On 13th and 14th of June 2009, in Puławy there took place III Festiwal Miast Partnerskich (III Festival of Partner Towns) during which there were about 100 representatives of Bojarka (Ucraine), Dublany (Ucraine), Douai (France), Nieswież (Belorussia), Nieuwegein (Holland) as well as Stendal (Germany). It was a wonderful occasion to present our town and region, to discuss the present cooperation and also to talk about future undertakings. The program included oficial, cultural, tourist and sports elements.
In order to celebrate 15th anniversary of cooperation with Nieuwegein as well as 10th anniversary of our friendship with Stendal, representatives of these towns planted two trees on the Niemcewicza Street (nearby the kindergarden No. 10) as a symbol of friendship between societies of our towns.
On Sunday, June 14th, we could watch II Tournament of Partner Towns in Football. The matches were held between football teams of Stendal, Nieuwegein and Puławy. Players of all the teams presented not only a high sports level but also a great technical preparation. After a fierce fight, the representation of Puławy was the winner, the German team took the second place and the Dutch players were the third.
These are the results of particular matches:
Stendal – Nieuwegein 6:0
Puławy – Stendal 3:1
Puławy – Nieuwegein 4:1
After the last match, the initiative group of Nieuwegein gave a cheque for children from the orphanage of Puławy. It is worthwhile to note that it was not the first time – our Dutch partners do it every year. The society of Nieuwegein is characterized by their great activity. This year, for example, its representatives expressed their will to cooperate with the hospice of Puławy. They also had a meeting with a representative of housing cooperative „Południe”. What is more, there was held a meeting with youngsters engaged in realization of a cultural project called ‘What’s the difference between you and me?” run by Aneleen Verbeek and POK „Dom Chemika” (a cultural centre in Puławy). At the end of June, a group of Puławy’s young people will take part in an exchange to Holland, where during „The Festival of Park” celebrated in Nieuwegein, they will get to know culture and life conditions of their peers in Holland. The group of young polish people will also have an opportunity to present themselves to the town’s society during their show of dance and music. Children from the orphanage taking part in the project offered a fund raising from their own pocket money in order to suport children from Rundu – a partner town of Nieuwegein from Namibia – with whom they are going to meet during their stay in Holland.
Besides official guests and a football team, the delegation of Stendal included also a cheerleader group called POPCORN. The girls presented their dance show during an event “Puławy Rzece Wiśle” (‘Puławy for Vistula River’) as well as in the breaks of the Sunday matches.
We said ‘Goodbye’ to our guests hoping for subsequent meetings and projects and also being sure that we are saying ‘Goodbye’ to our friends – another ambassadors of Puławy.
We would like to thank all the people engaged in organising in Puławy such a pleasant stay for our foreign guests.
Information prepared by the Promotion and Foreign Cooperation Office