South Valley’ s Sister Cities
In the 1950s, while the world was still recovering from the ravages of World War II, former President Dwight Eisenhower held a White House conference on citizen diplomacy. He called on Americans to reach out to people of other nations, celebrate our diversity, and live in peace. His words led to the creation of Sister Cities International( SCI), and inspired a movement that has grown globally for more than half a century.
Headford, County Galway, Ireland San Casciano in Val di Pesa, Italy Mizuho, Tokyo, Japan San Martín de Hidalgo, Jalisco, Mexico Seferihisar, Izmir, Turkey
Morgan Hill Sister Cities
Morgan Hill has five sister cities. Bernie Mulligan and Jill Kirk, Morgan Hill Sister Cities Association’ s current and previous board presidents, provided gmhTODAY with an overview of the group’ s activities.
Italy
In 2003, Morgan Hill established its first sister city relationship with San Casciano, located in Italy’ s famed Tuscany region. San Casciano is known for its wine and olive oil as well as agritourism. Morgan Hill’ s connection with San Casciano began with the Guglielmo family, whose grandparents immigrated to the U. S. from Italy in the 1920s and founded the Guglielmo Winery in Morgan Hill. Through their ties with family and friends in Italy, the Guglielmo’ s facilitated an introduction for the mayors of both cities when Dennis Kennedy was Mayor of Morgan Hill.
“ Our goal is to rekindle our cultural exchange with the people of San Casciano,” Mulligan said.“ We have kept in close touch through one of our members, Pier Antoniucci, and we’ d like to send a delegation there in the fall.”
“ We’ d also like to see a cultural exchange between students from our two cities at some point in the future,” Kirk added.
Sister Cities delegates Jill Kirk and Bernie Mulligan presented a 10-year Anniversary Proclamation to Councilwoman Marry Hoade in Headford, Ireland( 2016)
George Guglielmo with Mayor Soyer of Seferihisar, Turkey( 2014)
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Turkey
Seferihisar became a sister city in 2013. Located in Turkey’ s Izmir Province along the picturesque shores of the Aegean Sea, its economy is primarily driven by agricultural exports including citrus, olives, vegetables, flowers and wine grapes. Like Morgan Hill, Seferihisar is taking steps to increase awareness of its appeal as a getaway destination.
“ Morgan Hill has enjoyed a wonderful relationship with Mayor Tunç Soyer and the people of Seferihisar,” Mulligan said.“ We are looking forward to seeing them again.”
Mexico
Morgan Hill Sister Cities is looking for a new member interested in taking the lead on its relationship with San Martín de Hidalgo, located in the central-western state of Jalisco, Mexico. The region is notable for its 37,500-acre nature preserve, the Sierra de Quila, an area rich in biodiversity and studded with pine, redwood and oak forests.
“ A few years ago, we visited San Martín de Hidalgo during September, Mulligan said.“ They invited us to their annual Día de la Independencia event. We watched a professional rodeo, ate great food, and were treated to music performed by an awardwinning Mariachi band.”
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GILROY • MORGAN HILL • SAN MARTIN MARCH / APRIL 2017 gmhtoday. com
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MORGAN HILL AND GILROY SISTER CITIES PROGRAMS