REPORT TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COMMISSION

City of Owensboro, Kentucky, USA

 Calendar Year Activities 2002

 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

Owensboro Sister Cities, Inc. encourages global understanding between our community and other world communities. The Owensboro Sister Cities Program will assist government entities with the proper reception of foreign visitors and dignitaries by serving as the community’s Office of Protocol; pursue an ongoing mission to inform and educate our community concerning our area’s international cultural and business ties and their effects on our community; initiate exchange programs in education, business, professional groups, and the arts; assist government and its agencies in promoting our community’s cultural heritage through our Sister City(ies) relationship; encourage development and expansion of international trade relationships and assist with foreign trade missions; assist community organizations in direct relationships with similar organizations in our Sister City(ies) and elsewhere in the world, where possible.

Introduction

During 2002 we had twelve exchange visit subject components and two planning visits encompassing the involvement of fifty one people. Of these, 17 persons were incoming visitors to Owensboro  and 34 were outgoing visitors to Olomouc. There is every reason to believe these exchanges between Owensboro and Olomouc will continue to grow in number and participants. We will need increased financial, logistical and manpower help if the program is to grow further. Indeed, as Executive Director, I believe the timing is right for a community effort to found an “Owensboro International Center”. This Center could serve the needs of government, secondary and higher education and the Chamber of Commerce efforts  to project an international presence for Owensboro and serve new incoming foreign national residents.

Please take the time to review the report and reflect on our ability to project the City of Owensboro positively in the international community. We believe that we have the most active of the ten U.S. - Czech Sister City relationships and that the breadth of our program will reflect well on Owensboro with any international contacts the city makes.

The Owensboro Sister Cities program touches the lives of several hundreds of people involved in our exchange activities on both sides of the Atlantic. The program does an exceptional job of carrying out its charged mission. While this program is dependent on support from the City of Owensboro, as an official international link with the Sister City of Olomouc, the overwhelming financial support for the program comes from individuals and donations from those institutions participating in the programs. We can demonstrate at least $20.00 of community support for each city budget dollar allocated.

Our thanks goes to our area colleges: Kentucky Wesleyan for scholarship support allowing Marketa Mylkova to begin her study in Owensboro, Brescia University and Western Kentucky University in Owensboro for encouraging student and main campus summer study participation, and Owensboro Community College for granting reassigned faculty time which allows direction of this Community Partnership program. We also thank the families who opened their homes, to the hotels for assistance in housing and employing our international visitors, and to the three area school systems for support of our exchange of students and teachers. There are just too many people and entities to mention but the program draws on that which the community is known, a shared caring to make visitors feel welcomed.

We are very appreciative of the City of Owensboro, Owensboro Community College and the  KCTCS support for our efforts. The program represents a wonderful community partnership combining the efforts of many community institutions, businesses and individuals. There can be little doubt for the need to educate our Kentucky citizens concerning our place in the global community. Whether for citizenship, student growth or workforce development, there is an ever greater demand for providing an international education component for the communities we serve.

As representatives of the citizens of Owensboro, we request your continued encouragement and active increased financial support for Owensboro Sister Cities and our international efforts.

Year 2002 Exchange Activities

Secondary Exchange Student – Academic Year 2002-2003

Marketa Mylkova completed her senior high school year in May 2002 and graduated from Daviess County High School. She has been an excellent representative of Hejcin Gynazium in Olomouc and of her country.  It was Marketa’s wish to return to Owensboro in the fall to pursue a degree at Kentucky Wesleyan College. KWC has made this possible through scholarship funding, aided by a host family opening their home and supplemental support of OSC.

 Law Enforcement Exchange – February 15 – 21

The City of Owensboro hosted Jaap Spros, Lord Mayor of Veenendaal, the Netherlands; Ruud Engelaar, Executive Policymaker in the field of public security administration of The City of Veenendaal and Dick de Leeuw, Chief of  Police, Veenendaal en Renswoude. Veneendaal is one of the six twinned cities with Olomouc. We are planning a Law Enforcement Exchange involving all three cities police forces and the Kentucky State Police projected for 2003.

Fulbright Scholar – March 12 - 15

Dr. Ivana Mrozkova from Palacky University and a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Maryland was guest of the four Owensboro institutions of higher education. Dr. Mrozkova delivered lectures or met with representatives at Brescia University, Kentucky Wesleyan College, Owensboro Community College and Western Kentucky University – Owensboro (which broadcast her talk to the main campus in Bowling Green). Dr. Mrozkova was also guest of the Owensboro Rotary International Club.

Young Artist Program, March

The Owensboro Sister Cities Young artist Program is coordinated by Ms. Rhonda McEnroe a well known local artist. The competitive program is open to all youth, ages 13 – 18. Ms. McEnroe visits the local secondary schools encouraging art teachers to have their students participate in the program. Local Sister Cities winning compositions are entered in international competion with winners announced from ten Sister Cities.

