“This has been a community project our club has done since 1961,” Rotary member Shannon Horn said. “It’s a great opportunity for the youth in Molalla.”

Last Sunday, Rotary members, Molalla High School students, host families and others gathered at the Horn residence to bid farewell to Barbora “Bara” Sedlakova, this year’s Rotary exchange student from the Czech Republic. Molalla student Cord Thomas, 15, has spent the year in the Czech Republic — even living with Bara’s parents for a few months.

The Molalla Rotary administers their program locally and helps students cover fees, also paying a small monthly stipend for spending money. The program’s main cost to the student is their plane ticket, Horn said.

During their stay, the exchange students complete a year of high school, moving every three or four months to live with a new host family.

“With three different host families, they get a better cross section of how we live in America and I think it allows the students to do more and see more,” Horn said.

Bara’s hosts were the Horn, Bayley and Francis families, giving her a chance to experience both life in the country and in town.

From helping care for their sheep to playing music for their church, host mother Michelle Bayley said Bara made herself a part of the family.

“The thing that impressed me about her was she just jumped right in,” said Tom Truby, the pastor at the family’s church, Clarkes United Methodist.

While the year has been full of exciting, new experiences, Bara also pulled through some low points.

In the spring, the Rotary exchange program suffered a shocking tragedy when a gunman opened fire on a group of exchange students in Portland. Bara had been invited to join the students on their outing, but didn’t attend. Still, Robert and Michelle Bayley - Bara’s host parents at the time - were faced with telling her the grave news that her friends had been shot.

Still, Bara has made the most of her year in Oregon. She made trips to Mt. Hood, Disneyland, Seattle, the Oregon coast and various other sites.

“I know Oregon almost more than I know my own country,” Bara said. “Oregon is very beautiful. I always said that my favorite country is Switzerland because it is so beautiful, but now I don’t know.”

She was also quite active at Molalla High School, participating in band and choir and playing a sport every season.

Sometimes it’s the little things that make an impression.

“We don’t have school buses, so I was excited to go on a school bus,” she said.

Her mother, Vera Sedlakova, came to Oregon for a two and a half week visit and will travel home to the Czech Republic with Bara on July 5, staying long enough to attend the Molalla Buckeroo.

“It was very good Bara could be here,” Vera said. “It was a very good experience for her.”

Cord Thomas, the Molalla student currently on exchange in the Czech Republic, will return home on July 9. His parents, Lyn and Barbara Thomas, attended Bara’s farewell party.

Barbara’s Czech heritage along with the country’s rich arts culture, sparked Cord’s interest in the Czech Republic. Like Bara, Cord is a talented musician and singer and plays the piano, clarinet and saxophone. During his time in the Czech Republic, he has played with bands, sang in choir and played basketball for a university team.

“If it weren’t for his visa expiring, he wouldn’t be coming back,” Barbara Thomas said. “He tried to get it extended.”

Still, there are things she said her son misses about home. Early on in his stay, he asked her to mail him a jar of Vlasic dill pickles. Barbara checked into mailing a jar to the Czech Republic, but said it would have cost her $350 to mail a quart jar containing liquid.

Next year, Molalla Rotary is sending MHS junior April Savage to spend the year in Denmark. She will return next summer to complete her senior year at MHS.

Likewise, a student from Denmark will be spending the school year in Molalla.

“Right now we’re looking for our next host families for next year,” Horn said.