ICC Newsletter 150929
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September, 2015 A Message from your US Section President: I am so pleased to have this opportunity to be your US Section ICC President for the 2015 – 2016 Rotary year. My pledge to you is to continue the work of President Jon Eiche to grow ICC in the US and to encourage as many per‐ sonal interactions as possible between our Russian and US Rotarians. One major change is that we now have two Presidents, a US Section and a Russian Section, PDG Ev‐ genia Terekhova District 2225. PDG Evgenia is also the overall President for the 2015 – 2016 Rotary year. The overall President will alternate between the US and Russia. The ICC Board consists of representatives from Districts 5010, 5020, 5030, 5580, 5690, 5790, 5890, 6840, 7690, 7210, 2220 and 2225. It is the responsibility of each representative to keep their respec‐ tive districts updated as to the many opportunities to interact with our Russian and US Rotarians. ICC is truly a collaborative opportunity for all of us to meet and work together to grow relationships between our districts and countries. We have just completed a successful Friendship Exchange between District 2220 and the US ICC. We are now in the planning stages of preparing to host our Russian Rotarians. We encourage Districts to plan individual Friendship Exchanges, the first being the “Texas Two Step” exchange in November. Con‐ gratulations Texas! The Open World and Watch and Learn programs are also high on our list of priori‐ ties. We will continue to promote and support these opportunities for leadership development and cultural exchanges. As your US Section President, I challenge you to participate in all of our endeavours to grow and in‐ crease the profile of our ICC and to foster meaningful relationships between our Russian and US Rotary family. Judy Byron PDG District 5020 President, US Section Russia – US Intercountry Committee September, 2015 ANNUAL MEETING Minutes, August 9, 2015 District Representatives in attendance: Judy Byron, 5020; Jon Eiche, 5890; Kurt Harper, 5690; George Mahl, 6840; Jack Randolph, 5010; Mike Sigmon, 7690 and Evgenia Terekhova, 2225. Nomination Committee Report: Chair, Kurt Harper Secretary Judy Byron and I are pleased to present the following nominations for officers for the US section of the US‐Russia ICC for consideration at the upcoming meeting August 8‐9, 2015 in Houston: President for 2015‐16, Judy Byron Secretary, Carmen Cuneo, District 5890 Treasurer, Jack Randolph, District 5010 President Elect, Charles Heberle III, District 5020 (2016‐17) President Nominee, Kurt Harper, District 5690 (2017‐18). We understand the Russian delegates are discussing the nominees that they will vote on, and we have offered to help publicize the nominations once available. Note: The Russian delegates nominate Evgenia Terekhova as President of the Russian section. Election and Installation of Officers: Unanimous approval of officers as listed above. Reflections and Future Vision of the US – Russia Intercountry Committee: Judy Byron/Evgenia Terekhova 1. The Russian and US Section Presidents accept their respective positions with the overall President alter nating between the two countries. Evgenia Terekhova will be the overall President for 2015‐2016 and Charles Heberle III the overall President for 2016‐2017. 2. Treasurer Jack Randolph agrees that all ICC funds will be transferred to an ICC account in the name of US‐Russia Intercountry Committee. Secretary, Carmen Cuneo, will proceed with the necessary steps to complete the transferring of funds as soon as possible. Signing Authority to be: President: Judy Byron Secretary: Carmen Cuneo Treasurer: Jack Randolph 3. Motion: “The 2016 Conference/Annual Meeting be held in Vladivostok, Russia in order to facilitate an Increased awareness of our ICC to a greater number of Russian Rotarians.” Motion Carried Meeting Adjourned. September, 2015 ADDENDUM TO ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING ELECTRONIC MOTION: 08/24/2015 – Judy Byron “In that Russia and the United States are equal partners working towards fostering unity and fellowship amongst their member districts, Rotary Clubs and Rotarians I move that the United States – Russia Inter‐ country Committee be changed to Russia – United States Intercountry Committee to reflect the equality of both sections by listing the countries in alphabetical order.” Motion Carried 08/30/2015 – 7 out of 10 District Representative Approved. Russia – United States Intercountry Committee to be registered with the Wells Fargo Bank as the for‐ mal name as of this date: August 30, 2015 Submitted by: Judy Byron President: US Section Russia – US Intercountry Committee Rotary International District 5890, Inc. Announces the “Texas Two Step – Rotary Friendship Exchange” Rotary International District 5890, Inc, a Member District of the Russia ‐ United States Intercountry Committee, invites a delegation of Russian Rotarians to participate in a Rotary