Kay Sargent: Executive Director of Lexington Sister Cities

It was 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to launch an extraordinary program he called people-to-people.  Eisenhower’s goal was revolutionary at that time when he stated, 

“If we are going to take advantage of the assumptions that all people want peace, then the problem is for people to get together and to leap governments – if necessary to evade governments – to work out not only one method but thousands of methods by which people can gradually learn a little bit more about each other.”

This unique concept to enlist hundreds-of-thousands of volunteer citizen diplomats in a quest for peace was launched at a White House conference called by President Eisenhower on September 11, 1956 – yes, that’s correct, on September 11^th.  The President told the assembled delegates that, “in the opinion of this administration there is no more important work than that in which we are asking you to participate.”  

He summarized the goal as, “the most worthwhile purpose there is in the world today.”

Now, in 2017 – 61 years later, Eisenhower’s statement still holds true.  Organizations like Sister Cities International continue to contribute to people-to-people diplomacy, deeper cross-cultural understanding, and worldwide cooperation toward sustainable economic and community development.  These and other programs like them across the globe are deeply rooted in the ideal that we are all members of a single community that is global in scope; that no nation alone can hope to solve our most pressing problems.

Traditionally, Sister City activities have revolved around the arts, culture, education, youth, professional and social exchanges; these areas will continue to be the foundation of Sister City relationships.  However, as the world changes, new areas of leadership opportunities emerge from the Sister City network that many of our citizens are anxious to explore.  It is a chance to take a leadership position on issues that cross international boundaries – not only to talk about common problems, but to suggest solutions – by bringing together government, business, nonprofit organizations, and just ordinary citizens to make a difference in the cities they call home.  Today, there are over 2,400 partnerships in the US in 150 countries on six continents.

The Sister Cities sign in Deauville 

Raising the Lexington flag in Deauville 

The people of Lexington are very proud that their city was one of the first to follow President Eisenhower’s suggestion.  They joined the people-to-people movement in 1957 when they became Sister Cities with Deauville, France.  I can remember when the Commonwealth was best known for Kentucky Fried Chicken.  People from Tokyo to Paris knew us for this famous recipe.  Things have changed significantly – more and more international businesses are opening and thriving across Kentucky.  Kentucky has gone global.  Individuals who have never traveled outside the state are now traveling abroad.

In a connected world, students especially need a global perspective.  Through our student exchanges, we focus on educating our youth about the world around them; we place emphasis on foreign languages and cultural diversity.  The great potential benefits that can be derived from student exchanges are ultimately reflected in the ongoing attitudes and activities which continue long after the completion of the actual exchange.

We travel to Deauville today to celebrate the 60^th anniversary of our Sister City partnership.  This program has affected the lives of so many people, whether it’s a student that went on the annual high school exchange, a parent who hosted a student, a college student on a scholarship, a soccer player, a ballet dancer, an artist, a policeman, a musician, a teacher, an intern, a mayor, a governor, a council member, a business person, a volunteer or just a Lexington citizen who travelled to Deauville to visit our Sister City – so many touched by this program.

Lexington soccer team travelled to France in 1980

Another soccer team traveled to France in 1989  

I made my first visit to Deauville in 1980 – what a wonderful experience.  The delegation of 80 citizens from Lexington (14-member soccer team included) was led by Mayor Jim Amato and his wife, Bobbye Gayle; and I was asked to help make the travel arrangements.  We were met in Deauville by Monsieur Jacques Valentin, Chairman of the Deauville Twinning Committee.  The hospitality was incredible – reception at town hall with Mayor Anne d’Ornano; visit to the Normandy landing beaches; dinner in the homes of Deauville citizens; visit to near-by Honfleur and a tour of Calvados distillery; soccer matches; horse farm tour; trip to the famous Mont Saint Michel; garden party at the Deauville racetrack; and topped off with an elegant dinner and dancing at the Deauville casino.  It was certainly a trip to remember, and my first involvement with the Sister Cities program.  As you might expect, I was more than happy to help the Deauville Committee prepare when a delegation from Deauville traveled to Lexington the next year.

1980 delegation having lunch in Deauville
(yes, that's me on the right with the long hair) 

Delegation in Paris in 1980

Photos of my many visits to Deauville since 1980

Monet's Garden on the way to Deauville.

 Normandy American Cemetery.  

Honfleur. 

Dinner in Deauville with Monsieur Valentin.

My next participation with the program came in 1984, when Lexington and County Kildare, Ireland became Sister Cities.  Again, I was asked to assist with plans to take a delegation to Ireland and also help with the planning when the delegation from County Kildare came to Lexington to sign the agreement.  I was more than ready to take another adventure.

In 1988, I volunteered during the Sister Cities International Annual Conference, which was being held in Lexington.  We welcomed delegations from around the world, including delegations from both Deauville and County Kildare; and I watched as the Mayor of Lexington and the Mayor of Shizunai, Japan (later known as Shinhidaka) signed a Sister City agreement.  Since that time, my life has been dedicated to the Sister Cities program, including becoming a member of the board of directors for Sister Cities International (SCI).  Presently I am the Executive Director of the Lexington Sister Cities Commission, and serve as the Kentucky State Representative for SCI.

Lexington Sister Cities continues to grow having twinned with Newmarket, England in 2003; and if things go as planned, we will sign an agreement with a new Sister City in April (stay tuned!!)  So many memories and friends made – so many more to be made!

Managing a program like Sister Cities cannot be done by one person,  It would be appropriate at this time to thank the many citizens and groups in Lexington who volunteer their time to make this program a success.  Our ambassadors, committee members, parents, members, corporate partners, government officials, and local organizations all make it happen.

Also, a thank-you to the committees in all of Lexington's Sister Cities that work so diligently to keep this program going for hopefully generations to come.  On this special anniversary, a special thank you to Philippe Behuet and his Deauville Twinning Committee for all their dedication and work -- we look forward to seeing you soon!

Chefs Philippe and Christian

Philippe and Marie-Cecile's wedding

Our latest trip to Deauville in 2014 pictured with
Madame d'Ornano, Mayor Philippe Augier, Vice Mayor Linda Gorton

Attending the Deauville American Film Festival. 

A visit with Philippe, Marie-Cecile, Matthieu and Louise.  

Philippe's son Matthieu came to visit me in Lexington this summer

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY LEXINGTON AND DEAUVILLE!

Sarah Martin: Assistant Director of Lexington Sister Cities

When I was in high school, I set my computer desktop background to Big Ben in London.  At that time in my life, traveling abroad was something that didn't seem easily attainable.

Fast forward a few years to my junior year of college when an email goes out to all of the business majors at Transylvania University.  An internship was available at this place called Lexington Sister Cities.  Not knowing anything about it, but wanting to try something new, I went for it.  

I still remember the first day I headed to the office to meet with Kay.  I remember reading about Sister Cities on their website beforehand.  I remember being nervous and then really excited to get the internship and have a real, office job.  

But "real, office job" is not what I was in for.  

The internship was only supposed to be about 6 months, through September.  I had another job at the time, but knew it was time to move on from that.  I left that job and solely focused on Sister Cities.  September came, and I asked Kay if I could just stay on.  

And not to be cliche, but the rest is history.

The very next year I took my first trip out of the country when I chaperoned the student exchange to Japan.  Since then, I have been to Ireland (twice), England, and Spain; and in just a few days, I finally make my first trip to Deauville.  

I still remember when Philippe, President of the Deauville Jumelage, would call our office and introduce himself to me before each call: "Hello, this is Philippe Behuet from Deauville.  Is Kay there?'.   I'm not exactly sure when it started, but now we have our own conversations too.  After getting to meet him and his wife Marie-Cecile in Lexington in 2012, and his son Matthieu this summer, now I get to visit their entire family in Deauville. 

Before I started working at Sister Cities, I never truly understood the importance of a program like this.  I knew that international relations and diplomacy were important, and I had friends who had studied abroad and had great experiences.  But throughout these past 7 years, Sister Cities has taught me so much.  

I now have friends across the world.  I look forward to traveling to our Sister Cities for many reasons, but the biggest reason being to see those people I have become friends with.  

My husband and I have played golf with friends in Ireland.  

I have attended Prom in England.

I learned to dance in Spain.  

I even introduced myself in Japanese... in Japan!

Though these examples might seem simple, and they are, these are the moments that make Sister Cities all the more special because of the people you get to share them with.  

And on my first trip to France, I am looking forward to seeing friends I have made already and to meet new friends as well.

These experiences didn't happen just because I work at Sister Cities.  These opportunities are available for everyone... for students, teachers and even just regular people.  That means even high school me with Big Ben as her desktop background could have had this opportunity simply through Sister Cities.  

As new people become involved from every city, a common theme seems to come from their experience; many of them telling me "okay... now I get it.  I understand what Sister Cities is about."  

Understanding culture and language is only part of it.  When President Eisenhower created the people-to-people, he knew that true peace would not come from governments... it would come from citizens from different countries becoming friends with each other.  That is what makes Sister Cities so special, and why I believe in it so strongly.  

When a city or country experiences tragedy, such as the attacks in Paris or Hurricane Harvey, we are there for each other as it feels closer to home because of our friends.  When they are celebrating, like the Fourth of July or Bastille Day, we are there to celebrate as well.  

The length and strength of the Sister Cities relationship between Lexington and Deauville is truly only beginning.  Though the relationship has been in place since 1957, I see it continue to grow each year.  New programs, new exchanges, new friendships... all these helping to spread the international understanding to people in our cities.  

I am thankful for this opportunity to be part of the Sister Cities Program, and I am thankful for the many wonderful relationships that now fill my life because of it.  

To my Deauville friends - Happy Anniversary and I look forward to seeing you soon! 

Madame Anne d'Ornano

Madame Anne d'Ornano was Mayor of Deauville from 1977-2001 and President of the General Council of the French department of Calvados from 1991-2011.  She is a big supporter and friend to Sister Cities.

Madame Anne d'Ornano, Deauville Mayor Philippe Augier, Lexington Vice Mayor Linda Gorton, and Lexington Sister Cities Executive Director Kay Sargent in France in 2014.  

See the video below to hear Madame d'Ornano discuss why the relationship between Lexington and Deauville is so important, and has stayed so strong throughout the past 60 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehhpxFBTYv0&feature=youtu.be

Betty Mills: Lexington-Deauville Sister Cities Committee Chairman

Betty Mills - Lexington-Deauville Sister Cities Committee Chairman

After 44 years of involvement with Deauville, I have almost a whole lifetime of wonderful experiences to reflect on.  It has actually been the most important work of my life.

I first heard about Deauville, our "twin city" from my high school French teacher in 1958 who was going to take a group of students there in the summer. I signed up to go on the trip, but a family event prohibited me from doing it.  Years later--1973--after beginning my teaching career at Georgetown College, I began to think about doing something for our local high school students.  I had already myself been an intern in a Paris bank, work exchange program, and a student at the University of Paris, Sorbonne, for a year.  I realized the profound difference of an in-depth experience for really learning a language.

I spoke to our Mayor Foster Pettit, who was a friend, about a possible reciprocal exchange.  He was very  enthused.  He wrote to the French Mayor Michel d'Ornano who was equally enthused and who put me in contact with the person in Deauville who might want work with me on this.  As fate would have it, a flyer arrived in Mayor Pettit's office about a "Sister Cities" convention in Atlanta.  He sent me to it to learn everything I could; at his request I formed a committee of French teachers, citizens in business and the horse industry.  We discussed many issues, talked to the Superintendent of Fayette Co. Schools, and to high school principals about sending a student during part of the school year.

The "person" in Deauville was the extraordinary Jacques Valentin, probably the most erudite, energetic, and enthusiastic person I have ever known.  Without his involvement, we would not be where we are today with Sister Cities.    Ann Hatfield from Henry Clay High School was the first student to go; she spent 5 months in Deauville in 1975.  We have now sent over 300 high school students from Lexington, and received over 300 French students!  C'EST MERVEILLEUX, N'EST-CE PAS?

One of the things of which I am the most proud is obtaining scholarships for 2 Deauville students in perpetuity at the University of Kentucky starting in 1976.  It happened by a stroke of great luck:  I was able, with Jacques Valentin's help, to assist Gov. Julian Carroll with his trip to France, and in meeting with Mayor d'Ornano, who was Minister of Industry; and Baron Guy de Rothschild, president of the Thoroughbred Breeders at the time. After his trip, he asked me if "ever I needed anything for this [Lexington-Deauville] committee" to let him know.  I let him know pretty quickly....

By 1977 Jacques Valentin had established scholarships for University of Kentucky students at the University of Caen in Normandy, which the Deauville Twinning Committee provides.  In addition, Mayor Anne d'Ornano created teaching assistantships positions for 2 Lexington young adults to teach English in the elementary schools in Deauville, a pilot program for France. Without her gracious help and vision, we would not have progressed very far. A wonderful lady!

We have had many outstanding UK or Transylvania University students benefit from these life-changing experiences, and the same is true for the French students who have come to UK.

Many of our French scholarship holders that come to UK from Deauville credit their year here as a vital stepping-stone in their current careers.

Two recent students come to mind:

1) ALICE QUINONES, 2009-2010

Alice was a participant in the UK scholarship program as well as the Lexington internship program where she interned at the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government Law Department.  Since these experiences, she has returned to Lexington many times to visit. She attended law school in Paris for 2 years, and spent her 3rd year at Washington University in St. Louis where she graduated in 2015.  She passed the New York state bar in 2015, and then the French bar in 2017, and now works in a British firm, the 3rd largest in the world, in Paris.

2) LENA TOUCHARD, 2013-2014

Lena managed to participate in everything at UK.   With an enormous amount of hard work with the coach, she was able to join the UK debate team.  She traveled with the team and was able to give speeches and debate; the first foreign student at UK to do so, I was told. She then spent 2 years in Leicester, England, in law school debating there as well.  She now is in her 3rd year of law in Strasbourg.  She credits her year at UK and the debate team as another case of a vital stepping stone for her future career.

With Lena (left) and her sister Violette. 

Both  of these young women are my "adopted" daughters and my dear friends whom I will see in Paris and Deauville next week.  They both love America and Kentucky.

And now the Deauville Twinning committee in France has been in the very capable hands of my beloved "adopted" son, Philippe Behuet, since 1996.  I was able to obtain an internship here for him in a bank in 1991-92.

My adopted son, Philippe (left).  

He has returned often to Lexington where he has many friends.  As the volunteer chairman, he has many duties which he performs with enthusiasm.  I will have the great joy of being with him next week in Deauville...

Philippe Behuet: President of the Deauville Jumelage

Philippe Behuet is the President of the Deauville Jumelage.  After participating in an internship in Lexington from 1991-1992, he returned to France eager to continue help with the twinning committee.  He became President in 1996 and has many friends in Lexington who are looking forward to seeing him for the 60th celebrations.

Philippe Behuet

Quand Sarah Martin m’a contacté pour nous proposer de mettre en place ce blog « 60 days before the 60th » pour recueillir 60 témoignages parmi les participants à nos échanges, j’ai tout de suite trouvé l’idée merveilleuse.

Ce compte à rebours de 60 jours avant la venue à Deauville de nos amis américains pour marquer les 60 ans de notre jumelage a été très riche de par les témoignages, de par le plaisir d’avoir des nouvelles de ces participants à nos échanges, de par l’importance dans leur vie de cette expérience américaine ou française.

Ces quelques tranches de vie nous donnent de l’énergie à continuer l’œuvre entreprise.

C’est maintenant à mon tour de faire cet exercice. Pas facile parce qu’il est personnel en tant que participant aux programmes d’échanges  en occupant une emploi d’employé de banque entre 1991 et 1993  et en tant qu’organisateur en tant que Président de l’association depuis 1996.

L’aventure du jumelage a commencé pour moi en 1991 après mes études de commerce et à l’issue de mon service militaire. J’avais alors contacté Jacques Valentin qui m’a tout de suite encouragé dans ma démarche. Je ne me doutais pas alors que ma vie allait être marquée par cette aventure à Lexington.

Très attiré par les Etats-Unis : son histoire, sa culture, sa langue j’ai vécu cette candidature comme un rêve qui se réalisait avec un objectif d’une première expérience professionnelle pour commencer à enrichir mon cv.

Jacques a tout de suite contacté Betty Mills (dont je deviendrai plus tard le « fils français ») pour lui exposer mes motivations et ma passion pour l’anglais et la culture américaine. Aidé par le Dr Gee et Mr Foster Petit un ancien maire de Lexington, elle m’a décroché un poste à Bank One au service des prêts étudiants. Kay Sargent et Jim Amato à la tête de Sister Cities ont également œuvré pour ma venue. 

J’étais désormais prêt à faire le grand pas en étant rassuré d’avoir autour de moi toutes ces soutiens précieux sans me douter que je les considèrerai un jour comme faisant partie de ma famille.

J’ai intégré mon poste après un test anti drogue (le directeur des ressources humaines de Bank One mon futur employeur m’avais dit si tu te drogues, ce n’est pas la peine de venir !) et des prises d’empreintes et de photos à la police obligatoires pour travailler dans la banque. J’ai découvert avec émerveillement et curiosité la vie professionnelle américaine avec ses particularités modernes à l’époque : des fax, des conversations en direct sur des messageries informatiques à des milliers de kilomètres de distance. Nous étions en 1991 il faut le rappeler. Tous ces outils et ces pratiques qui sont maintenant si courantes étaient inconnues en France à l’époque.

