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On Sunday, June 14, 2009, Albu-querque Sister Cities Foundation heldits annual meeting at the Jewish Com-munity Center. Eighty members werein attendance for the occassion. Asumptious buffet lunch of turkey, avo-cado, lettuce and tomato wrap; chickensalad on wheat; sun chips, cole slawand desserts provided by the ASCFboard, began the event. AndrewThomas, a Navajo, played severalsongs on his wood flute. Andrew wentto the Sister Cities International con-ference in Belfast this July to provideentertainment at the Albuquerquenight there. A short break was taken tosavor some more dessert. PresidentRichard Buckler then introducedHarold Albert, the primary force be-hind the Rehovot, Israel/Albuquerque,NM affiliation. Mr. Albert gave a

short history of this sister city formation andthen introduced Drs. Etti Benevenisti and JohnGraham. They presented an informative powerpoint program on “Israeli Scientific and Educa-tional Innovations in Rehovot.” Door prizesand then a short business meeting followed..Officers for 2009-2010 were elected: 2nd VicePresident (social chair), Carol Dawley; 3rdVice President (membership chair), DaveBaggley; Secretary, Mary Hope Buckler; andTreasurer, Mark Bentz. President RichardBuckler was elected last year for a 3 year term.The bylaws included in the 2009 springnewsletter were passed. Richard thanked all forcoming and mentioned some upcoming events -a fall activity featuring Chihuahua, Mexico andGuadalajara, Mexico; and a winter happeningfeaturing Lanzhou, China and Hualien, Taiwan.ASCF is forming a youth group and eight youngpeople were present. Their mentors areGeorgina Solis and David Buckler.

ASCF Annual Meeting

Andrew Thomas

2009-2010 ASCF Board : L to RMark, Carol, Richard, Mary Hope, & Dave

Gina Solis, 6 youth, David Buckler

L to R: Richard Buckler, Dr. EttiBenevenisti, Dr. John Graham,Harold Albert

Albuquerque Sister Cities Foundation

Summer 2009

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citizens we met. The openness perhaps can be at-tributed to the solid principles in thenow famous Good Friday Agreement,which had been signed in the same hallin which we were first welcomed.This agreement committed all partiesto seek “exclusively peaceful anddemocratic means” to achieve onespolitical goals. Will there always be some dis-senters? Will some always feel leftout? Those of us committed to thevision of Sister Cities have acceptedthe responsibility to be agents ofchange so that broken bridges can berepaired and peace achieved. We canbe encouraged that if Belfast and Ire-land can make peace with itself, thenthere is hope that other parts of theworld can too.

come in the peace process. Appar-ently, it wasn’t always easy, as twoopposition leaders explained as theywelcomed us to the Stormont Parlia-ment Building a few nights earlier.Both leaders, now sharing the sameplatform, admitted candidly to us thatthey had refused to speak to eachother until just two years ago. What struck me was the candorexpressed by these two leaders, andin fact the residents of Belfast ingeneral. From tour bus operatorstaking us to the areas where muchviolence had occurred in recentdecades, to seeing the so-called“Wall of Peace” that still physicallyseparates Catholic and Protestanthouses, such candor was on display.A city might naturally want to hidesuch a controversial past, but not soBelfast. Instead, I was struck by thefriendliness and openess of all the

Belfast! For most of us the nameconjures up images of violence andstrife. Yet, this city was the site ofthe 2009 Sister Cities InternationalConference with the theme: Build-ing Enduring Peace after Conflict.Here are some of my thoughts as Ireflect on the visit. Significantly, the Albuquerquedelegation held their showcasenight at the Europa, which we weretold was the site of the most bomb-ings during the years of “trouble”(1969 - 1998). The night was agreat success, thanks to the effortsof the Albuquerque Conventionand Visitors Bureau and volunteersfrom Albuquerque, Las Cruces,and Santa Fe. But, as I watched delegates fromall around the world enjoy them-selves, I couldn’t help but marvelat how far Northern Ireland has

Albuquerque Sister Cities Foun

from the President’s Desk ...

Richard Buckler, President

Three amigos from Albuquerque - Bill Myer,Vic Dawley and Richard Buckler enjoyingthe Belfast Mayor’s reception.

Richard Buckler and the Bangor, NorthDown, Northern Ireland delegates

Alma Solis and Betty Mae Hartman viewthe Thompson Dock - the final place wherethe Titanic rested on dry ground.

