sister cities Fall 2019NEWSLETTER

Promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation — one individual, one community at a time.www.ketteringsistercities.com

Message from the ChairBy Al Fullenkamp

Al Fullenkamp

www.sister-cities.org

Steyr Youth ExchangeBy Emily Zimmer

y2019 was a good year for Kettering Sister Cities from beginning to end, and 2020 appears to be even a better year!

To recap what has happened

throughout 2019, see the articles in thisnewsletter. For 2020, however, I will giveyou a bit of a preview.

The big item for 2020 will be the start of the celebration of our 50th anniversary of the Kettering Sister Cities Association withSteyr, Austria as our sister city. To celebratethis milestone, there will be articles lookingback at our history; a planned adulttrip, along with the youth trip to Steyr,Austria (see article) to celebrate the 50thanniversary in Steyr; and as always, ourmany signature events such as our AnnualMeeting, the Kettering Block Party,yy SpassNacht (our 45th consecutive annual SpassNacht), Holiday at Home booth and Pub Night.

It is not too early to encourage any youth(ages 16 to 20) to contact us regardingnext year’s visit to Europe culminatingwith a stay in Steyr to celebrate our 50thanniversary as a sister city with Steyr, Austria. For more information, pleasecontact Emily Zimmer at emilyczimmer@gmail.com or as always, don’t hesitate tocontact me with a question; I will forward italong to the appropriate person.

We would like to boost our membership,both business and individual, in 2020.If you know of someone or a businesswho would like to expand their horizonsand would like to help “build people-to-people relationships, based on youthand adult exchange visits, and social andcultural gatherings with our sister cities,” then Kettering Sister Cities is the rightchoice! For more information regardingmembership, please see the membershipapplication form located in this newsletter.

This past summer’s visit by youth fromour sister city Steyr, Austria, was anotherwonderful experience. This marks the forty-third consecutive exchange by youth from thisKettering/Steyr exchange. It was a very warmtime of year here in Kettering, which required numerous “Pool Parties” to keep cooled off .It was interesting to see the students greettheir counterparts at the airport; becauseof social media, they had been chattingfor several weeks prior to the visit and hadalready begun their friendships. Prior to their arrival in Kettering, the Steyr youth stopped inWashington, D.C. to see a few American sites.After their departure, they spent time in NewYork City before traveling back to Austria.

The Steyr youth arrived on July 3 and stayed fortwo weeks before departing on July 17. Whilehere, the group participated in a bike tour of Dayton, with stops at Riverscape, Deeds Point,the Wright Brothers’ graves, the University of Dayton and the historic Oregon District. Afterthe tour, the group met up with their hostfamilies at a Dragon’s game. Other activitiesincluded a Kettering Police Station tour, formal

welcome at a Kettering City Council meeting,a picnic at Polen Farm, a King’s Island trip and much more.

A list of this year’s Steyr exchange participants and their host students/families follows:

American Austrian

Hosts Exchange Students

Joe Meilstrup Johannes MayrAmelie Kava David Klaus-Sternwieser and Leo EnzendorferAbby and Ellie Duwel Marlene Gerstenauer and Letizia PerndlMary Kate Fleisher Letizia PerndlSofi a Brandt Marie Schiller and Florentina HerpelMark Feiner Daniel KriegerKaely Beam Jakob Pelham and Erik FitzgaEmily and Rob Zimmer Lukas and Jakob Hein

Austrian Chaperones

Joe and Carren Yuppa Edda Wiesmayer, Erich Kargl

2

Kettering Mayor & CouncilDon Patterson, MayorDon.Patterson@ketteringoh.org................... 937.545.0008

Bill Lautar, Vice Mayor, At LargeBill.Lautar@ketteringoh.org..........................937.689.2205

Jacqueline Fisher, At LargeJacque.Fisher@ketteringoh.org...................... 937.232.1637

Robert Scott, District 1Rob.Scott@ketteringoh.org ..........................937.776.2315

Joseph D. Wanamaker, District 2Joe.Wanamaker@ketteringoh.org.................937.296.1712

Tony Klepacz, District 3Tony.Klepacz@ketteringoh.org ....................937.435.9830

Bruce E. Duke, District 4Bruce.Duke@ketteringoh.org .......................937.299.2259

