"Put-de-lime-in-de-coconut..."

Two team members launch new business venture

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Two of our team members, Shelly Kane and Heidi Ellis, have launched a new business venture together -

Moxie Events!

Shelly's event planning experience and Heidi's interior design skills make for a great team!

Visit them on Facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/MoxieEvents.

Contact information:

- Heidi: getmoxie@eugeneweddingplanning.com
503-917-9342

- Shelly: igotmoxie@eugeneweddingplanning.com
541-221-0608

PO Box 40603
Eugene, OR 97405

GSE team member Shelly Kane joins Rotary

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 21:45:00 +0000

Shelly Kane has joined the newest club in District 5110 - the Rotary Club of McKenzie After Five in the Eugene-Springfield-Coburg area. Shelly is not only a member of the new club - she is a charter member.

Shelly with PDG John Cox and District Advisor Mike Screen

McKenzie After Five Charter Members

The club was officially chartered on June 30, 2010 (the last day of the previous Rotary year). The charter night was held on August 21 and Shelly was inducted along with her 23 fellow charter members. Past District Governor John Cox presided over the festivities.

Shelly with GSE Team Leader Rick Francona
(Note - Barbados Legion tie)

Presentation in Bandon - July 23, 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 01:36:00 +0000

Team leader Rick Francona gave a presentation to the Rotary Club of Bandon today. The club was interested in the program - they had sponsored two applicants for the team (none were chosen).

One of the points that Rick made about many of the Caribbean clubs purchasing Shelter Boxes was a big hit. The four South Coast clubs - Bandon, Port Orford, Gold Beach and Brookings-Harbor - are considering a joint purchase of four Shelter Boxes.

Rick asked the club to seek out applicants for the 2010-2011 GSE to Peru.

District 5110 Conference - Eugene, Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Sun, 23 May 2010 01:31:00 +0000

Our home district, District 5110, conference was held in Eugene on May 21 and 22. The team gathered once again and, as usual, wowed the crowd.

Shelly and Rick opening for the team. As usual, Rick tried to be funny and Shelly saved the day.

"Anna Leelah Layla" Lillah explaining lawyering in the Caribbean. Lillah's team recently placed third in the classic Bend canoe race.

Heidi brings it home with her "outside in - inside out" GSE experience. In a nutshell, we did not look at the island as most tourists do, that is from the "outside in," but staying with local families gave us the unique perspective of seeing it from the "inside out."

Rick: I now make my living with words. I could not have said it better.

At the GSE teams roundtable:

Liesl (from the District 7030 team) and Shelly with a Carnival mask. Shelly has a whole outfit, but maybe not for G or PG audience....

Liesl, Shelly and Monica at the roundtable - good questions and answers.

Rick said something that everyone seemed to like. To his left is the team leader of the the District 4410 (Brazil) team; to his right is the team leader of the District 7030 (Eastern Caribbean) team.

Heidi, always a crowd favorite, talks about her experiences in the Caribbean.

It was nice to reunite with the team, if just for a short time.

Back home to Oregon

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 15:21:00 +0000

March 28 - After a month in the Caribbean, visitng Dominica, Martinique, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, a tanned GSE team returned to a significantly cooler and wetter Oregon.

The tanned team at Portland airport

We will be adding more posts to the blog - mostly on the vocational exchange visits - as we sort through our notes and pictures.

The team will also make a presentation on our trip at the District 5110 Conference in Eugene on Friday, May 21 at 3:15pm.

Lawyering on Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 02:25:00 +0000

March 26 - I had such a great time on Barbados with the attorneys there. I finally got to go to court with a criminal defense attorney, which was just amazing, and this particular attorney was a notorious character on the island. He participated in the local theater and had been defending the most high profile cases on the island for years.

