It's good that your host, Mel, loves to travel--he's been to all the non-polar continents-- both as a passenger and as a host. It's also good that he has a fondness for folk dancing as evidenced by his attendance at his local club, his many visits to other clubs, and his teaching of folk dance to developmentally delayed adults. He has a propensity to promote folkdancing every day and everywhere he goes.

His other people person activities include being active in the Elderhostel (Road Scholar) movement where he organized and led an International Folk Dance program. He works regularly as a host/coordinator at several Elderhostel(Road Scholar) programs and teaches beginning folk dance sessions and encourages participants to seek out dance groups in their area. He also organized and is President of a personal computer users group.

Mel started his work career in the fields of psychology and social work. When he saw that he could retire early, he looked for something that would keep him active and satisfy his interests. That led to training and work in the travel agency field. In 1984, that, in turn, led him to organize his first cruise trip for other folk dance lovers, one to Hawaii. As they say, the rest is history. This is his 28th year of organizing and escorting folk dance cruises.

It should also be noted that Mel was fortunate to have a wife who helped him greatly. Paula shared his interests in travel and folk dancing for forty-one years. Unfortunately, Paula's life journey was cut short by cancer. But what fate took away on one hand, was given back to him a second time. Mel found, Esther, who also has interests in travel and folk dance as well as the Elderhostel (Road Scholar) programs. Together, they make a great pair!