Kameoka Corner
By Larry Jones
Special to the News-Press

As we approach the date of the 25th anniversary of our sister cities affiliation with Kameoka it’s a good time to pause and reflect on some of the highlights of the relationship during those twenty –five years. Significant highlights and wonderful memories are no doubt different for different people. For me the three most significant highlights of the 25 years was the OSU-K program in Kameoka, the International Friendship Garden at the community center and the ocarina concert presented by the Terreno Tono Ensemble. The OSU-K program was very special for my wife and I in that it provided us an opportunity to live in Kameoka, which is less than an hour by train from where Kayo grew up, for two years. But it also provided several hundred young people from throughout Japan an opportunity to pursue a university degree and their presence on the OSU campus for their junior and senior years was good for both OSU and Stillwater. The beautiful International Friendship Garden at the community center was an extremely generous gift from the people in Kameoka to the citizens of Stillwater and people in Stillwater are reminded of kindness of the people in our sister city every time we see the garden. The ocarina concert presented by the Terreno Tono Ensemble on a very cold and icy January evening in 2002 was an excellent program provided by a wonderful group. But it would have been a disaster if the people in Stillwater had chosen to stay home on that icy evening. Even as power lines and tree limbs were coming down, several hundred people braved the weather and the Ensemble performed to a full house in the auditorium at the Wes Watkins Center. It’s been a great 25 years and as we celebrate on October 17 at 2 pm at the Stillwater Public Library we hope you will join us.

Larry Jones is a Member of the Stillwater Sister Cities Council.