Et puis il y avait la pause déjeuner de 30 minutes avec  à peine le temps de déballer ce que je m’étais préparé et qui surprenait mes collègues américains. J’étais devenu la curiosité au moment du déjeuner devant par exemple expliquer comment je préparais ma vinaigrette. La pause déjeuner c’était aussi le moment de regarder les soap opéra et l’obligation de raconter les aventures des glorieux héros de General Hospital ou de Santa Barbara à mes collègues féminines qui continuaient à servir les clients sur l’heure du déjeuner. Elles découvraient horrifiées le lendemain que j’avais inventé de toutes pièces de nouvelles situations beaucoup plus drôles que les dialogues qu’elles m’obligeaient à raconter.

Après plusieurs semaines à faire du classement, certainement pour me tester, j’ai peu à peu évolué vers de la saisie et un accueil des clients étudiants en vis-à-vis ou au téléphone. Quelle aventure de répondre à ces jeunes qui avaient l’impression de parler du financement de leurs études à l’inspecteur Cluzeau (héros du film La Panthère Rose). Après le travail, j’ai entrepris de préparer le TOEFL et pris de cours du soir d’études bancaires et économiques qui m’ont permis d’obtenir un diplôme de l’Institut Bancaire Américain.

Après 9 mois, j’ai sollicité Kay Sargent pour prolonger mon visa de travail de la même durée tant cette expèrience était riche et que mon intégration était réuussie.

 Je suis alors devenu guichetier à l’agence bancaire du centre commercial de Tates Creek Center. J’ai alors eu des contacts multiples et variés avec la clientèle américaine du quartier ou venant faire ses emplettes,  mais aussi travaillant dans les haras environnants. Cette pratique bancaire et cette approche du service clients en agence ou dans le drive in.

En dehors du travail, sur le plan privé, un bonheur incroyable à s’intégrer, à apprécier, à découvrir  la vie américaine au travers de rencontres marquantes ou de la vie quotidienne, de visites de lieux anonymes et prestigieux qui font la richesse de ce pays. Une expérience d’une durée de 18 mois courte à l’échelle d’une vie mais d’une intensité si marquante qu’elle marque encore aujourd’hui ma  vie et celle de ma famille.

De retour en France, j’ai poussé la porte du jumelage pour proposer mon aide en reconnaissance de ce que l’on avait fait pour moi et de ce que j’étais devenu grâce à cette opportunité fantastique.

Puis en 1996, j’ai été élu à l’âge de 28 ans à la Présidence de l’association  suite au départ du Président Jean-François Hernandez qui avait succédé à Jacques Valentin. Depuis cette date, c’est une collaboration sans faille quotidienne avec nos amis de Lexington avec à leur tête Betty Kay et Sarah qui sont des relais et des organisatrices formidables et si dévouées.  Nous avons à Lexington et à Deauville bien sur les municipalités, les membres de nos comités, les amis et les familles qui oeuvrent pour communiquer et transmettre cette amitié qui nous lie. 

Ce travail de bénévole comme j’aime à le dire se fait avec des valeurs communes et une confiance mutuelle qui nous rapproche. Notre satisfaction est faite de petits et de grands bonheurs, de joies, d’émotions, de tristesse : le sourire d’un jeune, l’émotion des parents, des retrouvailles après plusieurs années, des témoignages de réussites d’anciens à qui l’on donne les cartes pour jouer et qui se forgent une réussite grâce à ce passage à Deauville ou à Lexington, des mariages et des enfants, des décés, l’organisation et la remise de médailles à 250 vétérans du DDAY du Kentucky, l’accueil de chorale, de musiciens. En bref, une vie si loin les uns des autres mais si proche grâce à cette vision commune de la vie.

Je voudrais à mon tour remercier nos maires Monsieur Fossorier, Monsieur et Madame d’Ornano, Monsieur Augier à Deauville et à Lexington, Monsieur Kinkead, , Monsieur Petit, Monsieur Amato, Monsieur Baesler, Madame Miller, Madame Isaac Monsieur Newberry et Monsieur Gray qui ont été et sont visionnaires pour permettre aux participants des multiples programmes d’échanges de grandir au travers de ces rencontres et de ces expériences.

Un grand merci à Betty, à Kay,à Sarah, aux comités de jumelage de nos deux villes et à tous nos amis qui eux aussi certes participent et bénéficient des échanges et à ceux qui donnent tant pour perpétuer et entretenir ces liens pacifiques. 