When I mentioned at the Rotary meetings that I had been with Andrew Pilgrim that day, the whole club erupted in laughter. But he and his associate drove me around to all the small courthouses and showed me first hand how the criminal process works. I also got to hear first hand about the different idiosyncrasies of the judges, which was exactly like some judges I know. In fact, practicing criminal law in Barbados seemed to be the most similar to my practice. We shared the same stories about clients and judges and the criminal process in general. I felt like I was sitting around with my colleagues here discussing another work day. It was wonderful.

I also met another attorney who was close to my age and he was very informative and interesting. He worked for a large law firm that handled corporate litigation, so we had a chance to discuss trial practice as well.

I also toured the new Supreme Court building and sat in on a criminal trial. This was great and the building was just beautiful. It also had every piece of high tech equipment a court room could need. I was jealous.

Lillah McBride

Stantec Engineering - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 23:52:00 +0000

March 25 – My final vocational visit was spent with Justin Jennings-Wray at Stantec. Stantec is a Canadian engineering firm with branches in the US, Canada, and the Caribbean.

Justin explained the EIA, or Environmental Impact Assessment studies he does on the island of Barbados. These studies sometimes determine the sustainability of the golf courses’ water drainage and management. I also learned about Barbados's unique water table.

Justin drawing me a diagram during our discussion about the water table of Barbados.

Monica Holzmer

Premier Event Services - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 20:45:00 +0000

March 25 - Jerry Ishmael, part owner of Premier Event Services was my favorite vocational visit on Barbados. This man knows events inside and out! I got to talk to him about 2 very exciting events that his business landed, “The Prime Minister’s Inaugural Ball” and the “Barbados Food & Wine Festival” sponsored by Travel and Leisure Magazine! During my visit, I got to meet the secretary to the Prime Minister as she was in the office to approve the event invitation for the Inaugural Ball, a 450 person plated meal affair. She was very happy to say the least.

The Barbados Food and Wine Festival takes place Nov. 19-22, 2010 and will have three top guest chefs: Chef Tim Love, a true Texan and pioneer of urban Western Cuisine, Chef Ming Tsai, a New York chef who focuses on East-West cooking, and last but not least, Chef Marcus Samuelsson, multi-award winning New Yorker famed as the chef at Obama’s first State White House dinner (the infamous crashed dinner we all know and talk about).

The most interesting part of the conversation was about the wine. Barbados does not produce wine, yet the titles is very explanatory, a Wine and Food Festival. They are importing wines and flying in wine experts from all over the world. Rum will be present at the event of course, as Barbados is very proud to say that Mount Gay is the first rum ever to be produced.

There will be cooking demonstrations, wine tastings, rum shop Safari’s, catamaran cruises hosted by the celebrity chefs, dinner banquets, tastings, music, and all kinds receptions throughout this fun 4 day event. On an international level, the event will promote Barbados as a top tourism destination. Given my culinary and hospitality experience on Barbados, they will have no problem with this!

I really wish I was a part of the Premier Event Services team working on this exciting event. Even more, I wish I had the vacation time to take off and go back to attend this event! I have great confidence that Jerry and his staff will do a fine job!

For more info on the event, pick up a copy of Travel and Leisure Magazine!

Shelly Kane

Barbados Legion

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:48:00 +0000

March 25 - The Barbados Legion is a semi-private veterans support organization patterned after the British Legion. It provides assistance to former members of the British forces from Barbados and former members of the Barbados Defence Force.

The Legion building - The Main Guard, in the Garrison, Saint Michaels

The BDF was formed after independence in 1966. Prior to that, Bajans served in units of the British Army, at one time constituting (with other islands) the West Indies Regiment. Some members supported by the Legion served in British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II. The first prime minister of Barbados, Errol Walton Barrow, was a WWII RAF veteran with 40 missions to his credit.

Over the past few years, the Barbados government has recognized that having a private organization look after its veterans was not living up to its commitment and now partially funds the organization with about US$100,000 per year. The Legion still sells the poppy reminiscent of the poppies sold on Veterans Day in the United States.

