Our Rotary Youth Exchange Student, Ria Luttkus left us Sunday, July 6th after a wonderful time at the Calgary Stampede and having her last, and favourite, Wendy's Baconator burger before her departure. Ria also loved French Canadian poutine!
She arrived back safely in Hamburg, Germany and will start grade 11 at high school in September.
After her stint as our Ride to End Polio mascot, she may apply for a job as the mascot for Haribo Gummy Bears in Hamburg! She is set on making money to return to Canada for her grade 12 graduation at Cochrane High School next June.
She loved Canada, her host families and friends and was very sad to leave Cochrane.
A big thank you to Cathy Groeneland and Cindy Tester for being her Rotary Counsellors, and to her host parents for welcoming her into their homes and gaining a German daughter- Franco and Melissa Torriero; Steve and Margaret Peach; Scott and Lorelei Grattidge; and Wualter and Sofi Lizcano. In addition, her counsellors appreciate all the Rotarians who had Ria over for a meal, took her to an outing and shared our Club and Canadian culture and hospitality with her.
Stay tuned for an introduction to our new exchange student in our next newsletter, Rachelle van Dam from the Netherlands!
