Delgates from Hollister’s sister city in Japan have canceled a
bi-annual tour of Hometown, California because of worries over
security during the war in the Middle East, according to
organizers.
Delgates from Hollister’s sister city in Japan have canceled a bi-annual tour of Hometown, California because of worries over security during the war in the Middle East, according to organizers.
Parents of the 15 teenage girls from Takino, Japan scheduled to come to Hollister had expressed concern in recent weeks about the trip planned for this week.
“I started getting e-mails with questions about security,” said Geri Johnson, co-president of the Hollister Sister City Association. “I tried to reassure them things were fine… I got an e-mail (Thursday) that said they had canceled the trip.”
Johnson and Hollister resident Ruth Erickson organized the trip that included “three really full days” of activities, according to Johnson, such as tours of Hollister and Mission San Juan Bautista. The youths were also going to tour a chocolate factory and make pizza at Mountain Mike’s, Johnson said.
The Hollister Sister City Association is made up of 50 local members and the city has partnered with Takino since 1989. The program includes both student and adult trips for each city. The Takino students come to Hollister during odd-numbered years and Hollister students travel to Japan in even years. The Hollister adults will go to Takino this fall.
Johnson said she “completely” understood the parents’ concerns, and the city looks forward to the students coming in 2005.
“I wouldn’t put my teenage daughter on a plane to go to a foreign country… It’s just very unfortunate,” she said.
For more information about the program, call Erickson at 636-0987 or Johnson at 636-4304.
