November 2015 Newsletter

Sarasota Sister Cities Newsletter
November 2015

THE PASSING OF RON GOSSETT
Board member Ron Gossett suddenly became ill this last summer and passed away on October 9 after a short illness.  This last May, Ron organized the Playwriting Festival we sponsor with Florida Studio Theatre and was a newly-reelected board member of Sister Cities International.  He will be greatly missed—and we send our warm regards to his wife, Shirley.

OUR LECTURE SERIES…….  We began this Sister City lecture series last Fall, and it has been a big hit so far.  Talks on everything from Sarasota history, the creation of perfumes, to the relationship of the Sarasota Jewish community to Israel (and particularly our sister city, Tel Mond).

They will begin again in the New Year, and each is followed by a Meet & Greet, a social hour where we can discuss the talk over wine and munchies.  You will receive specific details before each event.

Jan. 19 – The Origins of the First Five Books of the Torah/Old Testament.

Feb. 10 – Flub-dub and Farfetchedness:  China Behind the Travel Posters

Mar. 16 – France:  A Tale of Two Cities—Paris and Perpignan

Apr. 20 – Polynesian Cultures of the South Pacific

A NEW SISTER CITY?
New sister cities are not suggested—and immediately accepted.  Getting a new sister city is a lengthy courtship process.  After both Sarasota and a candidate city visit each other, determine likenesses that would insure a successful twinning, a city then becomes a “Friendship City.” Sarasota and our potential sister city are engaged, but not yet married.

We explore possible educational, tourist, cultural, and economic development exchanges and activities.  Is there enough interest in Sarasota to support a prospective new sister city?  Is the foreign city has to be strongly interested in contributing to the success of this twining.  Only then, after this long, thoughtful process, is a city recommended for twinning with us.

I tell you all this to let you know that we have made a new friend.  Under the careful tutelage of Primo and Ruth Bader and the Swiss-American Club,  Rapperswil-Jona has been proposed as a new friendship city from Switzerland.

SISTER CITY PLAQUES IN BAYFRONT ARE CRUMBLING?!?!
In Bayfront Park, there is a sidewalk where a tree has been planted by the city for each of our new sister cities.  Each tree has a plaque in front of it telling which sister city it was planted for and the date.

A recent letter from the city suggested that the plaques before each tree were in bad shape.  To that end, Ray Young (chair), Gloria Grenier, Dave Harralson, and Bill Wallace visited Bayfront to examine the condition of the plaques.

We found that as the trees have grown, their roots are are pushing the plaques (on concrete bases) out of the ground and most of them are now askew.  Our committee has suggested that the City reseat the plaques.  We have offered to replace the one plaque that is missing.  Some on the committee even suggested that a small sign be mounted at each end of the walk indicating that this is the Sarasota Sister Cities Walk of Trees.  Stay tuned for what happens……………….

A NEW SISTER CITY OFFICE
Office space has grown increasingly tight at City Hall, but the city manager (with the strong encouragement of Kenney DeCamp) has found us a new office in the old but beautiful Federal Building at the corner of Ringling Blvd. and

We now have a much larger office with storage space.   We moved in late October.  Thanks for your effort Kenney.

WHEN I COLLECT A LITTLE MORE NEWS, YOU’LL HEAR FROM ME AGAIN!   THAT IS—IF YOU WANT TO HEAR FROM ME AGAIN!


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