Host Families - Bennington Rotary Club – Monday 3rd May – Wednesday 5th May

Hayley
During the short stay at Bennington I was lucky enough to stay with Rick and Ellen Havlak who owned the Bookshop in Downtown Bennington. They made me feel very welcome for my two-night stay. Rick cooked a lovely meal and their Son and his house mate joined us for dinner.
It was lovely to be welcomed into their family. Thank you for looking after me during my stay and letting me get a couple of early nights!!

Richard
I stayed with Janice and George in North Bennington. I loved the guided tour of George’s incredible model railway, especially as I was trusted to play with it! We had a really nice Indian meal across the border in Massachusetts on the last night which was very enjoyable and reminded me of home!

Abi
In Bennington I was staying with David and Gail O’Brien (who is also a physiotherapist). They live in Shaftsbury in a lovely house out in the countryside. Upon arrival I was greeted by their dogs Molly and Shadow and cat Yoda and soon discovered some chickens running around! David and Gail have hosted many GSE and exchange students in the past so I was able to add my pin to their map of the world. I was the first to have visited them from the UK. On my 2nd night, Gail took me to a pub in New York State called The Man of Kent, which had a huge variety of different beers and food to choose from. It felt like I was back in Canterbury. Thank you again for letting me stay.

Charlotte
In Bennington I stayed with Barbara and her 2 inquisitive cats, Cricket and Tyler Lilly. Once again, I was made to feel very welcome and at home! It was a short stay in Bennington but Barbara and I spent a nice evening together on Tuesday, eating a beautiful meal with some Ben and Jerry's ice cream! Thanks to Barbara for getting up so early to drop me off on Wednesday morning!

Ruth
My hosts for the two night stay in Bennington were Judith and Bill Fellows. When Judith first met me we decided to go to her home so that I could freshen up and so that we could have 'nice cup of tea'. Judith is real anglophile and also a quilter, so as I love handicrafts too, we got of to a great start. She even paid a 'happy dollar' at her RC Catamount meeting the morning because having me stay had reminded her that we need to take time for those pleasant interludes in life. Bill works at the CDC that we visited Tuesday morning so he had been able to give me some background before our visit. Another very pleasant, but all too short stay with lovely people. Thank you both.