S i s t e r C i t i e sA s s o c i a t i o n o f S p r i n g f i e l d

September2013

Japanese runners in Abe’s AmbleA first for SCAS occurred in August, when Springfield hosted a

delegation of runners from Japan. The five members of the Ashikaga Runners delegation arrived on Thursday evening, August 15. After sightseeing and homestays with local families, they attended a pot luck dinner on Friday evening, hosted by Karen and Dale Blankenship. The group, accompanied by several runners from SCAS, ran in the Abe’s Amble at the State Fairgrounds in the cool early-morning weather on Sunday, August 18, and three Ashikaga runners placed in their age groups. Their visit was noted with stories on WICS and in the State Journal- Register. They de-parted on Monday, August 19. Sadao Shimizu was the leader of the Abe’s Amble Ashikaga Runners’ Delega-tion. He was joined by Tomio Iwasa, Toshio Tabei, Ma-sahiro Yoshida, and Takayuri Nakajima.

Potluck for Ashikaga students is September 23

During the week of September 21, the annual student delegation from Springfield’s Sister City of Ashikaga, Japan will be visiting Spring-field.

Eighteen students and three chaperones arrive on September 21. They will be in Springfield for one week.

Home stays with local families have been arranged for the stu-dents during their entire visit. They will attend classes with their host students for three days, tour historic sites, visit city offices, and have many opportunities to enjoy American cuisine and activities. Their chaperones will visit schools, sight-see, and spend the weekend with host families. Thank you to the planning committee: Janet Kenney, Cyndi Dodge, Ric Thompson, and Carol Zerkle.

You are invited to meet the delegation at a potluck/picnic at 6:00 pm Monday, September 23, at the Washington Park shelter. Meat, beverages and table service will be provided. Please bring one or two dishes to share, depending on the size of your family. RSVP to Ric at Ric.thompson5@hotmail.com or by text at 217-415-5568; bring your lawn chairs!

Leading Asia update

SCAS continues its follow-up on the Leading Asia Exchange Funding. In 2012 the award was made and the SCAS delegation of Janet Kenney, Ric Thompson, Chad Wallace and Cindy Can-namela traveled to Ashikaga. Sister Cities International (SCI) selected SCAS to participate as presenters in the July 12 Pan-Pacific Summit in San Antonio. Janet Kenney and Miyazaki Keiko represented SCAS and Ashikaga. Following the Summit, the two attended the SCI Confer-ence. Miyazaki-san returned to Springfield with Janet to continue planning for Leading Asia-in-spired delegations.

Gettysburg group arrives November 15

Five students and two chap-erones from Ashikaga will visit Springfield from November 15-20. These students are the winners of Ashikaga’s annual Abraham Lincoln Gettysburg Ad-dress Speech and Essay compe-tition. The visitors will attend one day of classes with their hosts, and will also do sightseeing as a group with SCAS volunteers do-ing the driving. Further informa-tion will be forthcoming, but mark your calendar for this event.

On November 19, the 150th anniversary of Lincoln’s speech at Gettysburg, each of these student winners will step to the podium in the Hall of Represen-tatives of the Old State Capitol and present the Gettysburg Ad-dress. Please join us in witness-ing this moving presentation.

San Pedro newsIn January, a group of 10 adults visited our Mexican Sister City, San Pedro. The delegation consisted of: Mick and Blanca Bernasek, Ric Thompson and Luz Lopez, Fire Chief Ken Fus-tin, CWLP Water Administrator Tom Skelly, Rick Griminger, Dave Cation, John Ransdell, and Vicki Bamman. The delegation contained experts on fire safety and water distribution/sanitation,

