Tuesday, September 07, 1999
Sister cities celebrate 10 years
After decade of exchange, delegation to visit Kharkiv, Ukraine
BY ALLEN HOWARD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Conrad C. “Bud'' Haupt remembers dancing with his wife, Joy, at a party in Moscow 13 years ago.
That is when he started dreaming of setting up a sister city arrangement between Cincinnati and a Russian city.
“The fun and the freedom we had in Moscow was so different from the other places we visited on a planned tour in the Soviet Union,” Mr. Haupt said.
“It was like Christmas.”
Mr. Haupt, a retired city planner, will be part of a delegation lead by Cincinnati Mayor Roxanne Qualls, leaving today for a nine-day tour of Kharkiv in Ukraine, Cincinnati's sister city.
The trip celebrates the 10th anniversary of the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Project, of which Mr. Haupt is founder.
“I am excited about going back for this occasion,” Mr. Haupt said. “This will be my fourth trip to Kharkiv (formerly spelled Kharkov under the Soviet Union). “I am anxious to get back because I haven't been there in six years.”
Ukraine became independent of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Mr. Haupt said he has visited Kharkiv in 1989 (the year he started the project), 1991 and 1994.
While he referred to most of the tour in 1986 as a negative experience, he said the day in Moscow planted the idea of a sister city.
“The idea really began to grow when I attended a lecture at Xavier University given by Ruth Ness, who was working on a sister city project between Richmond (Ind.) and Serpukov,” Mr. Haupt said. “I started gathering information about Soviet cities that were available. We were given the name of Kharkov.”
Jan Sherbin, a member of the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Proj ect board of trustees, said Mr. Haupt's leadership made the Cincinnati project possible.
“It was his vision and his leadership that brought together the right people to get it done,” Mrs. Sherbin said. “He opened up a whole new world horizon for people like me. I went to Kharkiv in 1991 during the week when history happened.”
She said when communism ended and Ukraine declared its independence, the sister city relationship took on a whole new meaning.
“Bud helped us see ways Cincinnatians could be involved in this historic transition,” Mrs. Sherbin said.
The sister city arrangement was completed Sept. 11, 1989. Mr. Haupt said in 10 years, about 1,000 people have exchanged visits between the two cities.
“Each year we get 30 interns from Kharkiv. This year we will have interns working in the food industry,” he said.
The delegation to Kharkiv also will include 14 civic and business leaders; There will be eight delegates representing culture and entertainment.
They include the Steve Schmidt Jazz Trio, the Invisible Hands and photographer Bill Davis.
The Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Project is a nonprofit volunteer organization, affiliated with Sister Cities International, founded by President Eisenhower to encourage citizen diplomacy.
The local project has won six national Sister Cities International awards for its training programs, a television program, a Scouting program established in Kharkiv, a training program for doctors to treat substance abuse, rebuilding a Kharkiv's Jewish Community and setting up a store to sell Ukrainian goods to help support the project.
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