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Minutes of the Regular Meeting of Council July 17, 2006 Page 4 They then heard the dialogue from a couple of gentlemen who brought 4 Palestinian authority Mayors and 4 Israeli Mayors together. They came over together to attend the Conference because they want to promote peace through people not war, even in the midst of what had happened that day and continued to happen throughout the weekend. The day concluded with visits by Joanne, Patsy and Jeff to the Embassy of Egypt. Mr. Saponaro went to the Embassy of the Republic of South Africa. They had a reception and program and fascinating discussions ensued with the Ambassadors and with the fellow delegates. On Saturday, they all attended various celebatory awards ceremonies at the Warner Theater and the National Museum building where again more amazing discussions took place regarding why this is such a critically vital important program that our Village would do very well to become a part of. Attending this conference was truly alife-changing experience. The theme woven throughout the speeches and discussions was of gaining new perspective for different cultures, geographic regions, religions and people. Again, it is extremely important for Mayfield Village to participate in this initiative. The next step to take is to determine the nuts and bolts process. However, it is clear from the many discussions with other Sister City organizations and that of Joanne and Patsy that for the program to be successful it must be a collaborative effort among not only the Mayfield Village officials but private citizens and the school district. More detailed information will be forthcoming as the process continues. Mr. Buckholtz stated that he would imagine that the Egyptian Embassy has a great Historical Society. Mrs. Mills replied that they did remark that they were the oldest civilization. Mrs. Mills added that interestingly, you would sit down at a table, whether it be lunch, dinner or breakfast, you would be sitting there talking and having a nice cup of coffee, and then when you delve into his or her personal life, it was amazing. She sat with a man one morning for breakfast and he finally informed her that he was with the U.S. Army Band, went to Vietnam and when he came home, he was the band director for JFK's funeral. He shared that the most important thing was that his mother saw him on television directing the band. She called everyone in Wisconsin and told them. That was the kind of people who attended the Conference. It was unbelievable. Mr. Saponaro stated that they met people like the Mayor and an envoy from Tanzania, Mozambique from Nigeria, people from all parts of South Africa, amazing individuals who are not doing extraordinary things, but are doing little things that hold together to change the shape of their communities. It is a very powerful program. Their biggest problem is that they need to be better known. They are celebrating 50 years of peace through people, yet probably most people in this room do not even know what Sister Cities International is. That is part of their new initiative for the next 50 years, to get the word out. A fmal observation shared by Mr. Saponaro is that the thing that is disheartening is that as all of this is going on in the Middle East and we have these Palestinians and Israeli officials together