Nous sommes plusieurs et j’en fait partie à ne pas passer une journée sans penser à nos amis de Lexington qui nous sont si proches qu’ils font partie de nos familles. 

Joyeux anniversaire à vous tous et à notre jumelage !

Philippe Behuet

 When Sarah Martin contacted me to suggest to start a blog named “60 days before the 60^th”  so as to collect 60 stories among participants of our exchanges, I immediately thought it was a wonderful idea.

The 60 days countdown before the arrival in Deauville of our American friends to celebrate the 60th anniversary of our twinning has been very rich with stories, with the pleasure to have news from former participants to our exchanges, with the importance in their lives of this American or French experience.

These few “tales of life” give us energy to pursue the ongoing projects.

It is now my turn to play this role. Not easy because it is getting personal as a participant to the exchange programs as a bank employee in Lexington between 1991 and 1993 and also as an organizer as the President since 1996 of the Volunteers twinning committee.

The twinning adventure started for me in 1991 after graduating in business and economics and after completing my military service. I contacted at that time Jacques Valentin who encouraged me to apply to the sister cities program. I didn’t think that my life was going to be shaped by this stay in Lexington.

Very attracted by the United-States : its history, its culture, its language, I experienced this application as a dream come true with the goal of a first working experience so as to enhance my resume.

Jacques called immediately Betty Mills (whom I will become later the “French adopted son”) so as to tell her about my motivations and my passion for the English language and the American culture. She was helped by Dr Gee and Lexington former Mayor Foster Petit to find me a position at Bank One in the student loans department. Kay Sargent and Jim Amato at the Head of the Lexington Sister Cities Commission were also very involved to make possible my coming.

I was ready to make the big step being reassured to have around me all the valuable supporters, not knowing at that time I would consider them later to be part of my family.

I started my job after a drug test (the head of human resources at Bank One told me it was not necessary to come if I had taken drugs before!), after finger prints and pictures taken at the Lexington police department  as it was required for bank employees.

I discovered with amazement and curiosity the American business life with modern particularities at the time: fax machines, chatting on electronic messages being several thousand miles apart. We have to remember we were in 1991. All these tools and uses being so common nowadays where completely unknown in France.

There was also the 30 minute lunch break with barely enough time to unwrap what I had fixed and which amazed my American colleagues. I became the curiosity at lunch time during which I had to tell how to make French vinaigrette. The lunch break was also the moment to watch soap operas on television and the obligation to tell the adventure of the glorious heroes of General Hospital or Santa Barbara to my lady colleagues who had to continue to wait on the bank customers on lunch hours. They were horrified the day after when they discovered that I completely had invented new situations funnier than the dialogues they made me summarize.

After a few weeks doing filing, certainly to test me, I “moved up” to doing data entries and waiting on student customers face to face or on the phone. What an adventure to answer to the youngsters who had the impression to talk about the financing of their studies to Inspector Cluzeau (the hero of the movie “The Pink Panther”). After work I started to prepare the TOEFL and I took evening classes in economics and banking which enabled me to get a General Banking Diploma from the American Institute of Banking.

After 9 months, I asked Kay Sargent if it was possible to extend my working visa for 9 more months having such a great experience and a successful integration.

I then became a teller in the branch or in the drive in at the bank branch of Tates Creek Center. I had multiple contacts with the American customers from the neighborhood and shoppers or workforce from the horse farms close by.

Outside work, I had an amazing happiness to be integrated, to enjoy, to discover the American life through great or every day encounters; visits of places anonymous or prestigious which constitute the treasures of this country. An 18 month experience so short on a life scale but with such intensity that it still paves my family life.

Back to France, I “pushed the door” of the twinning committee to offer my assistance as an appreciation of what was done to me and what I became due to this fantastic opportunity.

Then in 1996, I was elected at the age of 28, the President of the Association after the departure of Jean-François Hernandez who succeeded to Jacques Valentin.

From this date, it is an everyday unfailing cooperation with our friends from Lexington headed by Betty, Kay and Sarah who are the so devoted ambassadors and great organizers. We have in Lexington and in Deauville of course our municipalities, the members of our committees, the friends, and the families who are involved to communicate and to pass this friendship which links us.

