ingredientes de la lista y divertirte! Haga clic aquí para obtener un volante con los ingredientes necesarios.

IMPORTANT: This event is in SPANISH.

Tired of the same old dinners? Try a few of these fantastic fall options from Kathy Hart and friends of the FF Sacramento. They have some delicious soup ideas for you which are quick, easy, and healthy.

CLICK HERE FOR RECIPES.

Eddy Cabrera, FF Bogota, is a professional singer and dancer. In this performance, he’ll sing themes from other countries in Latin America, and two or three in English. Rhythms represented include merengue, salsa, and cumbias.

Japanese club members who are ardent music lovers welcome you to a special time playing Christmas songs from around the world. We will perform some of the Christmas favorites, including White Christmas, Waltz Medley, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and others, playing individually or in groups.

Taiwanese and Japanese Friendship Force members who are ardent music lovers offer you a warm welcome to this special event. They are playing songs from around the world, accompanied by guitar or saxophone.

At this time when there is such conflict in the world, we hope that sharing music can somehow help us with a feeling of normality.

Music is all around us and many of our clubs perform music pieces when journeying together. We would like to invite all of you to come and sing or play a song, whether it’s a solo performance or together with some other club members. If you can’t perform live, please share a video clip of a performance at a Welcome or Farewell Party. Let’s connect with members worldwide through music!

Each country has different songs through which its culture can be experienced. This festival will feature wonderful performances by music lovers from Japan. There will be many songs to enjoy, but two highlights of the festival include Yukiko Mizuno playing songs that remind us of Japanese culture on the German Lyre, and Kazuko Sengoku on the Shamisen, generally used in classical Chinese music.

Learn about opportunities to serve in the United States Peace Corps. The Peace Corps invites US citizens of any age to serve overseas for two years, to truly become a part of that community. Its goal is to promote world peace and friendship. Opportunities are available around the globe assisting in the areas of agriculture, community economic development, education, the environment, healthcare, and youth development. Three people who entered the Peace Corps as senior citizens will share their experiences.

¡Hola! Soy Myrna Mariana Sánchez Gutiérrez, tengo apenas 35 años y nací y crecí en el hermoso estado sureño de Chiapas en México. Mi mamá es una de las fundadoras de nuestro club Friendship Force Tuxtla Gutiérrez en 1983, así que crecí viendo cómo mi mamá viajaba a muchas partes del mundo construyendo increíbles amistades. ¡Mi casa es tu casa y sean bienvenidos(as) a nuestro hermoso México!

Vicki Vance, a very experienced Global Journey Coordinator, shares exciting moments from Journeys she has led and gives some tips on how to successfully plan a Global Journey.

Kimberly talks to us about Special Journeys: What is a Special Journey? How can my club host a Special Journey? How can I lead an outbound Special Journey?

Kimberly refers to the Help Center. Please note that the correct address for the Help Center is helpcenter.friendshipforce.org

Who can participate in a Global Journey? How do I register? What do I need to know when planning and organizing Global Journeys? What makes Global Journeys both fun and educational?

Join us to get answers to these questions and learn from a few recent successful Global Journeys.

Come on a virtual visit by Zoom with Canadian Friendship Force member, Helen Arnott, from the FF Edmonton and Area club. Helen will take you to visit her birthplace in the most diverse of lands: India. This presentation will cover some of the sights of Rishikesh, Varanasi, and Amritsar and there will be brief commentary on meditative Yoga, Hinduism and Sikhism.

Continue the virtual Zoom visit to India with FF Edmonton and Area member Helen Arnott and visit the courtyard of the Dalai Lama at Dharamsala in the Himalayan Mountains; the Golden Triangle of Jaipur, Agra, and Delhi. Listen to the tale of an ancient Moghul Emperor who wooed a beautiful Hindu princess at dawn and dusk. A brief commentary on Islam and Jainism is a thread woven through these sights.

Hear about a special community garden, unlike many others; it has 46 fruit trees, vines that produced 36 cases of wine, and has served as the venue for four weddings! Pat Ghiglieri shares the story of how the garden started 12 years ago, how community members volunteered to make it a neighborhood gathering place, and how they keep it thriving.

Brenda is a professional stained glass artist specializing in windows for cabinets and front-door side panels. She also designs and makes unique, personalized kaleidoscopes for adults and children. She has taught STEAM/STEM classes to over 450 students in the Boston area using kaleidoscopes as a teaching tool. Now she’ll share her presentation with the Friendship Force community! 

Have you set your 2021 goals? A vision board is a visual representation of your goals, meaning it uses images and text to symbolize a goal (or goals) that you have. Studies suggest that putting your goals on paper actually helps you achieve them. Visualizing them through images and words can increase motivation, confidence, accountability, and even motor performance. So join us for this fun arts and craft project with a purpose.

While the pandemic is still an obstacle to international travel, it’s the perfect time to look at old travel photos and revive fond memories. This virtual event is your opportunity to listen to or share inspiring travel stories from the comfort of your couch.

During this online class, we’ll paint two simple watercolors on cards that can be shared with friends or family.

You’ll need: One 8.5 X 11 sheet of card stock or watercolor paper cut in half, a set of watercolor paints and a brush (a simple school-style set is fine), a Sharpie or other permanent black marker with a fine tip, and some water. Let’s get creative!

Want to create hand-painted Christmas cards for a few special people? 

You’ll need: Two 8.5 X 11 sheets of card stock or watercolor paper cut in half, a set of watercolor paints and a brush, a Sharpie or other permanent black marker with a fine tip, paper towel, a pencil and eraser, 6 cotton swabs, water in a large cup, and a hair dryer.

Want to paint a fun, whimsical tree showing all four seasons? It’s easier than you think and a whole lot of fun. Kathy uses acrylic paints, but either watercolor or acrylic paints will work. Watch this community event in partnership with the Friendship Force of Sacramento and The Renaissance Society for life-long learning and paint along!

We will do small, simple Valentine watercolor paintings that can be given as cards to friends or family members.

You will need: Two 8.5 X 11 sheets of card stock (or watercolor paper sheet cut in half); watercolor paints with brush (a school set is fine); a permanent black marker with a fine tip; paper towel; pencil and eraser; an old toothbrush; water in a large cup; a hair dryer

Join professional artist, Daithi Kelley, as he guides you through this introductory acrylic painting class. You will learn the basic steps and techniques of painting a landscape from a photo, discussing mediums, mixing paint and learning about the right tools to use.

We’ll be painting simple watercolor florals and you will be amazed how easy they are to do!

You’ll need: One 8.5 X 11 sheet of card stock or watercolor paper cut in half, a set of watercolor paints and a brush, a fine-tip Sharpie or permanent black marker, paper towel, a pencil and eraser, an old toothbrush, water in a cup, and a hair dryer to dry your painting before adding ink details.

Want to learn how to paint a pumpkin with some fall flowers? This community event is in a partnership with the Friendship Force of Sacramento and The Renaissance Society for life-long learning. It will be one of several upcoming events designed for us to have fun together while promoting Friendship Force to Renaissance Society members and the online community. As a paint-along workshop, it will take around one hour for us to complete.

Let’s get creative! Want to enjoy a succulent garden without the watering hassle? Paint along and learn how to create a painted rock succulent garden in this tutorial.

Cheewa James is a great-granddaughter of Modoc warrior Sh-ke-itco. She is the author of “MODOC: The Tribe That Wouldn’t Die” and was the primary consultant of the PBS documentary “The Modoc War”.

Hear a fascinating story about the Modoc War, fought in north central California involving 50-60 Modoc warriors against over 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers by the 8-month war’s end 150 years ago.