Work, work, and more work from over twenty Madison Hostel staff, board, and volunteers helped the Hostel achieve a brand new look, just in time for Spring! You might not even recognize the place if you haven't been back in the last year... Carpet has been installed, rooms stylishly redesigned, and new paint colors decorate the walls.

Mike Krause, General Manager of the Madison Hostel, would like to recognize and thank all the volunteers who made this remodelling adventure happen. "It was great to have people come together to beautify the building. I think hostel guests will be quite pleased at the results."

The Madison Hostel is fortunate to host a beautiful display of artwork and poetry entitled Epidemic Peace Imagery, which encompasses over 50 works from poets and visual artists from Wiscosnin and beyond.

This exhibit began in 2003 as a collaboration among peace activist Claire Box, poet Robin Chapman, and visual artist Russell Gardner. They envisioned an exhibit that would help others visualize a path to peace. Their journey continues to expand as the exhibit travels around Wisconsin with a message of peace.

Visitors are invited to the Madison Hostel to view the exhibit (Open Sunday-Thursday, 8am-9pm, Friday-Saturday, 8am-10pm). For more information, please contact us at 608-441-0144 or just click here.

Join fellow outdoor adventurists in one of this year's many exciting canoe trips throughout Wisconsin. No experience is needed- just bring yourself, your family, or your friends and get ready for some fun.

Click here to see the 2006 Canoe schedule.

Come on in... We always keep our doors open for volunteers. In fact, it's the very thing that keeps our organization thriving today! Volunteering with the HI-Wisconsin Council is not only fun and rewarding, but it is guaranteed to help you keep your connection to travel well after you have returned home.

Currently, we are recruiting volunteers to help us in the following positions:

• Be a tour guide for Hostel Guests... show them around the town, let them in on the hidden "hot spots", share a cultural hobby, and so much more!
• Help us with our website design... we can always use advice from the technologically savvy
• Host a conversation night in a language you may speak
• Co-facilitate an educational travel seminar
• Create a display at a Hostel to inform guests about an interesting topic
• Organize and implement activities about travel and intercultural exchange for a group of students
• Design your own project based on your unique skills and abilities

If you are interested in volunteering:

• Call us at 608.441.0130
• Email us at hostellingwisconsin@yahoo.com
• Stop by the Madison Hostel at 141 S. Butler Street

HI-Wisconsin members gathered for the Annual Meeting in late March to acknowledge the past year's successes and to plan future goals for the Wisconsin Council. Accomplishments include: a successful year of educational travel programming, increased community partnerships, and the creation of a solid strategic plan to guide us through the next five years. Over this next year, we'll be working diligently to expand hostelling, programming, and intercultural exchange throughout Wisconsin!

We are pleased to announce that the Wisconsin Council will soon be partnering with Girls Scouts USA. In the next few months, we will begin our Community Walls-Wisconsin Project, a fun and educational component of Hostelling International's Opening Doors, Opening Minds program, which asks youth, "What is it like to live in your community?" The Community Walls-Wisconsin service project teaches youth to gain cultural understanding, to define their community, build pride in their culture, and to express what it is like to live in their neighborhood through the creation of an original painting. We, as a Council, decided to take on this community program to:

• Expand awareness of hostelling in Wisconsin
• Develop an ongoing partnership with Girl Scouts USA
• Educate a new demographic of potential hostellers & global citizens
• Increase cultural awareness locally
• Add meaningful artwork to display in the Madison Hostel and other local venues

Call us at 608.441.0144, book on-line at www.madisonhostel.org or use our "Book a Bed in Madison" link on the left hand side of this newsletter.

Contact Mike Krause at 608.441.0030, or by email at hostellingwisconsin@yahoo.com if you would like to help us financially in this endeavor.

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