Following past cancellations due to the pandemic, the Santa Barbara Sister Cities Board recently held its Santa Barbara International Sister Cities Annual Dinner at the Cabrillo Pavilion, with entertainment provided by Old Spanish Days Fiesta Spirits 2024.

A white frosted sister Cities cake with red trim along the edges features images of U.S. and international flags. (Courtesy photo)

The Fiesta spirits Georgey Taupin, a high school junior at Oaks Christian online school, and Junior Spirit Aleenah Soriano, a fifth-grader at Roosevelt Elementary School, performed for the guests, who represented all the Santa Barbara Sister Cities committees.

Also offering entertainment for the event was Emiliano Campobello, playing the Native American flute.

Board members and other guests provided the evening’s meal that Margaret Saavedra, chair of the Sister Cities Advisory Board, called “an adventure in international dining.”

The assorted dishes came from George Papazachardioudakis, president, Patras, Greece; Margarita Zaske, president, Miraflores, Peru; Margaret Saavedra, president, Puerto Vallarta, Mexico; Linda Maxwell, president, Takako Wakita, past Sister Cities Advisory Board chair, Toba, Japan; and Jessy Lee and Jill Stassinos, co-presidents and vice presidents, Weihai, China group.

The board offers thanks to major event contributors George and Denise Lilly, SJL Broadcast Management, who founded the Kotor Montenegro Sister Cities group. They also support exchanges with Kotor International Music Festival and Music Academy of the West; culinary training for students with disabilities through the The Goran Milic Culinary Academy; and exchanges between water polo teams from Santa Barbara and Kotor, Montenegro.

Thanks also to Scott Burns and the planning committee members: Bonnie Carroll and Alicia Sorkin, Mexico; Jill Stasinos, China; Margarita Zaske, Peru; Rory Moore, Japan; George Papazacharioudakis, Greece; and other volunteers.

Sister Cities International (SCI) is a living legacy left by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who conceived the program and initiated it in 1956. SCI’s mission is to promote peace through mutual respect, understanding, and cooperation.

A sister city is a long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A relationship is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed official from both communities sign off on an agreement to be joined as sister cities.

SCI currently has some 500 U.S. cities with relationships in more than 2,000 communities in over 140 countries.

Santa Barbara currently has six sister cities. Each sister city is independent and pursues activities and thematic areas important to them and their sister community, including municipal, business, trade, educational and cultural exchanges and projects.

The Sister Cities Board meets bi-monthly at City Hall. For Sister City membership information, visit http://www.santabarbaraca.gov.