Community & Clubs: Sister Cities spread international joy
This fall, the service and hospitality of the Newport Beach Sister City Assn. members touched the lives of people from three continents.
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Sayonara, Okazaki
In early October, Sister City welcomed a delegation of seven Japanese students, a teacher and a principal as part of the 31st annual Wendall Fish Okazaki Student Exchange.
The exchange is presented by Sister City with the support of the Newport Balboa Rotary Club. Each July, Newport Beach students and teachers attend school and live with host families in Okazaki. The following fall, the Newport group hosts Okazaki students in Newport Beach.
The Okazaki students attended school at Newport Harbor and Corona del Mar high schools. They also took part in a school assembly at Ensign Intermediate. The students were welcomed with cheers by the Ensign cheer team and songs by the Ensign chorus. They performed traditional dances and songs. The Okazaki principal spoke to the assembly about the group’s visit to Newport Beach.
Sister City organized activities for the exchange students outside school. They spent a day at Disneyland and enjoyed a beach barbeque in Corona del Mar. The exchange program concluded with the annual Halloween party, with pumpkin carving and burgers served by Newport Beach firefighters.
The Newport Beach exchange students included Alina Aguirre, Alexis Kelly, Katie Langley, Simone Oberreiter, Rhys Sullivan, Ian Turner and Brittany Weinstock. Teachers participating in the program were Heather Kroeger and Amy Tupa.
Applications for the 2016 exchange are being accepted now through Jan. 31. Local eighth-grade students are eligible. Visit newportbeachrotary.com/okazaki-student-exchange to apply.
As Sister City members were waving sayonara to the Okazaki group, they were preparing to say bonjour to a delegation from Antibes, their sister city in France.
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Bonjour, Antibes
On Oct. 26, the Antibes delegation arrived to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Newport Beach/Antibes relationship. The delegation of 18 was led by Wolf Burg, president of Antibes Jumelages, Antibes’ equivalent to Newport Beach Sister City.
Newport Sister City members were delighted to host several members of the delegation in their homes. They were determined to share local culture.
Newport Sister City members accompanied the Antibes delegation on a tour of Newport Beach. They visited the Civic Center, including the garden, the sculptures and the library. They took a driving tour of Corona del Mar, Balboa Island and the Balboa Peninsula, cruised Newport Harbor courtesy of Hornblower Cruises & Events and shopped at Newport Beach’s finest retailers, including Fashion Island and Roger’s Gardens.
The excursions extended beyond Newport Beach. Sister City members and their Antibes guests walked through Crystal Cove State Park. They visited the Laguna Arts Museum, the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, Heisler Park and Laguna Beach’s Sister Cities Garden. The Laguna Beach tour ended with lunch at the home of the Laguna Beach Sister Cities Assn. President Justin Myers. The group also visited the Irvine Art Museum.
Other Newport Beach groups spent time with the Antibes delegation. The delegation met the Newport Beach City Council members, who approved a proclamation honoring the Antibes visit. The delegation was also presented with gifts.
Burg performed a cooking demonstration for the culinary arts class at Newport Harbor High School. He and his delegation also dropped in on a French class. Students in adult French at the OASIS Senior Center practiced their language skills with the delegation over lunch.
The Antibes visit concluded with the 25th anniversary celebration at the Newport Theatre Arts Center. Newport Beach Sister City presented Burg with a plate designed by local artist Barbara Abbott to commemorate the occasion. Corona del Mar High School’s madrigals, under the direction of Andrew Ball, sang for the attendees. In February, the madrigals will tour France and perform in Antibes.
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Hola, Baja?
Newport Beach Sister City also has a twin city in Baja, Mexico. Together they organized an elementary student art exchange. Newport Sister City members participated in festivities surrounding the annual Newport to Ensenada yacht race, including a presentation of gifts to the mayor of Ensenada.
The Sister City member who chaired the Baja sister relationship moved out of the Newport area. Sister City is looking for members interested in renewing the Baja relationship. Plans are underway for a student exchange with Antibes, and Sister City needs leadership for that program as well. Sister City is also seeking members with computer and website expertise.
“Sister City organizations promote peace through people-to-people relationships,” said Liddy Paulsen, Newport Sister City president. “We as members act as citizen diplomats. The relationships we establish with our sister cities help our businesses, government and other cities to make contact with dignitaries in our sister cities. We in turn learn more about other cultures and make new friends along the way.”
Membership benefits include first consideration for trips to the organization’s sister cities, invitations to events for dignitaries visiting Newport Beach, and invitations to parties, dinners and cultural events held to commemorate international holidays. Of course, there is also the opportunity to make new friends and lifetime memories. Visit www.nbsca.org.
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Newport Sunrise Rotary spreading health and joy
In 2008, the Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary recruited the Building Industry Technology Academy (BITA) at Western High School in Anaheim to build its first “doc in a box,” a mobile medical unit. The success of the unit inspired the Rotary and BITA team to create “boxes” for dental and vision services. Also, doctors, dentists, dental students and other volunteers were enlisted to travel with the “boxes” to provide free health, dental and vision to the underserved.
In December, the Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary drove the “dental box” to Rosarito, Mexico. The group partnered with the Newport Beach Sunrise Rotaract Club, which provided dentists, and two Rosarito Rotary Clubs, which shared expenses. Huntington Beach Rotary conducted a toy drive so the Rosarito children could receive toys with their dental services. Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary also donated reading glasses to distribute to the elderly.
Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary will also fly with four Sunrise Rotaract dental students to Cambodia this holiday season, joining others in providing free dental services to 1,000 patients. They will also travel to a remote village to help fit children and adults with 100 prosthetic arms to replace limbs lost to land mines.
The success of the medical “box” program also inspired Newport Beach Sunrise Rotary to recently launch the “meals in a box” program to help feed Orange Country’s 3,500 homeless veterans. In 2016, 20-foot mobile kitchens will be constructed.
Those interested in volunteering for any “box” programs should email Steve.Bender@StevesVision.org.
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Other local clubs sharing holiday spirit
Harbor Mesa Lions Club members are fulfilling their motto, “We Serve,” this holiday season. They have cooked breakfasts at Ronald McDonald House, served dinner to families of children at Children’s Hospital of Orange County, created holiday centerpieces for the dining room at an acute care facility, and collected pajamas for children in foster homes.
One of Lions’ favorite projects allows children at the Westside Boys & Girls Club to spread joy to their families.
“The children earn points throughout the year by doing homework assignments,” said President Marianne Allen. “With the points, they purchase gifts for their families to put under the Christmas tree. The children’s excitement is quite contagious. For many of them, this is the only opportunity to give presents.”
The Newport Balboa Rotary Club is supporting the Orange County Child Abuse Prevention Center’s “Families Helping Families” program. Families in need create “wish lists” of essentials as well as holiday gifts. Newport Balboa Rotary members donate funds to fulfill the lists. Newport Balboa member Justin Peister purchased, wrapped and delivered enough to give three families a happy holiday season.
The Kiwanis Club of Costa Mesa is giving gifts to children at the Boys & Girls Club of the Harbor Area. The club also held its annual holiday party for students in the Costa Mesa and Estancia high school key clubs and the Orange Coast College Circle K Club.
Newport Exchange Club’s Santa Bill Bechtel arrived in a police car at Harbor View, Woodland and Victoria Elementary Schools. His Newport Harbor Exchange elves helped him distribute candy canes and Christmas songs were sung.
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