July 11-13, 2008

Dedication of "Sister Orca" in Perugia.

“Sister Orca,” the dramatic and striking sculpture created by Seattle artist Marvin Oliver (speaking, right), was dedicated July 12, 2008 at its new Perugia home, adjacent to the Pian Massiano Minimetro station. The Oliver work, cast in bronze and featuring Native American symbols, rises nearly 30 feet out of a reflecting pool as it seems to journey toward the old center of Perugia. With two masks representing Etruscan and Native American culture, “Sister Orca” will stand as a symbol of those ancient cultures and of the modern friendships that Seattle and the Northwest share with Perugia and Umbria. Seattle City Council member Sally Clark and Emelie East, Director - Office of Intergovernmental Relations, represented the City of Seattle. SPSCA had a delegation of almost 20 to help celebrate this important dedication. Thanks to Saleh Joudeh, who worked hard for months to keep this project alive, to many members of SPSCA, the city of Perugia, and to donors (The Boeing Company, Caffè Umbria, and Spencer Lehmann in particular). You all helped make this possible!

May 29 - June 2, 2008

Sister City Market in Perugia

SPSCA participated again in the annual Sister City Market in Perugia, the "Gemelle in Piazza," a celebration involving the 6 sister cities of Perugia: Aix-en-Provence, Potsdam, Tubingen, Bratislava, Grand Rapids, and Seattle. We sold more than 500 tickets for our annual raffle of a roundtrip ticket to Seattle. This year's winner is Paolo Lolli, who expects to vist us the week of October 4-9. Our market team, Donna and Mike James, Debbie Jaeger, and our organizer, Josie DeLellis, talked with hundreds of Perugini, showed off Seattle with photos and posters, sold Nike shirts, and made many new Sister City friends. We also inflicted our Italian pronunciations on everyone! It was a good week - May 29-June 2 - for the founding idea of sister cities - people to people.

April 17, 2008

Annual Seattle Sister City Reception

Quick news from the annual Sister City Reception at Seattle City Hall April 17. As you know, Perugia was one of the 4 focus cities this year, and thanks to the hard work of Debbie Jaeger, Alan and Laura Veigel, and Donna James, we made a good impression, with interesting auction items (including a week stay at the comune apartment in Perugia that sold for $1800!), a good talk on the Seattle-Perugia relationship by Arturo Mazzola, and operatic arias in Italian thanks to Seattle Opera.It was a good night, and our Seattle-Perugia Calendar project, led by Donna James, won the annual best project award! (Which also means $500 for our bank account.)

If you click on the photo link, you'll see our Perugia/Umbria glass case, which will remain on display in the Bertha Landes Room of city hall until next April. The other photos show some of our auction items - a stay at an apartment in Perugia, a fine Barolo wine, and a collection of Caffe` Umbria's finest.

Join us for our Italian Table every first and third Sunday at Caffè Umbria, 320 Occidental Avenue South in Pioneer Square.

We talk Italian and only Italian from 3-5pm. It's a great way to stay in touch with the language, to improve your skills, and you are welcome whatever level of Italian you speak. We bring dictionaries and stories, and help each other with la bella lingua.

Many thanks to Caffè Umbria for always making us welcome.

Festa Italiana — 20th annual Italian Festival

… September 29 & 30, 2007

SPSCA recently hosted a fabulous Italian dinner with chef Federico Santini of Eatalian Style Corp. from Umbria. We sold out with 48 people and everyone enjoyed a wonderful 5 course dinner with Umbrian wines. We will be sure to let you know about the next dinner. Click here for pics.

Learn Italian in Perugia, our Sister City! (Hurry Deadlines Approaching!)

Scholarships in the amount of $1200 are available every year to our members for study at the University for Foreigners (Università per Stranieri) , the famous language and culture university in the heart of of old Perugia. You'll vastly improve your language skills in their intensive one, two, and three-month programs, and enjoy meeting students from all over the world. This year's SPSCA scholarship winners are Lori Salzarulo, a Seattle attorney, and Judy Olson, retired Boeing executive.

Applicants interested in 2009 study should apply as soon as possible.

For more information, and/or to apply, contact Dan Borracchini, Scholarship Chair, at dan@borracchinifoods.com or (206) 682-1590. Or contact Mike James, President, at mikegjames@gmail.com.

Remember, too, that scholarships are available through the Umbra Institute, based in Perugia. The application deadline for spring is October 15, 2008. For more information, go the Umbra Institute site.

Read about Laura Noges experience as a SPSCA/Umbra Institute Scholar.

Scholarship recipient Lori Salzurolo (lower right) has written an informative and very comprehensive SCHOLARSHIP CHECKLIST for all scholarship applicants. If you've been curious about each step of the process, don't miss this!

Class at the Università per Stranieri in Perugia

Read about Marty Curry's SPSCA scholarship to Perugia.