JANUARY 2005 NEWSLETTER
(see more photos on Photo Album Page)
 Above: Nancy and Ruth in GP Christmas Parade 2004 Right: Lena Lukyanova, Nancy and Joanne Stumpf share a table at the annual meeting. Lena arrived in GP on the day of the meeting. Now back home after a summer in the US, she has resumed her position as President of Rubtsovsk Sister City. |
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OUTGOING PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
Nancy Hitchcock
Congratulations to Carolyn Rice, who was
elected president of the board of directors at the October board meeting.
Carolyn is serving her second term on the board, and has served as
vice-president for four years. She has done a
great job in publicity, sending out press releases and writing newsletters. She
has also created displays for the
library, the art museum, and storefronts. She was instrumental in presenting the
Soviet Art exhibits at the Grants
Pass Museum of Art in 2001, and has been heavily involved in exchanges and in
the Heart to Heart project. We
welcome her leadership for the coming year.
I have enjoyed serving as president during the past year, working with many
active people who are dedicated to the
Sister City mission of fostering goodwill and understanding between the citizens
of Rubtsovsk and Grants Pass.
CELEBRATE THE SEASON AFTER CHRISTMAS: WINTERFEST COMING UP IN FEBRUARY!
Sister City's social event of the year, the
Annual Winterfest party, is set for February 12, 2005 at the Grants Pass
Museum of Art. Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. with a hearty Russian-style hors
d'oeuvres buffet and Russian music,
followed by introductions and a program.
Through Winterfest, those who are interested in things Russian can get together.
It is about international friendships
and the celebration of Russian culture: its art, music and food. A five-dollar
donation is asked.
Those who attend will learn more about what
Sister City is and what it does and about the medical delegation which
will be coming from Rubtsovsk in April.
Winterfest is the organization's principal
means of building membership and increasing support for its work.
Members can help. After January 13, special invitations will be available for
them to mail to people they would like
to have know about this event. For information, Call Carolyn Rice at 862-2652,
or email
twopond@budget.net or
Gwen Jacobsen at 479-3262.
SPRING 2005, YOUNG ARTIST COMPETITION TO BE SPONSORED BY SISTER CITY
Young artists from Rubtsovsk and
local schools will participate in the Sister City International Artists
Competition
in spring of 2005. Fritz Bruno is coordinating the effort and has distributed
the information about the competition to
art teachers in local middle schools and high schools.
The art from both cities will be on display at the Firehouse Gallery and the
winning entry will go to the Sister City
International Competition.
MEDICAL DELEGATION FROM RUBTSOVSK TO ARRIVE IN THE SPRING
Plans are moving along for a medical delegation
from Russia to come to Grants Pass. Among those coming will be
doctors and nurses from the hospitals where the medical equipment donated by
Three Rivers Community Hospital
was installed. This delegation is the project's fourth phase of the
Heart-to-Heart Project. In preparation for the
delegation, members of the medical community are preparing a program of
educational, cultural and social
activities. In Grants Pass, the delegates will be able to connect with members
of their profession and exchange
ideas. Rubtsovsk has sent word that delegates have applied for their visas.
NEW SISTER CITY OFFICERS ELECTED FOR COMING YEAR
In October the elections of
officers for Sister City was held. Carolyn Rice is president; Rita Turek
president-elect; and Kitty Waud is vice president. Gwen jacobsen serves again as
secretary and Mark Kellenbeck
continues as treasurer.
SISTER CITY GAINS NEW MEMBERS
Kitty Waud and Rita Turek joined
the Sister City board in September of this year and have quickly stepped in to
serve. Both were delegates to Rubtsovsk in June of this year and are involved in
preparing for the return medical
delegation this spring. Each was asked to tell a little about herself for the
benefit of newsletter readers.
Kitty explains that she is a
wife, mother, grandmother and nurse. She and her husband Herb have three
daughters.
