DELRAY BEACH SISTER CITIES
TANZANIA COMMITTEE
MINUTES
Thursday, May 03, 2001
In Attendance: Mike Appelbaum, Pat Archer, Mark Baron, Charlotte Durante, Chuck Eschenburg, n’Detenga n’Gurumo, Ngozi Mensah, Clovis Moodie, Bonnie Stelzer.
The meeting was called to order by Committee Chairperson, n’Detenga n’Gurumo. An Agenda was distributed. He called for approval of the minutes of the April 5th regular meeting of the Tanzania committee, but none were available for approval.
A report on the Conferences and Official Visits taking place during the next few months followed:
- Chief Consul Fukuda visited Delray Beach recently and several Sister Cities committee members were available to meet him and that went well.
- The Florida State Sister Cities Conference will take place in Mt. Dora, Florida May 4th –May 6th and three students as well as Charlotte will attend. There will be an emphasis on the Youth Council aspect at this conference.
- n’Detenga n’Gurumo attended The U.S/Africa Conference April 26th – 29th in Washington, D.C., and he gave a report on the topics and contacts made at this event. He reported that three other cities in Florida have Sister Cities in Africa. The committee agreed that it was very worthwhile and it was suggested that this Conference be put into the budget each year, so that a representative could attend. It was also reported that the Office of Citizen Exchange has grant money available for Sister Cities projects. Committee members can contact Orna Oblum by e-mail at oblum@pd.state.gov for further information.
- The Sister Cities National Convention will take place in Atlanta, July 25th – 28th and several members of the committee will attend.
- A discussion of the visit to Delray Beach of Lord Mayor Tarimo of Moshi followed. The Lord Mayor wants to visit Delray Beach in August or September and the committee discussed the difficulty of those months for a visit, in terms of hurricanes, hot weather and fewer people in town. They suggested a visit in November or December. An informal discussion with the Lord Mayor in Moshi to discuss this should take place by e-mail first, with an official letter from the Mayor requesting a visit at this time, to follow.
Oz suggested an Olympic type-sporting event called The Florida Sister Cities Games should take place in Delray Beach in the year 2003. He discussed this with the Palm Beach County Sports Commission, his employer, and they were very interested. It was suggested that this be held every 2 – 4 years. Charlotte will mention this at the upcoming Sister Cities Conference in Mt. Dora.
The Delray Beach Sister Cities will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary in the year 2002 and money for a celebration of this event will be put into the Sister Cities 2002 budget The Morikami Museum is celebrating its 25th Anniversary as well. Perhaps a combined event could take place.
Mark Baron announced that all fundraising meetings for the Twilight Safari Dinner would take place each Wednesday evening at 6:30 p.m. at Native Accents Gallery until the Dinner takes place.
Bonnie Stelzer reported that the first press release has gone out to announce n’Detenga n’Gurumo being appointed Chair of the Moshi Committee and has appeared in local newspapers. The Twilight Safari Dinner date Friday, June 22nd and location at the Delray Beach Marriott were included in this first press release. A series of press releases is planned to publicize the event during the next few weeks. Bill Wood of the Chamber and the Joint Venture has offered to help publicize the event too.
A major problem arose next, when Mark Baron asked if the $1,000 deposit check had been given to the Marriott Hotel to confirm and hold the date of the event. Fortunately, the check had not been sent, as Pat Archer then announced that Delray Beach had just learned that it is a finalist in the All-American City competition and the winner will be announced in Atlanta June 21st –23rd. This is a major obstacle for the Twilight Safari Dinner , as many of the potential guests will be going to Atlanta for this event.
A discussion followed about other dates in June to hold the Twilight Safari Dinner but the availability of the Ambassador, the availability of the Marriott Hotel and Chairpersons of the event, Mark & Susan Baron, present problems when considering any other dates for this event. The committee will hold off on any further plans for the Dinner until they hear from Mark Baron. It was mentioned that perhaps this event should now be held in “season” and could tie in with the winter visit of the Lord Mayor.
A discussion of more visibility for Sister Cities in local parades and festivals took place.
The Sister Cities annual budget is currently being prepared and Charlotte asked the committee for other items that might be included for publicity, conferences etc.
The next Tanzania committee meeting will take place on Thursday, June 7th at 8:30 a.m. at the Delray Beach Public Library. The committee is now waiting to hear from Mark & Susan Baron about re-scheduling The Twilight Safari Dinner and further activities around this event will be suspended until further notice. The meeting was adjourned at 9:40 a.m.
Minutes submitted by Bonnie Stelzer