Jasło, Poland, and the city of Sedona held an online signing of a two-year friendship agreement on Saturday, Aug. 30, with Community Library Sedona hosting the American side of the ceremony.
This friendship agreement will be a step toward, hopefully, another sister city for the city, Sedona Sister Cities Association Vice President Winnie Muench said.
“We signed one with Canmore, [Canada], the year prior to becoming sister cities with them,” she said. “So you can see how we went from friendship to sister city.”
The previous friendship agreement was signed by both mayors in May 2024. Sedona and Canmore each signed the sister cities agreement in May and June respectively.
People from both cities began hosting meetings and discussions on what they could accomplish through “Well, one was [a] school-to-school partnership,” said Don Groves, a member of the board of directors for SSCA “Another one was cultural exchange, which our first cultural exchange is going to happen here next month as a part of International Days.”
International Days will be a series of events over four days. Beginning on Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 7 p.m. with the Rising Star Concert at the Sedona Performing Arts Center. The event will be free and open to the public.
Four young musicians will be featured: Alberta native Jacques Forestier, Ukrainian Vasylisa Nikolenko who relocated to Canmore after the war began, Jayden Yoneyama of Phoenix and Justin Kang of Leveen.
“I believe … any child between the ages of 8 and 20 should be here,” Muench said. “That’s how artists are born.” Susanne Ruberg-Gordon, a world renowned pianist based in Canmore, is giving lessons to Nikolenko and will come to Sedona for the concert.
“Suzanne will accompany each of these artists and chambers of Sedona donated the piano, a Steinway [world class instrument], and Sedona Symphony donated the acoustic shell,” Muench said, Forestier and Yoneyama will play violin, Nikolenko will play piano and Kang will play cello.
“They’ve only been a sister city for two months, but evolved from here,” Muench, who’s also the chairman for Sedona Ballet, said. “We met [Thursday, Aug. 21] morning, and we’re going to do an exchange where we send those two young musicians … to play there next September, plus their rising stars and they asked me to bring ballet.”
What makes the city’s partnership so successful is their solid foundations for how those relationships work.
“You’ve got to have a concrete plan,” Groves said. “So school partnerships, sister libraries, cultural exchange, and the other two that are planned, the outdoor adventure exchange [taking place next summer], and then the golf exchange [which the details are still being worked on].”
The success they’ve seen in Canmore and their excitement for International Days makes Muench hopeful for an agreement like that in Jasło.
The second event in International Days is an international dinner hosted by the mayor in Hilton Resort at Bell Rock. It is a ticketed event, and more information can be found on sedonasistercities.org/mayors-dinner.
“I’m thinking, with our experience with Canmore, this idea of concrete projects really took off,” Groves said. “So that could happen with Jasło.” Groves, who is on the board for the Science Vortex, said he’d hopeful for an education exchange program for youth interested in the sciences, particularly because Jasło has a large science center called Generator Nauki.
“Plans are also underway for the [Science Vortex] Chief Science Officers to participate via Zoom in Jasło’s annual [Generator Nauki] Science Fair this October — strengthening ties in the fields of STEM education and youth leadership,” a press release from July 8 states.
The Jasło region also hosts a wine festival yearly at the end of August. The Verde Valley Wine Consortium recently announced it would be participating in that this year.
“The shared passion for winemaking unites our regions,” Verde Valley Wine Consortium and the Sedona Sister Cities Association member Danusia Szumowski said in the announcement. “We’re excited to exchange ideas with Jasło’s winemakers and showcase the bold, expressive wines that thrive in our high-desert terroir.” The final event in International Days will be a Polish Picnic will take place on Saturday, Sept. 20 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Posse Grounds Park.
Another free event, it will include traditional Polish food, live music, games and cultural exhibits.