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FOREIGN TOWNS
OFFICIALLY JOIN TOGETHER
Foreign
Towns Officially Join Together
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Twinning Ceremony - Andrézieux-Bouthéon, France 15/04/2006 |
Twinning Ceremony - Soham, England 29/05/2006 |
Delegates from both
Soham Town Council
and Soham
Twinning Association visited
Andrézieux-Bouthéon, near Lyon in the South of France, where
they were guests at the official twinning of the two towns on Saturday
15th April 2006. The ceremony began with the laying of a wreath
and then the playing of both National Anthems from each country in
conjunction with the raising of the British Union Jack, French Tricolor
and European Flag (performed by 12-year old Callum Ross, son of Soham
Town Council’s Vice-Chairman Mrs Fiona Ross).
The Head of Tourism in
Andrézieux-Bouthéon,
Monsieur Gerard Brot, then welcomed the visitors from both countries within the
Council Chamber of Andrézieux-Bouthéon,
followed by a series of speeches by a number of significant people from each of
the two towns. Soham Town Councillor, Mr John Kirkham and Madame Martine
Crawford, heading the respective Twinning Associations, headed the proceedings’
by emphasising the huge benefits to be gained by both communities in bringing
about a better understanding between two societies with both similarities and
cultural differences. Both speakers stressed the immense importance that there
is no better way to get two foreign communities to get to know each other better
by the way of exchanges between schools, sports clubs, performing arts groups as
well as other organisations representing every imaginable interest in all areas
of life.
Soham Town Council
Chairman, Mrs Rosemary Aitchison, confidently and eloquently spoke in French to
thank the French hosts not only for their warm welcome and generosity but also
for all the hard work that had gone into preparing the ground on both sides of
the Channel, which had culminated in the official twinning of the two towns. The
Mayor of Andrézieux-Bouthéon followed on by saying the main aim of twinning with
Soham was to ultimately bring the European Union closer together by the bonding
of the two towns and two nations, which in the past had had their differences
but had worked together in a more than troubled world. After an exchange of
official gifts, the twinning charter was officially signed by The Mayor of
Andrézieux-Bouthéon,
Monsieur Jean-Claude Schalk and the Chairman of
Soham Town Council,
Mrs Rosemary Aitchison.
Soham was visited by an
official delegation from
Andrézieux-Bouthéon
where the counterpart of the Twinning Charter was finally signed in a
ceremony that was performed during the
53rd Soham
Carnival and Heavy Horse Show on Bank Holiday Monday 29th May 2006 on the Recreation Ground in Soham. The week preceding the Carnival in
Soham saw several events taking place with a very French flavour forming
part of ‘Soham’s French Week’ organized by the
Soham Festival Society.
An
English Week in France
The official twinning ceremony between
Soham and Andrézieux-Bouthéon which was held on Saturday 15th April
2006, marked the climax of an week of several activities and events in
the French town.
On Sunday 9th April 2006 a group of four runners
travelled from Soham to take part in the annual international race ‘Eurofoulee’.
The group consisted of team manager, Chris Scurrah, Editor of
Soham On-Line, Duncan Carmichael, Head of PE at
Soham Village
College, Mark Ingham, a trainee teacher at the Village College plus Les
Yorke and Wayne Bloodworth who are firemen based at Ely. The race concluded with
giving of prizes to the winners of the races and a special plaque from
Cambridgeshire Fire &
Rescue Service was presented to the Mayor of
Andrézieux-Bouthéon
by Mr Yorke & Mr Bloodworth.
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An ‘English Week’ began on Monday 10th
April 2006 with an hour-and-a-half long talk and video presentation
about Soham by Mrs Anne Pallett who talked solely in French to
schoolchildren in the afternoon and then to adults during the evening.
The following day, Mr David Tickner, Head
of Drama at
Soham Village College lead an excellent performance of song and
dance routines with 20 pupils from the College at the impressive
‘Theatre Du Parc’.
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the Wednesday an ‘English’ Cinema Night was held showing ‘Pride and
Prejudice’ staring Keira Knightly and Matthew Macfadyen in English
accompanied with French subtitles.
‘English Castles and Gardens’ was the
theme on Thursday by an enthusiast from
Andrézieux-Bouthéon along with a ‘English’ book sale.
Fridays entertainment, again at the ‘Theatre Du Parc’ was a concert
performance of contemporary classical music conducted by Grzegorz Nowak
with an amazing performance by the famous French Cellist, Emmanuelle
Bertrand backed by a 20 strong orchestra.
Saturday concluded the
‘English Week’ with a three-hour concert led by the ‘Eel Pie Folk Band’
from Ely who had flown over specially for the occasion to give an
evening of traditionally Gaelic song and dance perfectly mixed with a
performance of traditional French music by two female singers from St.
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