Sister Parish Committee meetings are held the second and fourth Thursdays of each month at 7 pm. in the Parish Center. Newcomers are always welcome. If you have questions, please contact any of the members of the committee.
What follows are the minutes of the Thursday, October 22nd meeting.
Thursday, October 22, 1998
Present: Tim, Louise, Joel, Jeff, Bob, Carol, Chris, Vickie, Susan
Jeff reported that the committee website is moving along on the creative end but stalled on the management end. The homepage and a few links are done, others are being created. The problem, however, is loading the stuff up to the SJA server. Jeff has not had success getting help from the SJA webmaster on where to send the pages to. He had this same problem with the delegation website last spring and ended up posting that on another site on the web. He does not want to do that again as our "official committee" website should be on the SJA server. The SJA site has been just sitting without much work for almost a year. We are probably the first committee/group to get this far so.... Jeff will contact Jim M. for help on getting access to the SJA server.
Louise reported that "the checks in the mail". $7000 will be sent to Walter and Jackie's Bemidji account for TNII to use for church construction($2000), scholarships($2000), English classes($1500), business/training($1000), library supplies($500). $1800 will be invested as an endowment/savings leaving $1000 left to be determined jointly. Father George asked Louise to make sure that our explanation of the above to the parish included the process that we and TNII went through to arrive at this conclusion. As our hermanamiento ages, projects are easier to agree to and justify however we must keep the relationship as our primary focus. It seems that we need to balance these projects with continued relationship projects. I feel a need for a delegation coming!! (secretary's editorial comment)
Chris reported that the next delegation will be March 25th through April 5th. She will hold a general interest sign up after masses on December 6th with the first "serious meeting" early in January. She will write an article for the Nov. 8th newsletter and publicize the Dec. 6th sign-up in the bulletin.
Jeff reported that the newsletter will be given to Jim on Nov.1st for the Nov. 8th mass. We need people to stuff the newsletter on Thursday nite, Nov. 5th at 7 pm. It will also turn into a mini-meeting.
Louise asked all committee members who are attending the Yolanda Aguilar potluck on Sunday to arrive a little before 6 pm. to help with setup. Louise described the evening. It sounded wonderful. She has invited several Guatemalans to attend. Bob distributed a schedule of Yolanda's activities for the 5 days she is here. Call him(789-9020) if interested in attending other events.
Jack Sell did some legwork on business development opportunities in Guatemala. The one that he recommended TNII investigate is Caritas. They are currently working on a project in TNI. Jack feels that TNII, not us should instigate any communication with Caritas. Tim will have Jackie explain the situation so that TNII can decide whether they can decide whether to make a contact meeting. Reginaldo(the St. Paul coffee entrepreneur) also recommended to Louise that TNII check out the government agency(believe it or not),FEPYME, which offers good business publications and mentoring resources.
A couple of good social activities are coming up. The Fiesta of the Americas on Sat., Nov. 7 at the Resource Center and the Festival of the Dead on Halloween on Lyndale Avenue(?). This latter event will be similar to the event one of our delegations attended at the cemetery in Guatemala. It is sponsored by Crearte, a Latino art organization. Check the Friday papers events section for details.
Carol reported on the 1st Bible Study. Only 5 people attended but several others expressed interest and had conflicts that nite. Tim will email a summary to TNII. Carol is close to email and the communication between the 2 communities on bible study should improve. Contact Carol(822-5282) for next bible study.
The latest email from TNII explained their lack of communication recently. There computer is down and needs repair. They are wondering if they should buy a new one or repair the old. Joel will check on a used(better computer) that a friend may donate. Bob volunteered to bring it down as only a world traveler could. Stay tuned. The email we received was from the new Sister Parish Center in Zone 1 using Jackie's laptop. Apparently Paul is staying one night a week at the Center, Bernardo is using it, and several groups have come that they have had contact with. Other news from TNII included increased participation on candlemaking in their committee and news of flood damage outside of TNII. None of the families of our committee were affected.
Tim delivered a computer CD that Jackie sent that appears to be a word processing and translation program in Spanish. Vickie will take it home and play with it to determine it's use. Louise will send $20 to Jackie to pay for it.
Chris asked people to sign up to sell candles on the weekends of the 14th and 21st. She appeared to cover all the times but call her(929-6137) if you are interested. Some may have conflicts. Candle decoration day is November 12th. See below.
Next meetings: Thursdays, Nov. 5th and Nov.12 7 pm Parish Center -stuff newsletter and decorate candles
Jeff