Previous Sister Cities

Croydon (Maroondah), Australia

Our first official sister city was Croydon, Australia. The relationship started in 1991 and featured an annual chess match over long-distance telephone lines. In 1988, a chess match was held over the phone between Neville Arroues, a resident of San Carlos, and a 14-year-old Jamie Galatas, a resident of San Carlos’ sister city Croydon, Australia. The match was the first event of the cities’ cultural exchange program. San Carlos featured a small group of committee members at city hall with a Neville Arroues, who was selected from a local high school. At the same time, in Croydon, they were celebrating their summer festival, and the chessmen were real people dressed to fit their role (from king to pawn) who crumbled to the ground when captured by their San Carlos opponent. This battle continued for four years, along with several visits from one side of the world to the other, until the Australian government merged Croydon and the neighboring community of Ringwood into a large city named Maroondah, and our relationship ended in 1995.

Read about the City of Croydon here.

San Carlos, Rio San Juan, Nicaragua

In 2004 we were encouraged by an NGO official to consider a relationship with San Carlos, Nicaragua located on  the Rio San Juan River which connects  Lake Cocibolca to the Caribbean. This was a very poor town of 10,000 looking for economic development centered on fishing and river life  on the Rio San Juan. Early on, we recognized that this relationship would not be an equal mix of home exchanges and reciprocal programs since our friends to the south were very poor and not able to travel north. However, we decided to raise money to fund a few programs to better their life as best we could.  We funded an “Internet Cafe”, donating computer equipment and funding satellite connection, which would bring Internet to the San Carlos, Nicaragua community. We also purchased soccer balls, team uniforms and shoes to two boys' soccer teams. While we were not able to do much for economic development, the board is proud of the contributions  made.

Read about the City of San Carlos, Rio San Juan here.

Scandicci, Italy

In 1994, a delegation headed by Council Member Sylvia Nelson from San Carlos traveled to Scandicci, Italy to scope out the possibility of another sister city. Scandicci is a city located near Florence, and was focused on economic development and international trade. An agreement was signed, and we managed to implement an elementary school art and letter writing program. However, a long term relationship did not materialize due to a change in city leadership, language issues and the high cost of travel. During this period, SCSCA launched A Taste of Italy, a popular community fundraiser that supported student exchange scholarships for more than a decade. 

Read about the City of Scandicci here.

Okotoks, Alberta, Canada

In 2005, we formed a compact with Okotoks, Canada, a city of about 30,000 people, and located 23km south of Calgary. During the next few years, we developed a fine art exchange, hosted city officials for a mutual discussion of city government issues, and arranged several home-to-home exchanges. While our relationship with Okotoks continued for a while, the lack of a formal sister city committee in Okotoks limited our ability to develop programs.

Read about the Town of Okotoks here.

Metepec, Mexico

San Carlos' relationship with Metepec, Mexico began warmly, with official ceremonies and enthusiastic hosting by local artists and community leaders. Metepec high school students visited San Carlos for two weeks, and San Carlos students later stayed with Metepec families. The student exchange with Metepec was launched a year after the Omura exchange, in 2013.

Read about the City of Metepec here.