Fountain Hills Sister Cities Boasts Entire Town Council as Members

Group plans to add “travel exchange experience for adults” in 2018

Fountain Hill’s Sister Cities’ organization now boasts the entire town council among its members. Councilman Nick DePorter became the last of the seven-member town council to seal the deal when he was officially welcomed to the Sister Cities organization at its board meeting Monday, May 22.

“I’m a strong supporter of Sister Cities,” DePorter said. “I never got to participate when I was in school but I wanted to. To give students the opportunity to travel and make friends with students in other countries and share cultures is wonderful.”

Sister Cities Board Member Enrique Melendez said the Fountain Hills Sister Cities Corporation is the only sister cities’ group in Arizona to hold this distinction.

“We are so proud to have the full council as members because this program adds so much value to our town,” said Melendez, a Fountain Hills resident, former town council member, and Honorary Consul of El Salvador.

Arizona Sister Cities President Milt Laflen, who attended the meeting, said the state now has 55 sister cities. Fountain Hills has four sister cities in El Salvador, Germany, Poland, and Belgium.

Gaining the backing of town leaders is one of many efforts pushed by new Sister Cities’ Corp. president, Carol Carroll, and her predecessor, Jackie Miles.

Carroll, a longtime CEO of her own staffing company, is well equipped to lead the board that wants to ratchet up membership, involve more students, and raise more student grants and scholarships in 2018.

It also plans to add an “adult travel experience” next year, she said. 

“We want to attract more of our residents but also people who live in cities nearby who would like to travel to our sister cities to explore ideas like governance, tourism, and economics,” said Carroll, who with her husband, Richard, hosted six exchange students when their children were in school.

To carry out the goals for 2018, the board approved the creation of three new committees:    

-Marketing, communications, and public relations 

-Membership and sponsorship recruiting

-Junior youth board committee

Local high school students interested in travel are encouraged to get involved with the Junior Youth Board. Volunteers both young and old are invited to serve on committees.

At the meeting, the board also announced that Lynn Truby, the popular music program director at Fountain Hills High School, is the new student coordinator.  

As part of the cultural exchange program, students create joint fine art projects to make their experience more fun and meaningful. Now, music will be added to the mix.

“Music and art are a big part of the exchanges because they make it easier to bridge language barriers,” said Truby, who replaces Jennifer Ray, the longtime student coordinator who is leaving for a new job.

Promoting peace by creating bonds between people from different cities around the world was the key mission of the Sister Cities when it was founded in 1956 by President Dwight Eisenhower. Thousands of cities across the globe now participate in the program that pairs town leaders and students in travel exchanges to foster cultural understanding, education, and tourism and trade.

For more information, go to the Fountain Hills Sister Cities Facebook page or its website at: www.fountainhillssistercities.org.

PHOTO CAPTIONS:

Pic1:  Sister Cities Board Member Enrique Melendez, right, gives a welcome gift to new board member Town Councilman Nick DePorter. 

Pic2: Carol Carroll, the new president of the Fountain Hills Sister Cities Organization, wants to add a new travel exchange program for adults in 2018.