Following an excellent briefing and tour by Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Florence Gettins, the Legion presented me with their organizational tie - I am wearing if in the photo.

Hazzard Engineering and Lime Grove - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:18:00 +0000

My third vocational visit on Barbados was in two parts. First being a visit to Mahy, Ridley, Hazzard Engineering Ltd. I met with Gregory Hazzard (below), the director.

His company employs about 10-15 people and their offices are in a building (below)that was originally part of a large plantation.

Gregory was very nice and drove me all around Barbados showing me some of his projects. One was an impressive golf course club house with an amazing view of the ocean (but it was closed at the time, so I couldn't take a photo).

Another project in progress was a large office building that will house an insurance company that fellow GSE team member Lillah's host father, Keith, works for. It's interesting how everyone is pretty much connected to everyone else, since it is such a small island.

In fact, another project underway will be one of the largest retail centers in Barbados, and through my vocational visits I met the engineers, two construction companies, and the leasing office on the job. It's called Lime Grove (below) and is a large commercial and residential development on the west coast of Barbados in the affluent town of Holetown.

Lynne Williams (with me below) in residential sales gave me a hard hat tour of the three and four-story buildings, to be complete with a movie theater, underground parking, and retailers including Cartier, Ralph Lauren, and Louis Vuitton, to name a few.

Palm Grove includes more than 10 buildings, plus a second phase to consist of three-story town houses on an adjacent block. It will be a beautiful site complete with three courtyards and roof-top dining. Check out: http://www.limegrove.com/ for some great images and architectural renderings. The center opens December of this year, just in time for some Christmas shopping!

Heidi Ellis

Rotary Club of Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:42:00 +0000

March 25 - The GSE team attended the lunch meeting of the Rotary Club of Barbados, often called the "big club" or the "old club." The club, with about 80 members, is the largest in District 7030.

Monica - to her left is her host family member Ronnie Ramsey

It is also the home club of Past District Governor David Edwards (seated to Shelly's left), who has invited the team to spend our rest day on his yacht - we said yes.

Lillah presenting

Heidi presenting

The customary banner exchange:

Monica - Springfield Twin Rivers

Shelly - Springfield

Heidi - Eugene Airport

Lillah - Bend High Desert

Rick (wearing his Barbados Legion tie) - Port Orford

Rotary Club of Barbados South

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 20:00:00 +0000

March 24 – The team attended the lunch meeting of the Rotary Club of Barbados South. During the meeting, the club inducted a new member into its ranks.

Shelly making her presentation

Monica making her presentation

The club is involved in several community service projects, including the adoption of a school for children with special needs.

The team members presented banners from their sponsoring clubs:

Monica - Springfield Twin Rivers

Heidi - Eugene Airport

Lillah - Bend High Desert

Shelly - Springfield

Mark Thompson Group - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 03:31:00 +0000

My second vocational visit in Barbados was to an architect's office, Mark Thompson of the Mark Thompson Group. We started with a driving tour to view some of his completed projects. The Mark Thompson Group has been very successful and has many beautiful projects throughout Barbados.

We ended up at his office, which is a historical building, the "Ronald Tree House." It's a beautiful two-story home, now converted to office spaces, which houses Mark's company, a massage therapist, and a quantity surveyor's office.

Keith Browne, me, Mark Thompson

Which leads me to my second vocational visit of the day: Keith Browne, quantity surveyor. This profession isn't practiced much in the states under that title, but he essentially is an estimator/budgeter/appraiser all in one.

Quantity surveying includes creating a large document of all the individual costs involved in a construction or remodel project. It can be time-consuming, but is very helpful for the contractors to tender (bid). This practice is more common in the UK as well. Keith's company does quantity surveying among other things.

They also specialize in project management, contract review, and valuations. To be a chartered quantity surveyor, there is a three-year program, then two years of training, and a final assessment test. Keith also completed his MBA, which has aided him in running his own business and managing a team.

