FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 9, 2017
Contact: Katie Vane
802.734.0617
City of Burlington to Welcome Honfleur Sister City Delegation
Delegation of Residents from Honfleur, France Will Visit on October 10
Burlington, VT – The City of Burlington will welcome a delegation from its Honfleur, France Sister City, including Mayor Michel Lamarre and citizens of Honfleur, at a press conference on Tuesday, October 10. This will be the second major delegation from Honfleur to visit Burlington, and the first time residents from Honfleur have joined the delegation. The last visit was in 2013.
The press conference will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Burlington Boathouse with remarks from Mayor Weinberger. Light refreshments will be served.
“Burlington is honored to be partners with Honfleur in furthering bonds of friendship and respect between our two cities, and in emphasizing the importance of building relationships of cross-cultural trust and friendship,” said Mayor Miro Weinberger. “I am excited to welcome another Honfleur delegation to our beautiful city. Our Sister City relationship provides us an important opportunity to build on the historic bonds that bind our two cities and deepen the cultural ties between us.”
Also expected to attend will be Ernie Pomerleau, Honorary Consul of France to Vermont, Dana vanderHeyden, Ambassadrice de Honfleur aux États-Unis named by Mayor Lamarre and coordinator of many trip exchanges, Marc vanderHeyden, former president of St. Michael’s College, and Doreen Kraft, Executive Director of Burlington City Arts, as well as Pierre Jan, Chair of the Twinning Association in Honfleur, and Lise Veronneau, Chair/President of Burlington’s Honfleur Sister City.
While in Burlington, the delegation will enjoy an edible history tour, a boat tour by the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum, visits to Shelburne Farms, Shelburne Museum, Ethan Allen Homestead, and Burlington City Arts fall exhibition, Of Land and Local.
Sister City History
Burlington’s relationship with Honfleur began in 2009 during the 400th-anniversary celebration of Samuel de Champlain’s visit to the lake named for him. The City of Burlington expanded its international French relationships with the official formation of the Honfleur Sister City on March 21, 2012, and has nurtured that relationship with travels to Honfleur in 2012, welcoming Mayor Lamarre and his delegation from Honfleur to Burlington in 2013, followed by the first youth exchange of Boy Scouts traveling to Honfleur in 2014. Most recently, a Burlington delegation, including Mayor Weinberger, his wife Stacy, and a group of students from Burlington High School visited Honfleur in June 2015.
Committees in Burlington and Honfleur have been working for the past three years to promote and understand our respective cultures and economic development opportunities in mutually rewarding ways.
* See five year summary of Honfleur Sister City highlights here
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