Her oldest daughter Julie and her husband Bill are parents of two
very special grand-daughters, Sarah,
5 years old
and Emily, 20 months. Kitty's youngest daughter, Jamie, works as a
pharmacy tech and races a
Sprint car.
Kitty has been a nurse for 36 years and worked in Oregon for 20
years. Theirs is a close family
and they do many
things together. She and her husband love to fly kites on the
coast when they can. Music is something she and
her family enjoy. She especially likes country and
southern Gospel and she plays the
conga drums to relax. She
says that she wanted to be a nurse for as long as she
can remember.
Rita is a registered nurse with a
degree in management. She grew up in Santa Barbara, moved to Southern
Oregon in her twenties. She has worked with the elderly and with the Oregon
Health Plan and has also
taught certified nursing assistants. Currently Rita works in the Intensive Care
Unit at Three Rivers Community
Hospital and is on the Ethics Committee.
She has one daughter and four
siblings who all live on the West Coast, and her mother still lives in Santa
Barbara. Rita and Tom have been married two years and have just moved to a new
home. Two of her favorite
activities are reading and hiking. She has a West Highland Terrier named Scooby.
The will join board members Gwen
Jacobsen, Ruth Pepple, Mollie Means, Nancy Hitchcock, Carolyn Rice,
Fritz Brune, Vera Quimby and Mark Kellenbeck.
HOLIDAY GIFT OF WORDS BY THE POUND SENT TO RUBTSOVSK
A committee headed by Rita Turek
collected, packages and sent books in English to the public library in
Rubtsovsk.
The shipment included children's books, teen novels and recent general interest
books and magazines for adults. It
weighed 68 pounds and went via "land bag". Shipping this way is much less
expensive than sending printed material
by conventional mail. Each bag is limited to 70 pounds and the shipping is one
dollar per pound. The books are
expected to arrive around holiday time (2004), and can be regarded as a kind of
"Christmas gift" from an American
"Father Frost."
Sister City plans to prepare more
such shipments. Zonta International, through Cheryl Walker, recently donated
books for this purpose, and other organizations may want to do the same.
Sponsors can donate money to send
the books to help accomplish this goal, too. For more information, contact Rita
Turek or any other Sister City
board member.
HOLIDAY BAZAAR BOOTH RAISES MONEY FOR SISTER CITY
Selling arts and craft items from
Rubtsovsk at local holiday bazaars sounded like a good idea as a fund raiser.
So a small committee got together at Nancy Hitchcock's house, sorted and priced
donated items and prepared
them for a local handcraft sale to be held at the South Middle School. Item's in
Sister City's booth included
handmade aprons, Matrioshka dolls, enamel ware, birch boxes, and costume
jewelry. The booth also featured
the Sister City banner and information about Winterfest. Patrons and craft
people at the bazaar liked the booth.
It was a monetary success, thanks particularly to Gisela Brune and Rita Turek
and Nancy. The display got
good exposure at several venues and the project raised four hundred dollars for
the Sister City treasury.
FORMER SISTER CITY YOUTH DELEGATE DANA PONTE SPENDS SUMMER IN KAZAN
Dana Ponte went to Russia as a high
school student with a youth group under the sponsorship of the Sister
City committee, and is now a graduate student at Harvard. This past summer she
spent five weeks in Kazan,
the capital of the present day Republic of Tartarstan in the southern Volga
region, formerly a part of the
Soviet Union. Working as a visiting scholar under the auspices of Kazan State
University, she gathered
information and consulted with Tatar scholars in preparation for writing her
master's thesis. He husband Dean,
who accompanied her, volunteered at the American Center and studied Russian.
