I was up at 3:00 AM to catch BART to the airport as I was traveling alone this trip. I arrived at the airport with little time to spare. A layover in Minneapolis gave me a chance to grab some lunch before boarding my flight to Minot, SD. I arrived about 10 minutes late and Treasurer Bruce Geddes was there to pick me up and get me to the hotel which was only 5 minutes away. I and Bruce enjoyed a couple of Scotches until Angie and Marilyn arrived and took us to a Chinese buffet for dinner. Afterward we helped put pins on the registration lanyards and mingled until around 11Pm when I sauntered off to bed.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Up at 8Am and met the group to go out to the Golf course. After all the Golfers T'd off I helped put up the tents, moved tables and arranged the site for the meting and lunch. Most of the Golfers were in by the time the steaks were grilled and the meeting started. Denise arrived just before lunch and during the meeting gave an update on the 2010 meeting in Concord. I had the chance to speak to the group and was presented with a Crib board, Tie and some additional gifts. I presented ND president Jim VanEckhout with his pips, pin and flag set.
After the meeting we returned to the hotel where each past ND JCC president hosted a hospitality table which had displays of memorabilia and scrapbooks from their year. There was lots of food and drink. I had more than I needed and was soon off to bed.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Up on Saturday morning and Michelle led Denise,Randy and I off on an adventure with Bruce doing the driving.. Our first stop was the North Dakota "pile of rocks" in Rugby- actually an obelisk marking the geographical center of the North American continent. Our second stop was the "Turtle". this is a very large image of a turtle constructed with wheel rims welded together. Randy and I clambered up on the structure for a photo or two. Stop number three was at the International Peace Gardens on the border between Canada and the US. Needless to say we needed our passports to get back to the US of A. We all took a stroll through the gardens and had a box lunch that the hotel had prepared for us along with soft drinks.
Upon returning to the border crossing we were instructed to drive the vehicle inside of the inspection building. We were then led into a waiting room while the vehicle was searched. We were also required to surrender our passports (good thing we all had one) and fill out an immigration form. Nothing of interest was found so we were released. I'm not sure but perhaps the fact that we had two from California, one from North Dakota, One from Ohio, and one person from Minnesota in a vehicle with Montana plates might have led them to question our motives.
We arrived back at the hotel in time to dress in all our formal finery and get to the reception preceding the Banquet. The majority of the banquet focused on the Senate. Ten Senatorships were presented and it was quite a big deal. All the Senators lined up around the room (almost halfway around) and as each new Senatorship was presented they walked the line and were congratulated by every Senator in attendance. They each took their place in line as the next Senatorship was presented. The new ND Jaycee president was sworn in, US JCC President John Weber spoke as well as past US JCC president Mike Faller. I had the opportunity to speak and presented president John Weber with my communicator pin. The evening continued with dancing and socializing until around midnight.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Arose, packed, printed boarding passes and checked emails. Attended part of the ND JCC Meeting and were treated to lunch by Michelle and Angie before being dropped off at the airport for the trip home.
Another great visit with our Senate Family.
No comments:
Post a Comment