Heidi Ellis

Barbados Coastal Zone Management Unit

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 23:44:00 +0000

March 23 – I spent my second vocational day in Barbados with Dr. Leo Brewster PhD, Director of the Coastal Zone Management Unit.

Dr. Brewster showed me a boardwalk project the Coastal Zone Management Unit has been working on around the island to better serve the public and use the natural forces the geomorphology of the ocean exhibits to conserve and maintain the beaches on the island with the most public use. The wooden boards were brought into Barbados from Brazil for their tested longevity. The boulders had to be shipped in from Canada because the geology of Barbados is made up of coral entirely and it is not a favorable material to take the endless pounding of the surf year upon year.

Dr. Brewster and I on a section of the boardwalk on the south coast.

Monica Holzmer

Renaissance Events - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 20:40:00 +0000

March 22 - I spent the afternoon with Andrea Thompson, owner of Renaissance Events. I found Andrea’s career transition to the event industry incredibly interesting. Before the internet, window displays were the leading way to advertise products and services. Andrea was the person to hire when you wanted your window display to take on that perfect look to ensure every consumer who walked had the desire to purchase the product or service.

Soon after the internet, window display space transitioned into expanded space for products. Andrea’s window display business was declining, but she was getting an increased number of inquiries to decorate at weddings. Soon, she found herself working full time in the growing wedding and event industry. Now she works on all kinds of corporate and social events developing wall and ceiling treatments, table and buffet treatments, and sign and design work.

Shelly Kane

Rotary Club of Barbados West

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:30:00 +0000

March 23 – The GSE team attended the dinner meeting of the Rotary Club of Barbados West at the Bagatelle Great House in Saint Thomas. The club had numerous visiting Rotarians from Great Britain and Canada.

The GSE team at dinner at the President's table

Dessert Monica

Shelly delivering her portion of the presentation

Club President John Hadchity and banner exchanges:

Monica - Springfield Twin Rivers

Lillah - Bend High Desert

Heidi - Eugene Airport

Shelly - Springfield

Rick - Port Orford

GoeOrbis - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 23:32:00 +0000

March 22 – I visited GeoOrbis for my first vocational visit in Barbados. I spent my time discussing the GIS projects GeoOrbis does for their clients with Managing Director Craig Batstone and GIS & RS Coordinator Renee Babb. GeoOrbis has constructed a vehicle tracking GIS application for many companies and government departments to utilize on the island. For commercial endeavors this allows companies to streamline their efficiency. While ambulances and emergency vehicles are the most widely used service vehicle GeoOrbis tracks for the government offices.

GeoOrbis has also supplied all of the aerial imagery for the recently published road atlas of Barbados.

Craig showing me some of GeoOrbis’s aerial imagery.

Monica Holzmer

International Business in Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 21:25:00 +0000

March 23 - I met with two business-oriented organizations to discuss the international investment climate in Barbados.

Janette Babb and Ezra Catwell represent Invest Barbados. Invest Barbados is a government body charged with attracting international investments into the country, particularly the “off-shore” – a term they avoid, preferring “international business company” – companies that are registered in Barbados . Companies registered in Barbados as Barbados corporations are able to avoid higher taxation in other (home) countries, especially the United States and Canada.

The organization is also involved in the registration of maritime vessels under the Barbados flag, again for tax avoidance purposes. The two officials pointed out that Barbados is a “low tax, not a no tax” country. The ship registration business is growing – Barbados maintains four offices around the world to facilitate the process.

Barbados is an attractive venue for banks, trusts and especially insurance companies. Most of the international insurance companies registered in Barbados are American, although there has been a slight decrease since a change in U.S. law that applies an excise tax on premiums paid to “foreign companies.”

When asked is American tax laws are beneficial to the Barbados economy, all I got was a smile.

