When the students arrive in Grants Pass on Thursday, they have their first group exchange meeting in District 5110, hearing about what they can expect this year.
Their meeting is followed by a brief orientation on the Float Trip Weekend, after which they meet up with Rotary Club members who host the students overnight, providing dinner & fellowship.
On Friday morning, the float trip down the Rogue River begins with two or more students per raft, each one rowed by a Rotarian. This is an all day trip filled with white-water rapids, water fights, swimming, eating ( with lunch on dry land at a County Park) and conversation about the river, wildlife, Southern Oregon and a wide range of other topics.
After the float trip (and a stop by some for ice cream at Galice Store), the students are brought back up river to the Doubletree Ranch where owners Rick and Carol Ponte make everyone welcome by giving us free run of their 240 acre piece of paradise. Once everyone gets their gear situated, the camp experience begins. For some, this is their first time camping, with highlights like outhouses, cold showers and sleeping outside ("No really - where are the bathrooms & hot showers?"). The questions & conversations which began on the river, continue through the in-camp activities of soccer, softball, volleyball, frisbee, etc... etc. A hearty dinner brings the students all together and further cements the inclusive nature of the group - with conversation & games lasting late into the evening.
Saturday starts with an early Breakfast followed by sports, a presentation by Wildlife Images (a local wildlife rehabilitation and education center), a scenic nature hike, swimming, more sports and practice for the Talent Show. It finishes with dinner, a great Talent Show where the Students teach Rotarians and their fellow Students about their homelands, followed by more fellowship by the Students late into the night (early morning??).
In 2009, we hosted 28 students from 19 different Countries (boys were heavily outnumbered this year by the girls - 19 to 9). Though the weather didn't cooperate for the rafting (can you believe rain & 60 Degrees F in August!), a good time was had by all, including the 11 Rotarians that rowed. In camp, the students were always busy at some activity (these included eating, sleeping & sunning). The Talent Show on Saturday night was a great success, complete with costumes, and well attended by visiting Rotarians. Following a leisurely Sunday morning, a jetboat, courtesy of Hellgate Jetboats, picked the students up at rivers edge and took them down thru Hellgate Canyon before returning to Grants Pass for the perfect finish to a great weekend!
A big "Thank You" to Bob Cartmell for these great pictures (next year we will get him on a raft too!). If anyone else has pictures of the weekend they would like to share here, please send them to Bob Hodgson.
Thank you to all the great Rotarians who helped make this possible and to the Exchange Students who are after all the point of the whole weekend. You were a great group, always polite and ready to help out! |
