By Monty Siekerman
"Bonjour,” Philip would have said many times in his native French, but here in Ada he gives the greeting, “Hi, glad to meet you,” in English. Philip Gautier, an Ada Rotary Club exchange student from the Normandy area of France, has had a whirlwind first week in Ada.

Within hours of arriving in Ada. Philip, attended the Farmers and Merchants picnic, not as a streetside spectator, but riding in a car emblazoned with his name and that of Rotary.

After the parade, he attended the F&M picnic, greeting many more people.

For the first few days, Philip stayed at Bill and Yam Trudeau’s home where he was feted with a cookout, meeting many Rotarians and some high school students who will be his classmates. Bill is an charge of the local Rotary exchange program.

On Monday, Philip moved to the home of Ernie and Wendy Daugherty and their son, Connor, 13. He still stay there the first three months, moving to two other Rotarian homes for the remainder of the school year.

This week, he attended the AHS open house and began classes. The 17-year-old is a junior. He’s tall and likes basketball. Will he tryout for the varsity team?

This isn’t Philip’s first stay in the States. Last year he lived in College Station, Texas, for a month. His father is an entrepreneur and his mother is a nurse.

Photo: Philip Gautier with his host family at the school open house. The exchange student from France will live with Ernie and Wendy Daugherty and their son Connor for three months in Ada.