Sedona’s potential sister city of Canmore, Alberta, Canada has formed a steering committee consisting of representatives from the hospitality, building and arts sectors, the chamber of commerce and the general public to consider the proposed alliance. The committee’s creation followed a two-day April visit to Sedona by Canmore Mayor Sean Krausert and his wife Janet.
“The Canmore Canada Sister City Steering Committee convened to initiate the planning process,” the Sedona Sister Cities Association announced in its July newsletter.
The committee is composed of Janet Krausert; Ben Davis, from the Bow Valley Chamber of Commerce; Ian O’Donnell, representing Bow Valley Builders and Developers; Jeremy Elbourne, executive director of the artsPlace Canmore nonprofit; and Danielle Spooner of Base Camps Resorts.
“A member of ours, Janet Webber, is in Canmore currently, and she’s taking a book by Lisa Schnebly Heidinger called ‘The Journal of Sedona Schnebly’ to the mayor of Canmore and to also a copy to give to their library,” SSCA Chairman Chuck Marr said.
“Over the next few months the steering committees from Sedona and Canmore will work together to tailor the value proposition for our specific communities,” Mayor Krausert said. “In the fall, it is expected that each committee will engage their respective municipal council to acknowledge the development of this relationship in some form of a friendship memorandum.”
Such a memorandum would be a precursor to a formal sister city relationship. In the meantime, the two cities are planning a Zoom call later this month to go over initial areas of exchange.
“One area from here that the folks are really excited about is some type of linkage between our grade schools and their grade schools,” Marr said. West Sedona School Principal Elizabeth Tavasci explained that the school is also in the exploratory phase of a partnership with Canmore elementary students.
“As an elementary school, what we would most be interested in is helping our students to connect with students outside of their country and their school community,” Tavasci said. “Expanding that out to being able to connect with kids in the Canmore school system, and be able to share, ‘What does my life look like here as an elementary school student in Sedona, Arizona?’ ‘What does your life look like in Canmore?’” Discussions about cultural exchanges have focused on using Zoom calls so far, Tavasci added.
Ireland remains another high priority in the SSCA’s quest for a separate sister city partnership. Very early discussions have started with a city there and two small groups of Sedonans will be traveling there this summer on a fact-finding trip.
The SSCA and the Sedona International Film Festival will be coordinating a trip to Canmore and the nearby Banff Mountain Film Festival from Wednesday, Nov. 1, through Monday, Nov. 6.
For more information about the trip, email sedonasistercities@gmail.com or visit sedonasistercities.org.
