Lawrence Sister Cities Advisory Board
Annual Report for 2004
March 3,2005
The year 2004 was a year of challenges and great successes for your Sister Cities Advisory Board!
In April the City advised us that we would receive no further funding until we came into compliance with our contract regarding accounting procedures and IRS filings. We then hired the City’s auditing firm to accomplish the necessary compilations and filings. It took several months; but, our compilations and filings were completed and our funding was restored. We now have an on-going relationship with the auditing firm, Lowenthal, Singleton, Webb & Wilson, and have employed a professional bookkeeping service.
The 15th anniversary of our partnership with Eutin, Germany, was celebrated in 2004. In observance, Mayor Rundle lead a delegation of 16 citizen delegates to Eutin during the first week of June. Our group was exceptionally well received. The visited coincided with the opening of an exhibit of the art of Lawrence artist, Nancy Bjorge. One of her
pieces was presented to the City as a gift from the people of Lawrence.
Our high school pupil exchange program with Eutin continued, with nine students and two teachers going to Eutin and nine students and one teacher coming to Lawrence.
Our high school pupil exchange program with Hiratsuka, Japan, had a record number of participants, with 26 pupils and six chaperones making the trip to Japan and a similar number coming here to Lawrence last summer.
The $2,500 provided to us by the City to reduce the program costs for pupils in the exchange was divided equally between Friends of Eutin and Friends of Hiratsuka to reduce travel costs for all pupil participants.
Using scholarship funds donated by members, friends and local businesses, the Board’s Scholarship Committee provided need-based scholarships to two students going to Eutin and two students going to Hiratsuka. The total amount of the scholarships was $2,300.
In the Spring we hosted two annual events at the Union Pacific Depot for our members and friends. We took advantage of them to gain new members and to recruit host families for the German and Japanese delegates coming to our Sesquicentennial celebration in September.
Our Board had an intensive role in the Sesquicentennial activities. We hosted over 40
delegates from each Sister City and provided host families for all those that desired home hospitality. We arranged area tours for both delegations and provided transportation for all delegates that required it.
All delegates were delighted to receive a “gift bag” which contained the book ”Kansas in Color,” a box of candy, a packet of 25 note cards depicting five different scenes of Lawrence, and an assortment of items provided by local merchants.
We coordinated two Mayor’s luncheons for the elected officials visiting from each city.
They were held on the fourth floor of City Hall. Each visiting official received a commerative letter opener and a picture book describing the first 150 years of Lawrence.
A high point was the official Sesquicentennial banquet that was attended by over 150 people, including all the delegates from Eutin and Hiratsuka. During the evening Mayor Rundle presented the two visiting Mayors with special plaques commerating their visit and our Sesquicentennial. We greatly appreciate the $5,000 grant from the City that helped fund this event.
In November we started planning for our official delegation that will go to Hiratsuka in late May of 2005 to celebrate 15th anniversary of our partnership.
Our thanks to the City for their continued financial support and to the dozens of Lawrence citizen volunteers that work to assure the ongoing success of this program.
Respectfully submitted,
Graham Kreicker
Chair
Attachment: 2004 auditor’s compilation