Sister Cities of Nashville presents an evening of bell ringing to commemorate the 75th anniversary since the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The bell ringing will take place on Wed., Aug. 5th at 6:15 pm (CDT) at private homes, organizations, and institutions including St. George’s Episcopal Church on Harding Pike.  It is a gesture of peace and friendship toward Nashville’s Japanese Sister City of Kamakura. Due to COVID-19, there will be no formal ceremony or gathering. 

Additionally, Nashville Mayor John Cooper has issued a proclamation declaring Aug. 5th – 12th as Nashville-Kamakura Peace Week, urging people in both cities to commemorate the occasion by participating in a bell ringing ceremony, either individually at home, virtually, or in some safe public area while observing all public health orders and advisories. 

“In the spirit of citizen diplomacy, we encourage organizations and individuals across the city to ring bells at this designated time,” said Sarah Lingo, SCN Executive Director.  “We hope people from all across the city will participate in or be able to hear this peaceful gesture.”
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Communities and individuals can choose to participate in the simultaneous bell-ringing or can create their own ceremony at 6:15 pm (CDT) on Aug. 5th, or at 9:01 pm (CDT) on Aug. 8th to coincide with the actual times and dates the atomic bombs fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively.  Further information and helpful materials are available at https://sistercities.org/2020/07/15/u-s-japan-sister-cities-bell-ringing-75-years-of-peace-since-hiroshima-nagasaki/. 

Sister Cities of Nashville announced its new board members for 2020. They are:

• David Butler, Birch Healthcare Insights
• Renuka Christoph, Music City Center
• Tom Elmlinger, Elmlinger Law
• Dr. Lee Fentriss, Heritage Medical Associates
• Hiroshi Goto, Alliance Bernstein
• Dr. Jeff Mahoney, Radiologist
• Tabitha Robinson, NES

 
“Sister Cities of Nashville is pleased to welcome these seven individuals to our Board of Directors,” said Board President Barry Kolar. “Their variety of personal and professional backgrounds will be an incredible asset to the organization as we continue to grow.  We look forward to them representing Nashville both here and abroad.”

       In October of 2019 Sister Cities of Nashville welcomed twelve high school students and two English teacher chaperones to Nashville for our annual exchange. They were greeted by 16 eager hosts ready to spend the next two weeks welcoming them into their homes and lives in Nashville! The exchange kicked off with a Welcome Party on their first Sunday in town at the beautiful Forest Hills home of one of the host families. The group enjoyed favorite dishes made by their hosts and finished the evening with s’mores around the fire pit.
    During the first week the group split their time between touring around Nashville and attending school with their hosts. The group enjoyed lunch at Robert’s Western World, a tour of Belmont University (including their film department, where one of our hosts is a professor), photos with the murals on 12th Ave South, and a fun day shopping at Opry Mills Mall. The weekend was spent exploring Nashville with their host families and some of the students even traveled on day trips to surrounding areas.
     In the second week the group spent a day being hosted by BGA as well as their last day at school with their host students. The other days of the week they get to enjoy more of Nashville’s sites with a scavenger hunt at the TN State Museum, a fun afternoon exploring the Adventure Science Center, a tour of Paragon Recording Studio, a relaxing afternoon in downtown Franklin, lunch and a tour at Ensworth Upper School, and some fun times at Defy Nashville. The group got to enjoy a Nashville Halloween with costumes, trick or treating, and a Halloween party as a group! On the final day of their visit it was hard to say goodbye and several of the host students met the group at the airport to see them off. It was hugs and tears as the group prepared to depart and hopes they would see each other again soon!

At its annual conference in November, The Tennessee Foreign Language Teachers Association honored Sister Cities of Nashville with its Friends of Foreign Language Award for our work in promoting global connections and endeavors.
"We are incredibly honored to receive this award from TFLTA," said Heather Cunningham, Sister Cities' Executive Director.  "We have a great partnership with public and private school teachers who welcome our visiting exchange students as well as encourage their own students to participate in our Student Ambassador programs." 

A delegation of 20 Nashvillians including Monell's culinary team and country artist Baylor Wilson visited Edmonton to host the first ever Sister Cities/Nashville pavilion at the Edmonton Heritage Festival, named by UNESCO as the world's largest multicultural festival.  More than 100 cultures are represented and 300,000+ visit over the three-day festival.  Festival goers stopped by our pavilion to learn more about Nashville, our sister city partnership and to taste great southern fare prepared by Monell's.  Baylor and her trip performed from our stage every day.  Nashville was featured in print and broadcast media.  Additionally, delegates participated in Transit-oriented development meetings, toured the Waster Management Centre for Excellence and Batchford sustainable living community, and received an insider's tour of Roger's Place and the Ice District, led by Bob Black, EVP of Edmonton Arena Corp.  The Edmonton mayor's office rolled out the red carpet for our group and hosted us at numerous meals and receptions.

