Friday 16 May 2008
Off to Euskirchen
An invitation from the Burgermeister in Euskirchen, Dr Uwe Friedl, saw the Mayor and Mayoress of Basingstoke and Deane Cllr & Mrs George Hood lead a small party to our twin town to represent the borough and to support our participants in this year’s annual Festival of Sport in Germany.
Arriving in Euskirchen, the Mayor and Mayoress registered at the Hotel Bei Rothkopfs and joined the Burgermeister for a short tour of the Civic Offices. This was followed by a visit to the opening ceremony of ‘Art in the Labyrinth’ where a local artist had been commissioned to create some very modern pieces of art depicting the seven ages of women.
The next stop in their busy schedule was at a tennis facility and after spending time with the participants the news was that Basingstoke and Deane had won the tennis!
Next stop was the boules club where the two Mayors pitted their teams against each other; alas not a win for us!
Last stop of the day was the judo where an impressive display was put on from both teams with Euskirchen the winners.
Dinner in the evening was held at the hotel with the Burgermeister, representatives from their council and the Festival of Sport.
Saturday 17 May
It’s not the winning it’s the taking part
Saturday morning saw the Mayor and Mayoress at the football complex watching Tadley Calleva girls football team successfully beat the Euskirchen team. Cllr Hood believed that his ‘pep talk’ at half time definitely spurred the girls on to victory! Next was volleyball and even with noisy side line support the team were not winners.
Up until now the weather had been very kind to us however, as very typical in England, the rain came down and within minutes everyone was running for cover. The Mayor and Mayoress were then joined by the Chief Executive Tony Curtis who had flown out that day to attend a meeting with Dr Friedl to look at how the links between our two towns could work in other areas. This meeting may prove to be very fruitful as lots of ideas were discussed along with ways of moving them forward.
The Mayor and Mayoress went on to the boys’ football where Overton boys were defeated by Euskirchen. The camaraderie between the participants and those who are active in the Festival of Sport from both towns was very obvious. On to athletics and the chance to see Basingstoke and Mid Hants Athletics Club in action.
That evening a civic dinner was held at Waldgasthaus Steinbach where both Mayors had the opportunity to exchange small gifts and share their thoughts on the visit and links for the future. Following dinner, the party attended the final ceremony when it was announced that Euskirchen had won the Festival of Sport trophy. The atmosphere in the hall was quite electric and there were obviously some long established friendships among the sports people.
Sunday 18 May
Time to go home
With the festival over both Mayors said their farewells to the sports people and the coaches left Euskirchen at 9am, with a 13 hour journey ahead of them!
After breakfast the party was then taken on a walk through the city by Deputy Chief Executive Paul Zuendorf.
The Mayor, Cllr George Hood said: “From the moment I arrived in Euskirchen I had felt that I was amongst old friends. The Sports Festival is not about the winning but the taking part and that was very obvious throughout the weekend.
“It is hoped that in the future the links between the sports people, schools and organisations will continue and that other links may be fostered to grow".