In 2023, Rotary Districts in South Dakota and western Denmark participated in an International Friendship Exchange. My husband Brian and I hosted a pair of Danish Rotarians, Lars and Birgitte Rasmussen, in our Spearfish, South Dakota, home for a few days. We forged a quick friendship.
They invited us to visit them at their homes in Grenaa and Skagen, Denmark, where they hosted us for a week in 2024. They were wonderful ambassadors of Danish customs and history.
Continuing our friendship, the four of us traveled to La Jolla , CA, in February, 2026, which is the home of the Salk Institute founded by polio vaccine developer Dr. Jonas Salk. It drives "foundational, risk-taking research that addresses society’s most pressing challenges, including cancer, Alzheimer’s, and agricultural resilience." The Institute is renowned for its international research projects as well as its architecture. The chalk drawing of Dr. Jonas Salk next to us was outside an entrance to one of the laboratories, so we wanted to take a photo next to it.