Several Kiwis (aka New Zealanders) have been in Springfield for the last few days as members of a Rotary International Friendship Exchange. Burl met them on Thursday when he was the van driver to pick them up from their last location and bring them to Springfield. Then last night I got to meet them too when we attended a cookout at the home of one of the members in my club. The Kiwis are all such delightful people – ranging in age from late 30’s into their 70’s – all very gregarious and personable and such fun to visit with.
Today we went along to show them a bit of Branson – Dick’s 5 and 10 old-time dime store in downtown Branson was a big hit with our friends from down under and they also enjoyed the Branson Landing. Then we headed for the Showboat Branson Belle for their late afternoon dinner cruise. The food was a passable banquet-style meal that was certainly better than most airplane food (the Concorde being the lone exception) but the entertainment was really fun. The hour-long show featured singers and dancers accompanied by a 5-piece band, a couple of Russian acrobats and a comedian for the finale. He picked Burl to be the audience particpant for his last trick (getting out of a strait jacket) and I laughed so hard I cried – but then Burl is a natural ham so he contributed to my enjoyment.
We said good-by to our new friends this evening but plan to keep in touch and who knows, one day our paths may cross again when we visit their country.
We’ve had a full and rich weekend since yesterday we volunteered for the Bikers for Boys and Girls Town motorcycle ride. We don’t have the final $ total raised but felt we had good participation despite at least 4 other motorcycle rides and a big bicycle ride going on too. It was our second year to serve on the committee and we plan for it to be our last – the committee can use some new blood and we can use one less thing to do!