This voluntary job as I like to say is done with common values and a mutual trust which makes us be closer to each other. Our satisfaction is made of small and great happiness, emotions, sadness : the smile of a student, the emotion of the parents, reunions after several years being far away from each other, testimonies of success from former participants to whom we give cards to play and who shape their success due to their coming to Deauville or to Lexington; weddings, births, funerals, organizing a medal award ceremony to 250 DDAY veterans from Kentucky, hosting a choir, musicians.

In short a life so far from each other but so close to one another because of this common view of life.

I wish to add my thanks to our Mayors: Monsieur Fossorier, Monsieur and Madame d’Ornano, Monsieur Augier in Deauville; and in Lexington Mister Kinkead, Mister Petit, Mister Amato,  Mister Baesler, Missis Miller, Missis Isaac, Mister Newberry, Mister Gray who were and who are visionary to allow numerous participants to the many exchange programs to grow up through these encounters and experiences. A great thank you to Betty, to Kay, to  Sarah, to the twinning committees. To the ones who participate and benefit from the exchanges but also the ones who give back so much to keep alive the spirit of these peaceful relations.

We are several and I am one of them who don’t spend a day without thinking of our friends from Lexington who are so close to our hearts that they are part of our families.

Happy birthday to all of you and to our twinning!

Austin Wicker: My Time in Deauville

Austin Wicker participated in the 2017 Deauville Internship Program.  During July and August, he worked at the Deauville Tourism Office.

My Time in Deauville

When asked to write about my experience in Deauville, I was somewhat concerned. The time I spent there and the things I experienced are hard to describe. I have found it difficult to even just tell people stories, because I just wish I could take them and show them. My time in Deauville was my first time spending an extended amount of time in another country. This of course came with all of the expected struggles, such as figuring out where you live, getting used to work, and finding friends. But after only a short amount of time, I felt right at home. The people I lived with changed me forever. I made some of the greatest friends I will ever have in Deauville. They were kind, welcoming, and thoughtful. They took care of me, fed me (even when I had food) and always wanted to include me. They were nothing but good to me, and I will owe them my thanks for that forever.

The people I worked with were the same in all manners. They were kind and welcoming, and were always there to help. When my French started to lag behind, they slowed down and helped me understand. They were patient and encouraging, and because of that I was able to produce some amazing and productive work. I was given the opportunity to work with the public, practice my French in a professional setting, and do work that pertained directly to my major.

Deauville is a beautiful, breathtaking place. But the beauty I discovered inside of the people of our Sister City was even more breathtaking. I came there alone, a foreigner. But by the time I left, I felt as if I had lived there my whole life. Being there grew me as a person. It taught me how to tackle problems by myself, even when help sometimes wasn’t there. It taught me how to reach out and make friends and connections. It introduced me to different ways of living, of thinking, of being. It expanded my mind, and will forever be a part of who I am as I go on throughout my life.

Happiness is only achieved when shared with others. That, alongside my contact information, is what I wrote on the back of a picture I took with my two best friends I made there, Thomas and Phillipe. They have my information, and I have theirs. I intend to stay connected with them for the rest of my life. The beauty of a Sister City is that we will always be connected, even if we are thousands of miles apart. I owe my greatest thanks to the Sister Cities Commission of Lexington and to the Jumelage of Deauville for selecting me for this experience. I encourage all of those interested and capable of going to go. The experience you gain will grow you, and the people you meet will better you.

P.S. À tous mes amis à Deauville – cela fait plaisir. Je n’oublierai tu tous jamais. 

Fanny Salmon: The places I call home

Fanny Salmon came to study at the University of Kentucky during the 1993-1994 school year.  One year was not enough, and she ended up staying at UK until the spring of 1995. After working for WTVQ in Lexington and Equidia in France, she started freelancing, covering major thoroughbred races around the world. She recently created her own consulting and digital media company, Full Field Agency. 

The places I call home

I knew right from the start, as we drove past the giant green paddocks, the horses and the stonewalls, nothing about this felt foreign. I came as an exchange student to the University of Kentucky, but I was never a foreigner, a novelty at times, maybe...

With Jim Amato and Frederique in 1993. 

WTVQ Bon Voyage Party in 1997.

I was met with so much warmth and kindness that the experience left an imprint still guiding my behavior to this day.

This was to be my year away from home, my chance to experiment before returning to France where a career in teaching awaited. I came from a family of teachers deeply rooted in Deauville where my grand-parents arrived as “yearlings” and where my mother was born. We lived wherever my mother taught but Deauville was always my anchor. It was where I spent most of my holidays, catching the horse bug early on; where I started binge-watching movies at the American Film Festival learning enough English to cruise through High School.