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Currently, our membership stands at 214,with 37 renewals and 8 new memberships. Albuquerque will host the Sister Cities Inter-national Conference in July 2010, with a gath-ering of 750 delegates expected from all overthe world. While most travelers will stay inconference hotels downtown, we expect someof our nine sister cities’ delegates will need, orwant, home stays. To ensure that we canprovide accomodations, please let us know ifyou can home stay visitors. Send a brief noteto the email address below, subject “HomeStays”, include your name, phone number andemail address, and I’ll note it in our data baserecord. No email? Please give me a call at771-3114. Many thanks, Dave Bagley, Mem-bership Chair.Membership@Albuquerque-Sister-Cities.org

A HUGE thank you toWolfram Krank for his yearsof service as CommitteeChair of Helmstedt, Ger-many. We welcome NathanYoung as the new CommitteChair. Nathan,, fluent inGerman, has lived in Ger-many in the past.

Albuquerque Sister Cities Foun

The Ashgabat Sister Cities Committee wasselected for a grant from Open World in theAcademy for Educational Development.The grant will be for hosting 4 or 5 WaterManagement professionals and a facilitatorfor 8 days in early October. Those wishingto be involved with home stays, meetingson water-related issues, touring and/or so-cial events please contact Bill Myer atbill.myer@yahoo.com or 821-8774

Membership Update

Turkmen to visit Al-buquerque in October

Youth Group Report

The first youth meeting was held in Junewhere goals and the Sister Cities mission wasdiscussed. Plans are underway for a back-to-school pizza party in the fall.They are following the P-E-A-C-E guidingprinciples when selecting activities:P = Prepare ourselves - learn the protocol & general culture or our sister cities.E = Explore these cultures in creative ways.A = Accept the call and responsibiltiy to be a youth ambassador.C = Connect with our counterparts in our sis ter cities and with our local community.E = Excite others, sharing the vision.

Helmstedt, GermanyHas Change ofCommtiee Chairs

Sasebo Report

The Sasebo Youth Dele-gate’s visit, scheduled forJuly 2009, has been post-poned until next summerdue to the swine flu.The New Mexico BioParkwill be having an openingdedication of Ogata KaiGarden on Sept. 18, 2009,followed by a small recep-tion for the Ogata Kai gar-deners. The next day,Sept. 19, the BioPark Ed-ucation Department willhost an event at theJapanese Garden for thepublic with demonstra-tions, activities and spe-cialized tours.

A Visit to Chuihuahua in Oct.

The City of Chihuahua willcelebrate its 300th anniver-sary on October 12.Alma Solis is planning on atrip there in October (specificdates to be decided on later).If interested, please call her at417-0525.

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What a wonderful conference itwas !! The Northern Ireland hos-pitality was exceedingly warmand friendly. The conferece hada full schedule - lots to see anddo. The following articles coversome of the specific events at theconference.

Albuquerque Sister Cities Foun

SCI Conference Belfast, Northern Ireland 2009

Welcome Reception

First Minister Peter D. RobinsonMP MLA and Deputy First Min-ister Martin McGuinness MPMLA held a welcome receptionat Parliament Buildings Stormonton Wednesday, July 29, 2009 toofficially launch the Sister CitiesInternational Conference. Wel-coming the delegates, Mr. Robin-son said, “It is a tremendousboost for Northern Ireland andour international recognition thatSister Cities is holding its inter-national conference outside theUSA for the first time in its 53year history in Belfast. It is asignificant opportunity to show-case and promote Northern Ire-land to people from worlds ofpolitics, finance, education,medicine, manufacturing andmedia and to bring direct eco-nomic and tourism opportunitiesto the local economy.” Mr.McGuinness said, “We welcomethe delegates and their familieswho have traveled from over 21countries. The founding visionof Dwight Eisanhower is as rele-vant today as when he called theSister Cities project together.The theme of the SCI confer-ence, “Building Enduring Peaceafter Conflict,” has a clear reso-nance for us and I believe we canprovide a meaningful and con-structive insight from our experi-ence to the international dele-gates.”

Carol & Vic Dawley infront of Stormont.

Womens’ Chorus entertained in theGreat Hall, Parliament Building.

Prince Kwami Kludjeson, Presidentof Ghana Sister Cities and CarolDawley are welcomed to Stormontby a bagpiper

P.J. McAvoy, Deputy Mayor of Ballymena; James Currie,Mayor of Ballymena and Roy Beggs, Alderman from Larneenjoying festivites at Stormont.

