MINUTES BASC Friday 11/15/2019
Burlington-Alamance Sister Cities (BASC) met at noon in the offices of Impact Alamance, in downtown Burlington. Attending were: President Ann Honeycutt, Vice President Nathan Bodenheimer, Secretary Dianne Ford, Treasurer Bob Byrd, and Jim Romer, Marjorie McNamara, Bill Duquaine, Phillip Stewart, Dick Fisher, Laura Vail, and Irwing Madrid.
President Ann Honeycutt led the meeting and welcomed all.
Minutes from the September meeting of BASC were approved.
Treasurer Bob Byrd presented the financial report; those present voted to approve the monthly report. Total expenses for our hosting of guests from our sister city of SLP, MX, were slightly over $3000. This was more than we had budgeted, but is a realistic amount to budget for future visits. We may need to do some fundraising to replenish our bank account. We now have 2 corporate members of BASC and 2 community partners.
Committee reports:
SLP Committee: Our next outbound trip to Soledad and SLP, Mexico, will be a tutoring trip March 21-28, 2020. Irene Crowder is leading recruiting for this trip, with a recruiting session on Sunday at Blessed Sacrament Church. Please contact Ben Ansbacher if you’re interested in traveling with this group.
Gwacheon Committee: Ann Honeycutt reported for Katie Chung, who is traveling in South Korea with an economic development group from the City of Burlington. At the present time, Gwacheon has approved sending 23 students with 2 adults. There are challenges in matching their ideal dates with the school calendar at The Burlington School. The BASC Gwacheon committee will be meeting to develop detailed planning, and will involve the rest of the membership as needed for hosting students and opportunities to spend time with these students. Dates for their visit are currently Jan 2-20.
Regional Sister Cities Meeting Report: Bill Duquaine attended the 3-state (VA, NC, SC) meeting of Sister Cities chapters in upstate SC. The meeting included a tour of the BMW plant. Bill created a detailed written report and presented a summary of the meeting, which focused on Sister City partnerships with German cities. Major areas of content were German culture, international economics, and effective partnerships. Our group appreciates Bill attendance and contribution of useful ideas from this meeting.
Our December meeting will be Friday Dec 13 from noon-1pm, upstairs at Burlington Beer Works. Details will be sent by email.
Minutes submitted by Dianne Ford, Secretary.