On Monday evening, Tony Cornelius and Mike Fackney spoke to the Club and shared photos of their 14 day Rotary Friendship Exchange visit to Quebec, Canada and the American states of Vermont and New Hampshire from September to October 2024. They were accompanied by their wives, Jenny and Sandy, and five other Rotarians from three other Clubs (Kapiti, Plimmerton, Johnsonville).
All visiting team members met up with their first hosts in Montreal, who took them to their homes in the southern Quebec city of Sherbrooke.
Highlights in Sherbrooke included viewing the many impressive murals around the town, wine tasting, cruising on the beautiful Lake Memphremagog, and walking a unique illuminated multimedia trail one evening.
The visiting team had two separate hosts in New Hampshire, staying in North Conway and Lincoln Woodstock. The visitors spent time in the village of Jackson to view some of the 50 locations of Pumpkin (People) displays, and were driven to the summit of the 6266 feet Mt Washington and its Observatory. The mountain is notorious for its erratic weather, and in 1934 the Observatory recorded a wind gust of 231 mph – one of the world’s highest wind velocities. Fortunately, the visitors had only 8mph winds and mostly clear skies! At the base of the mountain the Mt Washington Hotel was an impressive and historic building to visit. This was where the Bretton Woods Conference took place in 1944, resulting in the creation of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD, later part of the World Bank), and establishing a new international monetary system. Travelling up on the first American tramway to the 4080 feet summit of Cannon Mountain allowed the visitors to see beautiful views of four states and Canada. A bushwalk with some tight caving allowed for a pleasant afternoon.
There were also two hosts in Vermont, one in the Mad River area, and the other in the Burlington/Colchester area. Mad River got its name because it flows in the opposite direction from all other rivers in the area. Highlights in the Mad River area were going up the ski-lift through the tranquil and beautiful autumn colours foliage, visiting a massive granite quarry, lunching in the laid-back and flood-prone capital of Montpelier, watching glass-blowing, and for the Cornelius’, seeing a wild bear and cubs! In the Burlington area there was a cruise on Lake Champlain, and visits to fabulous museums, and the von Trapp Family Lodge. An unexpected outing was to see Graham Nash (of Crosby Stills, Nash & Young and The Hollies) in concert – a very enjoyable evening of great music.
The visitors were impressed with the hospitality of all hosts, and the wide range of experiences provided, as well as being surrounded by beautiful autumn colours, which all ensured a tremendously interesting and very enjoyable Exchange.