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When economic times are tough, securingprogrammic funding can be most helpful.Sources for these funds can come from indi-viduals, foundations, government, corpora-tions or special events. Patrick Madden,CEO of SCI, offered some helpful tips onobtaining grants: Be specific - does yourprogram fit with the foundation’s goals? Doyour research - get to personally know themembers of the foundation’s board and/orstaff. Fulfill a community need - do some-thing that no one else is doing. Form apartnership with another community organi-zation. Focus on what you will achieve , noton what you will do. If using a grant-writer,make sure that person is in tune with yourorganization. And always say thank you.Anne Belecke from Arizona mentionedsome building blocks for a successfulfundraiser - Decide on the type of fundraiserthat best fits your goals and keep it simple.Determine what you are hoping to achieveboth financially and for community aware-ness. Timing is important; try to preventoverlapping your fundraiser with someoneelse’s. Build a strong team of volunteers.Develop a timeline and stick to it. Prepare aspecific budget, watching for hidden costs.Communication is key - keep team regularlyupdated. Thank everyone who participates.Have a post fundraiser meeting and cele-brate your success. Carol Dawley fromASCF offered specific suggestions forfundraising activities. A member of theaudience said that her town in NorthernIreland puts Santa Claus in jail and he has tobe bailed out. All the town’s children insistthat their parents donate to the cause!

Albuquerque Sister Cities Foun

Summary of Fundrais-ing Workshops

Off-site Session - Queen’s University

Lord Mayor’sReception

Councillor Naomi R. Long,Lord Mayor of Belfast,hosted a reception in UlsterHall for SCI conferenceattendees. After her briefwelcoming speech, the en-tertainment commenced.There was a delightful ac-cordian band complete witha fabulous young singerand some traditionasl Irishdancers.

Councilor Naomi R. Long,Lord Mayor of Belfast

Traditional Irish Dancers

Accordian Band

The Art of Peacebuildingat Queen’s Universityby David Buckler

Queen’s University is NorthernIreland’s premier universitywith over 8,000 students. Thecentral plan of the main campusechoes that of Madelene Col-lege, Oxford. Those of us who went toQueen’s University for the off-site day were given the opportu-nity to interact with the youthdelegates. We enjoyed a lunch,as well as various other activi-ties, in which several adult dele-gates were partnered with someof the youth delegates. I per-

sonally was able to meet stu-dents from various parts of theUSA, Northern Ireland andMexico. It was interesting tosee how these students inter-acted with each other. Of thestudents I encountered, none hadmet each other before the startof the conference. And yet, theywere able to converse as goodfriends would. One studentcommented that even though hehad observed many differencesin his time in Belfast, he foundthat people were more similaracross the various cultures thanthey were different. To sum up,the reason the students wereable to get along so well in sucha short time was because theyhad realized this fact.

UlsterHall

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Albuquerque Sister Cities Foun

Off-Site Session - Newry

Bridging the Gap Across Borders at Newry

Newry is a modern thriving retail and business citynesting in the valley of the Clanrye. A busy and vi-brant place today, it has historical origins, being oneof the oldest towns in Ireland with continuous settle-ment in the area since Mesolithic times. Newry tracesits origins to St. Patrick who reputedly planted a yewtree at the head of the Clanyre River, from which thecity gets its name - ‘yew tree at the head of the strand’in Irish “Iur ChinnTra”, and anglicized as Newry. ACistercian monastery was founded on the site in 1144from which the present city can trace its origins. Dur-ing the 18th century, Newry’s economic importanceas a major trade center grew after the construction ofthe canal from Carlingford Lough to Lough Neagh.Newry & Mourne, a border region at the heart of theDublin/Belfast Corridor, was economically and so-cially affected by “The Troubles.” Since the GoodFriday Agreement, the region has developed a greatethos of self help and resilience. Working throughcross border iniatives, the community’s Good Rela-tions Office, along with leaders from the public andprivate sectors, has led the effort to improve the wellbeing and development of the region. Newry re-ceived its city status in 2002. Today Newry has apopulation of 29,000 with 100,000 people living inthe surrounding area. Our group was officially greeted at the NewryTown Hall. Constructed in 1893, it was one of thelast works of the old Newry Town Commissionerswhose crest can still be seen on the bridge. Reputedrivalry, between counties Armagh and Down, over itslocation led to the Town Hall being built on a threearched bridge astride the Clanyre River, the countyboundary. On the bridge is “The Russian tropy.” a19th century cannon captured during the CrimeanWar. This was given to the town in recognition of themen from Newry who volunteered to fight in the War. Upstairs in the Town Hall, the mayor of Newrygreeted us and introduced the panel. A brief slidepresentation of Newry’s history was given by LiamQuinn. Councillor John Feehan told how local lead-ers are working together with citizens for a sharedfuture. In the 1970’s, Newry’s unemployment soaredto an astounding 43%. Today it is about 6.8%. Afactory which had 600 workers was closed but localresidents jointly purchased it and the building nowhouses several small businesses. Michelle Boylefrom the Good Relations Office told how the commu-nity is working with immigrants from central Europeto find housing and become productive members of

