In a gathering of islanders from the many cultures of the world, Friendship Force International of Whidbey Island will host the first ever World Friendship Day Saturday at the Island County Fairgrounds in Langley.

The day-long event is meant to promote peace and friendship among people of every nation.

“It’s particularly appropriate that Friendship Day takes place right here on Whidbey Island, since we now know that people from an incredible 53 countries live here, on our island alone,” said Tom Holden, one of the event’s organizers. “That number is astounding.”

Laura Strehlau, another Friendship Day organizer, called the celebration a multi-generational one, but one that will be especially important for kids.

“Friendship Day, the parade and the exhibits — while they’re for everyone, this is especially for children,” Strehlau said. “Children can change the world, and they’re also the most affected by the world. We encourage children and families to attend.”

The Friendship Day celebration will have three components.

n A parade of international ethnic groups and organizations will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of Cascade Avenue and Sixth Street in Langley, marching down down First Street.

n Exhibits and displays will be in the Pole Building at the fairgrounds from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. There, visitors can hear about life in other countries, make discoveries about other cultures and explore the diversity of experiences on the island and in the world.

n All during the day, performances, dances and music will be featured.

There will also be ethnic foods of countries from all over the world, including Greek, Mexican and Philippino.

Among the exhibits will be a Japanese table where Japanese dolls will be on view and adults and children can learn the art of origami.

The display of Global Volunteers will show how people can spend a week or a month of their time helping build bridges, parks and other structures throughout the world.

Islanders who are from Madagascar, England, Canada and other nations will speak about their countries.

One speaker will be Stan Sagara of Burlington, who will discuss Volunteer Optometric Services for Humanity. Through this program, Sagara was one of a team of people who built a greenhouse at an orphanage in Russia. The greenhouse now supplies the orphanage’s produce.

There will also be participation by South Whidbey High School French and Spanish classes. Together with exchange students who attend the school this year, they will staff tables and provide information about their respective countries.

A class from the Mukilteo School District will be present to display what they have learned about children who live in other countries from e-mail relationships with children from all over the world.

There will be drawings for children’s books about the world and its people, provided by Ginny Nelson of Usburn Books.

In another area, Deon Matzen and Bob Baerg will staff a booth on China.

The South Whidbey couple has recently returned from a year in Beijing, where they taught at Beijing Foreign Studies University.

“I taught oral English to Chinese scholars going to other countries around the world to study and do research,” Matzen said. “I also taught taxation officers and the people who manufacture Chinese money — chemists, accountants, lawyers and others.”

Matzen and Baerg will have an automated slide show running during the event. Visitors can see pictures of Beijing, the university, and places the couple visited during a five-week tour.

“There are also pictures of the Weifang International Kite Festival,” Matzen said. “While we were there we signed official papers making Weifang a sister community with Long Beach, Wash.”

The slides will also show pictures of people taken “everywhere,” Matzen said. “People on bikes, at bus stops, with loads of groceries.”

Baerg and Matzen will be at the display answering questions and also showing some of the folkquilts, Chinese lanterns, clothing, books, and other “treasures” they collected in China.

“People are welcome to stop by our display and discuss our teaching in China and our travels through the country,” Matzen said. “We encourage people who are interested in traveling to China to talk with us, as we can put them in touch with people to visit there.

“We’ve filled the Pole Building to capacity,” Strehlau said. “People have really gotten excited about this, wanting to participate,” Strehlau said. “Next year we’re going to need another building, or maybe we’ll go to the Greenbank Farm.”

Strehlau says the Friendship Force is already looking at next year and has scheduled a World Friendship Day celebration for Sept. 14, 2003.

Friendship Day is being sponsored by the Whidbey Island chapter of the Friendship Force, an international organization that is headquartered in Atlanta and encompasses 52 different nations. Members host people from other nations and then, in turn, visit homes in other countries.

“Next year we’re going to Japan,” Strehlau said.

This year, the organization’s international conference will take place in Dallas, where the Whidbey Island chapter has been invited to hold workshops on how to put an event like this together.

“The premise of the Friendship Force is that ‘a world of friends is a world of peace,'” Strehlau said. Presently, the island’s Friendship Force membership numbers 30 to 40 people. Strehlau says, however,that they’re always looking for new members, and would especially like to have families with children.

“People don’t need to travel, if they don’t want to or can’t,” Strehlau said. “They can still enjoy hosting international guests in their homes. We want to give our visitors a true taste of American life — and that includes children.”

World Friendship Day has also received support from the Freeland, Oak Harbor and Langley-South Whidbey chambers of commerce.