After 5: Full Circle

How interesting to observe, then, the “full circle” of one Springfield businessman, Rob Baird, who celebrated his 60th birthday while on the Springfield Sister Cities “20 for 20” anniversary trip to Isesaki, Japan.

Baird was an early supporter of the sister-city program, which started as a Rotary International project. He recounts how Lloyd Young recruited the help of Peter Elcorn, who was well versed in Sister Cities International.

“We spent several years developing criteria about what we wanted in a sister city,” says Baird. “And then Peter called and said a representative from Tours, France, was coming in – that they’d been looking for a sister city, and we were on their list.”

From there, he says, “It took on a life of its own.”

The volunteers supported many trips back and forth, including a trip for then-Mayor George Scruggs. Along the way, they found out that the “representative from Tours” had really been someone with a sister in St. Louis, who had no real authority to make the sister city match – surprising Tours and probably leading to the eventual dissolution of that particular relationship. Baird calls that relationship a “monumental accident” that turned out to bring long-lasting friendships nonetheless.

“We became their favorite sister city and we were quite active, but when their mayor left office, the whole party was in turmoil,” recalls Baird.

There were still many interested, but the Tours government froze all sister-cities activity. In the meantime, Springfield also had a change in mayors and the Tours relationship lay fallow for many years.

Into the gap came Ralph Williams, who was dean of the business school at Southwest Missouri State University and a leader in international studies. Springfield businessman Joe Jenkins was doing business at the time in Isesaki, Japan, and suggested it for a relationship. Williams, then president of SSCA, visited and brought back an official invitation from Isesaki.

“There had been a moratorium on any sister-city activity until there was a committee of interested people,” says Baird. “The city of Springfield had not yet taken it on – it was all volunteers. They would come visit us 20- or 30-strong with gifts that we could not reciprocate. Their determination to make it strong carried it.”

From there, City Council adopted a formal resolution of support for the program in 1986, with a council that included Carolyn Gerdes. “I remember the long discussions,” she says. “Not everyone agreed that it was a good idea at the time.”

Still, it carried on, and the formal relationship with Isesaki was established. The turning point, though, has been identified and credited to Cindy Jobe, Springfield’s unofficial ambassador to Isesaki. In 1990, Jobe was selected by the Springfield-Greene County Park Board and City Council as the landscape gardener who would spend 2 1/2 months in Isesaki, at the invitation of gardeners there, to learn how to develop and maintain a Japanese Garden. Baird helped fund that trip, along with several others in what he calls “a great investment in the future.” (The 2006 trip was, incidentally, Baird’s first trip, although he has been part of sending several others over the years.)

Since then, the SSCA has seen the partnership grow into a program that has spawned two festivals (the Cherry Blossom Kite Festival in the spring and the Japanese Fall Festival in September, both held in the Mizumoto Stroll Garden in Nathanael Greene Park) and regular art and education exchanges.

Jobe’s subsequent trips turned her into an excellent tour guide for the anniversary trip.

This 20th anniversary trip included early leaders of the program as well as those who can now carry it to the next level. From this trip, Parks Director Jodie Adams has a vision for more sports and gardening exchanges in the future. Programming developed by TV23 will show more of our sister city to the Springfield community than ever before. Business and education leaders will continue to watch for agreements in commerce and in building the future through student exchanges and programs.

The Bairds, along with other early leaders such as Wally and Joyce Munden, consider themselves fortunate to have been part of an anniversary trip to see the relationship coming full circle.

Happy birthday, Rob, and happy birthday Sister Cities.

The 20

Twenty area individuals visited Isesaki, Japan, to celebrate Springfield Sister Cities Associations’ 20-year anniversary with Isesaki.

• SSCA President Mike Williamson;

• SSCA Vice President Dianne Elizabeth Osis;

• SSCA past presidents Rob Baird, Cindy Jobe, Joyce Munden, Wally Munden and Kay Logsdon;

• SSCA board members Jane Fast and Carolyn Gerdes;

• City Councilman Bob Jones and his son, Griffith;

• Springfield-Greene County Parks Director Jodie Adams;

• TV23 videographer Ric Buchanan; and

• Sally Baird, John Gerdes, Andy Osis, Carol Williamson, Jennifer Hately, Ellie Bennett, and Jean Larrick.