Annual Report to Santa Barbara Sister Cities Board
Santa Barbara/Puerto Vallarta Sister City Committee
June 30, 2015

July 2014 – July 5 – BBQ fundraiser at home of member’s Raul & LaV, raised over $1,500 for Puerto Vallarta Rehabilitation Clinic.

Welcomed our friends from Puerto Vallarta during their annual visitation to Santa Barbara. Various activities were planned along with a visit to City Hall and a presentation to Mayor Helen Schneider. Santa Barbara members hosted in their homes over 15 Puerto Vallarta visitors.

Sister Cities International Conference in San Jose, CA. Six members participated annual SCI conference. Our club was honored with the Best Overall Program for population between 50,001-100,000. The award was based on our goals for the Board set for 2013, highlighting the achievement made during the year.

August 2014 – Sponsored three food booths at McKenzie Park Old Spanish Days Mercado, Cesar’s Place on Milpas Street, Club Santa Rita and Tacos Don Roge of Carpinteria. A donation of over $1,400 was earned toward the Puerto Vallarta I. Madonnari Festival project.

August 10, 2014 – board retreat, where we set our plans for the next 12 months.

Santa Barbara Rotary Club North and Goleta Rotary Club Evening joined forces with Santa Barbara/Puerto Vallarta Sister City Committee on a more than $6,000.00 Rotary Dedicated District Funds matching grant for the purchase of first response medical equipment. The equipment was destined for three remote communities located in the municipality of Cabos Corrientes, the next municipal government south of Puerto Vallarta.

September 2014 – Participated in the Santa Barbara City Council meeting of September 9, 2014, talked briefly about the activities of our group and the SCI Best Overall Program award.

Members participated in September 11th Peace Concert at Faulkner Gallery in main library.

Fundraiser to Copper Canyon, 31 members participated in this spectacular tour by train in several Mexican states. We raised over $4,000 for the Boca de Tomatlan Clinic in Puerto Vallarta.

Five Rotary Club Puerto Vallarta Sur couples visited Santa Barbara. One of the requirements for our sister city’s participation in the 3 for 1 Jalicience Project is that we have a “mirror club” from Puerto Vallarta. Local Rotarians and Sister City members home-hosted the group. The group was treated to tours of our fair city as well as a tour of Solvang and the Santa Inez Valley.

October 2014 – Over twenty members participated in a San Ynez Valley wine tasting and BBQ luncheon. The tour actually served two-purposes, La Cumbre Junior High projects and raised $580.00 funds for the Boca de Tomatlan clinic in Puerto Vallarta.

On October 19th at the home of Raul & LaV a wine tasting and snacks were served to an appreciative group of approximately 35 guests dedicated to the purpose of raising funds for the Olive Ridley Sea Turtle project headed by retired UCSB professor, Dr. Manuel Carlos and his wife Ann Carlos. This successful event raised $750.00 for “Save the Turtle” project in Puerto Vallarta.

Three Puerto Vallarta police officers came to Santa Barbara to participate in annual Law Enforcement Exchange. The Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department held classes and various other law enforcement tactics training. Altogether, the officers participated in 40 hours of training, and each was awarded a diploma honoring the successful completion of their training. This program is in its 11th year, 31 officers from Puerto Vallarta have come to receive training and 28 sheriff’s officers have gone to Puerto Vallarta to provide training to Puerto Vallarta officers at its training academy.

Sister Cities UN Day – Members of our organization assisted in the Annual United Nation Day dinner. Members helped decorate the tables and set-up the beverage station and sold tickets for the drinks.

November 2014 – Annual visitation to Puerto Vallarta, over 40 members participated in a fun-filled 10-day event. We were able to visit the projects our club has been funding and to visit with our many friends in Puerto Vallarta. This is a fundraising trip were we raised over $5,000.

We are supporting a sewing school & sewing business venture in Puerto Vallarta. This project will help mothers of a local community become professional seamstresses and assist in helping their families become self-sustaining.

An electric wheel chair was generously taken on the plane by Sister City member Kevin O’Dea and presented to a young man in Puerto Vallarta. The young man was thrilled to be receiving this gift to better assist in his handicap.

Supported Puerto Vallarta I Madonnari Festival, with funding for five Santa Barbara chalk painting artist. Festival took place during our Annual Visitation.

December 2014 – Annual “Las Posadas” party in home of Gil & Marti Garcia. Las Posadas is a traditional Mexican Christmas event where singing, eating of traditional tamales and a reenactment of a Bethlehem scene. Takako Wakita led the Carole singing.

January 2015 –

February 2015 – Valentine Dinner/Dance took place at Museum of Natural History, Fleishmann Hall on February 14th. We were entertained by Mariachi los Toreros, fed by Mayo’s and Cesar’s Place Restaurants and danced to the music of “Family Sound”.

March 2015 – Fundraising BBQ to support our annual Puerto Vallarta Police Training Project. Sheriff Brown stopped by to tell us how proud he is to support this project.

April 2015 – Board Member Elections. New President is Raul Navarro, 1st Vice-President Jacqueline Duran, 2nd Vice-President Carlos Velasco, Recording Secretary Gil Garcia, Corresponding Secretary Jim Brock and Treasurer Marti Correa de Garcia.

We are supporting the Santa Barbara School of Squash and hopefully will do an exchange with a squash team in Puerto Vallarta. Board Member Jacqueline Duran is organizing a VIP Mariachi raffle fundraiser. A $500.00 donation has been given to this organization to foster their youth program.