I later met with Henderson Holmes, Executive Director of the Barbados International Business Association, sort of a chamber of commerce for the international companies that are registered on the island. This is a member-funded organization that works to ensure the Barbados government does not pass legislation that hurts the international business companies.

Henderson too allowed that stringent U.S. laws are the reason companies register as Barbados corporations – there are in excess of 3000 of them currently. He just wrote an article in the publication pictured above entitled, “President Obama’s New US Policies – A positive spin for Barbados.” (He’s not expecting an invitation to the White House….)

I appears that every time the United States passes higher corporate taxes or more restrictive regulations, more Barbados corporations are created. Perhaps some of out legislators should come here and research this. Wait, what am I suggesting, members of Congress traveling to resort destinations?

Rick Francona

Soul Mates Barbados and Bay + Wellington Creative Services - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:42:00 +0000

March 22 - I had a short visit with Sue Wellington, event coordinator and wedding planner. She owns two businesses: Soul Mates Barbados and Bay + Wellington Creative Services. Soul Mates Barbados, focuses on wedding planning. Wellington Creative Services focuses more on corporate and product launches, award banquets, meetings, seminars, customer appreciations, fairs, tradeshows, and many more events.

Her business is growing and in 2007, she was able to add Beverly to her full time staff. Beverly was hard at work during the visit, but I managed a photo with her near the end.

Sue wants to connect and talk about event standards and education on the island. There is a lack of event education and would like to integrate event standards and teach other upcoming event planners the tools for success.

Shelly Kane

Innotech Construction - Barbados

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 14:09:00 +0000

March 22 - I had several vocational visits in Barbados, the first of which was to Innotech, a major construction company. Martin Da Silva, the CEO, met with me. Their main sector is hotels and condos, which are prevalent in beautiful Barbados. There is growing interest in building right on the coastlines - Innotech is researching how to build structures that can hold up to the Atlantic waters and with respect to the surrounding environment.

Cary from Foundation Technologies, Inc., Martin from Innotech, Phil from Innotech, and Frank from Foundation Technologies, Inc.

That day Mr. Da Silva was meeting with two sales reps from Foundation Technologies, Inc a US company from Georgia, to learn about the newest technology in concrete helical pilings and tie-backs. These products would be very useful in marine construction and are new to Barbados.
The meeting was very interesting and familiar. I often meet with sales reps about the newest technology in flooring, lighting, wall covering, or fabric back home.

Heidi Ellis

George Washington slept here - in Barbados?

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 02:26:00 +0000

March 22 - A little known fact: George Washington lived in Barbados for a short period of time. The team visited the house that is now the George Washington House museum in Bridgetown, Barbados.

The museum account: The young George Washington and his ailing brother Lawrence resided in this historic plantation house, also known as Bush Hill House, for two months in 1751. Barbados was the only country ever visited by the future “First Father” of his country and Bush Hill House the only house he ever lived in outside of the continental United States. The visit is a little known but very important chapter in the life of the then unknown 19 year old man, who would go on to become, as later described by Light-Horse Harry Lee, “first in war, first in peace, first in hearts of his countrymen.”

The bedroom used by George Washington, where he contracted and survived smallpox.

Dining room

Card table

Barbados Defense Forces

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:52:00 +0000

March 22 - I visited two of the three Barbados Defense Force installations today as a guest of Colonel Alvin Quintyne, Chief of Staff of the BDF. The visit was arranged by Rotarian Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Willie Kriton, the former deputy chief of staff of the BDF.

First stop - the Barbados Coast Guard. The BCG has three (two shown here) new 140-foot patrol craft housed at a new facility, HMBS Pelican to complement its small fleet of rigid hull inflatables and smaller harbor patrol craft. The vessels are used for drug interdiction, coastal defense and search and rescue. The 200 strong force appears well-trained and disciplined.

The commander of the coast guard is Lieutenant Commander Sean Reece, a graduate of the US Army parachute school at Fort Benning, and participated with US forces in the invasion of Grenada in 1983.

