A guest of the French friends

The representatives of all the council groups, the fire brigade, the association for the promotion of town twinning of the city of Beckum as well as gymnasts of the TV Beckum were given a warm welcome in the pavilion of the Bois Blancs on Friday evening. During dinner and dancing afterwards, there was the first opportunity to talk to long-time friends. On Saturday, the wind orchestra of the music school La Celle Saint-Cloud played in bright sunshine before the delegation visited the graves of the former Cellois mayors Lucien-René Duchesne and Jean-Louis Gasquet. The latter had signed the town twinning agreement 40 years ago together with the then Beckum mayor Bernd Schnell. He had died in 2020 at the age of 97.

Mayor Michael Gerdhenrich presents his colleague Olivier Delaporte (2nd from right) with a work by the artist Basilius Kleinhans entitled "gemeinsam" (together), together with the chairmen of the two associations Ulrich Roggenkamp (Verein zur Förderung der Städtepartnerschaften der Stadt Beckum e. V., left in the picture) and Denis Wilbal (Förderverein La Celle Saint-Cloud).

At the official ceremony in the theatre at the town hall, both mayors emphasised the importance of Franco-German relations in their speeches and expressed the will to further consolidate and expand the manifold friendly relations. This was underlined by the chairpersons of the twinning associations of both cities in their speeches, in which they emphasised the European idea that is reflected in all encounters. A top-class cultural programme provided the framework: the Clodoald Choir performed classical works by Haydn and Brahms in German. The Carré des Arts vocal ensemble, which performed chansons and evergreens in English, French and German, made the audience laugh.

The French and German gymnasts perform a dance together.

The former mayor Dr Karl-Uwe Strothmann (2nd from right with his wife) received a medal of honour from Olivier Delaporte, as did all the former mayors of the twin towns of Cellois, translated by Birgit Dominici.

Sunday morning was all about sports in the gymnasium. The gymnasts of TV Beckum showed their gymnastics skills together with young people from Cellois and put on a choreography together. Before the Beckum youths set off on their journey home, they were able to engage in a workout accompanied by the gymnasts. The young athletes made their first plans for return visits.

Town twinning