Team Name, Facebook and Twitter

Does anyone have any suggestions for a unique team name? As long as the team name is PG and does not require ear muffs, you are welcome to post your suggestion in the comments immediately below. Also, for the team and followers, please freely use the Facebook or Twitter button at the bottom of the post to share with others.

Buttoning Up

Preparation involves practice and practice leads to perfection….

Team Kansas will be delivering a presentation to every Rotary Club it visits in Finland. A significant portion of our preparation has been dedicated to developing the content, theme and layout of the presentation. The goal is to educate Finnish Rotary clubs about Kansas & how Rotary makes an impact locally.

Thanks to the brilliant work of Erika Eden and Sarah Graham, the presentation is in final form. Here are a few pictures from our last practice run before our presentation at the Village West Rotary Club in Kansas City, Kansas.

Karl is also our fashion representative, trying on the Blazer that will become part of our signature outfits

Sarah, Erika and Lee working on translating words from English to Finnish. All of us have a great appreciation of the complexity of the Finnish language. Using Google translate, we were able to figure out that none of us would become fluent prior to the trip. (P.S. Mashed Potatoes)

This is Adam explaining to Sarah Graham the reasons why Kansas is better than Missouri. More specifically, Adam is outlining the 10 reasons why the Jayhawks will defeat the Tigers this weekend at Allen Fieldhouse. OK, OK....this was Adam practicing the introduction of our presentation. Adam will cover details about District 5710 and introduce the group.

Snow on the ground!

Northeast Kansas has seen our first snow of the season. We've had a very mild winter - but we are no strangers to adverse weather conditions. It was below freezing most days in February last year.

Also, here's proof that I, too, have a good 'travel hat' (not including the helmet - I was on my bike).

Winter Wonderland

We have had an unusually warm winter in Kansas. Winter is a relative term, but experiencing 50-60 degree (Fahrenheit) temperatures on a consistent basis is what most of Florida would consider "normal." For our friends abroad, this is proof that it does in fact snow in Kansas. This is Adam Ehlert at CommunityAmerica Ballpark pictured with the Kansas flag.




This picture was taken from Lee Urban's office window looking out at part of downtown Kansas City.

Technology Meeting

The reality set in today.....Five weeks?! Five weeks and the group will be hopping on an airplane for Finland. The team feels ready at this point, but as preliminary itinerary was passed out, a gut check occurred that this trip is actually happening.

Today we re-discovered the world of technology, discussing how to use it abroad. We also covered a broad spectrum of topics from Skype, luggage, cell phones, a preview of itinerary, and our group presentation. It was another productive meeting.

Most importantly, thank you to Heather Ehlert for being our guest speaker. You provided another great reminder of the motto that guides us -- "Service Above Self" -- and great examples of Rotary's local and international reach.

Here are a few pictures from our meeting.




Erika Eden getting ready to show the group a final version of our presentation & Lee Urban trying to figure out why videos will not upload using his Blogpress application.




Team Leader, Adam Ehlert, showing us our (potential) team hat and the importance of reading.





Sarah Graham, Erika Eden, and Lee Urban chatting about all things Finland.




Karl Fundenberger, our latest technology guru, sorting through District 5710 pins that we will be passing out.

Lee - blogging!

Lee is our blogmeister.