PEORIA (25News Now) – Peoria is celebrating 50 years of friendship with their sister city in Germany. Leaders from Friedrichshafen are in the River City until June 7, and Thursday night they held a celebration dinner at the Gateway Building.
Friedrichshafen is in Southern Germany, near Lake Constance. The partnership initially started through international business connections, but has persisted due to the friendships people have developed over the years.
One of the highlights of the sister city relationship for those involved is a youth exchange program that sends German teens to the United States and Peoria teens to Germany for three weeks in alternating years.
“Especially today, when the world can seem quite far apart, organizations like ours and the relationships that we continue to build are critically important,” said Patrick Roesler, the chairman of Peoria’s Sister City Commission.
The celebration Thursday also meant to honor volunteers who have kept the friendship alive all these years, working with the Peoria Club in Germany and the Friends of Friedrichshafen in Central Illinois.
The public is invited to meet the German Guests at Sommerfest, Hosted by the German American Central Society. The event is Saturday, June 6 from 12pm-8pm at Hickory Grove Park, in Dunlap.
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