 In addition to our local prize funds, our winning entrant is eligible to win a $300.00 prize if they are one of the ten SCI winners. The program both supports youth artists and is a terrific opportunity to draw attention to our city internationally.

 Medical Exchange – May 31 – June 12

Owensboro Sister Cities arranged the participaion of Dr. Zdenek Mrozek of the Palacky University School of Medicine to participate in the Louisville Sister Cities International Medical Conference this year. At the end of the Conference, arrangements were made for his introduction to the medical facilities and society in Owensboro. The Louisville Sister Cities program hostsed our Sister City doctor at no cost to our program.

Summer Study Program, May 31 - June 28

This private/public higher education partnership provides a summer overseas study opportunity for the community’s students. Credit courses and instruction was supplied through Owensboro Community College. During the summer 2002 session there are seventeen students enrolled.

Instructors were: Professor Lorie Maltby from Henderson Community College and Dr. Roger Murphy of Western Kentucky University. In addition to their study of History and Political Science, the students were able to travel to Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Krakow , Poland and Prague, Czech Republic. The summer program works closely with the Olomouc secondary schools teaching the English language and provides both American and Czech students the opportunity to learn cross culturally.

 2002 Summer Study Participants:

Madelyn Anetrella, Western Kentucky University
Loren Brown, Owensboro Community College
Rebecca Brown, Western Kentucky University
Laurel Embry, University of Kentucky
Ashley Givan, Western Kentucky University
Ben Hardesty, Western Kentucky University
Richard Larkin, Western Kentucky University
Kristopher Mattingly, Henderson Community College
Joe Morgan, Northern Kentucky Technical College
Nicole O’Bryan, Western Kentucky University
Susan O’Bryan, Owensboro Community College
Jeff Ray, Western Kentucky University
Ryan Schwank, Western Kentucky University
Amber Sigman, Western Kentucky University
Stephanie Vincent, Western Kentucky University
JessicaWeber, Western Kentucky University
Tiffany Wilson, Western Kentucky University 

Fire Department Exchange, May 31 – June 9

Owensboro Fire Department Chief Fred Hina and Battalion Training Chief Danny Froelich were hosted by the Olomouc Fire Department during the first week of June. This was a reciprocal exchange as the Olomouc Fire Department was hosted by the Owensboro Fire Department in May 2000.

Sister Cities International Conference, June

Owensboro Sister Cities Vice President, Pam Wilson attended the annual conference in 2002. Pam had the opportunity to meet many people involved in Sister Cities work from around our nation and the globe. She became particularly interested in the “Wheelchairs for Peace” intiative (www.sister-cities.org/sci/Wheelchairs). Pam will address the Owensboro Rotary Clubs to enlist their cooperation in this project. Internationally both Sister Cities International and Rotary International have agreed to work together.

 Scouting Exchange, July 1 - 23

Owensboro Sister Cities in cooperation with the Shawnee Trails Boy Scout Council, serving the 35 counties of Western Kentucky, arranged for an International Scout Exchange. The contingent first went to Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. From there they went to Owensboro's Sister City of Olomouc in the Czech Republic. The Czech Scout partners were with the American Scouts during the entire time in Europe. This was a life changing opportunity for these young Scouts as they interacted with Scouts from several European nations.

An invitation has been extended to the Olomouc, Czech Republic Scouts to return to Kentucky in 2004 (their last visit was in 2000).

American Scout Participants were:

Scouts:

Alex Altman, Shawnee Trails Counci
Robert Gentry, Shawnee Trails Council
Beth Gibson, Shawnee Trails Council
Spenser Joyce, Shawnee Trails Council
Zach Keifer, Atlanta Area Council
Brian Kurtz, St. Louis Area Council
Brian Reiger, Shawnee Trails Council
Nathaniel Trah, St. Louis Area Council
Shaun West, Shawnee Trails Council 

Adult Leaders:

Caren Gibson, Venture Scout Leader
Bill West, Shawnee Trails Council International Representative

Student Summer Workers, June 20 – October 9

Four Olomouc area university students came to Owensboro to work during their summer vacation. Summer employment was arranged at the Executive Inn in Owensboro.  Owensboro Sister Cities saw to it that they had secure, reasonably priced housing, as well as, giving an orientation to the city. This year Dagmar Drabkova, Olga Capkova, Petr Kohut, David Krupicka had the opportunity to improve their American English language skills, learn of American life and culture and do some traveling in the U.S. before returning to their studies in the Czech Republic.

