Seattle Nantes Sister Cities Association held its AGM November 9th at the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard. It is a warm and inviting location, relatively easy to find with lots of free parking. Several of our members are members of the Heritage Museum, even those not of Scandinavian descent, because it is a very good place to show visitors from out of town who want to learn more of the history of our city.
Reputed architect and ex-councilman, Peter Steinbrueck, spoke about his impending trip to Nantes were he will be a featured speaker at a conference on sustainable energy. Not long ago, a delegation from Nantes came to Seattle to observe what our city is doing along those lines.
Other honored guests included: Jack Cowan, Honorary Consul of France and Executive Director of the French American Chamber of Commerce, and his assistant Yannis Lambourdière; former city councilman Randy Revelle and his wife, Ann; and Susan Han, producer of the video of our sister-city relationship with Nantes, one of the first of what will eventually be 21 videos on each of Seattle sister-city relationships. The video played continuously during the evening.
Along with long-time members, were many new members to share the delicious potluck dinner and wine. The tables were beautifully decorated in blue and green. A giant gift basket was won by a lucky member sitting in the secretly marked seat!
Two board members were re-elected to two-year terms: Pamela-Ann Hughes and Chantal Baldacci. Chantal also announced our need for more volunteers and cheerfully directed eager members to a sign up sheet.