which are special areas of interest to San Pedro. San Pedro planned hous-ing and various activities for the group: a ceremony at city hall emphasizing the renewal of our 16 year agreement with San Pedro, meeting with the San Pedro Water and Police Departments, and sightseeing, including visits to the San Pedro House of Culture (the site of Francisco Madero’s home) and the Museum of the Revolution. The group learned about local health care issues from their visits to the local Red Cross, meeting with representatives of DIF (a family services department), and a meeting with staff at the San Pedro nursing home facility. They learned about education issues from meetings with educators from the San Pedro Institute of Technology and the San Pedro School of Business Administra-tion, and by visiting a local school for disadvantaged children. Our San Pedro hosts also planned many social activi-ties featuring mariachi bands, the Nan-chititla folk dancers, guitarists from a lo-cal teachers association and browsing of the downtown square in the merca-do. This trip was fascinating and again

displayed the tremendous amount of hospitality from the San Pedro Sister Cities Association, Sertoma Club, and La Sertoma Club. Huge banners were displayed around the community to rec-ognize our visit. We cannot say enough about the trip in terms of kindness, friendships, and fiesta fun, and our feel-ing of safety throughout the visit.

On March 31, 2013, eight boxes of fire uniforms donated by the Springfield Fire Department were delivered to the San Pedro Fire Department. Special thanks to the Fire Chief Ken Fustin for his help on this project. On that same date, computer equipment was also delivered to the Instituto de Tecnologico en San Pedro. Special thanks to David Fowler of Computer Banc and Carol Zerkle.

The July 2013 incoming student delegation was very successful. Six col-lege students—Pamela Jimenez, Carolina Ramos, Lucia Sifuentes, Ana Del Toro, Karla Babun, and Edgar Ibarra—spent the month with Springfield families. This delegation received more support from the Latino commu-nity, more new volunteers, and more interaction with students of their own age. Special thanks to ESL instructor Sue Alexander

for providing tutoring at LLCC; to Kaity Melton, Alyce Scott, Gabby Ferniza, and Sandy Nickell for supplemental tu-toring in the evenings; to Lisa Groesch, Bud and Janet Kenney, Michele Buyan, Ric Thompson and Luz Lopez, Bryan and Marylou Johnsrud, Nicholas and Pilar Mayorga, Sandy Nickell, and John and Sandy Ransdell for their generous hosting and housing of the students; to Rick Griminger, Mark and Cheryl Pence, Tom Skelly, Blaine Pool, Dave Cation, Corrina Baker, and Carol Zerkle for backup and support; to Janet Kenney and Ric Thompson for driving students to and from Lambert airport; to Blanca Bernasek and Don Ecklund for driving the students to Chicago; to Tony and Stephanie Ferniza, Rick and Evelyn Griminger, the Chad Wallace family, John and Sandy Ransdell, and Tom Skelly for their lavish fiestas for the group; and to the Office of Mayor Hous-ton, the Police Department, Fire Chief Ken Fustin, and CWLP’s Amber Sabin for tours of the municipal offices. In addition, students enjoyed sightseeing, visiting the Presidential Museum and other Lincoln sites, the Old and New State Capitols, Taste of Springfield, Wallace Organic Farm, the IL State Museum, numerous restaurants, and shopping areas (which undoubtedly boosted the bottom line of many local merchants). At a potluck, they even had a chance to meet students from Ashikaga Boys High School, who were visiting UIS (see photo at left).

�������������������������������������������������������������

���������������������������������������

�����������������������������������������

��������������������������������������

��������������������������������������������

��������������������������������������

����������������������������������������

�����������������������������������������

���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

�����������������

��������������������

����������������

�������������������������������

������������������������������������

�����������������������������������������������

����������������������

�����������������������

�����������������������������������

������������������������������������

��������������������������������������

���������������������������������

������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

�������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ���������������������������������������� �������������� �������������������

Dues are due!Many people have the impression that Sister Cities is a governmental orga-

nization, and that most of the organization’s activities are funded by the City of Springfield. While our local government does provide for our annual member-ship in the International organization, and helps us to open doors and make contacts in our area, the fact is that the Sister Cities Association of Springfield is supported primarily by the membership dues of local individuals, families, and businesses.

