Hartford-Litchfield Sister Cities: Watch out Litchfield . . . they're loose on the lake!

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Watch out Litchfield . . . they're loose on the lake!

The group from Hartford left yesterday (Jan. 31) on Northwest Airlines for the week-long trip to the Peanutbutter and Milk Festival in Litchfield, Minnesota. They are Mickey and Lesa Hatfield and daughter Hayden (FFA Treasurer), Joann Lindsey, Gwen Turner, Greg Hatcher and daughter Jessi (FFA Vice President), and Adam Fulford (FFA Parliamentarian).

Here is the report from Lesa:

"We made it to Litchfield yesterday pretty much without event - Adam & I got patted down when we went through security in Panama City, and Adam got sick on the second leg of the trip - couldn't believe I looked like I was smuggling something!! :) Today we went to church, then met up at one of their many lakes & rode snowmobiles. That was a blast!!! Hayden & I were speed demons of course. I'm being called "the tan lady from Alabama"; I tell them that's very kind of them compared to what some call me back home! Tomorrow are dairy tours and their banquet tomorrow evening. They're telling us we brought them some warm weather; it was 44 when we arrived yesterday, and today it was around 35. However, tonight the wind is blowing pretty hard (& their winds are cutting!!) and it's supposed to be like 4, and tomorrow the high is supposed to be around 7; oh joy! I went walking this morning as the sun came up. The snow is beautiful. It's a dry snow though so it doesn't stick together to be able to throw snowballs at each other; you just have to grab a handful and sling it. It's been an excellent trip so far. More later!"

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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.