Fredericksburg -Princess Town: Sister Cities

Fredericksburg, Virginia, USA -- Fredericksburg is preparing to formalize a new sister-city relationship with Princess Town, Ghana.

Next month, officials from the coastal Ghanaian community will travel 5,300 miles to visit Fredericksburg for an official ceremony.

During that ceremony, officials from Fredericksburg and Princess Town will sign a proclamation officially establishing the sister-city relationship.

The town's chief, or mayor, and four members of Princess Town's council will be coming. They'll be accompanied by Ghana's deputy minister of tourism, a member of its parliament and Ambassador Kwame Bawuah-Edusei, who represents the West African nation in Washington.

The event will be broadcast live, with a one-hour delay, in Ghana, said Paula Royster, whose Fredericksburg-based Center for African American Genealogical Research Inc. has helped get the partnership started.

"This is an exciting time for the entire city," she said.

Pamela Bridgewater, who grew up in Fredericksburg and now serves as the U.S. ambassador to Ghana, also will be in town for the festivities.

The Dec. 18 ceremony also will honor Bridgewater and former Fredericksburg Mayor Lawrence Davies. It will feature African dancers and is open to the public.

While in Fredericksburg, the Ghanaian delegation will spend time sitting in on classes in the city's schools, touring its attractions and getting to know what life in Fredericksburg is like.

Princess Town will be Fredericksburg's second sister city. It established a partnership with the French Riviera city of Frejus 25 years ago.

The city supports the Frejus sister-city group with $4,000 a year in tax dollars, or about a quarter of the group's $16,000 budget.

City Council members are planning to lend similar support to the Princess Town partnership. At a work session last week, the council agreed to contribute $8,000 toward the Princess Town partnership.

That amount is intended as a two-year "advance" contribution to help get the project going, but the yearly contribution will be the same as what the city gives the Frejus group.

The council will vote on that contribution at its Nov. 28 meeting.

Royster said she envisions lots of opportunities for humanitarian service, cultural exchange and learning coming from the partnership with Princess Town, where the average salary is $1 a day, and most residents subsist through peasant farming and trading.

Royster's group, which helps African-Americans trace their roots, is planning to open an office there in April.

She said she hopes an exchange program can be started to give University of Mary Washington students a chance to study in and learn about Ghana, a West African nation of 21 million people.

A committee of local residents has been formed to foster the partnership, and the group is already looking for people willing to help out with book and clothing drives and other efforts to try to meet some of Ghana's humanitarian needs.

"Stay tuned," Royster said. "I am really excited about this. It's a different approach to getting people involved."

To reach EMILY BATTLE:540/374-5413

Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com