Participated in Young Artist Showcase, a program sponsored of Sister Cities International. Thirty entries from Santa Barbara High School art classes submitted their interpretation of SCI’s yearly theme, “Connecting Communities for Peace and Prosperity”. Three community judges picked three winners, with the 1st place winning entry receiving $250, and their art piece shipped to Washington DC to participate with other worldwide art entries. The 2nd and 3rd place winners won $175 and $150, respectfully.

May 2015 – The 1st place winner of the 2014 – 9th Annual Puerto Vallarta I Madonnari Festival participated in the 30th Annual Santa Barbara I Madonnari Italian Street Painting Festival. The artist was in Santa Barbara for 5 days. His art piece was well received; the Puerto Vallarta Tourism Bureau sponsored airfare for the PV artist and Sister City members home hosted him. His square was sponsored by Sister City members Ruben & Sandra Islas.

8th Annual Sister Cities Association of the Americas International conference in Puerto Vallarta –May 22 – 24, 2015.

June 2015 – Twenty members enjoyed 14 days on a land tour of Alaska and cruised the Sawyer Glacier. Great trip, wonderful company and we made a little bit of money for our projects.

Other Information:

Our finances are healthy, with a reserve account.   We presently have approximately 173 dues paying members on our active roster and another 35 honorary or complementary members.

Our charitable contributions include donations to:

  • I Madonnari for activities here and in Puerto Vallarta.
  • B. Sheriff Department for training project in Puerto Vallarta & Santa Barbara.
  • Support & cash donations to Boca de Tomatlan Regional Health Clinic in Puerto Vallarta.
  • Donations to charitable institutions, such as the Rehabilitation Clinic of Puerto Vallarta.
    • Santa Barbara School of Squash.

Sister City members are informed by:

  • Monthly General Membership Dinner Meetings
  • Monthly Newsletter
  • Active participation of membership in the face book page
  • Web-page (sbpvsistercity.org)

Active Sister City members supporting sister city programs:

  • Sister City member Gil Garcia is re-elected as president of Southern California Sister Cities (SoCal). Mr. Garcia is also on the Board of Directors of Sister Cities International, ending his 3-year term in July 2015.
  • Sister City member Pat Fallin serves as Sister Cities International State Coordinator for Southern California.
  • Sister City member Roberto Najera served as representative to the Santa Barbara Sister Cities Board, to be replaced by newly elected President Raul Navarro.
  • Sister City members Barbara Ellis & Marti Correa de Garcia serve as “at-large-members” on the Santa Barbara Sister Cities Board.

Respectfully Submitted,

Santa Barbara/Puerto Vallarta Sister City Committee

Raul Navarro, President

Special Projects

COMMUNITY OUTREACH AND COOPERATION with other organizations has enhanced our people-to-people programs. Exchanges of all types have taken place between our two cities, including cultural exchanges, both music and art, as well as local high school student exchanges. Some of our contributions and projects in cooperation with many other organizations, clubs, schools, hospitals, and Sister Cities International have included the following:

  1. We are proud to have duplicated our Dolphin Friendship Fountain in our sister city, symbolizing the lasting sisterhood and friendship our two sister cities share.
  2. We host the El Fandango Dinner Dance, an annual Pre-Fiesta event.
  3. In March of 1988, six Puerto Vallarta handicapped children were brought to Santa Barbara to participate in the Special Olympics.
  4. A decompression chamber and support equipment has completely been reconstructed and delivered to the citizens of Puerto Vallarta, a project valued at $450,000.
  5. In 1993 we contributed $10,000 toward the purchase of playground equipment for McKenzie Park to coincide with the establishment of a memorial in memory of Dr. Michael Lemus for the many contributions he made to the Santa Barbara community. The memorial is a lovely shaded arbor with a painted mural of Michael’s reflections which are love, brotherhood, respect, and friendship. He believed these were essential for achieving world peace among the human race.
  6. In 1986 we became involved in assisting the Puerto Vallarta Rotary Club in rehabilitation of crippled and disabled Mexican children. We eventually helped with the construction of a new clinic. San Luis Obispo University architectural students helped with the design, the Shriners Children’s Hospital assisted with equipment along with a grant from Rotary International. Today the clinic is still helping rehabilitate children and adults and is named Pto. Vallarta-Sta. Barbara Rehabilitation Clinic.
  7. We have contributed to making the Cruz Roja of Puerto Vallarta, a medical clinic for the underprivileged, one of the best in Mexico.
  8. In January, 1995, we hosted the 32nd annual meeting and conference of the U.S./Mexico Sister Cities Association, and in 2001, we hosted the U.S./Mexico Sister Cities International Conference.
  9. As part of our cultural exchange program, the Xiutla Dancers from Puerto Vallarta visited us during Fiesta time in 2002. The following year, 2003, Santa Barbara dancers, comprised of the then current Jr. and Sr. Spirit of Fiesta and several past Spirits danced in Puerto Vallarta.
  1. In 2003, once more as part of our cultural exchange, Javier Nino, a well known artist from Puerto Vallarta came to Santa Barbara and painted a mural with the help of school children at the Isla Vista School. In that same year, we sponsored an artist, Alvaro Guzman, from Santa Barbara to paint a mural at a high school in Puerto Vallarta, once more, assisted by the students.
  1. In 2002, the first ever law enforcement exchange took place. Three officers from the Puerto Vallarta Police Department visited Santa Barbara and trained with the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department. In November of that same year, three Sheriff’s officers went to Vallarta to observe and train their officers.
  1. Every year during our trip to Puerto Vallarta we chose an impoverished “kinder” or school and donate much needed supplies.