The Members of the CIA Executive Committee, Music Committee, Delegates and Guests would like to thank our CIA Vice President Mr. Kimmo Mattila for organizing the 2006 CIA Winter Congress and 115th General Assembly of Delegates in Ikaalinen, Finland.

This exciting event gave us the opportunity to conduct our CIA International Business as well as experience the Finnish Accordion Culture headquartered in Ikaalinen including: Finnish Accordion Association, Finnish Accordion Institute, Sata-Häme Soi Ikaalinen Accordion Festival, Harmonikanrakennus Accordion Manufacturing and Repair School and the Ikaalinen Accordion Museum.

We also thank Sata-Häme Soi Ikaalinen Accordion Festival director Sirpa Sippola (right) for inviting us on the cruise to Sweden and back, where we continued our General Assembly and also to Sata-Häme Public Relations Manager Minna Plihtari (left) for arranging the Press Conference, publicity and photography.

Thank you to the city officials of Ikaalinen for making us so welcome during our stay with a wonderful array of banquets, receptions, information about Ikaalinen and its surrounding areas, and an exciting program of Finnish Winter activities.

We thank you all for making our Winter Congress 2006 a tremendous and exciting success, and look forward to our next visit!
  

• We kindly ask you to arrive in Ikaalinen, Finland in time to attend the designated meetings listed below.
  
  The suggested arrival airport is Tampere (Ryanair flights are available from Frankfurt Hahn, Riga or London Stanstead), or Helsinki.
  
  
• Convenient bus connections are available from both cities:
  from Tampere: approximately 1 hour by Bus
  from Helsinki: approximately 3 1/2 - 4 hours by Bus from Helsinki Airport or downtown Helsinki

Friday - February 24, 2006

• 10:00 AM-12:00 PM - Executive Committee Meeting
• 1:30 PM - International Press Conference and Official Opening Ceremony of CIA Archives
• 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM - General Assembly Meeting
• 7:00 PM - Veli Kujala (solo) and Pipoka Trio (accordion, tuba and guitar)
  

Saturday - February 25, 2006

• 10:00 AM-11:30 PM - Music Committee Meeting
• 11:30 AM - Official Luncheon hosted by Chairman of the Ikaalinen Town Board - Antero Rytkölä
• 1:00 PM - Afternoon and Evening Finnish Winter Activities
  

Sunday - February 26, 2006

• 10:00 AM - Sightseeing
• Afternoon - departure from Ikaalinen by bus to Turku, Finland
• 6:30 PM - departure from Turku to Sweden and back with Finnish Accordion Association Cruise
• 7:00 PM - Final General Assembly Meeting
• 8:30 PM - Reception for CIA Delegates hosted by Sata-Häme Soi Accordion Festival Director - Sirpa Sippola
• Evening - Entertainment aboard Cruise Boat
  

• All Day - Cruise activities such as concerts, competitions, jam sessions and displays continue
• 5:00 PM - arrival back in Turku, Finland
• 6:30 PM - return Bus provided to Ikaalinen, Tampere, or Helsinki for departure, or optional time for continued sightseeing
  
• Coda - Dinner hosted at the Ikahovi Hotel

• 11:15 - Visit to Accordion Manufacturing and Repair School and Ikaalinen Accordion Museum

Located in an area of natural beauty on the banks of Lake Kyrösjärvi, the Ikaalinen Spa is an atmospheric leisure complex and conference centre where CIA delegates and guest will be able to enjoy a refreshing and relaxing experience.

You will receive excellent service at Ikaalinen Spa. The water is always tropically warm and the saunas are hot. Here you can rest and enjoy pampering treatments, or try out traditional Finnish Winter activities.

The Ikaalinen Spa, the biggest multipurpose spa in the Nordic countries, is located on the shore of Kyrösjärvi lake close to the centre of Ikaalinen. The spa has over 400 comfortable rooms on 5 separate hotels, fully licenced restaurants, cafes and bars. Ikaalinen spa is also a full-service conference hotel with functions rooms for 5-700 persons.

If you are interested on keeping up your health and looking for complete refreshment you will have a wide choice. Go to the therapy department to have relaxing and beneficial spa treatments like massage, bath and cures. Or visit Water Park in the main building Maininki: swim in the pools with whirls, swirls and showers, enjoy the tropical warmth, the Turkish steam sauna, the Finnish sauna and solarium. And afterwards you can pop in for a drink in Tropical Bar. Luxurious moments are waiting for you!

In the Ikaalinen Spa you can exercise in summer and in winter, indoors and outdoors. For example jogging tracks, tennis courts, squash courts, a bowling hall, surfing, a slalom slope and crosscountry tracks are available. Rivera is a center of various summer activities for the whole family. Ikaalinen Art Centre in Spa area offers highly praised summer art exhibitions. In summer there is a boat service between the Spa and the town centre.

http://www.ikaalistenkylpyla.fi/english/index.html

The archives of the Confédération Internationale des Accordéonistes (CIA), a member of the International Music Council (IMC-UNESCO) are beginning to take shape with a recent donation of material from the New Zealand Accordion Association (NZAA) and a substantial donation from former CIA Vice President Maddalena Belfiore, who has kindly donated all her material pertaining to the CIA to the archives center.

A Vice President for 16 years and recipient of the CIA Merit Award, Maddalena Belfiore has donated all of her material including CIA News Books from as early as 1954, CIA Program Books dating to 1961 and minutes and general correspondence spanning several decades.

The archives are housed at the Hanuritalo (Accordion House) in Ikaalinen, Finland which is also the home of the CIA member, the Finnish Accordion Association. Many other accordion activities are centered in Ikaalinen, including the Finnish Accordion Institute, an accordion museum, an accordion factory and repair center and the Sata-Häme Soi International Accordion Festival. With so many accordion activities in Ikaalinen, it is not surprising that even this bird checks into an accordion bird house located outside the Hanuritalo.

The archives will collect all materials pertaining to the CIA such as all Test Pieces, program books, information such as recordings and bios from all CIA winners, Merit and Honored Friend award recipients, press coverage, mark sheets and results from previous competitions, minutes of General Assembly Meetings, News Books, correspondence and much more. Not only does it profile the history of the CIA, but also the important evolution of the accordion and the accordion movement in each country.

Making his second trip to Finland with material for the archives, CIA President Kevin Friedrich traveled to Ikaalinen on November 14-16, 2005 to personally hand deliver the material from Mrs. Belfiore and the New Zealand Accordion Association, make preliminary inventory reports as well as conduct a Press conference. With the archive center creating considerable interest in Finland, the press conference attracted some of the largest newspapers in Finland which each featured stories and pictures of the work being done.

The first archive donation of many CIA Test Piece scores was made by Ernest Deffner, Inc, the parent company of Ernest Deffner Publications commemorating the firm's own 70th anniversary. The president of the firm Faithe Deffner is a long time friend of the CIA and has been a United States delegate to the CIA for more than 32 years.

Anyone interested in donating their material pertaining to the CIA to the Archives is invited to do so, by sending the material to:

CIA Archives - Hanuritalo
Kyrösselänkatu 3, IKAALINEN, 39500, FINALND
Tel: 358 3 4400221 Fax: 358 3 4509071
E-mail: cia.archives@harmonikkaliitto.net

To conclude the CIA 70th Anniversary year, an official CIA Archive ribbon cutting ceremony will officially open the archives during this CIA Winter Congress meeting in Ikaalinen from February 24-27, 2006.