TRAVEL BRIEFS

ST. PAUL, Minn.

Global Volunteers marks anniversary

One of the country's oldest voluntourism programs, Global Volunteers, is marking its 25th anniversary in 2009 and coincidentally expects to send its 25,000th volunteer out this year.

But the celebration is tempered by cutbacks due to the economic downturn.

The organization has reduced the number of countries where it sends volunteers from 20 to 18, with programs cut in Portugal and Northern Ireland. Programs are continuing in China, the Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ghana, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, Peru, Poland, Romania, South Africa, Tanzania, the U.S. and Vietnam.

Co-founder Michele Gran says that while some voluntourism organizations focus on the needs of volunteers, Global Volunteers has always focused on the needs of the host country.

"In my opinion, there seems to be too much focus on pleasing the volunteer and helping them feel good about their contribution and assuaging American guilt, but our goal as a development assistance program has been to employ volunteers as our work force and truly meet the needs of the local people who invite us in," she said in a phone interview.

Global Volunteers trips range from $1,000 for a week domestically to $3,000 for two or three weeks overseas, plus airfare. Gran acknowledges that the organization's prices may be higher than some other voluntourism groups. But she explained that these fees not only cover participants' food, lodging and other local costs, but also support the host project. For example, fees for volunteers taking part in a program caring for disabled and abandoned children in Romania go to a clinic for failure-to-thrive babies and also pays for staff and upkeep on the building where the children live, learn and play. The money funds everything from new windows to an industrial-sized washer and dryer.

One plus for volunteers: Whatever you pay for your Global Volunteers program is fully tax-deductible. For more information, visit www.globalvolunteers.org.

NEW YORK

Spring skiing can keep powderhounds happy

Winter's coming to a close, but spring skiing can keep powderhounds going for another month or so.

In Vermont, temperatures are higher in March than in other months with heavy snow (37 is the average high and 20 is the average low), and there's also more daylight and fewer crowds on the slopes. But nearly 85 percent of the state's ski trails have been open for the entire month of March over the past three seasons, according to Ski Vermont. It's also a way to save money, because lift ticket prices are lower. More than 10 ski areas offer tickets for $39 or less and many also offer ski and stay packages. Details on March deals at SkiVermont.com.

In Colorado, March and April offer sunshine, blue skies and lots of snow, along with plenty of special events on the slope. Among the events: Powderhorn hosts "Young At Heart" parties for skiers and riders 50 and over, Thursday and March 19. Telluride has free concerts Thursday and March 19, 3-5 p.m. at Heritage Plaza. End-of-season events include Springalicious at Steamboat, April 11-12, Sunsation at Copper, April 11-12 and 18-19, and an Easter egg hunt at Arapahoe Basin, April 12.

The Bud Light Spring Jam at Aspen/Snowmass, the last two weekends of March, made it onto Ski.com's list of top five spring ski destinations, with a package available through March 29 at Ski.com (package code 9049) that includes four nights lodging in a ski-in, ski-out two-bedroom condo with the fourth night free, and a three-day lift ticket. The package starts at $714 per person based on quadruple occupancy.

The other destinations on Ski.com's top five list are Breckenridge, Colo.'s Spring Massive festival, April 1-19; Spring Gruv, March 27-April 1, in Park City, Utah, at The Canyons Resort; Spring Back to Vail, in Colorado, April 13-19, which includes the World Pond Skimming Championships; and Whistler Blackcomb, British Columbia's TELUS World Ski and Snowboard Festival, April 17-26. Ski.com has packages for the events at these resorts and others.

MINNEAPOLIS

Art in Bloom at Minneapolis museum

Spring again will be in full flower at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

The museum will celebrate its 26th Art in Bloom fundraising event from April 30 through May 3.

Every year, top floral designers showcase their arrangements with artwork from the museum's collection. Florists also put up displays outside the galleries.

This year's theme is "An American Classic," represented by the image of a white lotus shot by Minnesota photographer Cy DeCosse.

Tours, lectures and demonstrations will be held throughout the weekend.

General admission is free, but some events are ticketed, and the money raised goes toward acquiring artwork, sponsoring exhibitions and presenting lectures.

Visitors can register online for Art in Bloom's ticketed lectures, events and lunches at www.artsmia.org/art-in-bloom.

ATLANTA

Patriotism museum reopens at new site

The National Museum of Patriotism has moved to a new site in downtown Atlanta.

It's already open to visitors but will have a grand reopening ceremony April 2.

The new museum site at 275 Baker St., across the street from the Georgia Aquarium, hosts exhibits on the immigrant experience; branches of the military; first responders; the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta; patriotism in entertainment; events that led to the Revolutionary War; a hall of patriots honoring Medal of Honor winners and others; and an exhibit about the 2001 terror attacks.

The museum closed its former location in Midtown Atlanta in October 2007.

The museum also has an exhibit on "Sweetheart Jewelry," which are lockets, bracelets, pins and other items sent home by American soldiers to their sweethearts during times of war.

Details at www. museumofpatriotism.org/.

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia

Museum to honor tsumani dead opens

Indonesia has opened a $5.6 million museum to commemorate the 230,000 people who died in the 2004 Asian tsunami.

The four-level building in hardest-hit Aceh province exhibits photographs of victims, stories of survivors and an electronic simulation of the massive undersea earthquake that triggered the 30-foot-high waves.

It also describes the tremendous outpouring of support from governments, companies and individuals in the aftermath of the Dec. 26, 2004, disaster, which caused death and destruction in a dozen nations.

More than $13 billion was pledged to house and feed survivors and to rebuild devastated coasts.

The government says the museum, designed by local architect Ridwan Kamil, is an important part of the recovery process, paying tribute to those who died and explaining to future generations what happened and why.

The opening on Feb. 23 was not without controversy.

More than 700 families are still living in barracks in Aceh, which was home to two-thirds of the victims, and some were disappointed to see millions of dollars being spent on a monument.

"They should be taking care of us first," said Anisah Tahir, 50, who has been living with her husband and two children in a tiny room in a squalid camp in the provincial capital, Banda Aceh.

"We need a decent place to live and sleep," she said.

Indonesia is located in the so-called Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin, and is one of the world's most earthquake-prone regions.