All posts by webguy

Linkages on channel 31

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Linkages and the Peer to Peer program was featured in an interview on Fox Rochester, channel 31, Wednesday March 11 2015.

I am not sure how long this link will last…

They interviewed Linkages board member Barbara LeSavoy and Allison O’Malley of RESOLVE regarding the Linkages trip to Velikiy Novgorod – leaving soon! The Linkages group – 5 professors/professionals and 4 students (?) will exchange views with their peers in Velikiy Novgorod concerning domestic violence.  The trip is funded by a grant from Peer to Peer, from the US embassy in Moscow.  This is a followup to a visit to Rochester by a Novgorod group last October.

Barbara LeSavoy, PhD
Director, Women and Gender Studies
The College at Brockport, State University of New York
http://www.brockport.edu/wms/

Allison D. O’Malley
Executive Director
RESOLVE
www.resolve-roc.org

an earlier interview on WROC:
The Peer to Peer Dialogue project was featured in a news story 2/26 on WROC 11pm news. The station contacted Alli O’Malley (Safe Journey program director and one of the members of the group traveling to Novgorod in March). She told the reporter about project, the trip to Russia and the course on DV being offered in the Social Work Department at Brockport. That resulted in an interview with Debra Fromm Faria and one of the students. The link to the news feature and a transcript of the interview is below:
http://www.rochesterhomepage.net/story/d/story/brockport-group-travels-abroad-to-address-domestic/31730/nyajVIMNR0mz3uSlWyrBDQ

a bit about Linkages:

Dick and Nancy Fitts started Linkages in the mid-1980s to promote peaceful relations between the citizens of the US and RUssia. It took until 1990 to establish communication between citizens in Rochester and Velikiy Novgorod and for the two city administrations to approve a sister city agreement.
The teachers exchange was started in the early 1990s and and has been operating continuously for 22. In 1998 the Partnership for Children was initiated. The most recent partnerships, Substance Abuse Prevention, Elder Services  and Women’s Issues were established in the early 2000s.

Linkages Anniversary Celebration in Novgorod

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7885This year marks the 25th anniversary of the official sister city relationship between Rochester and Velikiy Novgorod, Russia. In 1990 a group of Rochesterians, led by City Council President, Lois Geiss, travelled to Novgorod to sign the formal agreement pairing the two cities. To commemorate a quarter century of sister city relationships and activities, the city administration of Velikiy Novgorod has invited Linkages to form a delegation to attend festivities in Novgorod in May. The celebration will coincide with the city’s observance of Victory Day in Russia, an important holiday commemorating the nation’s victory in World War II. We are invited to join the celebration from May 7- 9, 2015.
We have not yet formulated final arrangements for the trip but, most likely, the delegation will spend several days in Velikiy Novgorod, followed by a few days in beautiful St. Petersburg.
If you have an interest in joining the group that will represent Rochester, or would like to be kept apprised of further information about the trip, please write Paul Caccamise, president of Linkages, at president@linkagesrochester.org

Russian Friendship Concert

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The Annual Russian Friendship Concert will be on Thursday, January 8 at 7:30 PM, at Kilbourn Hall, Eastman School.  There will be a reception after the concert upstairs at the Cominsky Promenade.

http://www.rochester.edu/Eastman/calendar/?from=08January2015&to=08January2015

Picnic!

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Linkages Picnic
Tuesday August 19, 5:30 – 8:30
Buckland Lodge
Bring a dish to pass,
Linkages will provide the main course
RSVP to trschueler@gmail.com

Linkages Awarded US-Russia Peer to Peer Dialogue Grant

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Linkages of Rochester has learned that its application to the US-Russia Peer to Peer Dialogue program has been selected for funding. The program, administered by the US Embassy in Moscow, offers opportunities for Russian and American organizations to team up to work on projects of mutual importance and interest to both societies. Linkages will partner with the Family Center in Rochester’s sister city, Velikiy Novgorod to address a prevalent social problem in both US and Russian society: domestic violence. Over a one year period professionals, students and individuals whose lives have been affected by domestic violence will compare approaches and programs that can prevent domestic violence and that can offer hope for a life free from violence to victims. The year-long dialogue will take place through videoconferencing, e-mail and other long distance communications. The project will also include two in-person exchanges. A group from Velikiy Novgorod will visit Rochester in October and an American group will visit Novgorod in spring 2015. Other partners in the project include Novgorod State University and the College at Brockport.

Breton Dancing and a C47 Returns to Rennes

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**** From our sister-sister-cities program *****
PUBLICITY_CITY_HALL_CONCERT_For_Ray_And_Mike_2_(2) fest_noz_2014_(1)Dear Friends,
This Friday, April 25th, the Rennes-Rochester Sister City Committee (RRSCC) in partnership with the Alliance Française will be hosting a Concert at City Hall from 12:00 – 1:30 PM by the Rochester Franco-American Choir in honor of the soldiers that fought and died in Normandy almost 70 years ago. With the D-Day anniversary rapidly approaching, our committee has also linked up with the National Warplane Museum in Geneseo. Their C-47 troop transport that once dropped paratroopers on St. Mere-Eglise will be leaving again from Geneseo in mid-May to take part in D-Day celebrations, including again dropping paras over Normandy on June 6th. More info can be found at their website at http://www.rtn2014.org/.
Our committee has asked the museum to extend their trip to Brittany. They have agreed to fly over and stop in Rennes on June 9th as guests of the Aeroclub de Rennes. Eric Beaty, my counterpart in Rennes, has cleared the decks to make this happen. He told me today that the mayors of Rennes and St. Jacques-de-la-Lande will be there to personally greet the pilot and her crew. He and his committee expect hundreds to be at the airport.
We are raising $3,000 to cover fuel and flight expenses. Thirty people at $100 each can get this done tomorrow. All donations, regardless of size, are tax-deductible, freely accepted and much appreciated. Please forward your check, made out to ISCOR and earmarked for the Return to Rennes to Mike Leach at City Hall, located at 30 Church Street in Rochester 14614.
That isn’t the end. At Nazareth College from 7:30-9:30 PM, the RRSCC will be co-hosting Fest Noz, an evening of Breton dancing. Information on that affair is attached and we urge everyone to celebrate with us. Please RSVP to Hannah Berry at hrb9451@rit.edu. (There is still time…)
Both Hannah and Dr. Mireille Le Breton, board members of the RRSCC, have done a superlative job in putting both programs together. Our thanks to them cannot be expressed enough. Dr. Le Breton also heads up the Maison Francaise and the Alliance Francaise of Rochester.
We look forward to seeing you this Friday and we thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Ray Griswold
President
Rennes-Rochester Sister City Committee