2007 Annual Awards Program Winners
Best Overall less Than 25,000 (population) - Estes Park Colorado
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Estes Park sister cities association (ePsca) was established
in 2004. in early 2005, an agreement was signed by Estes
Park and Monteverde, Costa Rica establishing a sister
city relationship for exchanges in municipal development,
education, healthcare, arts, culture, and environment.
ePsca and Monteverde have active programs in books for
schools, guided tours to Monteverde, student and teacher
exchanges, environmental technical assistance, exchanges in
municipal governance, and sustainable community development.
throughout 2006, ePsca sponsored a student work program,
hosted by Monteverde town officials, business owners, and
teachers. ePsca books for schools program has initiated
interest within Monteverde for building a new public library.
the most difficult part of the new sister cities program has been
to build community awareness and participation. a culminating
project to this on-going effort was the creation of a 33-
minute film, Monteverde, Sister City. the film has been publicly
premiered, shown to service organizations, and is regularly seen
on local television. the program has received tangible interest
from the community following its initial airing.
Best Overall 25,000 - 50,000 (population) - Stillwater Oklahoma
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The Stillwater sister cities council engaged in a wide range
of programs and projects in 2006. Dubbed the Year of
Celebration, the activities celebrate 20 years of cultural and
educational exchanges between Stillwater and Kameoka,
Japan. the year's activities were designed to increase
awareness of the value of sister cities to the community and
provide opportunities for participation.
activities during the year included welcoming a delegation
led by Mayor Masataka Kuriyama for a formal visit and
to sign a reaffirmation agreement; hosting educational
delegations traveling to both sister cities; forming an annual
scholarship for a Kameoka student to attend Oklahoma State University friends; building the Kameoka room to display
Japanese artifacts; organizing a september concert; and,
sponsoring two young artist exhibits and receptions. these
and other events involved many citizens from business,
education, the arts, academia, local government, and the
community resulting in a successful year-long celebration.
Best Overall 100,000 - 300,000 (population) - Lexington Kentucky
The Lexington sister cities commission oversees and assists
the Deauville, France; county Kildare, Ireland; Newmarket, England; and Shinhidaka, Japan committees with all projects and
programs. the commission assists the government in proper
reception of the many foreign visitors and dignitaries, supports
agencies in tourism and travel promotion on the international
and national levels, and educates the public concerning sister
city programs.
some of the highlights from lexington sister cities
community committees include: youth exchanges for 38
students from three sister cities, the 18th annual young
artists program, a september concert, a citizen diplomacy
summit with over 300 global participants which was aired
across the state via video-conference, as well as numerous
municipal, trade, professional, and higher education
exchanges.
Best Overall greater than 500,000 (population) - Chicago, IL
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Since 1960, the Chicago sister cities international
Program has established official relationships with a total
of 26 cities in almost every region of the world, with more
on the horizon in 2007 and beyond. Chicago Sister Cities
plays a critical role in paving the way for Chicago's global
future. the success of Chicago Sister Cities is achieved
through collaboration between the dedicated staff, the
appointed citizen leadership, and the extensive global
volunteer network of more than 900 individuals.
in 2006, the Chicago Sister Cities International Program
demonstrated incredible impact by reaching 2,000 school
children via its sister schools abroad Program, hosting
more than 500 foreign visitors, and completing 126 events
attended by 12,500 individuals. specific programs of note
include: World fashion Chicago runway show, Gallery 37
rooftop film series, 50th anniversary celebration at Daley
Plaza, special section in the chicago sun times, and the
Guide to international events for the city of Chicago.
Innovation: Arts and Culture less than 100,000 (population) - Santa Barbara, California
The city of Santa Barbara celebrated the 20-year anniversary of i
Madonnari, an italian street Painting festival. santa Barbara was
the first city to bring this 16th century art form, using chalk as
the medium, to the western hemisphere. over the years, santa
Barbara has taken street painting to its sister city toba, Japan. in
2006, it expanded the project to engage its Mexican sister city,
Puerto Vallarta.
Hosted on the grounds of the city Hall Plaza, the Puerto
Vallarta citizens, young and old, joined the santa Barbara
street painters to try their hand at street painting for the
first time. to help prepare the aspiring street painters for
the festival, santa Barbara artists conducted a pre-event
workshop on street painting techniques. interested children
were also given chalk to try their hand at creating their
artistic ideas.
