SONOMA, CA – July 02, 2015
After nearly two decades apart, Chamson, the organization dedicated to promoting the sister city relationship between Sonoma and the French city of Chambolle-Musigny, is now once again a part of the Sonoma Sister Cities Association. To commemorate this special reunion, SSCA hosted an informal get-together at Sonoma’s Best on July 2, 2015, from 5:00-7:00pm.
To mark this occasion, guests sampled two wines from Burgundy 1) Chablis Les Pargues 2014 (Domaine Servin) and 2) Chambolle-Musigny Cuvée 2012 (Domaine Collotte). The wines were served with crackers and cheese supplied by Sonoma’s Best and Sage Marketing, LLC (Fine Cheese & Specialties). Guests assembled in the back courtyard, which was gracefully decorated with large French-themed tea towels, all for sale at a discount to mark this special occassion.
SSCA President Farrel Beddome greeted the attendees with opening remarks about the significance of Chamson as the first sister-city relationship (established in 1959) and how exited she was to have all of the sister cities now under one organization. President Beddome went on to thank Tom and Gayle Jenkins, owners of Sonoma’s Best, and the Honorable Gary Edwards, owner of Sage Marketing, LLC for their support of SSCA and the reunion.
Joanne Sanders, a former Mayor of Sonoma, and longtime supporter of Chamson, then spoke of how much stronger the group is within the SSCA framework. “When you join SSCA, you can support one committee, more than one committee, or all of the committees.” In turn the committees support each other by sharing experience and lessons acquired through planning and executing various projects.
The crowd then listened with great enthusiasm as Anne Mieling, co-chairperson of the Chamson committee, spoke about the terroir of the wines. Talking about the featured wines, she explained how the names of the wine labels, such as “Domaine Collotte” referred to a particular producer who shares the land with other families, growing grapes on the parcel with same appellation.
SSCA now encompasses seven sister-city relationships which span four continents. If you’d like more information about the organization, please contact Farrel Beddome at 916.715.4557. With programs that focus on education and cultural exchange, SSCA promotes world peace with citizen to citizen diplomacy through city to city relationships.
President Beddome closed the evening with a prize raffle and the message that “SSCA is open to anyone interested in supporting our programs or getting involved with community activities.” She reminded everyone to watch for announcements concerning future events at Sonoma’s Best that will spotlight the other sister cities, and to check emails concerning the debut of a new website coming on line in mid- to late July.
The Chamson Sister City Committee operates under the auspices of the Sonoma Sister Cities Association (SSCA), a registered nonprofit organization (SSCA Federal tax identification #68-0108056).