Dues-supported activities include SCAS responsibilities such as providing for meals, organizing home stays, sightseeing, gifts, and local transportation for visitors from our Sister Cities, along with communications, logistics, and similar support for both incoming delegations and official visitors from Springfield to our Sister Cities. Home stays and associated meals for our visitors are provided by volunteer hosts, who are not reimbursed.

So we offer a big “Thank You” to our members, and encourage everyone interested in “citizen diplomacy” to join us as members in Sister Cities. Dues for the 2013-2014 year are due now, and can be mailed to our post office box or paid at any SCAS event.

Butler-Mast FundIf you are looking for a place to

make a memorial contribution, or want to honor friends on a significant birth-day or anniversary, why not donate to the Butler-Mast fund? Established in memory of two founders of Sister Cities, Homer Butler and Terry Mast, this SCAS fund provides financial assistance to students on Sister Cities delegations. We will send an acknowledgement to the person or family in whose name the contribution was made. It’s a great way to show you care while making a donation to a worthwhile cause. You can also make a donation on the same check when you pay your dues. Keep it in mind!

Schnucks eScrip raises funds for SCAS

SCAS is a participant in the Schnucks “eScrip Customer Card” program. You can obtain a card at any SCAS event. We’ll register it for you so that your purchases are connected to the SCAS account. Then just present it to the cashier every time you shop at Schnucks, and for every dollar you spend, a percentage will be donated to SCAS.

2013-2014 SCAS BoardPresident Janet KenneyVice-President Jim ChipmanSecretary vacantTreasurer Cyndi Dodge

Board membersMick Bernasek, Cindy Cannamela,

Dave Cation, Jonathan GoldbergBelle, Rick Griminger, Lisa Groesch, Matthew Hartley, Bryan Johnsrud, Helen Milito, Kevin Ramsey, Ann Schonhoff, Ric Thompson, Chad Wal-lace, Carol Zerkle.

A s s o c i a t i o n o f S p r i n g f i e l dS i s t e r C i t i e sP.O. Box 1474Springfield IL 62705

Fall delegation to Ashikaga forming

An adult delegation is forming to visit Ashikaga this fall, from Oc-tober 28 to November 5. This trip will offer its members the opportu-nity to observe Japanese culture and tradition, including wood working techniques; gardening, including traditional Japanese gar-dens, Bonsai, and water ponds; and an opportunity for fitness enthusiasts to run in a 5K or 10K race that is part of the Japanese Culture Day national holiday fes-tival in Ashikaga on November 3. The delegation is limited to 6-12 members, and the leader is Ric Thompson. If you would like more information, contact him at Ric.thompson5@hotmail.com.

June 2014 Student Delegation to Japan

Planning for the Summer 2014 Student Delegation to Ashikaga is beginning. The delegation is open to students who are currently in 8th through 12th grades. Infor-mational meetings about the trip will be held in early winter. The chaperones will be Janet Kenney and Cyndi Dodge.

Like us on Facebook!Check out the SCAS on Face-

book to get the latest on our proj-ects and events! Look for “Sister Cities Association of Springfield, Illinois” to reach the official SCAS Facebook page.

Welcome back, Kevin— Good luck, Zack!

In July 2010, Kevin Ramsey began teaching English in Ashikaga as an Assistant Lan-guage Teacher (ALT). He was a hit with the students and teachers in Ashikaga, frequently engaging the students in sports and other activities. He even appeared in full warrior garb in an Ashikaga winter festival parade, carrying the ban-ner of the Ashikaga Toastmasters Club, which he helped to estab-lish. He served the maximum term of three years, returning to Spring-field in August. Kevin will provide valued input as a new member of the SCAS Board. His successor as ALT is Zachary “Zack” Claflin, who left for Ashikaga on July 31. Zack is familiar with the city, hav-ing visited it several times in the past decade. We wish him every success!

2002 and 2009 Illinois Sister City of the Year