Sister Cities Commission

SISTER CITIES COMMISSION MEETING TUESDAY, MAY 12, 2026 AL LARSON PRAIRIE CENTER FOR THE ARTS / CONFERENCE ROOM A NOTES MEMBERS PRESENT: Caren Chisesi Tom LaMantia Annie Miskewitch Kiran Nuthulapaty Suzanne Poeschel Vandana Jhingan Ally Zinck MEMBERS ABSENT: Jose Skrobot Neil Khot Kazuko Mino Bob Schmidt STAFF PRESENT: Tiana Weiler, Director of Cultural Services Katie Langston, Rental Coordinator CALL TO ORDER: Suzanne Poeschel called the meeting to order at 5:33 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: A motion was made by Caren Chisesi to approve the Sister Cities Meeting Minutes from April 14, 2026. Tom LaMantia seconded. MOTION CARRIED. NEW BUSINESS: A. Germany Subcommittee Report - SDAG visit to Schaumburg, IL No report. Caren Chisesi has sent out a message to follow up with Dr. Steinbeck to see if we can get more information about the “Tracht Cultural Dresses” for display purposes. Ms. Poeschel confirmed that the 1st or 3rd week of October will work for Dr. Steinbeck to visit, and he will follow up with the other German officials to pick one of those weeks. Tiana Weiler reported that the artwork mailed to Mayor Dailly by Dr. Steinbeck has made it and will be put up in the new Village Hall once completed. Mr. Weiler was also happy to report that the Stone gifted to us in 2006 has been moved to the new Village Hall already and looks great. It will remain covered until construction is complete. B. Japan Subcommittee Report No report. Kiran Nuthulapaty talked about the Japanese night event at Jane Adams and that it was a success. Ms. Nuthulapaty was able to hand out our new brochures and scholarship flyers. Tiana Weiler mentioned that the subcommittee will be having a meeting following this one that involves a teams video call with Mr. Niwa and our JBT travel agent to go over the 2027 visit to Namerikawa.  C. South Asia Subcommittee Report No report. Vandana Jhingan reported that Elections are currently taking place in Vadodara so they are waiting to see if the mayor is reelected or if there will be a new one to follow up with on our proposed partnership. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: CONTINUING ITEMS: 1. Sister City Facebook Page Ally Zinck, Kiran Nuthulapaty, and Tom LaMantia mentioned sending over content to Jose Skrobot to post on the Facebook page. Tiana Weiler and Katie Langston mentioned that they also have access to the Sister City Facebook page and can post if need be. Ms. Weiler will follow up with Jose Skrobot to see what needs to get posted. 2. Proposal for Use of Sister City Funds Suzanne Poeschel talked about how the scholarship deadline has passed and there are 3 candidates for the scholarship. Two applications are from German language students, and one from a Japanese language student. Suzanne Poeschel and Jose Skrobot will go through the applications and decide on the two winners. Tiana Weiler suggested inviting the two winners to a future Village Board meeting to accept their award. Ms. Weiler also passed around a sign up sheet for the Farmers Market. All committee members will list their availability, and Ms. Weiler will let us know which date has the best availability for everyone. 3. Brochure Katie Langston brought in brochures for everyone to see. Annie Miskewitch requested to take a large stack of the new brochures to the library and will pick them up at the Japan sub-committee meeting. Ms. Miskewitch also confirmed that the library has a tentative date of September 20 for their Japan night and are looking at the month of October to host a German night. Ms. Miskewitch also confirmed that they can put “in partnership” with the Schaumburg Sister Cities on all advertising for those events. Suzanne Poeschel attended the Illinois Sister Cities annual meeting and shared that Roselle won Sister City of the year. Ms. Poeschel also shared that next year’s meeting will likely be held in Belvidere. DEFERRALS: No deferrals. COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE: No Comments. ADJOURNMENT A motion was made at 5:56 pm by Tom LaMantia to adjourn. Annie Miskewitch seconded. MOTION CARRIED. NEXT MEETING: Tuesday, June 9, 2026, 5:30 pm