We then toured the BDF headquarters facility at Saint Ann's Fort in Bridgetown. The land forces regiment, formerly part of the West Indies Regiment of the British Army, has fought around the world. It also participated in the 1983 U.S.-led invasion of Grenada.

The "Pentagon" equivalent - the headquarters of the BDF staff.

The command post and operations building. In national emergencies, this is where the coordination between agencies occurs.

Medical unit - also supports civilian medical emergencies, mass casualty events in the Caribbean and is deployable to other nations if needed...

...and has a new hyperbaric chamber, one of only a very few in the region. Patients are brought here from other Caribbean countries for treatment.

Heading up the hill to the old signal area and Officers Mess for lunch with the officers where I made a presentation on issues in the Middle East.

Rick Francona

The Law and Saint Vincent

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 01:52:00 +0000

March 21 - On St. Vincent, I again lived with an attorney, Simone Truchot.

She worked for Mustique and was, like all the other people we met, very interesting. She had previously moved to St. Vincent to work as a magistrate and held that position for several years. She explained that corruption and political dealings behind the scenes almost made her walk out many times. But she stated that she did not give in to the pressure and people soon learned that she was a fair judge and respected her for that, even if she had an armed guard outside her home due to death threats.

She arranged for me to tour the prison on the island. That was the highlight of all my vocational visits. Parts of the prison were built in the 1800s and it was amazing that it was still being used without much renovation. However, I have to add that St. Vincent is getting ready to move all the inmates to a new prison that was being finished while we were there. The second in command gave me the tour and as we walked around, all the inmates seemed very happy to see him and all greeted him, um, warmly?

I met a man on death row who immediately began telling me that he was ready to die if that meant he did not have to continue to live in that cell as he was. I was speechless.

After the tour, I met the equivalent of the warden and after I was introduced as an attorney from the United States he asked if I was a human rights attorney. I said oh, no, not at all. He replied, "good, because that is a human rights nightmare back there." Again, I was speechless.

All in all, St. Vincent was wonderful and in my opinion the most interesting.

Lillah McBride

Rotary Club of Bequia, Saint Vincent

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 16:26:00 +0000

March 19 - Bequia is a small island nine miles south of Saint Vincent, part of the nation of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - at seven square miles, it is the largest of the Grenadines. The population of just over 5000 supports a small Rotary Club.

Since the Bequia club meets on Tuesday evening and the island is accessed only by ferry from Saint Vincent - or "the mainland" as Saint Vincent is called by the Bequians - the GSE team spent the good portion of a day with two of the Rotarians, Sylvester and Clinton.

Maintaining a Rotary club on a small island presents challenges. This includes keeping a viable active membership, raising funds for local projects, and trying to be part of the district that at time can seem like an ocean away.

Event Planner at Ministry of Tourism - St. Vincent

noreply@blogger.com (Rick Francona) — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:52:00 +0000

March 18 - I met with Camille, who surprisingly has a very similar story as me! She works full time (Monday- Friday) at the Ministry of Tourism, owns her own wedding and event planning business, and is a Mom!

Camille, however was just baptized Seventh Day Adventist so she is unable to take on weddings since most weddings in Saint Vincent are held on Saturday. Instead she focuses on corporate events. Like the support and flexibility I receive from Lane Community College, she too receives the same from the Ministry Tourism.

We spoke of the different events she has planned or been apart of the planning around the island. She explained that the island has a very small scope for event planning business, but she is trying to change that. She is trying to set event standards that should be met on the island. Camille is still growing her business and is adding a tabletop (linen/centerpieces) aspect to her business.

I've noticed that many folks on all the islands we've visited practice more than one line of business. When I asked why that is, Camille explained it beautifully. She said on small islands such as Saint Vincent, "One hand can't clap." She advised that many need more than one line of business or job or position to make a good living.

Another example of 'One hand can't clap.'

Shelly Kane