the city. The Good Relations Office is striving to assimilatethese new reisdents into Newry everyday life without their cul-tural identity being lost. Tea and pastries followed the Q & Asession. All were very favorably impressed with the work beingaccomplished. An interesting note - when the Dawleys were in acab going to the Dublin airport, the driver mentioned how folksfrom the Republic of Ireland go to Newry regularly for vacationand shopping - that they always feel welcome there. A brief ride took the group to Bagenal’s Castle. Built in theenvirons of the site of a 12th century Cistercian abbey, Bage-nal’s Castle is an early example of a fortified house. It was builtby Sir Nicholas Bagenal, an English settler from Staffordshire,who was granted the confiscated estates of the Cistercian abbeyby King Edward VI in1552. The remains of the castle were longthought demolished but have recently been rediscovered insideMcCann’s Bakery. While much of the ground floor walls havebeen removed, the upper floors are better preserved. Newry &Mourne District Council has restored the castle and bakery ware-house as the new venue for Newry & Mourne Museum andTourist Information Centre. Newry’s Mayor gave each attendeea packet of information about Newry & Mourne. It would benice to return here for an extended vacation. It truly is an area ofoutstanding beauty.

Town Hall bridge - note cannon on left.

L to R: Newry businessman, Liam Quinn, MichelleBoyle, Newry’s Mayor, Councillor John Feehan

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Albuquerque Sister Cities Foun

Albuquerque ReceptionOff-Site Session - North Down

Economic Development Exchanges at North DownBy Mary Hope Buckler

The Economic Development session Richard and Iattended in North Down was a panel including theSister Cities leaders of Seattle and Phoenix, theIowa State Coordinator and a Los Angeles CityCouncilman. They had some interestings things tosay about economic development in Sister Cities. Many Sister Cities organizations, no matter thesize of their own city, are being challenged toengage in economic development with their sistercities and they are succeeding. City governmentsaround the nation are asking for tangible benefitsfor their own city in return for their continuedsupport. These benefits can be achieved in a variety ofways: tourism, attracting international students andconferences, trading goods and services, invest-ment, cultural and international holiday festivalsopen to the public, and more. In this session we were encouraged to begin. Itstarts with assessing our own city and our sistercities. What do they have, what do they make, andwhat do they need that we may be able to offer?Each of our sister citites has the potential for mutu-ally beneficial economuic development; and as wekeep our eyes and minds open, we may be pleas-antly surprised at the possibilities. We don’t want to diminish what we are alreadydoing culturally; but we could certainly enhance itand bring benefit to people on both sides of therelationship. And it remains all about people.

Albuquerque hosted a reception for the SCI Belfast conferenceattendees on Friday, July 31, 2009 at the Europa Hotel. Sport-ing turquoise polo shirts, New Mexico residents, from Albu-querque, Las Cruces and Santa Fe greeted guests and invitedthem to attend SCI’s conference next year in Albuquerque,NM. Andrew Thomas, a Navajo flute player, musically wel-comed folks to the event. While supping, folks heard fromDale Lockett, CEO and President of the Albuquerque Conven-tion & Visitor’s Bureau; viewed a welcome speech fromMayor Martin Chavez and a brief video of Albquerque. An-drew Thomas followed with some more music. Performingnext was a guitarist from Belfast who played some flamencomusic as well as taking requests. Two Indian blankets weregiven away and all received a jar of salsa. The salsa was fromCervantes and had a special label promoting attendance at nextyear’s SCI conference in Albuquerque.

