 | | | Mayor Smith (second from left) and council member Worth accept a gift from Tabor representatives. Photo provided | | | | | | When Mayor Victoria Smith and council member Amy Worth arrived for a visit to Tabor in the Czech Republic - Orinda's sister city - they weren't quite sure what to expect. When they stepped off the train at Tabor station, they received the warmest of welcomes from two of the Czech men who had been among the 16 students who have come to Orinda over the years to study as part of the sister city program.
From that moment, they were in good hands, as Michal Vasek and Karel Balogh took over and escorted the group, which included Smith's husband Wick Smith and Worth's friend Cornelia Foster, to all the events during the crowded 25th annual "Tabor Meetings Festival" weekend.
Smith described the festival as being similar to a large Renaissance Faire. Tabor has a historic old town. The population of Tabor is around 35,000, but when you count two nearby towns it swells to around 60,000. One hundred years before Martin Luther, Jan Hus started a movement to reform the Czech Catholic Church. He is memorialized in Tabor with a monument in Hus Square. Tabor has other sister cities as well, and invited each to send a delegation of four representatives to the festival.
The Orinda delegation traveled to Tabor at their own expense and brought with them gifts, including a decorative plate by artist Gerry Wallace, Orinda pins, a calendar and a framed photo of Orinda city hall. Orindans Slavka and Jan Ruzicka were also in Tabor for the festival, staying with the parents of visiting student, Adam Kraus, who is here for the 2016-2017 year.
Vasek and Balogh brought the Orinda delegation to the home of Adam's parents, Martin and Monika Kraus. Their historic home was build 500 years ago and was part of the castle walls. They toured this fascinating and beautiful home, going down deep beneath the castle walls to visit rooms like dungeons. They enjoyed a reception with local wine and cake, and attended a fancy cocktail party at the Hussite Museum. The mayor of Tabor spoke in Czech, which was translated into German for the benefit of Tabor's German sister cities. Vasek and Balogh translated for the Orindans.
Afterward, everybody went out into the square for a torchlight parade. There was a tremendous fireworks show, and a video was shown on the side of the city hall building. The weather was very hot, in the 90s. The following morning the delegation donned professional costumes that were provided for them and explored the festival sights. They climbed to the top of the church tower (not easy for Smith in a heavy, floor-length costume gown) and were rewarded with a lovely view.
Then they lined up to take part in the big parade. The Orinda delegation was the last to march, and by that time it was bucketing rain and beneath their heavy costumes they were soaked to the skin. The group in front of them, a Slovenian group, were marching to a song, and the group with the Orinda delegation was dismayed that they did not have a song too. Always ready, Smith sprang into action and taught them a song. And so it was that they marched through Tabor singing, "The Stanford Jonah" -"Up with the blue and gold, down with the red!" A group of former visiting students lined up to watch the parade. As the Orinda delegation passed, they applauded them, then ran forward to get in line to do it again further down the parade route.
That evening they turned in their sodden costumes and the rain stopped. At dinner they were treated to toasts, were given gifts of local chocolates, and heard an address by the Chilean ambassador. The Orinda delegation met the Czech Minister of Culture and Prince William zu Lobkowicz and invited everyone they met to come to Orinda next year for the King Wencesles Festival the last weekend in September, which will be the culmination of the celebrations of Orinda's Year of the Czech.
When Orinda was incorporated in 1985, the city was looking for a sister city. First Orinda mayor Dick Heggie thought that by choosing one that was just coming out of a long period of communism Orinda might be able to offer a helping hand. Former mayor Bobbie Landers cofounded the Orinda-Tabor Sister City Foundation together with Heggie and still plays an active role.
Smith admitted that she hadn't realized just how important the sister city program was until she visited Tabor and felt the warmth of the people and their tremendous affection for Orinda and the United States, as well as the deep appreciation for the help Orinda has provided to the city, which is only 27 years after the fall of communism.
For more information, see the following links:
Tabor Meetings:
www.taborskasetkani.eu/en/pictures/
Orinda's Year of the Czech:
www.cityoforinda.org/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC=%7B27459158
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Look for coverage of Tabor's Orinda exchange student, next issue.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA