UNA Minutes

April 9, 2026

Attendees: Bill Hass, Joan Hass, Derick DeMarche, Jamie O’Donnell, Dennis Wong, Bob Simms, Michaela MacColl, Maggie Mudd, Gloria Nussbaum, Heba Nuba, Mark Yurkiw, Rob MacColl, Melinda McMillen, Andrea Dostal, Chris Sheehy, Nick Dostal, Lily Schindler

The meeting was preceded by pizza and refreshments.

1.        Introductions

2.        Ukraine Event – Mark Yurkiw

The event at the Westport Women’s Club in May has been postponed because the moderator had to drop out. Mark hopes to reschedule with another moderator. Mark also mentioned he has two events happening in support of Ukraine. On April 19th there is a play “Words from the Front” and on April 26th “Taste of the Ukraine.” If you are interested, contact Mark at mark.think3d@gmail.com

3.        UN Day/Ruth Steinkraus Coehn Lecture – Maggie Mudd

Maggie and Bill are hoping to schedule Dr. Frances Collins, the former head of the NIH and prominent researcher with the WHO.

4.        Fashion Diplomacy – Heba Nuba

Heba mentioned she is working with the spouse of the Ambassador to Estonia on a sustainability initiative about Fashion Diplomacy.  Michaela, Karen, Maggie and Gloria were all interested in helping to bringing part of this initiative here.

5.        Minuteman Race – Heba Nuba

Heba suggested that we sponsor the Minuteman Race on April 26th to get the word out about UNA USA SW CT. Since a majority of the board was present, it was agreed to sponsor. Heba will work with Karen to make sure our logo is on the tshirt.

6.        UNA Summit – is April 10th. Karen is going and will report back.

7.        African Bazaar at the UN – Heba mentioned 5/28 is the African Bazaar which is heavily attended. We’re going to explore having a table.

8.        June Day- Michaela MacColl

Michaela went through the various areas of responsibility for June Day which wil be June 27th.  Since these minutes are public, contact Michaela if you need to be connected to any of the following people.

Chair: Michaela MacColl michaelamaccoll@gmail.com

Ceremony, Flags, Golf – Bill Hass

Transportation: Melinda McMillen

Volunteers: Andrea Dostal

Sports (Soccer/Tennis) Brock Hotaling and Andrea Dostal

Rentals/Set Up: Derick Demarche

Food: Gloria Nussbaum

Marketplace: Heba

Marketing/Arts and Crafts” Karen Marino

Wakeman Farm: Joan Hass

Earthplace: Goldie James

Rotary Liaison: Dennis Wong

Sponsorship/Treasurer: Rob MacColl

·      Application for permit has been submitted by Rotary and we are in the process of getting insurance from UNA and a hold harmless agreement for the town.

·      Bill will contact First Selectman’s office re. Flags and make sure the Mr. Christie is invited to speak.

·      We need to talk to Staff Union to coordinate publicity.  Lily said Carol Padilla and Sebastian (from last year) will be our best contacts. They will help us with Iseek (the UN internal announcement system) Lily will continue to help here.

·      Marketing – Karen needs to design a new one pager for people to use to invite UN contacts and for the UN to use to promote.

·      Rotary is scheduling frequent meetings for the duck race. Michaela will attend one and then Dennis will make sure that Rotary and the committee are on the same page

·      Ceremony – USG Christian Saunders may not be available since he had a new responsibility, but he has assured us of his support. This is an opportunity for Heba and Andrea to leverage contacts to invite ambassadors since we may have space in the ceremony

·      Arts and Crafts – Karen needs more volunteers and possibly more space with tents/tables.  Heba suggested that MOCA might be interested. They are going to pursue that connection.

·      History Tour – before contacting Bob Mitchell to do another history tour, we are going to reach out to the History Museum. Since it is the 250th US Anniversary, they will have a special exhibit.

·      Transportation – Mark suggested that Wheels4U might be interested in helping us which would be a sustainable option. So we might keep all three buses in the AM but reduce in the afternoon and use the vans.  Mark is introducing Melinda to Peter Gold.

·      Golf – Bill wants to change our registration so that golfers register directly with the golf course to reduce no shows.

·      Soccer – Andrea asked if we could adjust the schedule so the soccer players can attend the ceremony.

·      Volunteers:  if you know someone, please direct them to Andrea. Even if you are recruiting for your own area of responsiblity, we still need to capture their name and Tshirt size.

·      Parking – Besides June Day and the Duck Race the Sidewalk Sale is also the same weekend. We’ll be directing people to the Imperial Lot.

·      Chamber of Commerce:  Mark offered to reach out to Matt Mendel, the president of the Chamber for any possible support on June Day.

·      UNFCU – the UN Credit Union was represented by Norwalk resident Jamie O’Donnell. He suggested a sponsorship. Rob will take it on. The UNFCU offers membership to UNA members so there is a natural synergy. They also have retail space at the UN and could advertise.

·      Theme: we had a general discussion about a theme this year – ie. world peace, give peace a chance. Be a world citizen. We could incorporate into our promotional materials and volunteer shirts. Possibly the hats.  The communications team (including Karen, Mark, Heba) are looking for a way to deliver branding. We’ll take our lead from them.

·      Please note the following June Day meetings as we go forward. They will be Zooms and focused only on June Day.  6/8, 6/15, 6/22

The next Committee meeting is Tuesday May 12 at 6:30 in the McCall Room at the Westport Library. Refreshments will be served.