Two team members launch new business venture

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

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

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

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

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

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

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