Mellie & Bill Myer promote Albuquerque

Denise Suttle & DaleLockett of the ACVB

The Turquoise Greeting Group

David Buckler and a jar of salsa

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A Day Trip to Ballymena

Resting in the pleasant valley of the River Braid isBallymena (Ballymenagh - Middle Town). Datingback to 1626, it is known as the “City of the SevenTowers,” of which three remain to this day. It isalso the ancestral home of Chester Alan Arthur, the21st President of the USA. Several Sister Cities folk participated in the Bal-lymena experience. On Saturday, August 1, 2009,they rode a coach to this delightful town wherethey were joined by a delegation from RowanCounty, Kentucky (sister city to Ballymena). Teaand traditional Irish scones served with clottedcream welcomed the group to “The Braid,” thenew Mid-Antrim Museum. This museum is de-signed to world-class standards with content andstoryline to fascinate local residents and visitorsalike. It explores the history of mid-Antrim fromearliest times to the present day through a mix ofstate-of-the-art interactive technology and originalartefacts. A series of demonstrations showed tradi-tional crafts. A blackthorn (shillelagh) maker dis-played his wares. The blackthorn is a tree withblack bark and can grow to 40 feet in height. Theshillelagh, originally developed as a medievalweapon, in its smaller format today is used as awalking stick. Alma Solis and Carol Dawleyjoined some area residents in trying their hand atmaking willow baskets. Willow baskets are sim-ple, pratical containers. The Albuquerque resi-dents soon found that the task was not as easy as itfirst looks and they gained a great respect for bas-ket weavers today. In the bread-making area, Irishsoda bread was made. Shown was the “griddlecake” or farl in Northern Ireland. It is a more flat-tened type of bread and is cooked on an old fash-ioned griddle. We were able to sample the endproduct, with some rich, creamy Irish butter. Nextwas the corn dolly exhibit. The corn dolly is aunique form of straw work made for, and associ-ated with, harvest customs of Ireland. The lastsheaf of the harvest was fashioned into hollowshapes where corn spirit would then spend the win-ter in this home until the “corn dolly” wasploughed into the first furrow of the new season.Alice Whyte , State President of Illinois SisterCities, enjoyed making one for her grandchild. Inthe quilting area we leanred how to stitch an iconicCeltic cross. Carol and Alma took their patchsquare home to be finished in New Mexico.Rowan County, Kentucky is known for its quiltingas well.

James Currie, M.B.E., Mayor of Ballymena welcomed thegroup in the mayor’s parlor where we were introduced to alocal baroness, the newest member of the House of Lords.Mayor Currie presented each attendee with either a Bally-mena tie or a purse mirror. We all signed the visitor’s bookand then headed for lunch, hosted by the Mayor and DeputyMayor, P. J. McAvoy. What a delightful repast! Fully sati-ated, the group headed out to explore the town and do someserious shopping. Delores Montoya bought a pair of verycomfortable walking shoes and Carol purchased a lovelytara brooch, which she wore to the SCI gala later that night.Everyone managed to find something in one of the manyshops. Before departing, visitors and dignitaries posed forone more picture and then back to Belfast it was. A specialthank you to Christine Butler of the Ballymena BoroughCouncil for arranging this special day.

Enjoying somescones with clot-ted cream are:Alice Whyte,Alma Solis, BettyMae Hartmanand Vic Dawley

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Northern IrelandReception & Gala

The Ramada Hotel was the scene of thefinal event of the Belfast SCI conference -the Northern Ireland Reception and Gala.Upon arrival, guests were greeted withglasses of champagne and Irish melodiesplayed on a harp. During the dinner, asilent auction was held. Carol Dawley suc-cessfully bid on the Ballymena city plaque- a wonderful reminder of our day there.The evening concluded with some moretraditional Irish dancing. As we all wentour separate ways, fond memories of aunique and delightful conference willlinger on. Hopefully our new friends fromNorthern Ireland will come to Albuquerqueso we can extend our hospitality to them.

Celebrate Mexican Independence!

Sponsored by Chihuahua, Mexico andGuadalajara, Mexico Committees.

WHEN: Friday, September 18, 2009

WHERE: Manzano Multigenerational Center 501 Elizabeth directions - off Eubank & Southern (near I-40)

TIME: 6 PM to 8 PM

Cost: $7.00 per person

Food - tacos, rice, beans, cinnamon ice cream,salsa and chips, Mexican coffee

Entertainment

Mercado - items from Mexico for sale by theASCF youth group as a fund raiser

RSVP - Please send check (payable to Albu-querque Sister Cities) to: Albuquerque Sister Cities P.O. Box 26533 Albuquerque, NM 87125-6533

Questions or more information - Please callAlma Solis at 417-0525 or Bob Montoya at352-6453

Welcoming harpist

Carol Dawley and Mayor Currie ofBallymena with the city’s plaque.

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In This Issue...In This Issue...In This Issue...In This Issue... ASCF General Meeting and ASCF members go to SCI conference in Belfast

P.O. Box 26533Albuquerque, NM 87125-6533

WEBSITE: WWW.ALBUQUERQUE-SISTER-CITIES.ORG