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Jirí Fišer Photo Sora O'Doherty
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At a reception at the home of Orinda City Council Member Janet Riley, the city welcomed a visit by former mayor Jirí Fišer of Orinda's sister city Tabor, in the Czech Republic. Fiser, who was mayor of Tabor for 8 years and who welcomed many Orinda residents to the historic Tabor meetings when they visited, arrived in the United States in Seattle and proceeded to ride a bicycle down Highway 1, completing his bicycle journey by navigating a route across the San Francisco Bay to Orinda.
Welcomed by members of the city council, Fiser accepted a proclamation, which was read aloud by Orinda Mayor Inga Miller. The proclamation praised the Sister City relationship, which promotes the exchange of information regarding each city's culture through long-term community partnerships. Each year Tabor sends a student to study at Miramonte High School for one semester. The Orinda-Tabor Sister City Foundation welcomed its 20th student this month.
Fiser began his journey on July 7 in Seattle. Each day he rode between 45 to 140 km (28 to 87 miles). He visited parks, campgrounds and sights in Washington, Oregon and California, riding nearly a thousand miles down U.S. Highway 1 over varied terrain.
Not tired when he reached San Francisco, he went to visit Sacramento and Folsom Lake, before returning to San Francisco and biking across the Bay Bridge to Orinda. Fiser brought gifts for the city, including a special T-shirt for Miller and a book for the city. The former mayor told the guests at the reception that he had always wanted to visit, but could not fit it into his schedule until he retired from the role of mayor. He said that the reception in Orinda was his favorite part of his trip. He left for home on the last day of July.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA