Our GRSP Student is Miss Maria Salcedo of Columbia.

Class of 2004-2005 consist of 76 students 55 female and 21 males from 31 countries.

The Host club this year is Hartwell.  The District Trustee is Dr Doug Clevedland of Jefferson. His email is DDSDIVESKI@aol.com.

We will have the opportunity to have her present at a program during this next Rotary year. I will post more information about Miss Maria Salcedo as I am updated

Bruce Azevedo

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Letter from Hartwell Host Family to Maria:


Dear Maria:

            I am please to write and inform you that my family will be your host family in Georgia for the coming year.  I know that you are excited about spending a year here in Georgia, and we certainly hope that you will find your stay to be productive, interesting, and worth remembering.

            Our family has hosted many Rotary Group Study Exchange (GSE) participants over the years, and it was my good fortune to lead a GSE team to Australia a few years back.  This will be our first opportunity however, to host a GRSP student, and we are looking forward to your arrival. 

            My wife Pam and I have been married for 22 years, and we have two sons not far from your age.  Our oldest, Daniel, has just completed his freshman (first) year at Valdosta State University in south Georgia, where he is majoring in biology. He hopes to attend medical school after college, and is quite talented musically.  He plays drums and other percussion instruments, is in a rock/jazz fusion band, and performs with a nearby orchestra.  He is spending this summer as a camp counselor at Rock Eagle 4-H Center, but will likely be back in Hartwell before you arrive.  He will be heading back to Valdosta about the same time you will be going to Athens to UGA.

            Our other son, Jay, graduated from high school a few weeks ago, and will be heading to Mercer University in Macon in August.  He hopes to go to law school after college, and may return to Hartwell to practice law with me someday.  He enjoys athletics, and was named as Scholar Athlete for both the football team and the wrestling team this year.  He is spending the summer as a YMCA camp counselor at a day camp here in Hartwell.

            Pam is a School Social Worker and a registered nurse.  She has spent the past several years practicing social work in our local school system, and before then practiced social work and nursing at our local hospital.  She has an identical twin sister, who is also a nurse and who teaches Health Occupations in our local high school.  Her sister, Pat, has a son Bo who is your age.  He has just completed his second year at Reinhardt College in north Georgia.

            We understand that you will need to report to the University of Georgia (UGA) for orientation on August 9^th.  I will try to find out if this is a one day, or several day session.  Your classes at UGA begin on August 19^th.  Our home is on the shore of Lake Hartwell, which is about 45 minutes from UGA in Athens.  I have a paralegal in my firm who lives in Athens and makes the trip here and back daily.  I’ll make sure that you meet him in case we need to shuttle anything back and forth during your stay.  We are about two hours from the Atlanta Airport, where I presume you will be arriving.  Please let us know your travel plans so that we can arrange to meet you on arrival.  You are welcome to arrive any time, but you should probably plan to get here at least several days before August 9^th, so that you can relax and get acclimated to Georgia beforehand.

            Although Georgia will be quite hot (80-90F) when you arrive, the weather will begin to get cooler in late September.  By January, we may see some freezing weather (32F) from time to time, but most days will get to 40F or so.  Temperatures start rising in late March, and April and May will be a quite nice 60-75F (usually).

            Several area Rotary clubs are co-sponsoring your year here.  Each club has designated a host family, so you will be able to experience the hospitality of several good folks while you are here.  I am sending them a copy of this email in the event they need to contact you.  During your stay, we hope to take you to some of our state and local landmarks, and we may be able to put together a family vacation during your spring break.  That will depend on when UGA, VSU, Mercer and our high school have scheduled spring break.  We’ll talk more about that later.  I expect that you will find much to do in Athens, but please know that you will always be welcome at our home in Hartwell on the weekends, during school breaks, or at any other time you want to get away from UGA.  

            I know that you will have an exciting time here in Georgia, and Pam and I want to do everything we can to make your stay comfortable and memorable.  Please let your parents know that they can call or write us at any time with any questions that they may have.  My office number and address are below; our home number is (706)376-2685 and home address is 890 Melody Lane, Hartwell, GA 30643.

                        Walter Gordon

Walter James Gordon

THE GORDON LAW FIRM

415 East Howell Street

Post Office Box 870

Hartwell, Georgia 30643

wgordon@hartcom.net

www.gordonlaw.org

(706) 376-5418 - Phone

(706) 376-5416 - Fax

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GEORGIA ROTARY STUDENT PROGRAM
P.O. BOX 61327
Savannah, Ga 31420

Phone:       912.961.1331

Fax:           912.961.1860

Email:        grsp@grsp.org (Janis)

                 willette@grsp.org (Willette)

Website    www.grsp.org