THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 28, 1996 TAG: 9603270123
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 15 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: By KATRICE FRANKLIN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 37 lines
City Council members and several business leaders have been invited to take a May trip to Italy to visit the town of Oderzo.
The visit is part of the city's efforts to form a relationship with Oderzo, the birthplace of Amedeo Obici, the founder of Suffolk's Planters Peanuts. He also built a hospital in Italy and requested that his wife build another in Suffolk after his death. The Louise Obici Memorial Hospital opened in 1951.
Giuseppe Covre, the mayor of Oderzo, visited Suffolk last year and expressed interest in becoming a ``sister city'' in honor of Obici. Sister cities are partnerships between cities and towns with similar jurisdictions in other nations. The goal is to create opportunities to explore different cultures.
To consummate the new relationship, several representatives have been asked to visit Oderzo May 17-21.
Cindy Rohlf, assistant to the city manager, said the city has agreed to pay for the trips of any council members, the mayor and certain city staff who want to go. Rohlf said so far, only the mayor has said he is interested. City Manager Myles E. Standish and Rohlf also are going. The trip will cost about $1,100 per person.
The city also has invited representatives from the School Board, the Lion's Club, the Sister Cities Commission, the Chamber of Commerce, Forward Hampton Roads, the State Office of International Marketing, the Suffolk Industrial Development Authority, the Suffolk News-Herald, The Virginian-Pilot and other business leaders. by CNB