Town twinning association looks back on an eventful year
Rheine. The annual general meeting of the town twinning association got off to a lively musical start at the weekend in the Portuguese leisure center. A video showed one of the dances that the Portuguese and German students had rehearsed during the exchange last October and performed together at the final evening in the auditorium of the Escola Secundaria Alfonso Lopes Vieira. Chairman Reiner Wellmann considered the participation of almost 50 members as a nice sign of interest in the association’s activities. From Leiria he welcomed the teachers Lisete Perreira and Alcinda Goulart, who had just arrived with three new trainees in Rheine. Furthermore, the deputy mayor Karl-Heinz Brauer, who praised in a greeting the manifold commitment of the twinning association for the city Rheine: “For this, you need enthusiasts who get involved and who use their free time for this togetherness. This makes a lot of work and is not self-evident, but it is worth it, that is our firm conviction,” said Btauer.
Chairman Reiner Wellmann reviewed the year 2022 in his report. It was – after the restrictions in the previous years – characterized by many meetings and activities. Wellmann mentioned the one-week bicycle tour in June 2022 under the leadership of Engelbert Nagelschmidt to Bernburg. There, the group was welcomed by Mayor Silvia Ristow at the Rose Festival. The visit on two wheels has animated the Bernburger to also come to Rheine with a bicycle group this year. Preparations for this are underway.
A youth exchange with Leiria also took place again last year. While at the beginning of October 18 young pupils and pupils in Leiria stayed, it came in December to the Gegenbesuch. Currently, six young people from the twin city are completing their internships in companies in Rheine and the surrounding area. Wellmann thanked all the companies that gave the interns the opportunity to get to know everyday working life in Germany. He also thanked the hosts who took in the Portuguese for ten weeks.
A delegation from Rheine took part in the 700th anniversary of the twin town Trakai. And to the medieval Lithuanian capital led also a citizen journey of the city partnership association in the autumn. Under the motto “Friends help friends”, the twinning association had called for donations to help the people in Ukraine. The idea was to provide monetary donations to the twin town Trakai, which maintains twinning links with two towns in Ukraine. This support was used primarily to buy medicines and supplies that were taken to a military hospital in Ivano-Frankivsk. Wounded Ukrainian soldiers were treated there, also with support from Rheine. Furthermore, generators were purchased, which are still used in many ways in the vicinity of Zaporizhia. Due to the connections of the sportsmen of the soccer club Metalist Kharkiv to their homeland, small aid was made possible selectively.
Around 60000 Euro have been used for humanitarian purposes since the beginning of the armed invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Reiner Wellmann thanked in particular the treasurer Ingrid Brauer, who handled this considerable extra work sovereignly. And of course to the many donors who had supported the association in this task.
There were intensive contacts with the Dutch twin town Borne. They were also marked by preparations for the 40th anniversary of the town twinning, which will be celebrated this year. For the preparation there will be a working meeting on coming Monday with the partner committee Borne. But some dates are already fixed. For example, there will be a new route for the bike path that has connected the two cities for many years. Engelbert Nagelschmidt has made a route proposal that met with unanimous approval and will also be presented in printed form in the future. For the inauguration, a larger group of cyclists from Borne is expected at the barbecue party on May 18 in the city park. The Rheinenser officially inaugurate the tour with a ride to the major event “Melbuul’ndagen” on August 26 or 27. On the Sunday of the street party (10 September) it will be then on the Borneplace “Borne musiziert”. Eight choirs and bands from the twin town have confirmed their participation in this event and will show the range of musical activity in the twin town.
Furthermore, contacts between associations and groups from both cities are to be intensified again in the anniversary year. The exchange of elementary school students is being prepared again, as well as an exchange of the music school. And sports clubs have also expressed an interest in entering into an exchange.
A successful model is the joint partnership website www.friendsineurope.com, which has been online for a good year. During this time, the twinning website has already attracted more than 10,000 visitors. A great success, for which Chairman Reiner Wellmann thanked Gerd Cosse in particular, who updates the site almost daily with local news. The site could still be expanded to include information directly from the twin towns. “But we are working on it,” Wellmann promised.
The cash report, which Ingrid Brauer presented for the tenth time, showed what a healthy financial basis the association has. The cash auditors Udo Bonk and Engelbert Nagelschmidt certified the cashier an absolutely solid cash management. The number of members remains unchanged at 261. In a minute of silence the assembly commemorated the deceased members Irmgard Büchter, Bernhard Büchter, Bernhard Rolfes and Tomas Brito.
The elections were almost only a formality: the deputy chairwoman Irja Erben as well as the assessors Hannah Brauer and Johann Stoffers and secretary Heike Born were unanimously re-elected. New cash auditor Heinz Thüring became for the rotationally retiring auditor Udo Bonk.
The meeting ended with a pleasant get-together and an exchange of ideas over Portuguese delicacies from the kitchen of the Free Center.