Evening star., 1961-04-13

up the table, and one exotic
ally clad member was keep
ing an eye on a huge kettle
of rice.
The program this day was
. demonstration on Japanese
Sukiyaki to be served with
Persian rice and Swedish
cookies for the sweet.
The roster of welcome to
Washington" reads like a
miniature United Nations :.
q countries are represented.
The international members
are those assigned to official
representation of their gov
ernmentS. Americans hold
ing membership are drawn
form Capitol Hill, Govern
ment, business and residen-
tial circles.
1--WE all share the respon-
sibility and learn from each
other" stresses Mrs. Adair,
wife of Representative E.
Ross Adair, member of the
Foreign Affairs Committee.
Although we're only two
years old we have a mem
bership of 400 and there's a.
long waiting list"
One hard and fast rule the
club upholds is an even bal
ance of Americans and inter-
nationals so it won't become
just another American club"
she points out.
Mrs. Adair, president and
originator of the group, says
she patterned the club after
q similar one in her home
town of Fort Wayne, Ind.
There a group made it a
point of welcoming new
comers to the city. welcome
TO Washington" was formed
for the same purpose to
extend a warm welcome to
international merS,
help them become acquainted
with a strange land, and to
establish friendship with
American residents.
A Board of Directors, COM
pcsed of IA local women,
directs the activities of the
club. Each board member
sponsors one of the 18 spe-
cial interest groups, working
with an international as CO.
chairman. r-t
Whatever activity we
plan, we work together" de-
clares Mrs. Ernest S. Grit
fifth, board sponsor Of the
cooking class, whose husband
is Dean of the School Of
International Service at
American University.
Many of our members are
not used to club work in
their own countries this
is something new to them.
But they have become so
interested have such fun
they say their husbands
are beginning to complain a
wee bit about the amount
of time they devote to club
work." reveals Mrs. Griffith.
Sounds familiar. doesn" it?
Members exchange visits,
go to movies together, con-
certS, picnics, galleries,
etc. The Americans also steer
their international counter
parts throug' the perplexi-
ties of a supermarket.
It's obvious the cooking
class which meets monthly
is one of the most popular
of the special interest groups.
AS a rule they meet in homes.
alternating between Ameri-
can and international, but
on this day they met at st.
Margaret's Church because
Of the large attendance.
Blond, vivacious Mrs. Wins
low r. Hatch, a tranSplanted
Costa Rican, was in charge.
A natural-born leader with a
talent for putting every one
at ease, she keeps things on
schedule, too.
While petite Mrs. Michiko
Suzuki was assembling the
ingredients for her demon
stration on sukiyaki, Mrs.
Charles T. Magee, originally
from Iran, was watching
over her Persian rice. Mrs
Suzuki's husband is a re-
search fellow with the Car
negie Institution Of Washing
ton; she reports on American
music for a Japanese maea-
zine.
Gingerbread cookies, the
third dish on the days menu
had been prepared in advance
and brought to the class by
Mrs. Aado Vendsalu Of Swe-
den, whose husband is a visit
ing scientist at the National
Institutes of Health.
Here are their recipes as
they gave them to me.