Vurpar, Romania

Romania Trip: June 2001

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Meeting with the Mayor

Mayor of Sibiu

We also met with another Lion that week in June 2001, the Mayor of Sibiu, Klaus Johannis. Johannis, a tall, quiet-spoken Saxon-Romanian, had been elected the year before with 70 percent of the vote, a landslide in anyone's book. We spoke with him about establishing links between Fort Wayne and Sibiu, some 20 miles away from Vurpar. Through Sister City programs it should be easier to help Romania kids visit America, study in our schools, learn about our culture and win the hearts of people in Fort Wayne, not to mention build bridges between organizations and businesses in each city. Mayor Johannis gave his approval and introduced us to his aide, Marius Constantin, to move forward. Attending the meeting were Jim and Fran Cameron, Drew Welborn, a Fort Wayne attorney, Jim Sack, Simon Dragan and Sam Dragan.

Part of our goal with the trip was to take Sam, a 10-year old from the suburbs, back to his village roots in Romania. Sam has grown up in Fort Wayne, but knew that his father was from another part of the world. Now he knows exactly where. Now he also knows about Vlad Tepes, Sighisoara, Sibiu, farming, Brasov, sheep milking, Romanian kids, home cooking and much more. It was a trip that he will not forget and it was a link to his father's family that will stay with him for the rest of his life.