Tracy’s Sister City Annual Newsletter February 2005
Members of Sister City, The Board of Tracy’s Sister City is pleased to offer our 4th annual Newsletter. We look forward to sharing past and upcoming activities, as well as important information for our members! Tracy’s Sister City is entering 2005 with another busy year of Youth Exchange’s, participation in local events and a possible Adult Exchange to Japan. We welcomed several new Board members this year and continue to offer support in the planning of this year’s exchange with Memuro. Enjoy…. Sister City Board of Directors
Student Educational Exchange to Memuro, Japan Tracy’s Sister City makes applications available to all 8^th grade students living in the Tracy Unified High School District boundaries. Students are selected through an in-depth application process that includes an essay, letter of recommendation from two teachers, and a formal interview. It is always a difficult decision, but the ten students selected always represent Tracy as fine young Ambassadors. This year’s Student Ambassadors represent seven schools in Tracy; Clover, Discovery, Freiler, Jefferson, MonteVista, PoetChristian,& Williams. We are delighted to have chaperones Dr. Jim Bridges, principal at Jefferson School and Carol Minner, teacher at Jefferson, to travel with our 2005 students. Students have started “bonding” as they meet on a bimonthly basis with Board Members, Lois Neishi and Cyndi Sandford. Lois and Cyndi are once again volunteering their time as they share experiences and information about traveling to Memuro. We feel it is critical that students learn some of the basic etiquette, Japanese cultures and traditions before traveling to Japan and staying with host families. Students learn that the exchange is different for each of them, depending on the host families and the events the city plans for the students. Save this date Watch for an invitation to this special event! Sayonara Party March 22, 2005 Community Center Students visiting from Memuro, as well as our own Youth Ambassadors, will be our honored guests. Join us for a BBQ, a special presentation by the students and bid them a safe farewell. More info to come…… Tracy ‘s Sister City Website Each year the website gets better and better! New pictures and bits of info give members and visitors some insight into our organization and activities. Check it out and let us know what you think! www.tracysistercity.org Support Tracy’s Sister City Organization!! -Yearly Membership- Individual $10.00 Family $20.00 Business $20.00 Make checks payable to Sister City Association of Tracy, P.O. Box 428 Tracy, CA, 95378 Contact Lois Neishi for more information 836-1231 Check out the Sister City Booth at this year’s 4^th of July event at Lincoln Park. Cruise on by and pick up a Japanese fan to cool you off! Tracy’s Community Cultural Arts Commission presents the 1^st Annual Multicultural Festival “A Celebration for All!” Saturday July 16^th, 10:00am-6:00pm Tracy’s Sister City will be represented at this first time affair. Mark your calendars!	2005 YOUTH EXCHANGE AMBASSADORS Jim Bridges, (chaperone), Colleen Maloy, Zach Baratta, Kevin Coulson, Allison Emery, Sabrina Dias, Carol Minner, (chaperone), Brent Fukushima, Lindsey Thompson, Deitra Dulce, Tuzuk Koul, Samantha Sanchez Fundraising Efforts 2005 Youth Exchange Food and Entertainment Coupon Books $10.00……3 areas…..Tracy/Manteca, Stockton/Lodi or Livermore/Pleasanton Home and Garden, long lasting, Candles..$9.00 All proceeds benefit 2005 Youth Ambassadors Exchange Program Contact Tammy Thompson ……..833-9425 Sister City Board of Directors President: Diane Carnahan Vice-President: Cyndi Sandford Secretary: Richard Spence Treasurer: Lois Neishi Liaison for Memuro: Barbara Farley Liaisons for Velas: Maria Matos & Gene Birk Jim Bridges Bob Elliott Debbie Elliott Dolores Gomes Clyde Higaki Judy Mizuno Carol Minner Noemia Oliveira Anna Serrato Mercy Silveria Debbie Wingo Carl Yamada Sid Yamada Ken Yasui Associate Board Members Dan Bilbrey Cindy Schack Frances Mizuno LaVerne Rocha Mike Schmidt Frank Silva Louis Villalovoz Interested in joining the Board? ConTact Diane Carnahan, 835-8482 SISTER CITY ASSOCIATION OF TRACY, INC. ANNUAL MEETING Important Notice: The annual meeting of the members of the Sister City Association of Tracy, Inc. will be held on April 4, 2005 at 6:00 p.m. at the Tracy Unified School District Education Center at the corner of Corral Hollow Road and Lowell Ave. The annual meeting of the members is for the purpose of the election of directors and the transaction of such other business as may come before the meeting. The Association's regular monthly Board of Directors meeting will follow the annual meeting. Tracy Bean Festival…. Look for the Sister City Booth at the Bean Festival, September 10^th and 11^th, 2005 (note the change in date this year). The 2005 California Dry Bean Festival will be adding many new features this year and promises to be another exciting downtown event! Thanks to the city officials in Memuro, we have wonderful Japanese items to sell each year. Memuro is so generous …..take advantage of this special opportunity to purchase chopsticks, fans, decorative items, handkerchiefs, wooden toys and much, much more! Also on display are memorabilia from chaperones and students that tell the stories of their wonderful opportunities and experiences in Japan and the Azores. Always a favorite is the popular Portuguese Sweet Bread sold each year at the booth. All sales benefit the Exchange Program. If you’d like to volunteer some time to work at the booth, please contact Diane Carnahan 835-8482.
Sister City Art Exchange The Sister City Youth Art Exchange started in May 2003 when 10 art pieces from Tracy were taken to Memuro by our youth ambassadors. When the youth from Memuro visited Tracy in March 2004, they brought art work from Memuro Junior High School students to Tracy. That artwork was displayed at the Tracy Unified School District Offices last summer. It has also been displayed in numerous junior high school art classes in Tracy. At the present time it is on display at Poet Christian School. We look forward to viewing more art work that will be brought from Memuro in March 2005. Tracy Press, September 21, 2004

