Sister Cities Again

Published 6:45 am Monday, April 25, 2011

After being dormant for about seven years, Dalton’s Sister City program with Dilbeek, Belgium is being revived in a big way this year.

A delegation of about 40 Belgian political and business leaders will visit Dalton for five days in August and Dalton State College has already begun plans to start a student exchange program with two colleges in Belgium.

“It will be different. In the past, these exchanges were almost all entertainment. The social and cultural element will still be important, but there will also be a practical component. The two facets we want to add are economic development and an educational exchange,” said Dalton City Administrator Ty Ross.

In previous trips, the Belgians have attended Atlanta Braves games, visited the Tennessee Aquarium and toured regional historic sites.

The exact itinerary for the upcoming visit is still being planned, but the Belgians will tour several local companies and meet with local economic and business leaders.

“A change from previous years is that we are going to stay in town more and educate them about our local industries and also try to learn from them about the challenges that have faced and how they have dealt with them,” said Dawn Sanders, chairman of the committee planning the visit.

The Belgians are also interested in seeing how firms with European connections are faring in Dalton.

“We know they want to see the new IVC plant because IVC is a Belgian company, so we will be helping to organize that,” said Dalton-Whitfield Joint Development Authority Executive Director Elyse Cochran.

IVC U.S. Inc., a vinyl flooring manufacturer, opened a 520,000 square-foot plant this year near the South Dalton Bypass. It already operates a distribution warehouse in Dalton.

Ross said the Belgian delegation also hopes to visit U.S. Floors, another Dalton company with European roots and to visit with former Beaulieu CEO Carl Bouckaert.

Bouckaert, who is originally from Belgium, helped set up the Sister City relationship back in 1985. Jef Valneniers and Stefaan Platteau, then the mayor and vice mayor of Dilbeek, approached him about the idea. Brussels, the capital of Belgium, had a Sister City relationship with Atlanta, and they were interested in forming a relationship with a Georgia city similar in size to Dilbeek.

Dalton resident Lou Lavigne grew up in a French-speaking community in Maine, so Dalton leaders asked him to take part in the program. French is one of the three officials languages of Belgium which also include Dutch and German.

Lavigne has been part of every exchange since then, visiting Belgium several times and helping escort the Belgians around when they are in Dalton.

Belgium is beautiful. There are flowers hanging down from every window. In the middle of the road, they have a section with flowers growing,” Lavigne said.

But Lavigne said the greatest part of the program is the friendships he formed.

Lavigne said he’s looking forward to seeing old friends when the Belgians come back to Dalton.

Former Dalton Mayor Ray Elrod has been to Belgium four times as part of the program.

“Everyone who goes to Belgian in the sister city exchange pays his own way. The city doesn’t pay their way,” he said. “We get to experience their culture and see how they live their daily lives, and they get to do the same thing with us.”

A key component to the program is that when Dalton residents go to Belgium they don’t stay in hotels. They stay with host families. And when the Belgians come to Dalton they stay with families here.

“The first time that I went, we sent profiles first. So they had meetings in Dilbeck and matched up who they thought would be compatible,” Elrod said. “We stayed with the same family each time. He was an architect, and she was a school teacher. We stay in touch with them. We email them each week, and they’ll be staying with us this time. It will be the fourth time they have stayed with us. Every time they come over here, we feed them barbecue, and every time we go over there, they feed us rabbit.”

Ross said the city is looking for about 30 families to host this year’s delegation. Those who are interested should call Kim Witherow at City Hall at (706) 529-2403.

In the past, Dalton and Dilbeek have exchanged visits every other year, and Dalton officials say they hope that schedule will resume with this fall’s visit.

In addition to municipal and economic component, Dalton State College officials have signed letters of intent with representatives from Erasmus University College and Hogeschool-Universiteit Brussel, laying the groundwork for exchange programs.

“Dr. Sandra Stone, our vice president for academic affairs, and Dr. Donna Mayo, who is the dean of the School of Business, will be going over there in mid May to meet with officials at both universities,” said Dalton State College Director of Marketing and Communications Pam Partain.

“They will be working out details on an exchange of students and faculty. When such an exchange might take place, we don’t know yet. But we should know more after that trip,” Partain said.