Please send us information that will be of interest to the membership, and we will post it on this page (all submissions will be subject to editorial revision).
1) John Maley's account of his participation in Celle's Sprintregatta
John arrived in Celle on 9/30, with his son Chris and his daughter Emma to participate in Celle's Sprintregatta. They were hosted by Hans-Dieter and Ina Koller who came to Tulsa last April to participate in the Tulsa Rowing Competition. The Kollers had invited john to stay with them for a few days to participate in Celle's 52nd Sprintregatta on October 3rd. Hans-Dieter gave John and his family a tour of the Celle sights, and John had the opportunity to taste and enjoy real German Beer before the day of the races. According to John,"The competition was fierce and spirited ". However, he is proud to have won three gold medals. John says that " It was a great rowing adventure, and I hope that more of my fellow Tulsa rowers will join with me on the next trip". Please download the file below if you are interested in reading john's full report and seeing more pictures of the race.
| john_maley.pdf |
2) Remembering an Enthusiastic Partnership Supporter (by Doris Gallagher-9/2/09)
It was with great sadness that we heard of the recent death of a retired Tulsa Fire Dept. Chief, Loren “Skip” Mason, one of the OKC Bombing rescuers. I first met Skip, his wife Charlotte and daughter Sierra prior to the establishment of Tulsa’s Sister City Partnership with Celle in 1999, when a Celle City delegation paid a visit to Tulsa to “look us over.” The Celle group visited several entities within the city and met all of the fire department chiefs.
Soon after the signing of our Partnership agreement in 2000, one of our first group exchanges was a ten day visit of the Altencelle Youth Volunteer group. Skip along with other fire department personnel helped organize the visit. The Mason family hosted the Altencelle Fire Chief, Michael Schwarzkopf, his wife and son. A lasting friendship developed between the families and the Schwarzkopfs came back privately once more. Ole, their son, who was then an exchange high school student in Florida, spent his vacation with the Masons and he helped Skip build a fence around his new property.
Charlotte, Skip’s wife, chaired our Kids World Booth in 2002. Because of family tragedies soon after, the Masons had to scale back their active partnership participation. Yet, we will never forget their enthusiasm for our Partnership. Maybe Skip and Michael, who succumbed to cancer a few years ago, are exchanging stories once again.
The members of the Tulsa-Celle-Partnership extend their heartfelt condolences to the Mason family
Donations in Skip’s memory may be made to the Fire Fighters Credit Union (9200 E. 41st St., Tulsa, OK 74145) with “Skip Mason” on the Memo line.
Soon after the signing of our Partnership agreement in 2000, one of our first group exchanges was a ten day visit of the Altencelle Youth Volunteer group. Skip along with other fire department personnel helped organize the visit. The Mason family hosted the Altencelle Fire Chief, Michael Schwarzkopf, his wife and son. A lasting friendship developed between the families and the Schwarzkopfs came back privately once more. Ole, their son, who was then an exchange high school student in Florida, spent his vacation with the Masons and he helped Skip build a fence around his new property.
Charlotte, Skip’s wife, chaired our Kids World Booth in 2002. Because of family tragedies soon after, the Masons had to scale back their active partnership participation. Yet, we will never forget their enthusiasm for our Partnership. Maybe Skip and Michael, who succumbed to cancer a few years ago, are exchanging stories once again.
The members of the Tulsa-Celle-Partnership extend their heartfelt condolences to the Mason family
Donations in Skip’s memory may be made to the Fire Fighters Credit Union (9200 E. 41st St., Tulsa, OK 74145) with “Skip Mason” on the Memo line.
3) Elenora Hildermann update (Sent by Olga Randolph 8/29/09)
In June, Elly successfully graduated from the Civil Service Academy in Hanover. She currently lives in Celle and works for the City of Celle in their Records Office. Her office arranges everything that has to do with marriages, births, deaths, and church membership withdrawals. Today, after a training course, she received an official license to perform civil wedding ceremonies! :-D She will officiate her first wedding on Sept. 2.
Elly asked me to send her best regards to all of you. She vividly remembers all of the people who introduced her to Tulsa, helped her around, and made her stay here the trip of a lifetime. Elly said she thinks about Tulsa often and really misses all the friends she made during her stay.
Elly asked me to send her best regards to all of you. She vividly remembers all of the people who introduced her to Tulsa, helped her around, and made her stay here the trip of a lifetime. Elly said she thinks about Tulsa often and really misses all the friends she made during her stay.
4) Tulsa visit by the Rentsch family July 2009
The Wilbers hosted Mr.Jurgen Rentsch and his family from July 18th to July 21st. Mr. Rentsch is the Celle president of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), and a member of the Celle Municipal Council. The SPD was founded 140 years ago, and the current Celle Lord Mayor, Mr. Dirk-Ulrich Mende, is the first SPD member to hold that position since 1949. The friendship between the Wilber and Rentsch families started with a student exchange.