Gilroy is joined with six different cities from all over the
world in a ‘sister city’ relationship to engender deeper
cross-cultural communication and understanding. Gilroy has sister
cities in Italy, France, the Republic of Palau, Portugal, Mexico,
and Japan.
Gilroy is joined with six different cities from all over the world in a ‘sister city’ relationship to engender deeper cross-cultural communication and understanding. Gilroy has sister cities in Italy, France, the Republic of Palau, Portugal, Mexico, and Japan. The sister city program cultivates unofficial diplomacy with straight, city to city, citizen to citizen contact thus circumnavigating the sometimes clumsy and far removed efforts of international diplomacy.
This mission statement of the Sister Cities program is to “promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation – one individual, one community at a time.” This is accomplished by forming partnerships between cities. Sometimes the cities have something in common that makes a good connection point.
For instance, Gilroy and Takko-Machi, Japan are both major garlic producers and that makes for easy common ground. Angra do Heroismo, Portugal is Mayor Al Pinheiro’s hometown, and his common history with both cities serves as a connection point, as does the strong Portuguese community presence in Gilroy.
Once a sister city partnership has been established the goal is to give students, citizens and city officials the chance to explore each other’s cultures through short term and long term visits and exchanges.
Most of the interaction occurs at festival time: “when we’re entertaining them or they’re entertaining us” according to Dave Peoples. Not that that’s necessarily a bad thing. There’s nothing like a festival to showcase an area’s unique culture and that’s as true of America as it is of Portugal.
Gilroy Garlic Festival Queen Aisha Zaza visited Takko-Machi in October to take part in the city’s garlic festival. What she found was a smaller scale festival that proved that Gilroy’s big time party isn’t the only way to celebrate garlic.
“It makes you think that the whole world should be a little bit more like this, I mean, they were so kind and generous and welcoming,” she said.
“In so many places people look and dress the same as us, there’s not much difference, but in Japan you know you’re in a different world.” Zaza lauds the sister city program for opening up worlds and perspectives that are unimaginable from the standpoint of California life.
Gilroy’s strongest sister city relationships are with Takko-Machi, Japan and Angra do Heroismo, Portugal where a long history of choir tours, visiting students and ambassadors have built strong ties. “The ones in Mexico, France, Palau, and Italy just aren’t interacting like the ones in Portugal and Japan” said Peoples.
Meet the Sister Cities
Gilroy has sister cities in Italy, France, Japan, Palau, Portugal, and Mexico. Together they represent a diverse realm of cultural connections for the city around the globe.
Monticelli d’Ongina, Italy
– Designated April 15, 1985.
– Located in Northern Italy in the Arda Valley near Piacenza.
– Home to a vast castle built in 1413 and a 15th century Baroque church.
– Holds a garlic festival in October and a geranium fair in May.
Source: www.giorgiozanetti.ca/4vallipc/valdarda.html#lowlands
St. Clar, France
– Designated April 15, 1985.
– Located in southwest France in Midi Pyrenees near Gers in the area that was historically the Duchy of Gascony.
– Mainly agricultural economy: cattle, ducks, vineyards.
– The city’s lakeside beach features canoes and wind surfing.
– Home to the Bastide, a 13th century Medeival fortification, one of the most pictaresque in Gascony.
Source: www.123voyage.com/realsw/areas/gers.htm
Koror, Republic of Palau
– Designated Feb. 22, 1994.
– Located in the westernmost reach of the Micronesia, east of the Philipines, Palau is an island nation comprised of 16 states.
– Koror is the capital city of Palau.
– Entire republic only has a land area of 188 square miles and a population of approximately 19,000 people.
– Economy primarily based on tourism.
– Complex culture of regulations and taboos.
– English and Palauan are the spoken languages.
– Activities include diving and visiting cultural sites.
– Palau hosts a week of shark diving in March.
– Survivor 2005 was filmed on Palau.
Source: www.visit-palau.com
Tecate, Mexico
– Designated Oct. 23 1996.
– Located on the border of San Diego, California and Baja, Mexico.
– A non-tourist town; home to the Tecate brewery and the Rancho la Puerta spa.
– Balance of agriculture (olives, grapes, and grain) and industry (coffee and beer production).
– Local activities include hiking Chuchuma (the nearby holy mountain), golfing, and horseback riding.
Source: http://baja-web.com/tecate/index.html
Angra do Heroismo, Portugal
– Designated Jan. 20 2004.
– Located in the middle of the Terceira’s island’s southern shore.
– Home to the Igreja do Colegio Jesuit Church, a 17th century fortress, Sao Joao Baptista, and a museum that boasts a collection of weaponry, religious paintings, and scupture from the 15th to 20th centuries.
– Mayor Al Pinheiro’s hometown.
Source: www.portugaltravelguide.com/en/angra_do_heroismo.htm
Takko-Machi, Japan
– Designated April 4 1988.
– Located in the southeast portion of Aomori, the northernmost prefecture on the main island of Japan.
– agriculaturally based city: tobacco, rice, apples, garlic.
– Takko-Machi is the largest garlic producer in Japan and in 1993 built a Garlic Center to “celebrate all things garlic.”
– Gilroy’s most active sister city with musical exchange and short-term study programs as well as festival visits.
Source: www.hi-net.ne.jp/~kikaku/index.htm
*For more information about the Sister City Program visit www.ci.gilroy.ca.us/
living/sister_cities.html or www.sister-cities.org.
