Hartford-Litchfield Sister Cities: Beach Day for Sister City delegates

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Beach Day for Sister City delegates

Well, today was beach day sponsored by First National Bank for our Litchfield friends! It was a beautiful day, so I'm sure they've had a wonderful time shopping in Destin and beaching it, concluding with a great seafood dinner.

Yesterday they toured local farms and farm businesses -- and the fried catfish lunch at the National Guard Armory cooked by Joe Howell and friends and sponsored by City Bank. Mickey and Lesa Hatfield hosted a "Low Country Shrimp Boil" and oyster shucking last night at their home -- with a bonfire for the kids to gather around.

And tomorrow they will tour Hartford businesses around the square and the high school with lunch hosted by the Hartford Lions Club. Then Sat. morning, Kathryn and Robert Byrd will host a breakfast before the group leaves for the airport in Ft. Walton. They should be plenty tired by then, so they can rest on the plane trip home (hopefully it will be a good flight!)

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History of Program

The idea began in January of 1971 when Bruce Cottington, a Litchfield grocery store owner and host of a talk show on local radio station KLFD, was talking about how often he ate peanut butter and drank milk. Looking for a good sales promotion, Litchfield was proclaimed the peanut butter capital of the world, and the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival was begun to promote rural America, good food, agriculture and the dairy industry, and young people.

As a lifetime Future Farmers of America (FFA) member, Cottington naturally involved the FFA.Cottington’s search through Auburn Univ. in Alabama led to Paul Dean, FFA advisor at Geneva County High School in Hartford. In October, Cottington’s family traveled to Alabama to make a presentation to then Governor George Wallace who signed a legislative resolution proclaiming Meeker County citizens as residents of Alabama. (Although they couldn't vote, they were welcome to pay taxes!) They then visited Hartford, Dothan and the National Peanut Festival. Cottington and Dean then developed the idea of a north-south FFA and FHA exchange program.

In 2008, the Sister Cities Program celebrated the 37th year of what has become an annual exchange of people, good will and peanut butter and milk. Hartford students and citizens travel to Litchfield each February for the Peanut Butter and Milk Festival, and Litchfield students and citizens travel to Hartford each November.