Memorable Moments

2004 Exchange with Memuro

2004 Ambassadors

Sarah Clark Nolan Emery Samantha Erickson Kimberlee Garcia

Asha Miles Rick Neishi Kelsie Pombo Parry Wilcox

Amber Wilmarth Ashleigh Wilson Chaperones: Bob Elliott and Diane Carnahan

Reflections from Chaperone Robert Elliott:

Serving as a chaperone for the 2004 Tracy Student Youth Exchange to Memuro was an exceptionally rewarding and enjoyable experience. I was especially impressed by the outstanding quality and maturity of our Tracy youth ambassadors. We can all take pride in the way they interacted with their counterparts in Memuro, and in the way they represented their families, their schools, the city of Tracy, and the United States of America. It was really a pleasure to get to know each of these outstanding young people, not only during the week in Japan, but also during the activities in Tracy before and after the trip. Equally impressive and unforgettable were the warmth and hospitality shown by our hosts in Memuro, particularly our host families. One must actually experience a home stay in Memuro to truly understand and appreciate the lengths to which the host families went to ensure that each visitor from Tracy had a memorable and rewarding experience. I had the good fortune to stay at the home of Mr. Tadano, President of the Memuro International Exchange Association, and I can't say enough about what wonderful hosts he and his family were. I'm sure all our Tracy participants will join me in thanking those in both Memuro and Tracy who worked so hard and did so much to make this program a success. Not only was it fun for all, it was also an exceptionally educational cultural experience. I would highly recommend service as a Sister City Youth Exchange chaperone to anyone with an interest in learning more about the citizens of our Sister City, experiencing the unique culture of Japan, and sharing it all with a wonderful group of young people.

Don’t miss this Unique opportunity to see Japan and visit memuro! 2005 Adult Exchange From Tracy to Memuro During the youth exchange in May 2004 the Memuro International Exchange Association hosted a delightful luncheon for chaperones Robert Elliott and Diane Carnahan. We began the conversation regarding an Adult Exchange with our Sister City. Officials with the International organization are interested in hosting couples or individuals from Tracy and will organize site seeing events and tours as well make arrangements to stay with host families or local hotels. Tentative dates 6/13/05-6/23/05 Approximate cost $1500 per person Covers airfare and hotel for 3 nights in Tokyo, 3 nights in Sapporo, & 4 nights in Memuro If interested contact Barbara Farley for upcoming meeting dates about the trip. 832-0404

A special thanks to Sam and Joan Matthews who made a slide show presentation on January 3^rd to Sister City Board Members and invited guests of their incredible travels through Japan in the spring of 2003. They had the pleasure of visiting Memuro while our Student Ambassadors were also in Memuro. Along with the students they visited the Glass Factory and a traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony. It’s a small world!! Velas Youth Exchange Our second Sister City is Velas, which is on the island of Sao Jorge, in the Azores of Portugal. Liaisons Gene Birk and Maria Matos have been working on an exchange between Tracy and Velas for 2005. We had hoped to host students from Velas last year, but Velas was unable to coordinate the exchange. This year we hope to send 5-10 students, as well as host students coming from Velas. We are looking forward to showing our wonderful city to the children of Velas!