Culver City Sister City Committee Celebrates Golden Jubilee

Sonoman Bill Boerum was the final and featured dinner speaker on Saturday night at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Culver City Sister City Committee.

Boerum is vice chairman of the board of directors of Sister Cities International, a Washington, and D.C. based organization promoting citizen diplomacy.

The Culver City Sister City Committee maintains relationships with four cities in Mexico, Japan, South Korea and Canada. In addition to many educational and cultural bi-lateral exchanges over several decades, the Culver City-Kaizuka Committee provided relief to its sister city, Kaizuka in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami  as well as a sub-grant funded by the Kaiser Permanente Foundation through Sister Cities International.

In addressing the sold-out dinner audience Boerum said, “Culver City showed great foresight in establishing relationships with cities in Canada and Mexico. Though these city relationships have been highly personal in a warmhearted way, nonetheless the two neighbor countries, north and south of the United States – sometimes casually overlooked – will be of increased strategic importance to us in the future. Like your own neighbors, you want to have very good relations with those on both sides of your house. Likewise, Culver City was strategic in selecting cities in Japan and Korea reflecting important trans-Pacific economic and cultural ties as well as the diaspora of peoples from both countries in the Los Angeles basin.”

The weekend-long celebration included the unveiling of a plaque at City Hall, guided tours and cultural exhibits as well as the anniversary dinner.

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