Multicultural Festival, August 24

Owensboro Sister Cities participated, once again, in the community wide Multicultural Festival held on the grounds of First Presbyterian Church on Griffith Avenue. Our display naturally supplies information about the Czech Republic and Czech culture. Both Robin Joska and Marketa Mylkova participated in “manning” the both for part of the festival time. As native Czechs they are invaluable to aid us in encouraging our citizens to learn about our Sister City relationship. As a result of this activity and exchange publicity a growing public request has been made to sponsor a general public trip to our Sister City (see 2003 planning info).

College Student – Academic Year 2002 - 2003

Marketa Mylkova has returned to Owensboro this fall to pursue a degree at Kentucky Wesleyan College. She has been awarded scholarships and grants equal to her tuition costs and has been offered a home-stay for the academic year to cover her room and board. Owensboro Sister Cities pays for her textbooks each semester.

“Fragment” Bluegrass Blast, September

In coordination with Pam Wilson, both a Bluegrass Fellowship and Owensboro Sister Cities Board of Directors member, the Executive Director participated in a lunch with the members of the Czech Bluegrass Band “Fragment”. Attending our community event has become an annual pilgrimage for this band. As the groups van was in need of repair, we also helped make arrangements to have their van repaired at a local business.

Kentucky League of Cities, October 3 -4

The Kentucky League of Cities again promoted having Kentucky cities become members of Sister Cities International and begin community relationships with other countries. The Sister Cities State coordinator and the Owensboro Sister Cities Executive Director presented the concept and acted as resources to get any interested cities started in the program. Letters were sent to the Mayors of Kentucky cities, without a Sister City and having a KCTCS institution in their community. The letter also was sent to the KCTCS institutional President encouraging a cooperative effort.

City Services Exchange, October 19 - 27

 Mr.Jiri Dolezel (City of Olomouc Economic Development), Jana Matzenauerova (Waste Management), Ludka Zalakova (City Parks and Green Areas), and Karin Oklestkova (City of Olomouc Tourism) visited Owensboro in October. Mrs. Sona Horka and Ms. Silvie Malinovska accompanied the group to aid in translation and to help Ms. Oklestkova in making a presentation during the Kentucky Tourism Industry Conference held in Owensboro during the exchange period. Mr. Dolezel also brought his son. Although not part of the official delegation,  we gave the son an opportunity to observe our local high schools and he was included in some cultural outings.

Planning for 2003:

At present we have the following events and exchanges planned for 2003.

General Tour, May 27 – June 5

In response to widespread requests, Owensboro Sister Cities will sponsor an introductory tour to the region of Europe where we have our Sister City. The planning calls for visits to Olomouc, our Sister City, then on to Vienna, Austria and Prague, Czech Republic. The driving idea is to introduce the area to our interested citizens. Hopefully, this will result in requests for  later visits of a longer period. The tentative schedule for this tour is now posted on our Owensboro Sister Cities website (www.octc.kctcs.edu/sistercities/kalkulace2.htm). Look under the “Activities news” category – and spend some time visiting Olomouc via our web links!

Summer Study Program, May 27 – June 27

The Owensboro Sister Cities sponsored Summer Study program in Olomouc is scheduled for May 27 – June 27, 2003. Arrangements have been made for the students to be housed at the Hotel Gol in Olomouc. Weekend study travel is scheduled again for Vienna, Austria; Budapest, Hungary; Krakow, Poland and the final three nights of their stay to be spent in Prague, Czech Republic.

Western Kentucky University has agreed to encourage an added on excursion into Russia following the conclusion of our program on June 27. the extension would be for two weeks and allow students to visit Moscow and St. Petersburg. Students could also earn college credit for participating in this opportunity.

Wheelchairs for Peace, Spring 2003

Owensboro Sister Cities Vice President, Pam Wilson will direct this project which was presented to the Owensboro Sister Cities Board of Directors in November. She has already been in contact to make arrangements with a representative of the Olomouc Rotary Club and Mr. Jerry Gary of the Wheelchair Foundation.

 Law Enforcement Exchange, May

An invitation from the City of Veneendaal, the Netherlands has been received to have law enforcement officers participate in an official exchange at the end of May 2003. participants in this exchange would include representatives from the Owensboro Police Department, daviess County Sherriff’s Department, and the Kentucky State Police.

Multicultural Festival, August

We will continue to plan to participate in the annual Multicultural Festival in order to education our community about our Sister City relationship and encourage international education.

 Kentucky League of Cities, October 3 – 5

We will continue to plan to participate in this annual conference of Kentucky cities. The purpose is both to encourage more international connections throughout Kentucky and to have the opportunity to highlight Owensboro’s premier ongoing official international link.

 There will, no doubt, be more activities as the year progresses. This activity projection should not be seen as a comprehensive listing.

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