This past week I was a part of a welcoming team that greeted seven German politicians from Bietigheim-Bissingen. The visit, which was sponsored by the Village of Downers Grove, was an outreach to the city which has hosted many of our student musicians over the past twenty-four years.
I was pleased to be a part of the committee that put the visit together, which included tours of the "Test Kitchens" of Sara Lee (World Headquarters in DG), a Rotary Lunch, a tour of our Level I Trauma Center at Good Samaritan Hospital, a cook-out at our new Village Fire Station, a Village Council Meeting, meetings with the Downtown Management Corporation, and a meeting with community educators to discuss expanding student exchange opportunities. It was a packed agenda, which also included a day of sight-seeing in Chicago (led by yours truly) and a farewell-recpetion (hosted by yours truely and his better half).
It was really great to meet several new friends from Bietigheim-Bissingen, a community that I hold close to my heart. In particular, I enjoyed the chance to get to know their mayor, Bürgermeister Kessing. He was a really great person, and I think he really enjoyed connecting with our family. He has two young daughters; one is Emery's age. He bought both our our children a gift before he left (he's pictured here with the football he gave Miles).
