A delegation from the City of Tyler and other community groups will make a diplomatic mission to its sister city, Jelenia Góra, Poland, this week to strengthen ties between the two communities.

Representatives of the City of Tyler include Fire Chief David Coble, City Engineer Darin Jennings, Tyler Sister Cities Organization board member Mickey Slimp, and Michael Howell, manager of the Tyler Area Metropolitan Planning Organization.

Face-to-face relations between the cities were put on hold during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the war in Ukraine presented a new opportunity for international cooperation when Jelenia Góra opened its community to thousands of refugees.

This Spring, the Tyler Sister Cities Organization coordinated a fundraising campaign for humanitarian relief efforts in Jelenia Góra. In May, the City of Tyler participated in a virtual ceremony and wired $30 thousand in private donations. On September 25, the group will travel to western Poland for meetings with city and community leaders in Jelenia Góra, as well as to participate in the city’s annual festival.

During the festival, the City of Jelenia Góra plans to sign two new partnership agreements with the Ukrainian cities of Rivne and Ternopil. ”We cannot imagine that representatives of the city of Tyler, which has done so much for the Ukrainian community in Jelenia Góra, will be missing from this important event,” said Michał Kryla of the City of Jelenia Góra.

The sister city relationship dates back to 1993, when a ‘twinning’ ceremony was held in Jelenia Góra. A similar event was held the following year in Tyler. Regular exchanges have been planned in the decades that followed.

Tyler has similar partnerships with five other international sister cities.

Tyler Sister Cities Organization is still accepting donations to support humanitarian relief efforts in Jelenia Góra. To learn more, visit: https://tylersistercities.org/aid-for-ukraine

The views expressed in this blog do not necessarily reflect the views of KLTV/KTRE-TV or Gray Television. They are solely the opinion of the author. All content © Copyright 2022 Lane Luckie