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Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors

Jan the Czech puppeteer and his musical partner provided an entertaining puppet show to the students at Magnolia Elementary School in Carlsbad which also highlighted our connection to our Sister City Karlovy Vary:

Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors recently brought Czech Republic puppeteers Jan Lindl and Votya to perform their children’s play “The Magic Schoolbag” in Carlsbad. The puppeteers of the Czech Puppet Theater flew 6000 miles from Carlsbad’s Sister City Karlovy Vary, The Czech Republic to perform in San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Diego and Carlsbad. Principal Craig Leach welcomed Jan and Votya to Magnolia Elementary School to perform and District Representative Matt Rubel of Senator Catherine Blakespear’s office presented a proclamation stating “Thank you for creating meaningful connections that promote cultural awareness and mutual respect”.

 

 

Introducing:

YAAS-2025

The Young Artists and Authors Showcase (YAAS) is an annual competition that encourages youth worldwide to express the mission of Sister Cities International through original artwork, literature, photography, and music. This year’s theme is “Friendship: The Heartbeat of Global Peace”.

Carlsbad is, for the third time, participating through CSCA (Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors), in YAAS and its international network of Sister Cities. YAAS 2025 has two age groups of competition, 12 to 14 years old and 15 to 18 years old with competition categories of classic art, digital art. essay composition, poetry, original music and photography. There will be a first place prize of $1000, second place prize of $500, and a third place prize of $250 in each of the six categories and two age groups. The deadline for entry is Apr. 1, 2025.

Carlsbad has been well represented in our first two years of entering YAAS with a national winner and showings in the North County at the regional Green Expo sponsored by the Carlsbad Chamber of Commerce. Students entering must be sponsored by Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors. For information contact Laurenn Barker, CSCA Secretary and Director of Communication at artlark17@yahoo.com.

The California Youth Leadership Summit

Another Sister City International (SCI) activity, The California Youth Leadership Summit is seeking talented artists from around the world to compete and exhibit at the California Young Artist Expo, "Peace, Kindness and Cooperation" to be held this summer in LA Winners will be exhibited worldwide and cash prizes will be awarded in several themes of visual art. The California Young Artist Expo is accepting entries until June 1. For more information and direct entry see: https://californiasummit.org/summit/

Founded by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956, Sister Cities International is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit which serves internationally for individual sister cities, states and countries worldwide. This network unites tens of thousands of citizen diplomats and volunteers in over 300member communities with over 2,000 partnerships in more than 140 countries.

 

 

A video tour of Karlovy Vary Mme Mayor Andrea Pfeffer-Ferklova and her husband Tomas' visit to Carlsbad:

 

Czech Historical Spas and Festivals April 27 thru May 6, 2025. Join us on a uniquely Carlsbad-centric trip!

Depending on the number of travelers, prices range from a high of $2,145 to a low of $1,690. Please indicate your interest in joining us here.

 

Carlsbad's Chamber of Commerce sponsored the 2024 Green Expo. And CSCA was there showcasing its part in the 2024 Young Artists and Authors Showcase.

CSCA booth

CSCA's own Laurenn Barker managed a booth at the recent Green Business EXPO. Shown here with her are Teresa Acosta, Carlsbad City Council member and Mathew Rubel, District Representative for Senator Catherine Blakespear, California State Legislature, 38th District.

 

California Young Artists

 

 

Council Mtg Presentation

Feb. 13, 2024, CSCA directors, family, friends and Carlsbad Council members shared a Lego project presentation from Futtsu's recent visit.

 

 

The Futtsu and Carlsbad mayors competed in a Lego building competion at LEGOLAND on Saturday, Aug. 26.

 

Below are a few photos plus an excerpt from an amateur home video of our 35 Year Anniversary Celebration of our relationship with Futtsu.

 

 

Futtsu 2023 photos

Please visit Google Photos to see many more photos capturing their recent visit to Japan.

OUR SPONSORS:

Sponsors

Please contact us for program details: info@globaleducationelite.com

If you would like to help defer the costs of our students' trip, please go to Join Us.


 

polly-horvat-acosta

Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors and Carlsbad Councilwoman Teresa Acosta attended the Swearing ceremony of Assemblyman Tasha Boerner Horvath on January 14, 2023.

 

IX. Our Youth Ambassadors had a memorable time on a visit to our Sister Ciies in Japan:

 

 

Poet ValerieArianna is from Sage Creek and she won the Sister Cities International Young Poet's first place award of $1000. Council Member Teresa Acosta presented her with the award. This year Carlsbad more than doubled the number of students submitting various kinds of art for the annual contest.

 

 

 

 

Community ConnectionsCarlsbad Sister City Ambassadors
Tom Hersant and Polly Yu Create
Meaningful International Connections

 

 

 

 

 

 

III. A video highlighting Carlsbad's many attractions:

Carlsbad's Sage Creek High School alumnus Danylo Drohobytsky produced a remarkable video for CSCA during his days as a student and Junior Ambassador.

 

 

 

XI. Carlsbad High School alumnus Emily reflects on her experience with the Youth Ambassador Exchange Program to Futtsu, Japan:

 

 

From the Editor’s Desk, March 2025

As part of our exchange commitment with our Sister City Futtsu, Japan, they will be sending 4 - 5 students and one or two chaperones here to Carlsbad. They will be here from August 22 - 28, 2025. We are looking for host families residing in Carlsbad who would like to house our guests. If interested, please write to Tom Hersant, president@carlsbadambassadors.org. A signup form will be available soon.