THREE LONG TIME BOARD MEMBERS RETIRE IN SEPTEMBER (2004)
After two consecutive terms and many
years of service to Sister City, Lynn Turnbull, Rachel Parker and
Ron Brown retired from the board. Though their contributions are too numerous to
list, members may recall
that Lynn served as president after the board undertook the Heart to Heart
Project. Rachel's interest in children
led her to take an active part in arranging for student exchanges, and she and
her husband Steve and their son
Dave were host family for an exchange student from Rubtsovsk in 2002. Ron Brown,
who was in the first
delegation to Rubtsovsk and in the most recent one, lent his expertise in media
and publicity to the organization.
We will miss them.
SISTER CITY HOLDS PLANNING SESSION FOR NEW YEAR
Guided by facilitator Joanne Stumpf,
the board of Sister City used November's board meeting as a planning session
to set its coarse for the coming year. Joanne began the meeting by asking each
board member to contribute to a
list of the achievements of 2004. Energized by seeing the successes of the past
year, the board generated a new
list of priorities and activities for the coming year and into 2006. By the end
of the session, the walls of the meeting
room were papered with newsprint and ideas for projects: a colorful vision
for the future. With plenty of volunteers
and the assistance of other community groups, Sister City's vision can be
translated into action and achievement.
PRIORITIES FOR 2005:
Increase partnering and cooperative projects with other groups in the community.
Promote connections between medical communities of GP and Rubtsovsk.
Increase community visibility and membership.
Work on board development, fund raising and participation in Sister Cites
International
Youth exchanges
Develop different kinds of exchanges.
Improve visa application process.
PLANS FOR 2005:
Plan for an American youth exchange
in 2006
Host a medical delegation from Rubtsovsk in spring of 2005
Sponsor Sister City International Artists Competition
Record and Send Tapes and videos to Rubtsovsk Library
Take part in local parades and celebrations
Explore possible professional performance or art exchange
Ship medical supplies to Rubtsovsk
Make presentations to medical groups and other groups in the community
Connect with other West Coast cities with Russian Sister Cities.
SISTER CITY ACHIEVEMENTS IN 2004:
The last issue of the year seems a good time to list the accomplishments of
2004.
Coming up with a list is easy, thanks to the planning session.
Raised record amount of money for programs and ended year with positive balance.
Hosted annual Winterfest Celebration in February and had the largest attendance
ever.
Saw the installation of the Rubtsovsk bear and plaque in the City Hall
courtyard.
Attended Friendship Force's annual meeting and were presenters in the program.
Had an exhibition of Russian arts and crafts in the Grants Pass Museum of Art in
February.
Sent a medical delegation to Rubtsovsk in June-July, as part of Heart-to-Heart
Project.
Increased membership. We now have 60 plus members.
Expanded and updated our Sister City Web Page, thanks to Judy Gosnell.
Helped board member Mollie Means attend Sister City International Convention
in Dallas where she gave a presentation about the Heart to Heart project.
(Mollie was also
nominated for state Sister City Coordinator.
Had a picnic in the Park to welcome the medical delegation back home.
Sponsored return visit of Larissa, a member of the original rafting group, to
the Rogue Valley.
Packed and sent a shipment of medical
supplies to Rubtsovsk, through Gateway America.
Had entries in both Boatnik Parade and Merlin
Parade-with our new banner, thanks to Mollie Means.
Were featured in a TV series produced by Ron Brown for Station KDRV
Presented a program about how Perestroika has affected women's lives at the
state convention of
American Association of University Women.
SISTER CITY
TAKES A ROLE IN LOCAL HOLIDAY EVENTS
On December 4, Sister City members Ruth Pepple and Nancy Hitchcock donned
Russian garb and
joined the town's Christmas Parade (see photo at top of page) to lend a bit of
color and international
flavor. On December 10 and 11, the window at the Book Stop featured a live
Russian Santa (Mollie's
husband Jay, in costume) as part of this year's Global Holiday Display.
Grandfather Frost, as he is
known in Russia, is a fine representative of the spirit of the season. Being
part of local parades and
celebrations during the year has helped make Sister City more visible in the
community.
