Sister Cities International will honor 2 Muscatine
leaders
June 11, 2006
http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2006/06/11/news/doc448b7ffe56a89918952696.txt
MUSCATINE, Iowa — Deb Hutton and John Dabeet of Muscatine will be inducted
into the 50th Anniversary Circle of Distinguished Volunteers this summer during
Sister Cities International’s 50th Anniversary Conference in Washington, D.C.
Ordinary citizens will be honored for extraordinary influence in the Sister
City movement this summer.
The induction ceremony will take place at the prestigious Warner Theatre on
Saturday, July 15, where a musical tribute to citizen diplomats hosted by
songwriter and singer John McCutcheon will highlight the event.
“The inductees to the 50th Anniversary Circle of Distinguished Volunteers
have passionately supported the Sister City mission to build a peaceful world
anchored in mutual respect and understanding,” said Tim Honey, executive
director of Sister Cities International.
“Their work building friendships around the world as ambassadors of goodwill has
profoundly impacted the way other countries view the United States.”
Inductees were nominated by local Sister City programs. They were chosen
because of their involvement in Sister City activities and significant efforts
to building cross-cultural international partnerships.
Hutton is financial services and membership manager for the Greater Muscatine
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GMCCI).
She helped organize and was part a Muscatine delegation
that visited three Eastern Europe sister cities in late May and early June of
2005.
Hutton has been a member of the local organization for five years and is
currently the vice president.
“Being able to meet people all over the word helps gain a better understanding,”
Hutton said.
Dabeet is an economics instructor at Muscatine Community College and a GMCCI
Board of Directors member. The Palestine native is president and founder of
Americans & Palestinians for Peace (AMPAL), a national nonprofit organization,
that seeks to educate Americans about the Arab-Israeli conflict. He is president of Muscatine Sister Cities Association.
Because of other commitments, Hutton and Dabeet will not be able to attend the
anniversary event. However, Mayor Richard O’Brien will be on hand to accept the
awards on their behalf, Hutton said.
The Sister City movement dates its beginnings to a White House Conference on
Citizen Diplomacy convened in 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to bring
together citizens forging ties with communities abroad. On Sept. 11, 1956,
Eisenhower exhorted delegates, “to help build the road to an enduring peace” and
a committee was appointed by the president to set up town affiliations linking
U.S. communities with counterparts around the globe.
Today it is a grassroots movement that reaches around the globe to 134
countries.
The 50th Anniversary Conference will involve more than 1,000 sister city
activists from throughout the globe.