Mark Schwieterman, City ManagerMark.Schwieterman@ketteringoh.org..........937.296.2412

Steven Bergstresser, Assistant City ManagerSteven.Bergstresser@ketteringoh.org ............937.296.2412

Council Office Phone Number: 937.296.2416Council Email: KetteringMayorCouncil@ketteringoh.org

Kettering Home Page: www.ketteringoh.org

KETTERING GOVERNMENT CENTER3600 Shroyer Road, Kettering, OH 45429

(937) 296-2416www.ketteringsistercities.com

If you would like to participate or haveideas to share, we would like to hear fromyou! Please write or contact:

• Kettering City Council Offi ce at 937-296-2416

• Albert Fullenkamp, Chairperson at 937-293-6263

• Ed Hatch, Steyr, Austria Subcommittee at 937-298-6124

• Janet Bolton, Kettering, EnglandSubcommittee at 937-305-1997

Kettering Sister Cities Committee

Kettering Government Center3600 Shroyer Road

Kettering, OH 45429

www.sistercities.com

Kettering Sister Cities Attention High School Students!

2018 Youth Exchangeg

Kettering Sister Cities Executive Committee 2019g

Sister Cities Board MembersThank You!

We thank the following board members who retired during the year:

• Mark Schweikhart

By Al Fullenkamp

We are now in the

planning stages of the

2020 Youth Exchange and

want you to join us!

American students

will travel to

Steyr, Austria and

much more

in July 2020.

Please email

emilyczimmer@gmail.com

for applications and

information.

3

By Bloom Beloved

Despite the unpredictable, crazy, windy andrainy weather at times, great fun was had byall at the 2019 Kettering Sister Cities boothat the Kettering Block Party held on June 12! yHonestly, while I was excited for the challenge,I was a little nervous about chairing this event.However, the can-do attitude and positivityof fellow board members who volunteeredmade our event a great success. A great bigthank you and shout-out to Claudia, Jackie,Joyce, Al, Mike and numerous other boardmembers who helped out at this event. Itwas a great opportunity to provide Ketteringcitizens more information about the SisterCities organization. The temporary tattoos forthe children were a resounding hit and wildlypopular again; we could not apply them tothe kids’ hands fast enough. We owe Claudia a

2019 Kettering Block Party Committee Chairpersons1967 – 2019

1967 – 1968 Gary Shepherd1969 – 1970 E. Beryl Ketchen1971 – 1973 Jocelyn Feeman1974 – 1976 Betty Jane Silas1977 – 1979 Al Laughrey1980 Helen M. Drummond1981 Correne Patterson1982 William Merrell1983 Correne Patterson1984 Donald Hibbs1985 David Abbot1986 Patricia Mastbaum1987 Walter Pettit1988 Paul Doty1989 Janet Niekamp Bolton1990 – 1991 Helen Smith1992 – 1993 William Gray1994 Cynda Kehl1995 – 1996 Janet Niekamp Bolton1997 – 1998 Patricia Mastbaum1999 – 2000 John Rininger2001 Phyllis Worthman2002 – 2003 Lynda Hohnhorst2004 Sue Dabbelt2005 – 2006 Vernon Hentz2007 – 2008 Gary Busch2009 – 2011 Robert Van Leeuwen2012 – 2013 Paul Fleitz2014 – 2017 Emily Zimmer2018 – 2019 Al Fullenkamp

Continuous Sustaining Members from 1977

Carl and Roberta BeyerGerald and Irene Busch

Julie GilmoreRobert and Judith Hadley

Edward and Elke HatchMarty HibbsJean Judge

Joe and Pat MastbaumDinah Miller

Correne MoranThomas and Marilou Smith

Richard and Constance Thomas

special thank you for stepping in and helping with the tattoos, when board members were getting overwhelmed with multiple little ones in each family wanting tattoos at the sametime. Again, despite the unpredictable andchaotic weather, we were delighted with theattendance of the public and their persistence.We actually had so many people interestedin our organization and literature, possiblydrawn in by the lure of temporary tattoos forthe children, that we ran out of informationalfl iers and newsletters early in the evening. Allin all, we cannot say thank you enough to ouramazing volunteers and the resilient Kettering community in making this event a resoundingsuccess. We will defi nitely have more fl iers nextyear and more tattoos!