Teachers spent the following two years bringing me down to earth, beating some humility and proper in English into me. So much so that by the time I landed in Kentucky, I was told I “sounded like book.”

I’d reassured my kins by completing a bachelor’s degree in France before flying off, but Kentucky had been on my mind.  Ever since Anne d’Ornano and Jacques Valentin first encouraged me to apply through to the Sister Cities Student exchange program. Deep down, I had a dream... to be a turf writer. The French in me understood harboring such a dream was highly unrealistic. Little did I know...

On my second week at UK, a professor came to ask me why I had not come to his office yet.

“I had no idea, was I supposed to?”, I replied.

He went on to question me about my motivation for taking his Public Relations and Advertising classes.

I answered I had 2 semesters and meant to learn as much as I could from UK’s School of Journalism and Communications.

"But why?" he asked.  "And why here in Kentucky?"

I came clean and confessed. My obsession with racing and breeding inspired him.

"Do you know we have advertising agencies specializing in that field here in Lexington? You should knock on their doors, ask for an internship." 

The French in me was freaking out.  "Oh no, I couldn’t!"

"Why not? What’s the worst thing that can happen?" he said.  

"I could fail and disappoint everyone," I admitted.  

"So what? You’ll just get back on the plane and everyone will get over it."

That was the most liberating statement I had ever heard! A real turning point in my life.

The next one came the following semester when my broadcasting teacher sidetracked me. Professor David Dick introduced me to guest speaker Michael Castengera, then News Director at WTVQ, as “his next intern.” Professor Dick was grinning from ear to ear. He knew I wanted to work in print, “and print only!”, I had told him repeatedly. I agreed to do the internship to prove him wrong, “TV was not for me”. Within a month, I was hired as a video tape editor. I kept working at WTVQ while spending another year at UK and my one-year escape from reality turned into a four-year life-changing experience. I was lucky to meet lifelong friends and mentors along the way.

First day as a tape editor.

WTVQs Bowling Alley Newsroom

David Dick - the man to blame for my career in TV.

I was producing the Newschannel 36’s 11 at 11 newscast when I was offered a job at the French Racing Channel. I packed my bags in March of 1997 but never really left Lexington.

I have been lucky to make a career traveling around the world to report on horse racing. I became used to living out of suitcases, unable to claim 6 month and a day in any country. “When someone asks me, where are you from?” I find it hard to pick between the two places I call home.

In Deauville, coming full circle with interviews of Toby Maguire and Gary Ross. 

In LA, catching up with Kenny Rice and Sky Yancey. 

Live for HRTV Breeders Cup Week.

Working for Equidia with the 2008 French Derby winners.  

With John Calipari while reporting the Breeders Cup International Show. 

I am so grateful for the opportunity granted by the Sister Cities, for the friendships built along the way, the families who took me in, the joys we shared, the tears we cried, the tornado watches and the ice storms we weathered, the mornings on the back side, the crepes we flipped and the rocks we climbed.

I am a proud Norman and I carry Kentucky with me everywhere I go, setting my alarm clock at insane times during March Madness. Come to think of it, this may be one of the few things which truly felt foreign on my first year. Come on, a whole city dressed in blue and white? The French in me first found it strange, the Kentuckian in me gets it. I took my sister Pauline (a decent basketball player, unlike me) to Big Blue Madness one year. She heard John Calipari speak and turned to me with a puzzled look.

"Is this a coach or a preacher?"

I laughed. That was the French in her speaking, but there is a Kentuckian growing in there too. It is hard to resist the infectious hospitality.

Go Big Blue with my sister Pauline.

 Years after being told I sounded like a book, a European colleague of mine insisted I sounded like a Redneck. Strange though it may sound, it did not come as an insult. This twang tends to fade away when I tired and spent too much time on the road, but “I am darn proud of it!” I could never really leave and because deep down I feel like I belong.

I’ll never forget the day I moved into my first apartment in Lexington. My friend Dana Ross came to help. I had met Dana at Saybrook advertising -yes, the stubborn French did follow Professor Roth’s advice and interned at an advertising agency. Dana’s car was packed to the roof. “I thought you could use some extra dishes and linens,” she said as she unpacked box after box. I couldn’t  believe it, we’d only known each other for a couple of months. With a smile, she taught me about friendship, “you’ll do the same for someone one day”  and I did.

Dana Ross, the life long friend who taught me about friendship.