News Release
June 2004
(Bethlehem, Pa.)—A group comprised of Moravian
College faculty, students, and staff recently traveled to Tondabayashi,
Japan to participate
in ceremonies honoring the 40th anniversary of the sister city relationship
with Bethlehem.
Tondabayashi Mayor Toshiki Tada presided over the
ceremony naming a street near city hall “Bethlehem Street.” The dogwood-lined
street, with its newly-installed and impressive street signs in both
English and Japanese, featured a large metal plaque inscribed “May
this street and our relationship last forever.”
Representing Bethlehem was Moravian College staff member Jane Schaffer,
who serves as chair of the Bethlehem-Tondabayashi Sister City Commission.
Schaffer was accompanied by a study tour group of 5 students from Moravian
led by faculty members, Dr. Anne Dutlinger, professor of art and chair
of the Art Department, Dr. Lisa Fischler, assistant professor of political
science.
Faculty and students all participated in the ceremony, which was preceded
by a dinner reception the previous evening. Following speeches by Mayor
Tada, the chair of the city assembly and the Japanese and American
sister city committee chairs, there was a commemorative ribbon-cutting
ceremony and planting of a dogwood tree.
On July 19th, Mayor Tada will visit Bethlehem for
the city’s
anniversary celebrations. At 6:00 p.m. in the Garden of Serenity, next
to the Bethlehem Public Library, a ceremony is planned to dedicate
a new area of the garden to all those who have served as mayor during
the 40-year sister city relationship. A new seating area which features
a tile designed and produced by Beth Starbuck of Starbuck Goldner Tiles
will be unveiled at the ceremony.
The following Monday, five students will arrive from
Tondabayashi for a three-week homestay. For the past 31 years, a student
exchange
program has brought 5 students from Tondabayashi to Bethlehem in even-numbered
years and sent 5 students from Bethlehem in odd-numbered years to Japan.