4

This was a very rough year for the 44th annual Spass Nacht celebration on June 19. (Spass Nacht is always on the third Wednesday of June).The weather did not treat us well, and the rain came as the celebration was about to begin, but that did not stop us from having a good time. Those who braved the weather certainlyenjoyed themselves. We did have to cut the night short because of the inclement weather,and it certainly held the crowd size down.

We are looking forward to next year ’s Spass Nacht, to be held on June 17, 2020,which will mark our 45th consecutive Spass Nacht celebration. The original t Spass Nachtcelebrations were held at the Town and Country Shopping Center parking lot before moving toLincoln Park Civic Commons in the mid-eighties.Spass Nacht is a major fund raising event forKettering Sister Cities. These funds are used tosupport youth visits to Steyr or to host Steyr youth on their visits to Kettering.

Spass Nacht 2019By Al Fullenkamp

Kettering once again had a beautiful and successful Holiday at Home, and Kettering Sister Cities was there to share in thecelebration. For the sixth consecutive year, Kettering SisterCities had a beer and pretzel booth. This year we also sold softdrinks and bottled water. The beautiful weather brought outmany customers and although we were a bit out of the way, onthe far east end near the Fraze concession stand, we had one of our most successful years in sales.

This success will allow us to continue to support our youthprogram in both assisting youth visiting our sister city Steyr,and also in hosting youth from Steyr as we did this year. (See Youth Article in this issue.) A big thanks goes out to those whovolunteered in staffi ng this year’s booth and a special thanks toDon Timmer for organizing the booth and Andy Niekamp for hissupplies and work that he has done every year. We hope to seeyou next year for a bigger and more successful Holiday at Home.

Holiday at Home 2019By Al Fullenkamp

5

By Janet Bolton

Two boys in this summer's Steyr youth grouphave a lot in common. They are the thirdgeneration in their families who have beenhosted in Kettering. Both Leo Enzendorfer andErik Fitzga have grandparents active in Steyrsister cities, mothers who were in Kettering aspart of a 6-week work exchange program whenthey were teenagers and a sibling who was ina recent student exchange.

Leo Enzendorfer, who resides in Vienna, saidhe was fortunate that he had several familymembers who helped him prepare for his

Three Generations

Fredi and Otti Bruckbauer, Christine and Alfred Steiner

pppp pppp ppppp

Erik Fitzga and Leo Enzendorferg

By Al Fullenkamp

On October 23, Kettering Sister Cities members gathered once again at Archer’s Tavern inKettering, Ohio, for our annual Pub Night. This year’s annual event celebrates 41 yearsof friendship with our Sister City Kettering,

Pub Night 2019Celebrating 41 Years of Friendship with our Sister City Kettering, England

England. After “Happy Hour,” we enjoyed a greatmeal of “Shepherd’s Pie” or a great serving of “Fish and Chips” which made us feel a bit British.

Once again Mary Lou Meers did a great job withthe trivia contest which included questions on

the “Brexit” our friendsare going through and questions about histor ical markers, roadways and rivers in or about Kettering, England. This was followed by door prizes which were won by a few lucky members.

I t was a wonder ful and relaxing evening s h a re d w i t h g o o d f r i e n d s. We h a d a nice turnout and all were very thankful for the great effort put forward by those who organized the dinner.

We would like to thank Mary Lou Meers, JanetBolton, Bloom Beloved and Alex Ignatiou fortheir hard work.

We will follow the events in Kettering, Englandover the next year as they are going througha governmental reorganization which maychange their government but not our friendshipwith them.

trip this summer—his grandparents, hismother Christine andhis sister Louise. Leo’smother was part of the work exchangein 1989, work ingand dressing as Miss Wendy at Wendy’s.Leo, who was hostedby the Kava family,remarked, “This wasthe best vacation Ihave ever been on.”

Erik Fitzga’s mother, Astrid, was part of theyouth exchange in 1989 and the 6-week work exchange in 1992, working with children at theKettering Recreation Complex. Erik lives with hisfamily in Salzburg. His uncle, Bernhard Steiner, was in the 1997 youth exchange. After hisbrother, Gerwin, visited Kettering two years ago,Erik had great hopes that he too could be part of the upcoming exchange. At the end of his stay, Erik stated, “I had a great time, especially withmy host family. It was the best two weeks ever!”

