Jun16, Coffee Morning - ONSITE - USA
The last Coffee Morning before the summer break was held on the beautiful lawn of the American Chief of Mission Residence. Our excellent host Elizabeth had put together a beautiful small pre-program for all the cinema lovers among us. As an adjunct to the coffee morning, we had the pleasure of seeing a small exhibit of movie posters from classic Hollywood films, such as "The Sound of Music", "Singin'in in the Rain", "The King and I", "Modern Times", "E.T." and many more.
In the residence's own theater we then had the chance to watch the original film preview trailers. It was a true pleasure to enjoy a few escapist movie moments with Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire, Shirley Temple, Debbie Reynolds & Gene Kelley, Bob Hope & Bing Crosby, Clark Gable & Claudette Colbert, Charlie Chaplin, etc. Thank you so much for this wonderful experience, dear Elisabeth!
After the pleasant pre-program and a delicious coffee buffet the Coffee Morning with the official part could start.
Thanks to the end of the lockdown and COVID-19 restrictions, we could meet like we used to do it before March 20, the beginning of the pandemic. For some of us it was more than a year we hadn't seen each other and for the persons who arrived during the last 12 monts, it was a premiere to meet.
President Kees looked back to his year as SHOM President and pointed out how difficult many things were and have become during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless it was a success that even through this difficult time we had the chance to gather at least online and could welcome several presenters via Zoom. Thank you to everyone who joined this online-programs!
Physical meetings are now much more valued and we are very happy to meet again in person for our last Coffee Morning - a special thank to our wonderful host Elizabeth who made this gathering possible.
Kees thanked his team and wished its members good luck for the next year - hopefully a year with many more physical meetings. The new board will start in September with the new continental grouping.
As always in summer we had to say goodbye to some of our dear members. Neda (Australia), Zumrud (Azerbejian), Ivy (Zambia), Tanya (Ukraine) and Fabienne (Switzerland) will leave us. We all wish them a smooth moving and a quick adaption time in their new posting or back home.
But we also had the pleasure to welcome new members. Welcome to Mellissa (Guatemala), Maria (Portugal),Sally (Gambia), Hwa (Korea), Nuzhat (Bangladesh), Seynabou (Senegal) and Zohal (Afghanistan). May you feel soon home in Ankara, we are happy to have you here with us!
After the official part the guests enjoyed the onsite (!) mingling, chatting to old and new friends and "just" to be among friends. It felt so good to meet again!
Thank you to the SHOM Board 2020-21 and to our host Elizabeth!