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SIsteR CITY NEWS |
HAMM, GERMANY
WUXI, CHINA
GIVATAYIM, ISRAEL
NIZHNII TAGIL, RUSSIA
GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA
January 2004
MEMBERSHIP GET TOGETHER
7:30 pm, Saturday, January 17TH @UTC Faculty Club
A Sister City membership gathering will be held from 7:30pm to 10:00 pm in the lovely UTC Faculty Club (directions below). Join us for an evening of fun and participate in “Around the World in 80 Minutes.” Bring an item or photo and share with us the interesting story about your travels. Or just relax and enjoy.
Learn about travel opportunities to our sister cities and how to get involved with the Sister City Association.
Coffee and refreshments for all. Wine is being served. Join us for an evening of fun and fellowship!!
RESERVATIONS ARE A MUST!
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Please RSVP Vivian Hershey at 825-1040 by January 13th to confirm your attendance.
Cost: $7 at the door.
Directions to the Faculty Club (located inside the Patten House):
· From McCallie Avenue, make a right onto Palmetto Street.
· From downtown via Martin Luther King Blvd: Turn left on Magnolia, left on McCallie, go one block, then right onto Palmetto.
· The Patten House, with two cannons in the front yard, is located at the corner of Oak Street and Palmetto Street, directly across from the UTC Fine Arts Center. Free parking.
PRESIDENT’S CORNER
From the desk of Bill Prince
I would like to thank Bob Edwards personally and on behalf of the Association for a job well done. During his two year term a new sister city has been added and the partnerships with our sister cities have never been more robust. The membership is at record levels and the publicity during the past six months has been extensive. His ideas, such as the new webpage, have brought innovations to the Association. I look forward to working with the members of the Board and the membership to continue our past successes into the new year.
I would like to explore some Board ideas as well as my own in an effort to chart a course for the next two years. These include:
Ø Support the initiatives of the Vice-President’s of our sister cities and committees
Ø Work with the committees and other sister city areas to develop goals and objectives to plan a course of action (goals/objectives are a starting point or guidelines and necessarily need to be fluid as we go forward)
Ø Explore some new areas, prioritize and select a manageable projects through consensus, and then work to accomplish.
Ø In addition to ideas from the board and membership, some areas to consider /continue are:
· In concert with the Mayor’s office and City Council, explore the establishment of a new location for sister city memorabilia so that the items can be displayed all at one time. With the increased number of trips to our sister cities, our gift collection is growing.
· Proactively involve the membership and tap into their expertise.
· Explore educational opportunities for all sister cities
· Explore feasibility for implementing a sister city youth program/organization
· Continue to maintain active publicity highlighting sister city events/accomplishments
· Continue/expand the web page initiated by Bob Edwards
· Identify possible external funding sources at the local level and the national level
· Partnering with local organizations with international components such as Kiwanis, Rotary, and the Lions Club
· Develop award(s) based on criteria. Rationale: good publicity; person receiving award and person for whom award was named will be honored.
South Korean Tourist Spot New Sister City for Chattanooga
Chattanooga gained its fifth Sister City during ceremonies in Gangneung, South Korea, on October 30, 2003.
Surrounded by mountains, Gangueng, a coastal resort city of 230,000, is located
150 miles east of the Korean capital, Seoul.
A delegation from Chattanooga, including three members of the Sister Cities Association and the Chattanooga Chamber’s Chief Economic development Officer, participated in the formalization of the partnership between Chattanooga and Gangneung on October 30.
Officials from the South Korean coastal city visited Chattanooga in May as the first step in creating a sister-city relationship and an economic partnership. In August the Sister Cities board voted to pursue the partnership.
On the evening of October 29th, the Chattanooga Sister City delegates joined by Gangueng Mayor Shim and Gangneung officials attended an invitation only reception for Governor Bredesen and Tennessee businessmen held at the residence of Ambassador Thomas C. Hubbard. The dinner of Memphis-style BBQ ribs with a vast array of Korean dishes reflected the multicultural setting. Gangneung and Chattanooga contingents went to Gangneung that evening. We were housed in a hotel overlooking the East Sea and were treated to a glorious sunrise.
The Chattanooga delegation at the Gangneung ceremonies included Seong Glickman, Sister Cities Association Vice President; Trevor Hamilton of the Chamber; Bill Prince, Sister Cities’ president-elect; and Woong Rhee, a Chattanooga importer-exporter.
The delegation carried a proclamation, signed by Mayor Corker, authorizing the relationship between the two cities. The Chattanooga party participated in a formal signing ceremony and exchanged gifts with their hosts, including the mayor of the city and the chair of the city council.
"They really rolled out the red carpet for us," said Hamilton, who was in Korea as a member of Governor Bredesen’s Tennessee delegation to meetings of the Korea/Southeast U.S. Joint Conference in Seoul. We had lunch and dinner with Gangneung political and business leaders.
Although located half-way around the globe from each other, the new sister cities have much in common, including their population size, vibrant tourism industries, major universities as well as proximity to water and mountains.
"It’s an asset to Chattanooga to have exposure and relationships in foreign markets," Hamilton said. "We may be positioned better than others when business opportunities come along because of our relationship. In Asian culture it’s all about relationship-building, even down to the business deal."
Ms. Glickman hopes the relationship will result in economic growth for both cities, student exchange programs, and opportunities for cross-cultural enrichment in the arts. She said Gangneung officials told her the city has set aside $40,000 a year to send students here for college studies.
