March 29, 2024

OPEN to hold annual meeting Sunday at UCC

To the editor:

The Annual Meeting of Newton’s sister city group, Organization Promoting Neighbors, will be held at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17, at the Congregational United Church of Christ located at 308 E. 2nd St. N.

As required by our by-laws, this is an official invitation to the meeting. OPEN has sister cities in Smila, Ukraine and WuChi area, Taiwan.

A short business meeting will be held and a short report on my recent visit to Taiwan will be shared. As stated, Newton has an official sister city agreement with the WuChi area of Taiwan and I was privileged to visit the area the week of Nov. 11.

OPEN is currently hosting student Jason Wu from Taiwan and he is enrolled at Newton Senior High School for the entire school year. In 2010-11 we also had a student from that area, Min-Hua Song. I met with the families of both of the students last week and visited their Taiwan high school as well.

As a first time visitor to Taiwan, I was impressed by the warmth and sincerity of the people I met. I also met with the former mayor of WuChi, currently an elected representative to the greater Taichung City area government.

OPEN is grateful for the ongoing support of the Newton and Jasper County area and couldn’t function without the contributions of sincere supporters. As a member of Sister Cities International, we agree with their stated purpose: “To promote peace through mutual respect, understanding and cooperation — one individual, one community at a time.”

Please try to join us Sunday as we celebrate another successful year in OPEN.

On behalf of the OPEN Board,

Jane Ann Cotton

Chairwoman

Newton