Hartford-Litchfield Sister Cities: They're Here!

Saturday, November 5, 2011

They're Here!

Our Minnesota friends arrived in Hartford this afternoon about 3:30 and were welcomed at a reception by Hartford's City Council at City Hall. Later everyone gathered at the home of Nick and Martha Holley for a Jambalaya and white chili dinner.

Visiting from Litchfield are: FFA students Tori Barka (hosted by Brianne Fitzgerald), April Anderson (hosted by Emily Orr), Nicole Carlson (hosted by Robin Miller) and Dakota Bridge (hosted by Brandon Skinner), Dairy Princess Amanda Turck (hosted by Amelia Hinson), and Peanut Butter and Milk representatives Cindy Knutson (hosted by Ladair and Barbara Palmer) and Bernie and Aggie Schmitz (hosted by Martha Sue Wood).

Tomorrow everyone will attend church with their host families, have some free time in the afternoon, and then meet at the home of Stacy and Cary Hatcher for a Brunswick stew and grilled chicken dinner.

Welcome Litchfield . . . and we look forward to having the 40th Anniversary group arriving on Thursday!

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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.