 

Tom Hersant arranged a visit for Governor Kotaro Nagasaki of Yamanashi Prefecture and Doctor Hiroshi Tasaka (author and former advisor to a Japanese Prime Minister) at Aptera, the innovative solar powered vehicle manufacturer in Carlsbad. They were gobsmacked by the Aptera visit (and test drive) and spent some time with their CEO exploring a relationship between Aptera and the supply and manufacturing businesses in his prefecture, as well as Japan more widely. Aptera has both a vehicle and an energy side (highly efficient solar panels and software for vehicles) and the Governor wants to see if he can help promote Aptera at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Aptera CEO Steve Fambro was positively interested and will begin sharing information with Governor Nagasaki.

Czech Historical Spas and Festivals April 27 thru May 6, 2025. Join us on a uniquely Carlsbad-centric trip!

CSCA is organizing a tour to Prague and Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic in the spring of next year, 2025.

  • Airport-hotel transfers, accommodations, select meals, local transportation, guided tours, festivals:
  • Prague (Hundred-spired ancient Bohemian capitol of the Czech Republic) Cesky Krumlov (Beautiful UNESCO town)
  • Kutna Hora (Medieval silver mint and Sedlic Ossuary) Karlovy Vary (Carlsbad’s namesake city, UNESCO spa town, site of Casino Royale and Last Holiday, festivals and introduction to Madam Mayor)
  • Medieval Loket Castle and Jachymov (Former royal mint and source for the word “Dollar”)
  • Pilzen (“Liberation Festival” aka Thank You America, tour of Pilsner Urquell brewery)

Depending on the number of travelers, prices range from a high of $2,145 to a low of $1,690. Please indicate your interest in joining us here.

See our complete itinerary here.

Our Sister City Karlovy Vary’s Mme Mayor Andrea Pfeffer-Ferklova and her husband Tomas visited us October 18. Among other activities, they were able to visit Calloway Golf for a factory tour. A special event since Andrea and her husband are both avid golfers.

KV MayorAndrea-Pfeffe-Ferklovar

In "Creating meaningful connections..." we will be visited by Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka in the next two or three weeks. Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka is President of Think Tank Sophia Bank, former Special Advisor to Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Tama University Professor. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a PhD. in Nuclear Engineering and is an advisor to the Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan.

CSCA along with Sister City International has sponsored the 2024 YOUNG ARTISTS AND AUTHORS SHOWCASE. The Young Artists and Authors Showcase (YAAS) is an annual contest that encourages youth worldwide to express the mission of Sister Cities International through original artwork, literature, photography, and music.

Please consider a great CSCA sponsored tour to our Sister City Karlovy Vary in the Spring of this year. After expressing your interest by submitting the signup form, a detailed itinerary and further details will be sent to you. [Note: This tour has been postponed until Spring 2025. We'll keep you posted.]

Ms. Mayor Andrea  Pfeffer Ferklova of Karlovy Vary invited us to a special event from November 24th through the 26th . View a video of Tom's trip to Karlovy Vary shown on the left.

CSCA's president Tom Hersant presented before Carlsbad City Council a brief review of its accomplishments in 2023 and a look forward to upcoming projects. In attendance were two CSCA sposored students, Rhiana and Isaac, along with CSCA Directors Laurenn Barker and Katherine Doherty. The Mayor and Council Members Bhat-Patel and Acosta expressed interest with the idea of a new Ireland connection. That makes it a definite “Go” for Council approval if we get agreement with the Northwest Ireland folks on a beginning Friendship relationship.

Please read this informative article, A Tale of Two Cities: Bridging the Gap between Czechoslovakia and California in The Sage about Carlsbad and sister city Karlovy Vary. Also, please visit Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angelesfor upcoming events and articles

Our Carlsbad students returned on June 23rd from a delightfully memorable visit to Futtsu and other Japan cities and now it is our turn to receive four middle school girls and three chaperones; one lady and two men. A four student and two chaperone delegation from Futtsu, Japan visited us this August 22-27. Some of the planned activities for our delegation visitors included trips to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and an Angels baseball game. There was a meet-and-greet at Carlsbad High School and later visit to LEGOLAND.

Then there was the great reception held at the La Costa Valley Master Association on Friday, Aug. 25 to honor CSCA's 35 year anniversary sister city affiliation with Futtsu, Japan. Over seventy invited guests were there to help us celebrate. With some sadness our guest delegation will be departing Sunday morning, Aug. 28.

A mayor-to-mayor Lego building competition at LEGOLAND was held Saturday, August 26th. See a video of the fun on the left!

 

 

2023 YAAS

See also:
CSCA Youth Ambassador Flyer

 

In this video, Tom explains CSCA's relationship with Futtsu, the Japanese culture, and what you can expect to experience on one of our tours:

 

Carlsbad city limits sign

 

 

booked.net

 

 

Why Do We Have “Sister Cities”?

There is an interesting article by Dan Kopf found on Priceonomics about the history of sister cities along with a current overview of world and state pairings.

It pays to be a member. If you want to be included in this lucky group of international bon vivants, just go to Join Us and inform us of your interest!

Welcome To Carlsbad Sister  City Ambassadors' website

Carlsbad enjoys Sister City relationships with Karlovy Vary in the Czech Republic and the Japanese City of Futtsu. This web site provides an easy, accessible forum in which the citizens of Carlsbad, Karlovy Vary and Futtsu can exchange and share information about their communities that will help to enrich our mutual understanding and appreciation for one another as global partners.

Mission Statement

Creating connections between Carlsbad and internationally dispersed communities to promote peace, cultural awareness and economic opportunities.

We welcome your participation!

• Student home stay exchanges

• Group travel for pleasure or business Arts and culture

• Food for thought - films and talks by visitors give a taste of Futtsu and Karlovy Vary

• Looking ahead - envisions athletic competitions, business seminars and related opportunities to cement and expand community and business relations here and overseas.

 

Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors
6153 Paseo Palero
Carlsbad, CA 92009
760-855-5758
CSCA is an approved 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation.