Get to know your sister cities on June 20 at the Victoria Flying Club. The Sidney Sister Cities Association hosts the open house to attract interested residents to their group — as well as to offer more information on Sidney’s three sister cities.
In a presentation to Sidney town council on May 27, association president Lesley Nicholls said the open house will feature presentations and displays on each of the sister cities: Anacortes, Washington State; Cairns, Australia, and; Niimi, Japan.
In May of 2014, Nicholls said, they will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of Sidney and Cairns being sister cities.
“It’s early days,” she said, but noted that they are looking at booking space at the local museum for an exhibit to mark the anniversary.
The association has had a good year, Nicholls reported. Membership in their group is up and they recently launched a website (www.sidneysistercitiesassociation.com) to share details about the organization and its partners.
The association hopes to send one of its members, who is an artist, to the Cairns artist in residence program in 2014. An application is in the works. As well, Peninsula resident Terry Patten has been accepted as an assistant language teacher for up to three years in Niimi, Japan and plans to keep a blog of his experiences there on the association’s new website.
Called a great Christmas gift by Sidney Mayor Larry Cross, the Sidney Sister Cities Association 2014 Town of Sidney calendar — all 1,000 copies — are expected to hit local shelves on July 1.