West Chicago Sister Cities Announces February Featured Speaker February 6, 2014 7:00 p.m. Western DuPage Chamber of Commerce 306 Main Street, West Chicago West Chicago, Illinois: January 23, 2014 – The featured speaker for the February meeting of West Chicago Sister Cities will be David Sabathne, who will speak about the Sister City relationship between… Read More

  Nominate your program for the 2014 Annual Awards!                     Opportunity for Your Program to Shine! NOMINATE YOUR SISTER CITY PROGRAM FOR THE ANNUAL AWARDS The Annual Awards Program highlights your sister city program’s achievements and brings international recognition to your community’s contributions to the citizen diplomacy movement. Sister Cities International established the Annual Awards… Read More

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Illinois Sister Cities Association P. O. Box 68141 Schaumburg, Illinois 60168     July 25, 2013   Fellow Sister Cities Members: I hope his Newsletter finds you enjoying the summer.  I am going to introduce myself as part of my message today.  I am Paula B. Randant and am a retired School Social Worker.  I… Read More

On behalf of the citizens of Schaumburg, Illinois and Safranbolu, Turkey, the elected officials of the two municipalities have established the city affiliation as “International Sister Cities” with the aim of promoting further relations between our citizens and businesses.   Our agreement will provide Schaumburg and Safranbolu with a close relationship, and together our two… Read More

    Host Students Receive Copy Proclamation at SCAS Board of Directors Meeting   Springfield Mayor Houston proclaimed Tuesday, November 19, 2013 as Ashikaga Gettysburg Address Delegation Day in Springfield to honor the participation of the five student members of the Ashikaga Gettysburg Address Delegation in the 150th Anniversary of President Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. Janet… Read More

This annual Lincoln event is sponsored by Springfield’s Sister City of Ashikaga, Tochigi, Japan. With the financial backing of an independent committee composed of representatives of the Office of the Mayor, the Office of the Superintendent of the Board of Education, and business members of the Chamber of Commerce, there is an annual Abraham Lincoln… Read More

Congratulations Columbia, Illinois for being selected Illinois Sister City of the year.  The City of Columbia has distinguished itself in their Sister Cities relationship with Gedern, Germany.   Columbia and Gedern celebrated their 20th year of Sister Cities relationship in May 2013.  They celebrated with an exchange of 45 delegates from Gedern.  Columbia and Gedern have… Read More

Mount Prospect Sister Cities exchange 2013 with our Sister City Sevres, France  on the Wendella sharing Chicago’s beautiful skyline.… Read More

          CONGRATULATIONS!  Columbia, Illinois-  Sister City of the Year for the State of Illinois and the Illinois Sister Cities Association. Columbia has distinguished themselves with a 20 year relationship with Gedern, Germany.  They recently celebrated the 20 year relationship with a delegation of 45 coming from Gedern to visit Columbia.  They… Read More

Members of Dixon Sister Cities at Oktoberfest in Munich, Germany.  Dixon’s Sister City is Herzberg/Elster  Germany… Read More

  ROCKFORD SISTER CITIES PLANNING CULTURAL EVENING CHECK IT OUT   Invite – Flyer Romanian Cultural Dinner… Read More

CITIZEN DIPLOMACY IN ACTION AND ON THE MOVE. By Paula Randant The Mount Prospect Sister Cities Commission had an Exchange with our Sister City Sèvres, France September 14 to 19, 2013.  We have been Sister Cities since 2000.  The relationship has been rich with learning about our respective city’s and people.  Our French guests arrived… Read More

By A. Marie Ball The State  Journal-Register Posted Jul  30, 2013 @ 10:30 PM Last update  Jul 31, 2013 @ 09:28 AM   Zack Claflin doesn’t like flying. But he was willing to put that aside for an opportunity to experience  Japanese culture first-hand. “Both my parents are anthropologists, so that kind of thing was… Read More

Dear ISCA Board Members,  Sister Cities Friends: I am very pleased to announce to you, and to the general public, that  URBANA’s SISTER CITIES PROGRAM has been selected to receive the Champaign-Urbana International Humanitarian Award for 2013. “The award honors Champaign County individuals and organizations who have contributed significantly to international understanding, cooperation, friendshi…p and… Read More