Friendship Exchange. In May of 2015, a delegation of members of the Russia ‐ United States Intercountry Committee was invited to Russia to participate in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of end of the Great Patriotic War and 25 years of Rotary in Russia. They visited six cities and were home hosted in Krasnodar and Volgograd. Now, Member District, District 5890, will invite 12 Russian Rotarians to visit Texas for what is being coined as the Texas Two Step; visiting Houston and San Antonio. Rotarian Russians from Volgograd, Ekateringburg, Nizhny Nov‐ gorod, Irkutsk, and Rostov on Don are being invited to participate. The group will visit the Texas Medical Center, NASA, Galveston Island, The Alamo, the Texas State Capital and other notable places in the Great State of Texas. The delegation includes doctors, a banker, and business owners. The delegation will be home hosted in Houston, San Marcos, and Galveston Island. The delegation of Russian Rotarians will be in Texas over the Thanksgiving holiday and will experience one of the most celebrated American holiday traditions, having thanksgiving dinner with their host’s families. Submitted by Carmen Cuneo Secretary, US Section Russia ‐ US Intercountry Committee September, 2015 THE MAGIC OF A FRIENDSHIP EXCHANGE US – RUSSIA BUILDING BRIDGES OF PEACE What happens to the heart when you become part of a friendship exchange? Strangers receive you into their homes as family. They share their hospitality, food and customs. How long does it take before strangers become friends??? Just a few minutes. Imagine being greeted in a strange country with welcoming banners, huge smiles and hugs. You are guided through the maze of vehicles into your hosts’ vehicle and treated as a long lost friend even before you have had a chance to formulate a few intelligent words in your hosts’ language. This is exactly what happened this past May on the first Intercountry Committee (ICC): US – Russia Friendship Exchange to European Russia. The ICC committee worked for seven months organizing our first exchange. PDGs Nadia Papp, Validmir Donskoy and Evgenia Terekhova worked with their Rotary clubs to put together two potential tours within District 2220, both winding up in St Petersburg to attend the combined 2220/2225 conference celebrating 25 years of Rotary in Russia. We were hoping to encourage16 Rotarians within our 10 US Districts to join us. However for various reasons only 4 were able to participate in this adventure. What we lacked in numbers we most definitely made up in enthusiasm. Our team consisted of: Team Leader, Charles Heberle 111 and Judy Byron, District 5020; Carmen Cuneo, District 5890 and Ken Thompson, District 6840. The four of us travelled from different part of the world. Charles was al‐ ready in Russia, Carmen – Texas, Ken from Louisiana and I, from Vancouver Island, the only Canadian‐ would you believe we were able to make our flight arrangements to arrive in Moscow within one hour of each other. Securing the documentation to allow a visit to Russia proved to be quite easy. There are agencies to assist in this process and can be accessed through the internet. Once you have your visa, everything else follows through – our hosts made our hotel reservations and some of the internal travel arrangements. This friendship exchange started with getting to know our team members. So, our first challenge – Charles and I are from District 5020 and had worked together to promote ICC, but we did not know Carmen or Ken. We organized a couple of SKYPE meetings giving us the opportunity to see each other and discuss our upcoming adventure. Ken and I met in Zurich on our way to Moscow, Charles arrived a week earlier than the three of us and Carmen arrived one hour prior to Ken and I. We were met at the airport by Rotarian Tatiana Vinda with open arms and huge smiles – it was at that moment that I personally knew that this trip would be great. Tatiana had a cell phone for us, ensured that we were able to secure rubles, and assisted me in purchasing a local sim card.Phase 2 of our adventure begins: For those of you who have studied Russian history you know that to be Russian is not a race but an intense and distinctive cultural and emotional love of and relationship to Mother Russia. Now, I under‐ stood this on one level but did not fully appreciate the intensity of National Pride or the importance of celebrat‐ ing the many accomplishments and challenges throughout Russian history. My first introduction was the May 9 memorial to those who risked their lives protecting Moscow and Volgograd (Leningrad) from the Nazis. The cele‐ brations encompassed the whole country. Families gathered, wore uniforms and paid tribute to friends and fam‐ ily who fought or lost their lives protecting Mother Russia. It was clearly stated that every family was touched by the wars and their memories are fresh in their minds. September, 2015 International leaders flew to Moscow; every city held celebrations complete with fireworks.