Sister Cities of Nashville won two major awards in the 2019 Sister Cities International awards competition, open to its 500+ member cities.  We won the Innovation Award for Arts & Culture for our "Nashville in Belfast" program.  Our nominee for Youth Leadership Award, Olivia Connor, also won. It was a tremendous honor to nominate Olivia who has contributed her leadership and many volunteer hours to SCN.  She is a 2019 graduate of Martin Luther King Academic Magnet.  Assistant U.S. Secretary of State requested a private meet and greet with us to congratulate us on our work.  The awards were presented at the Annual Sister Cities International Conference themed "Cities Mean Business" in Houston.  SCN Executive Director Heather Cunningham attended and accepted the Innovation Award on behalf of the SCN Board of Directors.

This summer, Sister Cities of Nashville sent students and teacher chaperones representing 13 area public and private area high schools to three of its sister cities on three continents: Caen, France; Mendoza, Argentina; and Taiyuan, China. The Student Ambassador program remains a hallmark of Nashville’s programming, providing students – many who have never traveled out of the country before – a truly life-changing experience as they are home hosted by families in our sister cities.
Student ambassadors to Caen, France were in attendance for the 75th anniversary of D-Day and got to witness the ceremonies and celebrations to commemorate such a tragic and meaningful day in the history of Normandy and the world. Paratroopers in their 90’s performed jumps to commemorate the jumps they made on those same beaches during WWII and the student delegates were able to even try some flying of their own.  Together with their hosts, students also visited Mont St. Michel, one of the seven modern wonders of the world, Bayeux, Honfleur and Deauville.  They capped off their exchange with two days of sightseeing in Paris.
Student ambassadors to Mendoza, Argentina spent their week bonding with students and at ICEI, the Nashville student exchange partnership school. During their time in Mendoza the students went ziplining in the foothills of the Andes Mountains and rolled down the magnificent Altos Limpios sand dunes.  They made traditional empanadas and learned about the history of Mendoza as they visited the monument honoring General San Martin, perched atop a hill in Mendoza. This exchange to the southern hemisphere always offers great adventures for our students.
Student ambassadors to Taiyuan, China began their time in Beijing and toured sites including the Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven and Tiananmen Square.  They climbed the steep steps of the Great Wall and enjoyed some great photo opportunities.  From Beijing they took a train to Taiyuan and were met with enthusiasm by their host families whose students attend Yuying High School.  They had the good fortune of being in Taiyuan on the Dragon Festival holiday. They were able to experience the holiday traditions with their host family – from making dumplings to special paper cutting.   They visited Jinci Temple and Pingyao ancient city and even had a Kung Fu master give them a class in this ancient art.
​This exchange summer with Sister Cities of Nashville was full of many adventures, but the most important take-aways for our student ambassadors were the relationships they formed in the countries they visited and the amazing host families who made their experiences meaningful. 
 

Sister Cities annually partners with the Consulate General of Japan in Nashville and the Japan America Society of Tennessee for a line-up activities celebrating Cherry Blossom season.  For the third year Sister Cities collaborated with two amazing ramen chefs for the Annual Ramen Showdown.  The chefs prepared "dueling" specialty ramen and served 250 bowls to the first arriving.  The event sold out again, raised funds for Sister Cities of Nashville and raised awareness of our partnership with Kamkara, Japan. Sister Cities also hosted the Cherry Blossom Walk, a 3-mile walk on the Cumberland River Greenway led by Mayor Briley and Consul General Kobayashi.  A bit of rain didn't dampen the spirits this year for the walk and the festival, where Sister Cities had a booth to showcase our sister city ties to Kamakura.   

Sister Cities of Nashville welcomed high school students and teachers from sister cities Taiyuan, China; Mendoza, Argentina; and Tamworth, Australia this spring.  They stayed with host families with students at myriad public and private high schools in Nashville.  Our visitors attended school with their hosts for a few days to have an American high school experience and Sister Cities provided programming that allowed the students to learn about the issues facing Nashville; learn about city governance; and visit cultural and historic attractions.  The students also volunteered with the TN Environmental Council, helping to plant trees and beautify Nashville.

Sixteen Nashville delegates traveled to Mendoza, Argentina to experience the cultural extravaganza that is Vendimia!  The 81st Annual grape harvest festival featured a fabulous parade and an evening spectacle that would rival any Superbowl half-time show (and it was two hours long with more than 1,000 performers).  Delegates also visited ICEI school, where we have conducted reciprocal educational exchanges for over five years.  The mayor's office hosted a reception for the group, featuring Mendoza wines, empanadas and a tango demonstration. Our delegation toured many vineyards, an olive oil factory, spent a day at a spa with thermal springs just outside of Mendoza, and, of course, enjoyed connecting with friends, students and their families who have previously visited Nashville.