District 1020 Central and Southern Scotland GSE Ohio 2017

4 day count down...

Some of you may already be aware but for those of you who aren’t... Les, Scott and I have committed to a fairly extreme Arctic Trek challenge at the beginning of Feb. Les is one of the trained coordinators on this trek so Scott and I feel safe knowing we’re in Les’s team.

A small team of us are flying to Rovaniemi in Finland where over the course of 3 days we’ll be trekking 80km into the Arctic Circle. Pulling our kit on pulks and camping out in temperatures as low as -35°C, it’s no mean feat, but an accomplishment and an experience that I am sure will be incredible.

We couldn’t do a challenge of this scale and not use it as an opportunity to fundraise for two remarkable causes so here’s where we are hoping you can help us.
We know so many of you will already frequently donate to charities, so any donation you are in a position to make would be very gratefully received.

The two links chosen charities are here:

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jilly-mccardel

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/jill-mccardel

Thank you so much on behalf of the GSE district 1020 team for any support you’re in a position to give.

We hope this note finds you all well. Best wishes to you and yours in 2018!💛

Read Jill's story Jill is raising money to help Glasgow Children’s Hospital Charity (formerly Yorkhill Children’s Charity)

Great to see everyone and have the chance to meet new faces and clubs.

On behalf of all the team - thank you for the opportunity to present at the conference today, hopefully it was clear to see just exactly how much each of us have benefited from the trip, all thanks to our fantastic hosts and Rotarians of District 6600 and 1020.

We’ll look forward to visiting your clubs in the upcoming months.

Wishing you all a safe journey homeward.

Best Wishes,
Jill, Les & Scott

Together again....but missing our American friends.

GSE Team are united again☺️🎉

Looking forward to meeting many of you this evening at the district conference dinner.

Thoughts and prayers to all of you and yours with all the worry and trauma hurricane Elma has brought.

Stay safe and strong.

🇬🇧💗🇺🇸

Out of District but ...Still on tour. Missing my GSE Team and companions!

Sandusky... our final stop on what has been an incredible GSE journey.

Our vocational trips were fantastic - the Team were delighted with how well aligned they all were to their professions and they certainly made the most of it.

Our time here also included a special and very memorable boat trip to Kelleys Island with hosts Ron & Tracy Guerra and Steve & Joanne Miley.

We finally got to experience Cedar Point having heard so much about it 🎉 - we could see how it gets the hype, some seriously impressive white knuckle rides!😱 A big thank you to Marris Brenner for arranging it all.

Then there was our big fond farewell on Tuesday evening. It was wonderful to see such a strong turnout of our Rotarian friends who made the trip to Sandusky - it meant so much to us.
It's fair to say we were completely overwhelmed with how we have been welcomed here - we have learned so much from your outlooks, your ethics and your faith which goes hand in hand with Service before Self.

Homeward bound now for most of the Team, it's going to be quite the adjustment after such a surreal 4 weeks with all of you.

So we would just like to say a huge heartfelt thank you to you all for your efforts, your kindness and such remarkable experiences. We will miss you.

We look forward to seeing and welcoming many of you again on our side of the pond ...get planning and keep us in the loop. 🇺🇸🇬🇧

Sandusky... our final stop on what has been an incredible GSE journey.

Our vocational trips were fantastic - we were delighted with how well aligned each of our experiences were to our professions and we certainly made the most of it.

Our time here also included a special and very memorable boat trip to Kelleys Island with hosts Ron & Tracy Guerra and Steve & Joanne Millie.

We finally got to experience Cedar Point having heard so much about it 🎉 - we could see how it gets the hype, some seriously impressive white knuckle rides!😱 A big thank you to Marris Brenner for arranging it all.

Then there was our big fond farewell on Tuesday evening. It was wonderful to see such a strong turnout of our Rotarian friends who made the trip to Sandusky - it meant so much to us.
It's fair to say we were completely overwhelmed with how we have been welcomed here - we have learned so much from your outlooks, your ethics and your faith which goes hand in hand with Service before Self.

Homeward bound now for most of the Team, it's going to be quite the adjustment after such a surreal 4 weeks with all of you.

So we would just like to say a huge heartfelt thank you to you all for your efforts, your kindness and such remarkable experiences.

We look forward to seeing and welcoming many of you again on our side of the pond ...get planning and keep us in the loop.

St. Mary's! What a welcome and action packed few days we've had here...a huge Thank you to Gary, Ellen, Rebecca Kraig and Ken for being such fantastic hosts and tours guides. Here's a few snaps to show what we managed to fit in...

What a stunning city! Thank you to Julie McIntosh for organizing such a fantastic couple of days for us here we loved the Short North District and lucked out with some serious sunshine.
Joined by some Findlay friends & Emily - who was part of last years Group Study Exchange Team to Scotland - good times had by all!

Thank you to all our hosts and Rotarians who made our experience in Toledo so memorable.
A special note of thanks though to Sharon and Tom Skilliter for their wonderful hospitality which enabled us to have the opportunity to present, network and meet more Rotarians as well as meet their lovely friends and extended family - we all loved to be a part of it.
Also a big thank you to Ford & Phyllis Cauffiel for hosting us in their magnificent private antique car museum - a surreal experience to see such a sensational classic car collection. We had a blast.

Well ...we didn't see this coming🤣.

7:30 10km run ...DONE.
Great fun and tremendous team effort. The kilties on track for celeb status in Toledo. 🏅🏅🏅🏅
Findlay Tees on!🏃🏻🏃‍♀️🙌🏼

Our last day with Elyria Sunrise...thank you all for such wonderful experiences.

Fox News...

Could not have asked for a more incredible experience with the wonderful Elyria Sunrise Team . What fun and memorable times we have had together.
Big shout out of thanks to all the hosts and those involved in accommodating all the vocational trips and the fun we had.
One of us made celeb status... Les.

An exciting couple of days here at Sawmill Creek Resort - meeting and getting to know many Rotarians from all around the District at the annual District 6600 Conference.

Bowling Green Rotary - May 18!
So good to meet you all yesterday, thank you for being so welcoming and such great hosts. Loved our vocational trip, our trip to Snook's Dream Car Museum and dinner at Trotters! Another top day for the Team. Thank you☺️🇺🇸👍🏻

Some of the best bits of Day 1 - what a day!! Findlay Rotary Club you have been incredible hosts - Thank You so much!☺️

Happy chappy...beer in hand, this one's made for him! Team Leader, Andygator. All here safe & sound and what a wonderful warm welcome we've had! 🎉🇺🇸

...and we're off! 🇺🇸🎉

3 days to go! Excitement levels...HIGH😃