Peace Pole, Friendship and Peace: Sheboygan welcomes Tsubame delegates with tree-planting ceremony, Sheboygan, Wisconsin-USA

August 1, 2024

SHEBOYGAN – Even as rain steadily fell, spirits of friendship and peace were high as delegates from sister city Tsubame and Sheboygan representatives planted seven trees near Peace Park Aug. 1.

It marked the official welcome of the delegation visiting Sheboygan, the first since 2011. The official partnership was established 28 years ago.

“The trees that we plant today are going to last a long friendship between our two sister cities,” Mayor Ryan Sorenson said at the ceremony. 

Department of Public Works staff, Mayor’s International Committee members and the delegates worked together to plant seven Carolina “Wedding Bell” trees, holding umbrellas, shoveling and raking soil, and compacting bark mulch on top.

“We’re very excited to commemorate this moment and the symbolism here in our long-lasting relationship and our dedication to international relations and continuing to host moments like this,” said Veronica Valdez, communication specialist and assistant to the mayor.

Following the ceremony, the group moved across the street to Peace Park to explore the Peace Pole and gardens honoring sister cities Esslingen, Germany, and Tsubame.

“We came from Tsubame City in Japan as ambassadors of goodwill,” delegate and student Ryutaro Tanabe said in a speech near the Peace Pole. “We are very excited to visit America. We have been looking forward to meeting new people in Sheboygan city.”

The sister city gardens were dedicated in September 2019, with 1,000 origami cranes hanging from the Japanese maple tree in the Tsubame area.

Mary Koczan, Peace Park volunteer and advocate, explained to the delegates it was a “wish for the health and peace and happiness for our community and your community.”

The delegates had the opportunity to select a painted “peace” rock and ribbon, adorned with a message. Multicolor ribbons hang from a branch on a tree at Peace Park’s south end. The park’s early influence was veteran Larry MacDonald, who also established the Veterans for Peace chapter in Sheboygan.

“Larry said often, ‘Peace is possible,’” Koczan said. “And as proof of that, Tusbame, Japan, Japan and Germany, were our enemies at one time, and now they are our allies.”

“And friends,” Peace Park volunteer and advocate Frank Koczan added.

The Tsubame garden has a variety of plants in honor of the partnership, like irises and lavender, because plants native to Japan won’t successfully grow in Sheboygan. Mary added chrysanthemums would be planted, too.

Ahead of the tree-planting ceremony, the delegates had breakfast at Field to Fork and visited some of the North Eighth Street shops, like the Victorian Chocolate Shoppe, where they tried chocolate-covered raspberries, and Freaktoyz because some of the students really love comics, Longfellow Elementary School music teacher Katy Reis said.

Reis said she learned Japanese comics are smaller, thicker, and only in black and white. 

Experiencing larger American portion sizes and an extensive menu in English, Reis said she thinks the students did “really well” at Field to Fork.  

“If I was in their position, I think I’d feel a little overwhelmed,” she said. “And I don’t know Japanese as well as they know English, so they’ve been doing a good job.” 

Reis is helping with the delegation and MIC during the visit. She has also incorporated cultural learning in one of the grade levels she teaches — using chopsticks, taste testing Japanese food, watching educational videos, and exchanging letters and artwork with a class overseas.  

Growing up with parents who had friends in Japan, Reis was exposed to using chopsticks and having a wok, rice cooker and bamboo steamer in her kitchen, things she thought everyone had. She said it was also common to receive letters and packages from Japan and send items from the U.S. back.  

“I didn’t realize how many Japanese things I knew and grew up with until I started teaching it to my students,” Reis said. “And then my students, being able to engage with somebody on the other side of the planet, in a culture that’s quite different from ours, it’s been really an exciting thing.” 

The Tsubame delegation will tour Longfellow Aug. 2, possibly meeting some of Reis’ students who are in the Boys & Girls Club’s programming, she said.  

The delegation will also tour some municipal facilities, like the Sheboygan Fire Department; partake in Brat Days festivities over the weekend; and experience an American summer camp at Camp Anokijig in Plymouth. The delegation will be formally recognized by Sorenson at the Aug. 5 Common Council meeting, too.

Friendship and peace: Sheboygan welcomes Tsubame delegates with tree-planting ceremony. One Tsubame delegate, visiting Sheboygan for the first time, described the city as ‘very cozy.’
Alex Garner

Sheboygan Press