Travels to Toronto

The RY2017-18 Rotary International Convention was held in Toronto, Canada and since we had never been there we decided we should go.  So we paid the $700 registration fee, boarded a plane and headed for Toronto.  

Toronto is the capital city of the province of Ontario and the largest city in Canada by population, with 2,731,571 residents … and in the Greater Toronto Area, the population in 2016 was 5,928,040!  It’s pretty obvious this is a huge city judging by the traffic!

Before the convention – with more than 30,000 Rotarians in attendance from all over the world – we decided to travel to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, from which we could see downtown Buffalo, NY.  The falls were beautiful, but the crowds were comparable to a busy day at Disneyland – and the traffic, to and from Niagara, was bumper-to-bumper in four lanes … on both sides of the freeway. 

The convention was amazing! Speakers included – but in way limited to – Former First Lady Laura Bush and The Royal Princess Anne, sister to HRH Queen Elizabeth.

But, the highlight of our week in Toronto came in a very unexpected way:

In between sessions, we were sitting in the House of Friendship having a drink while waiting for the next session to begin, when a woman walked by with a Guyana flag on her purse!  At first I thought I was seeing things so I jumped up and followed her around the corner booth.  I was delighted to see she had stopped to look at some Rotary-branded merchandise, so I approached her with a question, “are you from Guyana?”  “Born there,” she replied, “but came to the US as a child. Now living in Lafayette, CA.  Why do you ask?”

I then proceeded to tell her our story – how we had lived in Guyana for 18 months.

“Are you LDS,” she asked and I almost fell over because she is not only LDS but has been in Rotary for about 2 years … with her underlying goal to find ways to help her native country through Rotary.

“But my real reason,” she said, “is to find a way to get the Church to save records which are rapidly deteriorating for the families of Guyana.”  

I wanted to weep with joy because this is what we – Simeon, Selwin and I – have been working on, too. When couple missionaries are assigned to the work and it officially begins, I will post the “rest of the story” which is sooooo amazing!

Next year the RI Convention will be held in Hamburg, Germany … and as Rotary District Governor (RY2020-21), Ed and I will have our travel expenses paid-in-full.  Can’t wait to travel to the land of my paternal grandmother’s ancestry!

Rick Retires from SGFD

“After 24 years of service to the City of St. George, Firefighter Rick Welch has retired. Firefighter Welch has been a valuable asset to the St. George Fire Department throughout his entire career. His positive attitude and willingness to work hard will be greatly missed! Thank you, Firefighter Welch, for everything you've done for St. George and its citizens. Enjoy your retirement!” so said the City of St. George in a Facebook post following his retirement party on Friday, June 15, 2018.

Rick, one of our three favorite sons-in-law, began his career with the City of St. George on August 22, 1994 as a wastewater equipment operator with the Water Services Department.  In December 1997, he joined the SGFD as a reserve firefighter and two years later, on September 5, 1999, he was hired as a full-time firefighter.

His retirement party included members of his squad, city officials, as well as assorted members of the Welch and Sappington family … all who sang the praises of this exceptional man, including his father David Welch who said, "Yes, he's one helluva good son.  I'm going to keep him."  There was lots of laughter - and tears - and tons of hugs!  

After cake and kudos, the SGFD surprised him with a ride home – after his last shift – on the City's antique Studebaker firetruck, including his family, officers in full-dress uniforms, flashing lights and sirens.

Happy to call Rick Welch a member of our family ... and this is certain to make our 2018 Sappington Family Top Ten list!

Denver Sappington's in Winter Park

As has been our tradition for the past several years, we traveled to Denver to visit with David, Jan'L and the kids at the end of their school year ... but this time, we arranged for a condominium through our time share points.  We met at Winter Park, a beautiful resort community about 65 miles from downtown Denver and high in mountains with an average snowfall of 29 feet. Together we enjoyed a long weekend exploring, hiking, eating and playing. It was nothing spectacular or out-of-the-ordinary as vacations go, but it was sure fun to be with our oldest son and his family without work interruptions and demands on our time.