Columbia Heights Sister City committee maintains ties with Poland
Gloria Bergstrom, left, and Dolores Strand are co-chairs of the Sister Cities Committee in Columbia Heights (Submitted photo) BY SUE WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER The seeds of Columbia Heights’ Sister City relationship with Lomianki, Poland, were planted 47 years before the partnership was established in 1991. In 1944, a plane of Allied fliers was shot down during the Warsaw uprising, near Lomianki. The brother of a longtime Columbia Heights resident was on that mission. In 1987, the people of Lomianki erected a monument in memory of the American flyers that lost their lives. In 1989, families of the crewmembers were invited to attend the yearly memorial service at the monument. Among the attendees was Bernard Szymczak of Columbia Heights, the brother of the gunner who died when the plane went down. The same year, Columbia Heights resident Dolores Strand initiated an effort to establish a sister city partnership for Columbia Heights. A citywide survey of residents revealed support for a sister city in Poland.
“Polish people responded and said they would work for it; they wanted to be involved,” Strand said. “It has been so significant to have a core of volunteers from square one. The majority are of Polish descent, but we welcome non-Poles and non-Columbia Heights residents, too.” After conferring with Szymczak about his trip to Lomianki, it was determined that the two cities would be compatible, and the partnership was formally established in May 1991. Lomianki has 16,374 people; Columbia Heights has a population of 19,496. The Sister Cities committee in Columbia Heights is a group of volunteers dedicated to encouraging and promoting the exchange of cultural, social, economic and political traditions, and enabling understanding, appreciation and friendship between residents of the two cities. Strand, a Realtor and the group’s founding member, has been co-chair of the organization since it began. Gloria Bergstrom, a retired teacher from New Brighton, currently serves as the other co-chair.
The city of Lomianki renamed one of its streets “Columbia Heights Boulevard,” and in 1994, Columbia Heights renamed one of its parks Lomianki Park. A flower garden at the park is planted with red and white impatiens, the colors of the Polish flag. A group from Columbia Heights traveled to Lomianki in 1998, and a delegation from Poland visited Columbia Heights in 2003. In September 2005, 17 Sister City members from Columbia Heights spent five days visiting Lomianki as part of a 10-day tour of Poland. “It was kind of a neat deal; it was a fruitful trip,” said Columbia Heights Mayor Gary Peterson, who was a member of the group. “I can’t speak Polish or read it, but I still get cards from the mayor there.” The committee also has organized student exchanges between Columbia Heights and Lomianki. Nine students and two chaperones from Columbia Heights traveled to Lomianki in 2008 for a two-week visit. In 2009, nine Polish students and two chaperones POLISH - TO PAGE 5