SISTER / TWINNED CITIES
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FEBRUARY/MARCH 2020 THE DESERT SHAMROCK
Arizona Irish Sister Cities Team Up Synergy of 6! BY JOANN GARNER
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harting new paths to expand cross-cultural education and goodwill, “The Arizona Irish Sister Cities Collaboration” was birthed. The group’s members are those Arizona Sister Cities Associations that have a counterpart in Ireland or Northern Ireland. Participating Committee Chairs are:
Phoenix/Ennis Program Chair Mary Hill-Connor
(l to r) Lisa White, President Scottsdale Sister Cities Association; Colleen Kelly Beaman, Greg Tilque, JoAnn Garner, Ellen Harrington, Mary Hill-Connor, and David Carrera Scottsdale/Killarney Program Chair JoAnn Garner
Chandler/Tullamore President Ellen Harrington
Tempe/Carlow Program Chair David Carrera
Gilbert/Antrim-Newtownabbey President Greg Tilque
Irish Student Golf Exchange
It’s an exciting opportunity for two Irish student golfers from each of the Collaboration’s Sister Cities abroad to be selected for a golf travel itinerary in Arizona in December 2020, and then to send two American student golfers of their counterparts to travel to their Irish Sister City in the summer of 2021. Additionally, non-golf culturally enriching activities will be part of each exchange. Guidelines are being written for launching this project. Each member of the Collaboration is reaching out to their respective Irish Sister City to coordinate agreement to participate and identify the key persons with whom we will work to finalize all the logistics. All students will be chaperoned and home-hosted on the golf exchanges. Each trip is anticipated to be one week, including two days of travel. This is a challenging project and donations for golfing fees and student scholarships for travel are welcome. To offset the projected expenses, The Collaboration is asking those belonging to private golf clubs or having access to contacts at public courses to help us gain discounted, or free, rounds of golf throughout the Valley of the Sun.
CONTACT: JoAnn Garner, Collaboration Chair, joanngarner038@gmail.com, 480-276-5628, www.scottsdalesistercities.info
A Visit by the 2020 Arizona Colleen to each Arizona Irish Sister City
Tucson/Roscommon Program Chair Colleen Kelly Beaman
WWW.DESERTSHAMROCK.COM
The Collaboration is busily working with the Arizona Colleen Program to arrange a travel itinerary to each of Arizona’s Irish Sister City as part of the prize package for the 2020 Arizona Colleen. She will spend two days in each city, touring major
attractions and business centers, and to meet elected officials when possible. The Colleen will serve as a spokesperson for the Arizona Irish in all capacities and attend Irish Sister City events as a special guest. This offers a wonderful showcase to promote Arizona Sister Cities and our state’s Irish Community in Ireland. The Director of the Arizona Colleen Program, Ciara Archer, will work with each of the Irish Sister Cities to determine the best dates with the tour likely in July or early August 2020. Queen of the St. Patrick’s Parade in Phoenix, watch for the 2020 Arizona Colleen (to be crowned February 29) in her convertible along the route on March 14.
CONTACT: Ciara Archer, Chair, Arizona Colleen and Arizona Rose of Tralee Programs at ciara.archer@azirish.org, 480.358.7504, www.azcolleen.org. If you are interested in getting involved in any of these Irish Sister Cities and Arizona Colleen projects, please contact one of the above-mentioned persons. Participation and support from the Irish Community of Arizona is greatly appreciated! These are the first two in the planning stages. Be a part of demonstrating that six (to infinity in the number of contributors) are better than the individual one! Please visit our booth at the St. Patrick’s Irish Faire in Margaret Hance Park on March 14th. Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit which serves as the national membership organization for individual sister cities, counties, and states across the United States. This network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers in nearly 500 member communities with over 2,000 partnerships in more than 140 countries. Our mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation—one individual, one community at a time.