Sister Cities International recognizes that U.S. communities may have differing views of laws, policies, or practices in other countries which they believe may run against moral, ethical, or legal codes to which they ascribe. While every citizen should feel free to express their own opinions in keeping with his or her own conscience, the suspension… Read More

2013 Youth Leadership Summit: A Recap                         At the 2013 Sister Cities International Annual Conference in San Antonio, Texas, July 11-13, over 50 students from around the United States participated in the Sister Cities International Youth Leadership Summit.  The Summit was designed to engage… Read More

DIXON – A state advocacy group for gays and lesbians is making a request of Dixon and other cities in the Sister Cities International program. Suspend ties with Russia. Dixon, which has four international sister cities, entered the program with its relationship to Dickson, Siberia – a town of 643 people that’s a 2-hour flight… Read More

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The 8th Annual Chicago Sister Cities International Festival will transform Daley Plaza into an international village filled with food, music, dance and merchants, August 5-9, 2013 from 10:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. Chicago’s 28 international sister cities will be represented at the festival, where visitors will be able to sample international cuisine and view live… Read More

Sister Cities International welcomes new Board of Directors members 07/17/2013                                                                     Following a membership-wide election, 11 delegates were chosen to the 24-member Sister Cities International Board of Directors. The appointments were formalized during Sister Cities International’s 2013 Annual Business Meeting which occurred in conjunction with 57th Annual Conference in San Antonio, TX, July 12-13. Newly elected… Read More

Paula Randant, ISCA President and Holly Lazzerini, ISCA Board member and new SCI Board member       Paula and two great ladies from Sarasota Florida Sister Cities.  We made many friends.                  … Read More

First, we congratulate Holly Lazzerini-Mathur on her election to the Big Board! The good energy of Illinois’ ISCA will rub off on the national front.   News Update:   Urbana is about to send or first citizen diplomats to Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, People’s Republic of  China. Mayor Prussing,  I , Chris Stohr and three… Read More

Every Friday, Germany.info and The Week in Germany highlight a different “Word of the Week” in the German language that may have serve to  surprise, delight or just plain perplex native English speakers June 24, 2013MinneliedMinnesänger in Wartburg (© picture-alliance / akg-images) Parzival, Richard the Lionheart, Walther von der Vogelweide, Duke  Leopold of Austria …… Read More

Chicago Sister Cities International is sponsoring a discussion His Excellency Kenichiro Sasae, Ambassador of Japan to the United States, presented by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. “Japan is back,” declared Shinzo Abe, prime minister of Japan, in a major speech in Washington this year. It may well be that the country’s ‘lost decade’ of… Read More

The President of the Sister Cities Association of Springfield, IL (SCAS), Janet Kay Kenney, was appointed to the Springfield Commission on International Visitors and SCAS Board of Directors member Jonathan GoldbergBelle was re-appointed to a term on the Commission. Commissioners are appointed by the Mayor and approved by vote of the City Council. Our congratulations… Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE       On US Flag Day, June 14, 2013, Mr. Tony Ferniza became a United States Citizen. With him is Ms. Janet Kenney, President of the Sister Cities Association of Springfield (SCAS). Mr. Ferniza is from San Pedro de Las Colonias, Coahuilla, Mexico, a Sister Cities partner with Springfield since 1996.… Read More

” Promoting Peace through Prosperity”    In 1956, President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the early pioneers of the sister cities movement believed that if people could cross national boundaries and get to know each other personally, their mutual respect and understanding could transform diplomatic relations. As the world has changed and technology has enhanced our ability to… Read More

Mount Prospect Sister Cities had a great Wine Tasting event.  We sampled great French wines and appetizers.… Read More

DECATUR —Origami, the ancient art of paper folding, was a hit with Garfield Montessori Magnet School students during a presentation of Japanese culture and traditions by Sister Cities members. The 31 members of Caryn Fuiten’s Room 5, first, second and third graders, folded Herald & Review newspapers into hats with instructions from Linda Hasenmyer, who… Read More