It
is my pleasure to welcome you to the 2000 Annual General Meeting of the
Frankston Susono Friendship Association and to present my report on a very
successful year.
Your
committee has been particularly energetic this year in an effort to raise the
profile of the Association and to
engender community interest in the Sister City Link so that there will be
support for a bid to host the Australian Sister Cities Association's Conference
in Frankston at some time in the future.
A
reported last year that there had been a delegation to the ASCA conference in Darwin Adelaide
A
major highlight of the year was undoubtedly
the FSFA delegation to Susono in October/November 1999 to attend the Australian Fair. The delegation was
large, some 25 people, and was a good mix of FSFA members, councillors
(including the mayor and his wife), council officers and outside industry
representatives. The delegation was very successful and some of that delegation
has already put their names down for next year.
I
am pleased to say that this year we received an exchange student from Susono
after a one year gap in the exchange program. The exchange student's name is Ai
Hirota and she will be talking to you later this evening.
Laura
Wallis has returned from a very successful year in Susono and will also be
talking to you this evening.
Laura
is an excellent example of an exchange student and this was shown be her aplomb
in delivering her segment of a recent FSFA presentation to Council about the
Association and its relationship to Council.
I referred earlier to
your active committee. I would like to thank them for their assistance and
drive this year and the energy they are expending in planning and undertaking
activities. These include:
·
The Japanese Fair 14-15
October 2000
·
The Japanese Speech Contest 8 September 2000
·
The Australian Sister Cities Conference in Adelaide
·
The Japanese Language lessons now under way
·
Teacher selection for Susono
·
The delegation to the Susono Australian Fair
I
would also like to specifically thank Peter Patterson for his production of the
FSFA Newsletters and the preparation of a History of FSFA, which is nearly
complete.
Finally
I wish to thank Frankston Council
for their continued support and in particular Council Officers Beverley Parsons
and Michael Craighead who have provided support to FSFA in the form of minutes
and other administrative tasks. Their help is most appreciated.
We
have an exciting year ahead and I invite all members of the Association to
become involved in the activities.
