Ware Town Twinning Association

Fifty years of twinning with Wülfrath and twenty years of twinning with Cormeilles-en-Parisis will be celebrated on Sunday 19 September. 

A joint celebration in Ware was initially planned but, because of disruption to travel plans due to Covid, unfortunately this will not now be an actual event as we had originally hoped, and will instead take place by Zoom.

The Town Council is arranging a virtual renewal of the Pledge of Friendship with the two towns.  This will include speeches by the three Mayors and musical interludes from each of the three towns – Ware’s contribution being provided by Ware Brass.

There is also an exhibition running at Ware Museum until 24th November 2021 which is well worth a visit. Check here for museum opening times.

AGM – Tuesday 22 June, 7.30pm.

In the Priory, we hope! If not, by zoom. Confirmation of location will be issued asap.

We hope to see as many of you there as possible.

The present committee – Councilor Phyllis Ballam, Chairman; Pete and Chris Smith, Joint Secretaries; Dennis Day; James Jarvis; Barry Parkin, Treasurer; Janet Parkin, and Mick Standley are all willing to stand again for re-election to the committee. However, more committee members will be welcome. If you would like to be considered please contact Pete Smith (pjs@pjseng.co.uk) before 21 June.

Swimming & Twinning!

There is a long tradition of friendship between Ware Swimming Club and TB Wülfrath Schwimmen from our Twin Town of Wülfrath.

An annual Swimming Gala takes place during the Easter holiday, with the two Clubs alternating visits to each other’s towns. It was the turn of TB Wülfrath to visit Ware this year, however, this was not to be due to Covid-19.

The Clubs decided the way forward would be to virtually travel to the opposite town, covering the 623 kilometres distance in their own town, by foot or bike. After the first two days it was close – Wülfrath had covered 366km and Ware were narrowly in the lead with 370.90km. Ware has been in winning mode recently, however, it was not to be for 2021 as TB Wülfrath were the first to complete the distance, despite some heavy snowfall.

There were plans for a virtual Friday night get together to celebrate the event – we don’t know how late it went on!

Congratulations to TB Wülfrath on their 2021 win and to both Clubs for keeping this long standing friendship alive.

There’s a great video snapshot on the Ware Swimming Club Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/WARESWIMMINGCLUB

2021 – A Special Anniversary Year for Twinning

This year sees the 50th Anniversary of twinning with Wülfrath and the 20th Anniversary of twinning with Cormeilles-en-Parisis. A joint celebration with all three towns is planned in Ware for the weekend of 17-19 September. Both Mayors, Herr Rainer Ritsche of Wülfrath, and M Yannick Boedec of Cormeilles, have accepted invitations to attend.

The official re-signing of the Pledges of Friendship will take place at the Priory on Sunday morning 19 September. Further details will be published here in due course.

An exhibition to coincide with the above will be held in Ware museum from 4th September to 24th November.

Updates from October & November

Goodbye to an old friend

Heinrich Meckenstock 14 October 1940 – 12 October 2020

We are sad to report that Heinrich Meckenstock, one time President of the Town Twinning Association in Wülfrath died on 12 October just before his 80^th birthday.

Heinrich was a firm supporter of Town Twinning and the friendship between the two towns meant a lot to him.  He was a regular visitor to Ware – his first visit being as a town Councillor representing Wülfrath in 1974.  He will be greatly missed . He always helped with setting up Ware’s stall/hut at the Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) and with dismantling it too.  He would then transport all our equipment in his trailer to the Museum where it was stored until the next year’s market.  He was also a great help during the market, providing us with replacement gas cylinders for the hut heater, for example. 

Message from Claudia Panke, Burgermeisterin, Wülfrath 2009-2020

After eleven years, my term in office as mayor of Wülfrath ends on October 31st, 2020, and I will start a new chapter in my life. It is therefore time to say goodbye.

I would like to sincerely thank you for the fruitful cooperation and the trust I was always met with.

It was my goal to make Wülfrath fit for the future and retain its autonomy. It made me happy and proud to have succeeded at that for my hometown and its people, the local businesses as well as clubs, societies and institutions. I look back at a time shaped by constructive exchange and many positive experiences, but especially mutual respect and appreciation.

I will remain connected to our town twinning and the Freundeskreis Städtepartnerschaft.

Therefore I would appreciate if we could stay in touch.

I wish you all the best for your future professional and private ventures!

New Mayor, Wülfrath

The new Burgermeister/Mayor of Wülfrath is Herr Rainer Ritsche.  We wish him well and look forward to meeting him in Ware in 2021.

 Two forthcoming significant anniversaries

2021 will see two significant anniversaries:

50 years of twinning with Wülfrath and 20 years of twinning with Cormeilles-en-Parisis.  We hope to celebrate these in Ware in September.  Watch this space!

Exhibition in Ware Museum

An exhibition to commemorate the anniversaries mentioned above is planned to be held in Ware Museum, to run from mid-September 2021 for at least three months.  More details to follow in due course.

Some of you will have already heard this sad news – I am sorry to have to report that Roz died yesterday of a heart attack.  As you know, Ros was our current Vice Chairman and will be greatly missed.

She was also a past Town Mayor and a member of East Herts District Council. 

She was very well known in the town and involved with several local organisations including Age Concern of which she was the current President. Ros was a former member of the Friends of Ware Priory committee representing the Priory Trustees.