Innovation: Arts and Culture greater than 100,000 (population) - Albuquerque, NM
In 2006, the city of Albuquerque, NM celebrated the
300th anniversary of its founding. the local program
invited representatives from each of its sister cities to a
weeklong gala fiesta. the 240 guests from seven sister cities
participated in and provided a spectacular cultural exchange.
the tercentennial celebration was held during the first week
of July, so their guests could participate in and observe the
importance of both the local and national celebrations.
additionally, 136 musicians from six sister cities participated in
a World concert, representing their culture. the World concert
drew a crowd of 50,000.
During the celebration, the city was able to use the event
to hold the formal dedication of its new 3.5 acre sasebo
Japanese Garden.
Innovation: Sustainable Development greater than 100,000 (population) - Colorado Springs, Colorado
Over the past couple of years, the Colorado Springs sister
cities program, the Colorado Springs fire Department, and
a handful of rotary clubs have partnered to fundraise for
emergency fire equipment. this partnership initially sent
a mini-pumper to their sister city nuevo casas Grandes in
Mexico. this was the only functioning fire truck for a city of
80,000 for a long time. their continued efforts delivered a
second truck and ultimately in 2006, two more fire trucks
were acquired and sent. additionally, the fire department
provided equipment, clothing, and training for the Mexican
fire fighters last year. the future looks bright as the local
sister cities program and partnering groups are now focused
on raising the $80,000 to build a second station for the city.
Innovation: Youth and Education less than 100,000 (population) - Newport News, VA
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The relationship between Neyagawa, Japan, in the Osaka
Prefecture, and Newport News, VA has slowly grown and
matured to the point where a pair of elementary schools
participated in a year-long academic project. the Newport News school concluded its project with an exchange in april
2006 when a delegation of 57 citizens (25 students and 32
chaperones and school officials) traveled to neyagawa.
the Newsome Park School Community partnered with Sister Cities Newport News to work collaboratively on an academic
year focused on "World Cultures." the fifth grade students
spent the year comparing the southeast region of the U.S.
with the Osaka Prefecture, completing simultaneous research
and web-based teleconferences. With financial backing from
a range of local citizens, the school raised almost $54,000 to
make the final educational summit a reality.
in their respective cities, the students have presented
presentations in school board meetings, council meetings,
church gatherings, and many public meetings as a way of
sharing their experiences.
Innovation: Youth and Education greater than 100,000 (population) - State of Maryland (China)
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The Anhui, China-Maryland sister state relationship was
founded in 1980 and was the first official sister state
relationship under the formalized Maryland sister states
Program. the state of Maryland was among the first states to
establish a relationship with China when international citizen
diplomacy opened its doors. During 2006, the subcommittee
on education carried out the three significant programs.
first, the subcommittee sought to address the lack of reading
and study materials for students, teachers, and residents,
by committing to support ten rural libraries. this program
not only engaged a wide spectrum of chinese and american
volunteers, but also attracted participation from corporations
and high education institutions in Maryland. second, they
gathered Chinese and American higher education leaders
for a discussion in china of universities and colleges in
society. they were able to identify innovative and creative
ways to collaborate on future projects for students and their
institutional communities. a follow up forum is planned
for 2008 in Maryland. finally, they assisted anhui, one of
the more rural and poor provinces in china, by supporting
a professional development workshop with more than
900 participants to improve local teaching and school
administration in elementary and secondary schools.
** Special Judges Award (honorable mention) - Louisville KY (Innovation Arts and Culture)
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The sister cities of Louisville and Indiana University Southeast (IUS) co-hosted a delegation of 25 young (11-18 year
old) dancers from the Quitumbe school in Quito, Ecuador
from August 30-September 10, 2006.
While in their communities, the dancers lived with
host families and took part in a wide variety of cultural
experiences. in exchange, the dancers performed at a 2-day
free multicultural festival, organized by the city of louisville,
called Worldfest and boasted a crowd of more than 60,000.
they also gave four performances at the Kentucky center for
the arts and four performances at the ogle center at ius for
a total of over 4,000 school children. While the children were
not performing, they visited several schools in the louisville
area to share their culture, language, and dance of ecuador
with local students. the Quitumbe Andean Ballet touched
the lives of many people in the Louisville community.
