Cities united in sisterhood

Angra do Hero
ísmo, birthplace of mayor, becomes Gilroy’s Sister City
Gilroy – A continent and an ocean separate Garlic City from Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal. But the ties that bond the cities have existed for years.

For more than a century the Portuguese have flocked to the United States to start new lives. Many have come from the archipelago known as the Azores, which contains the island of Terceira – home of Angra do Heroísmo and the birthplace of Gilroy Mayor Al Pinheiro.

The mayor is quick to point out the history of the Portuguese in California, where more than 330,000 residents of Portuguese descent reside.

“They established roots in this area by having dairies and farming,” Pinheiro explained. “Then they contributed to the local Gilroy community in different ways.”

The Portuguese lodge off Sixth Street, for instance, was established at the turn of the 20th century and is one of the city’s oldest institutions. Today, it still has more than 100 members.

Pinheiro moved to Gilroy at the age of 12, a few years after the death of his father.

“We had aunts here in the Monterey area,” Pinheiro said. “My mom came here to give me a better life.”

He clearly has never forgotten his roots or native language, switching seamlessly from English to Portuguese in conversation.

Last month, the mayor and other city representatives took time out of their personal vacations to formalize ties between Gilroy and the homeland of many local residents. During a three-week visit to Portugal, Pinheiro met with his political counterparts in Angra do Heroísmo and signed a protocol establishing their Sister Cities partnership.

The ceremony took place in a historic city hall located on the town’s cobble-stone square. Following the signing of the protocol amidst a room of local dignitaries, Pinheiro presented a glass sculpture of three garlic bulbs mounted on blue rock to the foreign city’s mayor, Jose Pedro Cardosa, and local assembly president Artur Cunha de Oliveira. The foreign leaders presented Pinheiro with their city’s flag.

The signing makes Angra do Heroísmo Gilroy’s sixth Sister City. Also on the list are Monticelli d’Ongina, Italy; Saint Clar, France; Takko-Machi, Japan; Tecate, Mexico; and Koror, Palau, in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

Pinheiro, who is now in the process of establishing Sister Cities as a formal nonprofit group, said he has long desired a partnership with his native city.

“It’s been on my mind for quite a while,” he said. “I look at Sister Cities as a reflection of your roots in the community. It’s very important to have a connection with a Sister City in Italy, Mexico, Japan, and others that have a connection with our city of Gilroy. I felt that it certainly also warranted a Sister City in Portugal.”

Gilroy City Administrator Jay Baksa, who joined Pinheiro at the ceremony, compared the event to “the signing of the Magna Carta.”

The air of pomp and circumstance was due in part to the city’s annual summer festival of arts, music, and bullfighting.

“Just think of the Garlic Festival we hold for three days – they hold for 10 in the islands,” Baksa said. “Lots of pageants, singing and dancing. It’s really new to us. We’re so used to the Hollywood stuff. It’s so simple and personal.”

The cultural exchange will go both ways, according to Pinheiro, who expects six people from Angra do Heroísmo to join delegations from four other Sister Cities this month for Gilroy’s annual Garlic Festival. Next summer, Gilroy will send the Suzuki youth music group to Angra do Heroísmo.

“One of my goals is exchange of youth so they can better understand the world, better understand culture,” Pinheiro said.

The mayor noted a common thread in the speeches he and Cardosa wrote for the signing ceremony: “We both said that this should not just be a signing of papers that we put on a shelf and do nothing about. We both want to enhance cultural bonds.”