HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - AIPCA Meeting Minutes from March 20, 2025Ames International Partner Cities Association
March 20, 2025
Minutes
Attendees: Karla McCollum, Marina Kraeva, Nicki Mackey, Laura Hansen, Michael Abrams, Valerie
Stallbaumer
1. Call to Order at 5:35pm by Karla McCollum.
2. Approval of February, 2025 minutes. There is one misspelling in paragraph 12, next to last
sentence—Yoko will present, not with present. Motion to approve with the correction, by
Laura. Seconded by Nicki.
3. Treasurer Report by Laura Hensen
a. Payments made on Zeffy, do not get deposited until the first bank day of the month.
b. The balance as of March 11, 2025 is $5,393.52
c. On April 3, the next deposit will be $171 from Zeffy
d. Motion by Marina to approve the treasurer report. Seconded by Michael.
4. The preliminary newsletter is available for review. Laura said that Zeffy can send out mass
mailings. Marina asked if the students are included. She said the host families were added.
5. The Cranes of Friendship Event is scheduled on April 17 at 6:30pm in the Public Library PEO
room. Karla suggested that an email reminder be sent again during the week before.
Karla agreed that we should try to make 100 cranes during that event.
6. How shall we send out the newsletter? Karla asked if it can be shared on social media, like
Facebook. Laura will look into getting it printed and mailed out on Thursday, March 27.
7. Laura is working with Jeramy to update the AIPCA website so there will be a link to the
application for new members to apply. Also, photos will be uploaded onto the website.
8. Michael has recruited three volunteers to help with the planning of the future Wine Fest
with our partner city, Koshu, Japan. Valerie commented that she is planning to work with a
local company to extract a plant fragrance to send to Koshu City so they can make a hybrid
fragrance to be sold at the Wine Fest event.
9. Karla attended a Kosovo Consulate meeting on February 17 regarding the partnership with
Podujeva, Kosovo. There will be delegates coming to Iowa and a meeting is arranged for
April 17. An agreement will be reviewed. Karla, Laura, and Marina will take off from work
to attend. Topics of agriculture, education, and health are the main interests. There are
plans to do an exchange of farmers between our cities. A Kosovo cyber-security event is
already established. During the last visit, land in Kosovo was offered to any Iowa business
wanting to move there.
10. The next AIPCA meeting is the same night and location as the Cranes of Friendship Event.
Please try to be there by 5:00pm. (Karla has a family responsibility she needs to attend and
may not be at that meeting.)
11. Meeting adjourned at 6:35pm.