The youth were invited to work at Steyr’sannual Stadtfest. As seen in the nearby photo,

Leo's grandparents (Otti and Fredi Bruckbauer)and Erik’s grandparents (Christine and AlfredSteiner), are working at the sister city standat Stadtfest. Otti Bruckbauer has chaperonedstudent groups to Kettering and has beena dedicated leader of the Steyr sister cityorganization and has hosted many peoplefrom Kettering. The Steiners have also hostednumerous Kettering visitors and had a homestayin Kettering.

Erik, who was hosted by the Beam/Trittschuhfamily remarked, “Do you think we can make it four generations?” Let's hope so, Erik.

6

2019 Sister Cities InternationalBy Al and Sue Fullenkamp

As members of the Executive Board of Kettering Sister Cities, Sue and I were able to attend theannual Sister Cities International Conferencein Houston, Texas from July 17 – 19, 2019. Yes,Houston in July is very warm; however, thosesame dates back here in Kettering were justas warm this year. The conference was held atthe ideal location at the ideal time in that wewere in Houston during the 50th anniversary of man landing on the moon. This theme carriedthroughout the conference.

The opening ceremonies followed past protocoland began with the Youth Parade of Nations. The opening ceremony speaker was KathleenKennedy Townsend who, at the ceremony, wasawarded the Dwight D. Eisenhower Peace Prizeby Sister Cities International. We had the greatopportunity to shake hands with her before theceremony and presentation.

The Mayor’s Welcome Reception was held in theHouston Convention Center and was attendedby employees and astronauts from the JohnsonSpace Center. Sue and I also had the chanceto view and inspect a spacesuit and a lunarvehicle up close.

The conference itself was good but was certainlydirected toward a business perspective. Chinaand Mexico were well represented. One hadto look carefully to fi nd sessions which weremore directed to the way we prioritize andoperate our sister city organization. We metand talked with several cities interested instarting youth exchange programs. The mostbenefi cial session was a roundtable sessionwhich highlighted social media use, developinglocal relationships with other groups in yourcommunity, other small cities programs, freeresources for non-profi ts (“Free Resources for Non-Profi ts” email alfullen@aol.com for links) andyouth exchanges, among other items.

The U.S. Department of State was presentin offering information coinciding with athought-provoking talk from Marie Royce,Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Educationand Cultural Aff airs (whose objective is to spur economic development at the local level andstrengthen ties through citizen diplomacy).Ms. Royce also reported on a trip and projectto Monrovia, Liberia, which is the sister city of Dayton, Ohio.

The most beneficial part of the conferencewas the opportunity to network with otherrepresentatives. There were many people inattendance who had questions regardingyouth visits where we were able to provideinformation and obtain information frommany others.

Overall, it was a good conference but as withany conference, there were areas we wish werehighlighted more.

Annual Dinner Coming in

March 2020Please plan to join the Kettering

Sister Cities committee at our

annual dinner. More details will

come in the following months.

Youth Exchanges

7

Upcoming Adult Trip to Steyr, AustriaCelebrating our 50th Anniversary with our Austrian Sister City

By Ed Hatch

All are welcome but space is limited! (Space is limited to 20 participants.) Here is youropportunity to travel the world and help celebrate our 50th anniversary as a sister citywith Steyr, Austria.

Dates for the trip will be July 12 through July25, 2020, of which July 16 to the 20 will be inSteyr. Participants will make their own travelarrangements to and from Europe. (Assistance is available for those who wish to use a travel agent.)

The trip will be a total of 12 nights inEurope: 3 in Vienna; 4 in Steyr; 2 in Salzburg;1 near Oberammergau; Ludwig’s CastleNeuschwanstein; and 2 in Munich. Participantsmay extend their stays in Europe both beforeand after by adjusting their travel and hotelarrangements. Participants will have the optionof staying with a Steyr family during their time in Steyr or in a hotel.

