Friendship Force Greater Des Moines

07/29/2025

Sorry about the lack of posts but we're still looking for a reliable member to post for FFGDM.

But hey, we're very busy with multiple activities a month.

04/16/2025

Springfest!
Members and Friends are invited to Springfest, the details are...
When: Sunday, April 27
Time: Doors open at 1:00 pm
Where: Luther Memorial Church, 1201 Grandview Ave, Des Moines 50316
Speaker: Mary Frances Evans, Executive Director of IRIS (Iowa Radio Reading Info Service)
Food: Please bring a sweet or savory item to share.
Reservations: Due April 21 to [email protected]

02/24/2025

Join us for our first Game Night . . .

Bring the LUCK of the IRISH!
Game Night Mixer
Friday, March 14
6:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Luther Memorial Church
1201 Grandview Ave, Des Moines 50316

We’ve planned a fun evening with friends --- We’ll draw for new teams every 30 to 45 minutes so you’ll have an opportunity to play several games and visit with different members to get to know them better.

It’s a great night to bring a guest.

Please bring a sweet or savory snack to share, your
own drink if you would like something other than tea or coffee, and a favorite game (if you’ve got one) that can
be completed in about 30 minutes.

The person wearing the most green apparel might
just get a prize.

The committee will also bring some games to play.

Please email Lenne to reserve a spot by Friday, March 7, at
[email protected]

02/17/2025

Pat Headley is collecting applications for the journey to FF Shelby (NC) nex October. Activities May Include
 Visit the Vanderbilt Estate
 Ride a restored carousel
 See Grandfather Mountain
 Visit the Earl Scruggs Center
 See Lake Lure
 Visit Tryon International Equestrian Center
 See the Great Smoky Mountain National Park
 See a scuppernong grape
 Other planned activities

Estimated Fees
Administration Fee: $25
FFI Fee: $125
Program Fee: $250 - $275
Ambassador Coordinator fee: $48
Total Fees: $448 - $473

Transportation
Airline costs: $500 - $600

Driving? It’s 1,017 miles and approximately 15h 32m of drive time.

Applications
Deadline: March 15, 2025

Make $25 check payable to FFGDM and send with your application to:
Pat Headley
6821 Mill Pond Drive
Urbandale, Iowa 50322

Questions? Contact Pat at [email protected]

01/31/2025

Ginny Renda is ambassador coordinator for our journey to Lake Simcoe, Ontario, in May. There is one seat available so if you are interested, contact Ginny at [email protected].

Most ambassadors will spend a few days in Toronto before or after the Lake Simcoe journey.

01/22/2025

Members and friends ventured to Main Street Cafe on the coldest day of the year (until the following day) to honor Martin Luther King. Marla Carr coordinated the activity which included members reading quotes from MLK and a quiz about his life that was both interesting and educational.

We also collected $200 for the DMARC Food Bank.
Thank you to Marla!

01/12/2025

FF Book Club January 27 - Join us on the 4th Monday of each month from 2:30 to 4:30 pm at Northwest Community Center, 5110 Franklin Avenue in Des Moines.

January's book is "French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris" by Scott Dominic Carpenter.

01/05/2025

Join us for brunch on Martin Luther King Day Winter Brunch

Monday, January 20
10:00 am
Main Street Café, 2510 SW White Birch Dr, Ankeny 50023

In honor of MLK Day and its call to community service, we ask members to bring a cash donation for the DMARC Food Pantry.
Guests are always welcome!

RESERVATIONS REQUIRED (if attending) . . . to Marla at [email protected] by January 13.

12/29/2024

Hogmanay is not just about the party. Other traditions include:
• First footing - The ‘first foot’ in the house after midnight is still very common in Scotland. To ensure good luck, a first footer should be a dark-haired man. Fair-haired first footers were not particularly welcome after the Viking invasions of ancient times. Traditional gifts include a lump of coal to lovingly place on the host’s fire, along with shortbread, a black bun and whisky to toast to a Happy New Year. These days shortbread and whisky will suffice. Showing up empty handed is not only very rude but also bad luck!
• Redding the house – Rather than a Spring clean, the Scots have a New Year’s clean to welcome in the New Year. Starting the New Year with a dirty house is bad luck. When open fires were common, people would clear the ashes and lay a new fire for the New Year. Cleaning one’s house also extends to clearing one’s debts. An old Scottish superstition states that you should try to clear all your debts before the stroke of midnight.
• Bonfires and Fire Festivals- Scotland’s fire festivals at Hogmanay and later in January may have pagan or Viking origins. The use of fire to purify and drive away evil spirits is an ancient idea. Fire is at the centre of Hogmanay celebrations in Stonehaven, Comrie and Biggar and has recently become an element in Edinburgh’s Hogmanay celebration.
• The singing of Auld Lang Syne all over the world- People sing Robert Burns’ version of this traditional Scottish air. How it became the New Year’s song is something of a mystery. At Edinburgh’s Hogmanay, people join hands for what is reputed to be the world’s biggest Auld Lang Syne.
• The Saining of the House- This is a very old rural tradition that involved blessing the house and livestock with holy water from a local stream. Although it had nearly died out, in recent years it has experienced a revival. After the blessing with water, the woman of the house was supposed to go from room to room with a smouldering juniper branch, filling the house with purifying smoke.

12/29/2024

The Scots among us, and there are quite a few in our FFGDM membership, will celebrate Hogmanay on December 31.

Here's some background information, courtesy of the Edinburgh Winter Festival website (www.edwinterfest.com) . . .

Hogmanay is the Scottish word for the last day of the year or New Year’s Eve and is generally regarded as the most important Scottish holiday. Christmas was not celebrated as a festival and virtually banned in Scotland for around 400 years. And so it was, right up until the 1950s that many Scots worked over Christmas and celebrated their winter solstice holiday at New Year, when family and friends would gather for a party and to exchange presents which came to be known as Hogmanay’s.

Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Festival dates back to 1993 and has evolved to become one of the greatest outdoor celebrations of New Year’s Eve in the world. Hogmanay is technically just one day but the Hogmanay celebration in Edinburgh (as well as in other places in Scotland) lasts for 3 or 4 days.

In any normal year, the big events include a torchlight procession, a massive outdoor street party, a live headline concert and fireworks, and free culture trail across the city - and of course immediately after midnight on New Year’s Eve it is traditional for the thousands of revellers to join hands and sing Robert Burns‘ Auld Lang Syne......before continuing to party into the wee hours.

All the shows and events for Edinburgh's Christmas and Hogmanay 2024

12/22/2024

Happy Solstice!
Sharing Des Moines sunrise/sunset vs some of our favorite cities...
5:08am/7:29pm Perth, Australia, high 106 degrees
5:18am/6:53pm Sao Paulo, Brazil
5:33am/7:57pm Cape Town, South Africa
5:42am/8:06pm Sydney, Australia, high 82 degrees
5:55am/9:33pm Queenstown, NZ
6:48am/4:32pm Saitama, Japan
7:40am/4:48pm Des Moines
7:42am/5:14pm Wichita, KS
7:52am/4:42pm Lake Simcoe, Canada, high 5 degrees
8:42am/4:37pm Leuven, Belgium
8:42am/4:56pm Paris, France
8:43am/3:40pm Edinburgh, Scotland
9:45am/3:30pm Bergen, Norway

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