Rotarians from Ireland Visit Aspen
ASPEN, COLORADO- The Rotary Club of Aspen was host to a group of young professionals from Ireland last week as part of the Rotary International Group Study Exchange Program. This 5-person exchange group came from various towns in Ireland, including Dublin and Cork, and consisted of three professionals involved in policing and emergency services, and along with experts in construction management and accounting. During the course of the visit the group met with representatives of the City of Aspen Police Department, the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Department, the City of Aspen Finance Office, Aspen Valley Hospital, the Aspen Fire Protection District. They also reviewed several on-going and recently finished construction projects in Aspen and Snowmass Village, and met with several firms involved in banking and accounting.
Stan Clauson, GSE Coordinator for the Aspen Rotary Club said the Irish team was very pleased with their visit to Aspen: “They remarked that the professional development activities here in Aspen were among the best of their month’s travels. I think that says a lot about the quality of work we do here and, of course, our great reputation for being a friendly out-going community.”
Earlier this year, the Rotary Club of Snowmass Village sponsored Sally Spaulding, Aspen Community Relations Officer, as a representative to Ireland. Sally travelled for one month in Ireland, meeting with various professional counterparts as part of the exchange.
Currently, candidates are being considered as young professional applicants to visit Australia from October 3, 2009 to November 7, 2009. The trip is sponsored by individual Rotary clubs, Rotary District 5470, and the Group Study Exchange program of The Rotary International Foundation.
The program strives to improve international understanding by enabling people from different countries to learn from each other. The concept involves exchanging teams of business and professional persons for a month-long tour.
While abroad, team members will visit their professional counterparts, observe their hosts' way of life during homestays, and study the hosting country's economic, social and cultural characteristics through travel and discussions.
More than 30,000 persons from 115 countries have participated in the Group Study Exchange program since its inception in 1965. To date, The Rotary International Foundation has expended in excess of $50 million for GSE tours. The foundation is supported by members of some 31,000 Rotary clubs in 173 countries and geographical regions around the globe. The foundation's objective is to further international understanding and cooperation throughout the world through projects and programs of an educational or charitable nature.