Susan McDaniel Havre Daily News smcdaniel@havredailynews.com
Adventure awaits four local area students. Havre students Karly Brown, Jake Wenger and Tianna Drew along with Brandon Riphenburg from Chinook will be traveling as members of the People to People Ambassador Program. The Mediterranean Discovery Trip to Spain, France and Italy will begin on July 13 and last for 20 days. A fundraising benefit for Brown, Wenger and Riphenburg is scheduled for Saturday at the Fifth Avenue Christian Church from 4 to 7 p.m. A spaghetti dinner, silent auction, 50/50 tickets and entertainment are planned for the fundraiser. Tickets for the dinner will be $5 per person or $15 for a family. Each student is responsible for his or her own expenses for the trip. The Ambassador Program is by invitation only. The process of getting into the program includes nomination, application, interview and three references. A teacher or former student ambassador nominates students, according to Mary Brown. Two groups will be going on the trip, one made up of high school age students and one of middle school age students. Each will be traveling in the same areas but will have different itineraries. Among the activities scheduled are meetings with government officials, interactions with other student ambassadors and home stays with host families. The students will also observe the bulls being trained for the annual festival in Pamplona and they will be repelling down the side of a castle in France. Viewing the art of Michelangelo will be among the many educational opportunities experienced by the students, with trips to Vatican City and the Sistine Chapel and to Florence to see the statue of David. The People to People Foundation was founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Eisenhower called a speCial White House conference of American leaders, who joined him in creating People to People in the belief that ordinary citizen of different nations can resolve their differences if they can communicate directly. The People to People mission developed around personal exchanges and firsthand experiences with other cultures.
