The first week-end in April, thirty-two Global Travelers got together in Kansas City for fellowship and service. The weather was on the chilly side, with occasional spurts of rain, but conversation, laughs, and food were plentiful, and our hearts were warm.
President-Elect Lenet Compton and her husband Bob were our hosts for the week-end. Most of us arrived Thursday evening and headed to Lenet and Bob’s spacious apartment for a light (?) supper, drinks, and camaraderie.
Friday morning, many of us packed hygiene kits at Heart to Heart International. Their disaster response teams provide these kits (which include toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, comb, towel, and washcloth) to people in disaster areas all over the world. Our group packed 1200 kits.
Our club president Melanie also presented Heart to Heart with a $500 donation from our Global Travelers to further their work.
At lunchtime, we fulfilled our club’s mission of “meeting people.” We joined the Lenexa, Kansas Rotary Club for their luncheon meeting.
As their featured speaker, our club president Melanie DeLuca did an outstanding job presenting our club and its unique attributes.
Melanie exchanged flags with the Lenexa club president. Several of our associate members also exchanged their home club flags.
After lunch, we had “free time” to relax or explore Johnson County, Kansas. Some of us headed to the amazing local history museum. Others explored the outstanding collection of Native American art in the Nerberg Museum housed at the Johnson Community College.
You can’t visit KC without tasting their famous BBQ, right? Friday evening, we dined in fine casual style at Meat Mitch. Yum!
Saturday morning, we met at Union Station in KC for more “free time” exploration. Notice the budding tulips in the picture? Those of us from further north were delighted by the signs of spring.
Many of us chose to visit the Arabia Steamboat Museum. What an amazing story of a couple ordinary guys setting out to unearth this sunken paddleboat and its treasures. It was like an Amazon delivery truck in the 1850’s, filled with such a variety of goods. We were enthralled.
We got a different view and perspective on Kansas City with the fun, goofy, informative Gangster Tour. Then dinner at another BBQ place followed by more food (!) and fellowship in Lenet and Bob’s party room.
Some of us wrapped up the weekend with Sunday morning brunch and famous Bloody Mary’s at the Tavern at Mission Farms. Others basked in the welcome sunshine at Kauffman Stadium and watched the KC Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles.
An excellent week-end! The combination of organized group activities and “free time” was a hit. We all enjoyed getting to know each other better (building better friendships), along with a service project. Kudos to Lenet for organizing (yes, REALLY organizing) an excellent week-end. And thanks to everyone else who contributed food, beverages, and ideas.
The week-end was also a success by the numbers:
- 1200 hygiene kits packed
- $500 donation to Heart to Heart
- $125 raised for a Cuba teacher exchange
- $2,250 contributed to our club foundation.
