HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - AIPCA Meeting Minutes from August 21, 2025Ames International Partner Cities Association
August 21, 2025
Meeting Minutes
Attendees: Karla McCollum, Marina Kraeva, Laura Hansen, and Valerie Stallbaumer
The meeting was a discussion format rather than a formal meeting since only four members
were present—not a quorum to officially vote or make decisions.
Discussions mostly covered the topic of the planned October 16 event to welcome Podujeva,
Kosovo, as our new partner city. They have sent some of their local wine and we need a venue
that will allow using this wine.
A member of the Kosovo Consulate in Des Moines will be attending as well as Major General
Tim Orr of the Boone, Iowa, National Guard. We are planning to invite members of AIPCA and
other people involved with the partner city program.
We also looking for a grant from the Story County Community Foundation to help with expenses
for the next visit of Ames students going to Koshu, Japan. The purpose of their grants does not
include festivals, though, and would not help out with our planned wine festival featuring Koshu
wines. The deadline for the grant application is September 30. The amount can be $2,500 to
$10,000.
Laura reported that $8,300 was spent when the Koshu students and delegates visited us in Fall
2024. The greatest expense was transportation. Laura had a meeting with some Koshu
representatives to tentatively plan the next students’ visits.
We discussed the possibility of having some kind of art installation designed to represent our
Ames/Koshu partnership and one for the Ames/Podjeva partnership. These would allow the
Ames community to recognize the existence and significant of these partnerships. Only initial
ideas were discussed.
The meeting ended after about an hour. Karla reminded us that our next meeting is on
September 18 at 5:30 p.m. She will be in India during that time.