Pittsfield Celebrates 'Twinning' With Irish Sister City
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Last week, the city celebrated St. Patrick's Day early with officials from Sister City Ballina, Ireland.
There was music, dancing, gift exchanges, and a lot of green.
"If you're wondering, what does a Sister City do?" Pittsfield Sister City Committee Chair Francis Curley said.
"We've had art exchanges, we had a female basketball team from Ballina come over and play here, we had a semi-pro basketball team from Ballina come here. So it's not just sports; it's like cultural exchanges. Every time I speak with someone from Ireland, I learn something new."
Pittsfield and Ballina have been "twinning" for 27 years, fostering cultural, educational, economic, and recreation exchanges.
"It's really special that we have that connection and I just feel that we have to keep it up," Ballina's Mayor Michael Loftus said.
Ballina is a community of about 10,000 people and, similar to Pittsfield, has a vibrant art scene and natural scenery. Even though the two cities are almost 3,000 miles away, Loftus displayed a photo of a local pothole to show that both places deal with the same everyday struggles.
"We also have potholes in Ireland and that's a diver, actually, in our potholes in Ireland," he said. "Whatever you do, please don't be criticizing. It's not just here that you have them."
Loftus first visited Pittsfield in 2016 and has returned three times since — noting that it would have been four times if not for the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, Ballina celebrated its 300th anniversary and he thanked the Pittsfield residents who joined the festivities across the pond.
"It meant an awful lot to us to actually have you in Ballina for the celebrations of the 300th anniversary of the town and that was really a special event and you know, it was great to have you there as part of that," he said.
Ballina's Director of Services Catherine McConnell said one of the most cherished parts of her job is the commitment to the County Mayo's diaspora or descendants.
"We have over the last 10 years spent a lot of time extending that hand of friendship to our communities who find themselves across all the continents, but one of our most cherished, I suppose, relationships, is with North America," she said.
"So to see such a strong Sister City group here is really, really heartening and part of my job, and I hope going forward on this, will be to help strengthen those bonds."
Mayor Peter Marchetti described himself as a typical Irish-Italian American, pointing to his green lawn signs when he first ran for public office in 1999.
"I want to offer a heartfelt welcome to all of you and I know that through the thousands of emails and mayor, we confirmed this, the thousands of emails that we got from the Curley lad, we all know where we're supposed to be over the next 48, 72 hours," he said.
Pittsfield committee member Anne Gagnon said, "Wow, 27 years we've been together."
"Pittsfield is a member of the Sister City Cities International, and probably a lot of people don't realize that that was started by President Eisenhower after World War Two because of all the troubles in the world," said Gagnon. "He felt that through Sister City International, friendship was a way to heal things over."
In 1997, a group got together to find an Irish Sister City and created this mission statement:
"The Pittsfield Irish Sister City Steering Committee recognizes the importance and value of the Irish heritage and is committed to its preservation. We believe that this heritage should also be shared and passed on to the use of the county, to those with Irish descent, and to anyone else who desires to experience the treasures of such an industrious, generous, and proud people."
By the year 2000, it aimed to establish ongoing relationships with a community in Ireland and actively engage in cultural, educational, economic, and recreational exchanges. Both mayors signed an agreement in 1998 and Pittsfielders traveled to Ballina the following September to seal the deal.
"We've had many exchanges, and the citizens of Pittsfield take great pride in our Sister City friendship with Ballina," Gagnon said.
"And we maintain our membership in the Sister Cities International Organization and we look forward to our continued connection with Ballina as Pittsfield preserves its Irish heritage."
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