​On May 16 a meeting was held between the Deputy Head of Mayor’s Department Vadim Falaleev and August and Irina Schaefer, good friends of Krasnoyarsk from Chicago, United States.

During the meeting Vadim Falaleev thanked the Schaefer family for their help in preserving the memory of cooperation between the Soviet Union and the United States during the World War II and taking part in various commemorative events taking place in the United States, in particular in Fairbanks which has a strong connection with Krasnoyarsk through the Alaska-Siberia Air Route history. Both cities were a part of the ALSIB Air Route over which American and Russian pilots ferried Lend-Lease aircraft in the times of World War II. 

In 2017 August and Irina Schaefer laid the wreath from the City of Krasnoyarsk to the Lend-Lease Memorial in Fairbanks in memory of Russian and American pilots that sacrificed their lives for the great Victory.

Vadim Falaleev also praised the Schaefer family for assisting the Krasnoyarsk International Charity Festival “Children for children” in including American schoolchildren as participants of the festival and handed to the Schaefer family a thank you letter from the Mayor of Krasnoyarsk Sergei Eremin as well as some souvenirs including a book published this year and telling about the “Children for children” project (both in Russian and in English). ​

August Schaefer, on his side, congratulated Krasnoyarsk on holding a great international event, the Winter Universiade 2019, at a very high level and shared his impressions about the changes that he could see in Krasnoyarsk (the Schaefers regularly come to Krasnoyarsk as Irina is a native of our city) and how beautiful, convenient and modern the city is becoming. He also expressed his wish to continue cooperation and further the links between Krasnoyarsk and Chicago, the city where he and his wife live.

Various ways of cooperation were discussed during the meeting, such as: offering the American part of the ALSIB artifacts for the Museum of the North that is planned to be built in Krasnoyarsk on the Molokov Island​; exchange of photo exhibitions between Krasnoyarsk and Chicago telling about the history and modern life of our cities; exploring the topic of firefighters’ safety* and, possibly, bringing American experts in this field to Krasnoyarsk to share their experience, etc.