I was fortunate last month to experience the "International" aspects of our organization on a personal level. My husband and I traveled to the United Kingdom and Scotland for fun, no official business. I reached out to the clubs in the areas that we planned to travel and was so happy to meet up with members from 3 clubs. First, we were greeted by Hilary Laidler, from SI Ellesmere Port and District. She and her husband met us at our resort and took us to areas we never would have ventured in England. We spent the entire day touring the English countryside and beautiful lakes, stopping to eat & drink at the local fares. Next, we met with Pat Black, former SIGBI President, and member of SI Edinburgh, Scotland. She was a master tour guide for Edinburgh and the historic Edinburgh castle. We had coffee and scones in one of her favorite cafes and then had a "back of house" tour of the grounds around the castle. It was such a delight! After exploring Liverpool (and all things Beatles!) and London on our own, we capped off our trip with a coffee event held at a Jann Landles house, overlooking the Morecambe Bay. 10 members from SI Lancaster joined us at Jann's house and we talked all things Soroptimist for nearly 2 hours! We also managed to stay at Number 63 in London - a Soroptimist owned hotel, across the street from Hyde Park and Kensington Palace.
Why am I sharing all of this with you?
Because I want to encourage all of you to be enriched by the "international" part of our organization when you are out and about the world. Reach out to other clubs when you can, whether in the US, or any other country you visit. Our Soroptimist sisters are as excited to meet you as you are them! There are several ways you can informally reach Soroptimists from around the world:
1. Request to be added to the closed Facebook page called Soroptimist Facebook Friends
2. Join the Soroptimist Chat Line - this is a Google Group that functions like a forum discussion on different topics. Click on this link to request to join:
3. Stay informed about all of the worldwide news of Soroptimist activities by subscribing to the "Global Voice", an online publication from Soroptimist International.
Click on this link to subscribe to the
Happy travelling and I'll see you all soon at the Fall Meetings!
Governor Lori
2018-2020
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