Saline Celebrates Sister City Week

City of Saline dedicates Brecon Park bench in 2011, fifty years after establishing its first sister city relationship. Photo courtesy of the July 20 Saline council packet

The city of Saline celebrates its inaugural sister city week from July 19-26, sixty years after making history as the first US-Welsh sister city relationship. In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower established his People-to-People program to develop and foster international connections between everyday people.

“If we are going to take advantage of the assumption that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments, if necessary to evade governments, to work out not one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more of each other,” Eisenhower said at his Sept. 11, 1956 press conference.

Saline Joins National Movement

According to a presentation by former Saline council member James Roth at the July 20 city council meeting, in 1965 the Saline Mayor received a letter from Eisenhower encouraging the city to join the People-to-People program. A Saline performance troupe called Musical Youth International had previously visited Brecon, Wales and had received a warm welcome from the local community.

“Saline reached out to Brecon and sent a goodwill mission of Police Chief Jim Levleit and his family,” the presentation on the Brecon relationship reads. “Their visit was a resounding success, especially when they were honored at Saline Day ceremonies in Brecon. Not long after the Levleits returned home, the twinning of the two communities was formalized.”

In 1966, the Brecon-Saline relationship was made official, and in the time since members of both communities have hosted each other, celebrated cultural milestones and stayed together during difficult times. In 2001, the Brecon residents were staying in Saline during the 9/11 attacks, which grounded their flights home and unexpectedly extended their stay.

“Our friends were with us during a terrible time in our history,” the July 20 presentation reads.

Brecon’s Rosemary Collier wrote a poem commemorating the relationship between the two cities, which was read at the most recent Saline council meeting.

This town within the Beacons

Gives out a welcome call

To friends across the ocean

Who made music for us all.

Friendship is a treasure

More precise than gold.

For it there is no substitute,

It can be neither bought nor sold.

Although the Atlantic parts us,

In our hearts will always be

Thoughts of special friendship

With our friends across the sea.

A Second Sister City

After nearly forty years of Saline and Brecon’s strong international relationship, Saline adopted a second sister city. Connected by Liebherr Inc., Saline and Lindenberg, Germany established their connection in 2003. Since then, the cities have hosted official visits eleven times, with another trip to Germany planned for next year.

“I just want to reinforce the fact that you host people in your homes and go to their homes and stay,” former Saline Mayor Gretchen Driskell said. “It’s a great immersion to their culture. It’s a really fabulous experience.”

The relationship between the two cities was part of the inspiration for Saline’s now popular annual Oktoberfest, which was first hosted in 2005.

Currently, a bench in Brecon Park commemorates over 50 years of friendship with the Welsh city. At the July 20 city council meeting, there was a suggestion to add an additional bench in Mill Pond Park celebrating the city’s relationship with Lindenberg. 

Future of the Program

Those involved in the sister city programs are looking to revitalize participation, along with fostering the connections already made.

“New members are the lifeblood of any organization nowadays, be it city council or any civic organization,” said former council member Charles Lesch, who is involved in the cultural program.

Council member Janet Dillon suggested getting local high school students more involved in the program, along with potential exchange student opportunities. As the city celebrates 60 years of international connections, there will be continued chances for local residents to continue the relationships with Lindenberg and Brecon.

Those interested in learning more about the history between Saline and its sister cities can attend a presentation on July 23 at the 109 Cultural Exchange, located at 109 W. Michigan Ave., after Saline’s Summer Concert.