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Spring 2005 (13.1)
Page 12
Reunion 2005
Celebrating Our Families
The Fourth Annual Reunion - "Celebrating Our Families"
- is scheduled for the weekend of July 15 to 17, 2005, at the
Mayflower Park Hotel in downtown Seattle, Washington.
  Left: On Saturday, March 19, 2005, families in the
Washington D.C. area who had adopted children from Azerbaijan,
met to celebrate Novruz (first day of spring) at the USACC (US-Azerbaijan
Chamber of Commerce) Building. Eight families joined together
for the party.
All friends and families
who have adopted children from Azerbaijan or are in the process
of doing so are invited.
A Welcome Reception will open the event on Friday. Family activities
such as Duck Boat rides (an amphibious vehicle that travels on
land and water and tours the scenic bay around Seattle), a visit
to the Children's Museum, and a catered dinner are planned.
As in the past two years, there will be a Silent Auction of brilliantly
colored art works painted by Azerbaijani children. The proceeds
will go back to Azerbaijan to help children who are living in
orphanages there. Last year, more than $1,000 was raised.
The tradition of Adoption Reunions
began in 2001. Volunteer families have hosted them in various
cities throughout the United States. The idea began with Kimi
and Bill Abernathy, whose daughter Inara
was the first child adopted internationally from Azerbaijan in
2000. Kimi also was the driving force in creating the Yahoo Internet
ListServ - AzerbaijanAdopt
- to which many adoptive families subscribe. She also hosted
the first
reunion in 2002 in Tennessee. In 2003, Kathleen
and Jim Shyrock, along with Judy Shifrin, coordinated the
reunion in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2004, Gina Andriolo and
Jane Bottner brought the event to New York City.
For more information for the Seattle Reunion, contact Stacy Pretti:
Tel: (206) 297-1772 or spretti@hotmail.com;
or Sharon Hamilton: sharonleehamilton@hotmail.com.
To learn more about the adoption process, join the AZERBAIJANADOPT
ListServ at YAHOO.com where
it is possible to browse previous discussions and concerns dating
back over four years to 2001. Currently, the ListServ group has
nearly 400 members.
To see photos of previous reunion events or the art works selected
for the Silent Auctions and the Azerbaijani young artists who
created them, search "Silent
Auction" at AZER.com [Scroll down to see art works].
Back to Index AI 13.1 (Spring
2005)
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