We will be traveling by the same private charterbus from Vienna to Steyr, Steyr to Salzburg, Salzburg to Munich and visiting sites betweenthese cities that can only be visited easily byprivate charter bus. We expect to stay in older

historic hotels in Vienna, Salzburg and Munichwhich was done during the trip in 2016. In additionto enjoying the sites of Vienna, Steyr, Salzburg andMunich, we will be visiting among other sites, theAbby of Melk, Oberammergau, Ludwig's Castlesof Neuschwanstein, Hohenschwangau andLinderhof, and the Wieskirche.

Estimated costs in addition to travel to andfrom Europe:

Accommodations: 8-12 nights (depending uponwhether one stays with a family or in a hotelin Steyr; single rooms around $150 per night,double is about $100 per person per night.

Meals: Breakfast is included in the price of a room in all hotels; lunch and dinner are theresponsibility of each participant.

Admissions: Admissions are optional and willbe at the participant’s cost.

Travel by Private Charter Bus: Cost will beshared by the participants and depends upon the number of participants. We hope to keep this cost at $300 or less per participant.

Travel to and from airports will be at theparticipant’s cost.

The possibility of participating in this programas well as attending the Oberammergau PassionPlay is the responsibility of each participant.

Participants are required to be members of the Kettering Sister Cities Association. Annual membership fees are $10 per individual, $15per Family or $30 to be a Patron.

For additional information, please contact Ed Hatch at 937-298-6124 or edward.hatch@gmail.com.

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Kettering Sister Cities CommitteeGovernment Center3600 Shroyer RoadKettering, OH 45429

www.ketteringsistercities.com

Name ..............................Title ................................................................................................................. Email Address .....................................Phone (area code 937)

Albert Fullenkamp ...........Chairperson.......................................................................................................................... alfullen@aol.com .......................................................................293-6263

Mary Lou Meers ..................Vice Chairperson, Kettering, England Subcommittee ............................................... meersworld@yahoo.com ............................................................294-7585

Sue Fullenkamp ................Treasurer ............................................................................................................................... fullsue@aol.com .........................................................................293-6263

Jackie Lawless....................Secretary ............................................................................................................................... jackie_lawless@hotmail.com ................................................434-6970

Tony Klepacz ......................Council Liaison .................................................................................................................... tony.klepacz@ketteringoh.org .............................................435-9830

Susan Barber ......................Steyr Subcommittee ......................................................................................................... sbarber3@woh.rr.com ..............................................................298-6274

Bloom Beloved ..................Kettering, England Subcommittee, Kettering Block Party.................................. bloombeloved@gmail.com....................................................567-0536

Janet Bolton .......................Chairperson, Kettering, England Subcommittee ................................................... janetbolton17@gmail.com ....................................................305-1997

Joyce Conner ......................Historian ................................................................................................................................ connerconsult@aol.com .........................................................434-4156

Ed Hatch ...............................Chairperson, Steyr Subcommittee .............................................................................. edward.hatch@gmail.com .....................................................298-6124

Lynda Hohnhorst ..............Chairperson Annual Meeting, Kettering, England Subcommittee ..................... lhohnhorst@yahoo.com ..........................................................434-0512

Alex Ignatiou......................Kettering, England Subcommittee.............................................................................. alexis_ignatiou@yahoo.com ........................................513-238-3711

Andrew Rathweg..............Chairperson, Spass Nacht ............................................................................................... andrewr@rathweginsurance.com .......................................350-7142

Donald Timmer ................. Holiday at Home ................................................................................................................ timmer.don@gmail.com..........................................................299-3136

Claudia Welles ....................Kettering Block Party ........................................................................................................ singintherain2012@gmail.com .............................................424-6388

Robin Wittman ..................Membership ........................................................................................................................ r-wittman@sbcglobal.net .......................................................829-7173

Emily Zimmer .....................Steyr Subcommittee, Publicity ...................................................................................... emilyczimmer@gmail.com ............................................513-478-3385

Rob Zimmer ........................Spass Nacht, Holiday at Home ...................................................................................... roblzimmer@yahoo.com .........................................................527-9993

Kettering, Ohio, Sister Cities Newsletterwww.ketteringsistercities.com

Layout/Production: Administrative Systems

Newsletter deadlines are March 30 (May issue) and September 30 (November issue).