Kobe may be Seattle’s first sister city, but it is not the only one; Seattle has a total of 21 sister cities around the world. Every spring Seattle holds a Sister Cities Reception that showcases four of their sister cities on a rotating basis. As in years past, the Kobe Trade Information Office attended the reception held at Seattle City Hall on April 28th.
The doors opened at six and not long after performances began by representatives from each of the four sister cities being showcased. This year Korea, Ireland and Taiwan had dance performances while Iceland’s male chorus sung Icelandic folk songs. These were followed by remarks from Master of Ceremonies, Deputy Mayor Smith, and the 2011 Honorary Co-Chairs: the mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn; the council president, Conlin; and sponsors, such as Nancy Koeper of UPS.
Next were the Award Presentations. Every year different sister city associations are recognized for their hard work on various projects that help or foster relations between the two cities. The first award was for Best Single Project and this year there was a tie.
- The Seattle Mombasa Sister City Association won for its “Sustainable Coconut Oil” initiative. The project was designed to address poverty eradication, health promotion and interventions to halt the further spread of HIV/AIDS in Kenya. The association helped provide a coconut press machine to women in poverty in Mombasa and established a sustainable coconut oil operation.
- The second award for Best Single Project went to the Seattle Pecs Sister City Association. For their project they presented two gifts to the city of Pecs in commemoration of its selection as the 2010 Cultural Capital of Europe. The first gift had two parts: a column carved from red cedar that resembles both the traditional totem pole of Northwest natives and a Kopiafa—an ancient Hugarian carving with symbolic designs. The second gift was a wall plaque by Native American artist Andrew Peterson showing a blue heron hunting salmon.
The other award presented this year was a special, one-time event in honor of Ed Mandity’s four years of service as the sister cities reception chair. He was awarded an Outstanding Sister City Service award for, “his patience, attention to detail, organizational skills, tireless service and deep commitment to the Seattle Sister Cities Program as Chair of the Sister Cities Reception Committee for the past four years.”
Last but not least were some words of recognition for Tsering Yuthok. After years of dedicated service in Seattle’s Office of Intergovernmental Relations, Tsering Yuthok retired this year. In recognition of her hard work, Seattle City Council Member Sally Clark and Kobe Sister City President Karin Zaugg Black both gave speeches in her honor. We at KTIO say thank you to Tsering Yuthok for all she has done and wish nothing but the best for the future.
Karin Zaugg Black presents an award to Tsering Yuthok for her years of service
Happy Spring Fan Dance by Hengda Dance Academy
Below is a list of Seattle’s 21 Sister Cities, along with the year their Sister City relationship began:
Kobe, Japan (1957)
Bergen, Norway (1967)
Tashkent, Uzbekistan (1973)
Beer Sheva, Israel (1977)
Mazatlán, Mexico (1979)
Nantes, France (1980)
Christchurch, New Zealand (1981)
Mombasa, Kenya (1981)
Chongqing, China (1983)
Limbe, Cameroon (1984)
Galway, Ireland (1986)
Reykjavik, Iceland (1986)
Daejeon, Korea (1989)
Kaohsiung, Taiwan (1991)
Pécs, Hungary (1991)
Cebu, Phillippines (1991)
Perugia, Italy (1991)
Surabaya, Indonesia (1992)
Gdynia, Poland (1993)
Haiphong, Vietnam (1996)
Sihanoukville, Cambodia (1999)
