Town of Cary
SISTER CITIES COMMISSION
Town Hall , Building B
Minutes of June 16, 2003 Meeting

Present: Mary Lou Addor, Mary Brice, Jinnie Davis, Amy Feistel, Sharon Hannigan, Ian Henshaw, Barry Mitsch, Steve Morrison, Sarah Sheffield, Darrell Stover (Staff Liaison)

Absent: Samuel Fudzie, Cricket Harrell, Jack Smith (Council Liaison)

Guests: Caroline Hart

Handouts: Minutes (Steve)

CALL TO ORDER:  Steve Morrison called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: April 15, 2003 , minutes: Amy Feistel made a motion to approve, and Mary Lou Addor seconded it. Approved unanimously.

May 15, 2003 , minutes: Sharon Hannigan made a motion to approve, and Amy Feistel seconded it. Approved unanimously.

March 20, 2003 , minutes: Sharon made a motion to approve, and Jinnie Davis seconded it. Approved unanimously.

MEETINGS:  Steve asked commission members to let him know if they are unable to attend a meeting. He apologized for changing the date of the June meeting; it was necessary to accommodate Darrell Stover’s schedule. Members are to send agenda items, concerns, suggestions to Steve, Ian Henshaw, or Jinnie.

Update on Le Touquet Summer Exchange:  Steve reported that planning is going well for the French students (two boys and nine girls) who will arrive July 11 and leave on July 25. Host families have been found for almost all the students. Steve introduced Caroline Hart, one of the hosts, who is attending the meeting as a guest.

Space is available at the Eva Perry library for the Saturday instructional sessions. Steve and Barry Mitsch are still discussing the use of additional space with Cary Academy .

Cricket Harrell and Steve are working on an orientation for the students. In addition, a welcoming picnic is scheduled for July 14. Sharon has the name of a French teacher who is interested in learning more about SCA activities and will send it to Steve for an invitation to the picnic. Steve encouraged members to invite other interested individuals to the picnic even if they are not able to host a student. He will supply the host families with a list of all commission members as contact persons.

A beach trip is planned for July 15. Steve needs two women to help chaperone the trip; he is also working on transportation for the drive. He also asked for additional ideas for student activities (beyond the half-day of English instruction). Cricket is still checking on transportation for these activities. The host families will be responsible for keeping the students occupied in the evenings and on weekends. Amy Feistel and Ian have contacts at Cary Academy if Steve needs their names.

Barry asked how host families were found so quickly this year. Steve explained that it was a combination of using Nadette Welterlin-Hugg’s notes, a great response from the Cary High Band Boosters, SAS mailings, and other sources such as the Alliance Française.

Mary Lou Addor asked if Steve will be sending out a calendar of events related to the summer exchange. He said yes.

Ian asked about pre- and post-coverage by the Cary News. Members agreed it would be useful to have publicity about the picnic; we could invite a reporter to Bond Park.

Update on July 14 cookout at Bond Park: Mary Brice reported that the large shelter is already reserved for July 14; we can reserve Buehler Shelter, which holds 50. Members agreed that it would be fine for accommodating our event. It will be available at 4 p.m. , and we must vacate it by 7:30 p.m.

Mary asked how the cost of the picnic would be funded. Barry suggested asking Sue Rowland, because last time the Town of Cary used its discretionary money to host a pizza party. Darrell recommended e-mailing a formal request (including description of event, its purpose, number of attendees, etc.) to Sue, with copies to both him and Susan Moran (who handles publicity for the Town). Additional costs may also be incurred to reserve the baseball field. Other members suggested activities that would be free (e.g., volleyball, Frisbees).

Identification of Information Needed by Town Attorney to Assess Liability for Exchange Students: Darrell reported that the town attorney, Charlie Henderson, has requested a full listing of all scheduled activities so he can make an assessment of liability. The association has no insurance; Ian mentioned that such coverage could cost about $3,000 or $4,000 per year. Amy noted that our main concern is in transportation using private vehicles, and that any commercial or municipal services we use would have their own insurance coverage.

Steve will send the final list of activities to Charlie with a copy to Darrell.

Update on MEATH:  Barry has just returned from a trip to Ireland and will give his report at the end of this meeting. He mentioned that the Minister of Education lives in a town in Meath and has said that, if we write a letter seeking exchange activities, he will circulate it to the schools.

Update on Markham : Barry reported that Don Cousens, the dynamic and well-respected mayor of Markham , will be coming to North Carolina the week of July 16 to take part in a Chamber of Commerce retreat held in the Greensboro area. No Markham representative will be present at Lazy Daze; the SARS threat is another deterrent.

A biotechnology firm from Markham working on a process for controlling hog waste is locating its firm to Cary . The 30 to 40 jobs created by this move is a direct result of the Sister Cities program of economic development.

The Sister Cities banner will be presented to Mayor Cousens during his visit. Barry will try to arrange for the presentation to be made in Cary so SCA members can attend.

Steve said that he has Ildiko Trombitas’s notebook on Markham and will pass it on to Mary Lou.

Update on Hsinchu: Amy has learned from TECO representative Jeff Young that the SARS epidemic is preoccupying Taiwan officials. For that reason, no one from Hsinchu will be attending Lazy Daze. She proposed modifying the letter of invitation to invite instead some representatives from the U.S. office. The letter would also thank the past director for her years of service and introduce the Sister Cities to the new Director Consul. She suggested approaching Chinese businessmen and Chinese-American friends associations, especially with members from Hsinchu, to ask for help during Lazy Daze.

Steve interjected that, because we are at the half-way point in the annual calendar, he would like to ask each members to come up with one idea to generate ongoing contacts with each sister city, especially Hsinchu (e.g., e-mail exchanges among students).

Amy will e-mail Barry a reminder to send her a copy of his letter to Kevin McGuire (which she will forward to the rest of the group) and to send her Steve Chait’s e-mail address.

Discussion of Lazy Daze & Update on Invitations/Responses to Sister Cities: Ian’s letter has been sent out to our sister cities. So far, two representatives are tentatively coming from Meath. We are uncertain about Le Touquet, and Amy is following up on officials from Taiwan . Although we know no one will be able to come from Markham , we will still issue them a formal invitation.

Ian has not yet scheduled the official reception with Town officials and will follow up with Sue Rowland as soon as possible. He is also looking into other activities such as a Bulls game. Mary Lou reported that action on other fronts (e.g., hotels, transportation) is awaiting firm information on how many guests will attend. She will send each of us the documents compiled so far.

Cultural Events: Darrell announced upcoming activities and events sponsored by the Town of Cary .

ADJOURNMENT

Mary Lou made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Mary Brice seconded it.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m.