BLUE GRASS AIRPORT AND LEXINGTON SISTER CITIES COMMISSION UNVEIL AIRPORT DISPLAY

May 17, 2010 – Today officials from the Lexington Sister Cities Commission and Blue Grass Airport unveiled a new display honoring its four Sister Cities.  Prominently located at the concourse exit at Blue Grass Airport, the display will illustrate to passengers from around the world Lexington’s international affiliation with Deauville (France), County Kildare (Ireland), Shinhidaka (Japan) and Newmarket (England). 

“Lexington-Fayette County has a long history of reaching out to form global partnerships, so it is an important step that we highlight our Sister Cities relationships with those who go through our airport,” said Councilmember and Sister Cities Commission Member Linda Gorton.

The new signage includes photographs representing the culture of each Lexington Sister City.  Entitled  “Five Cities, One Goal: A Better World” the signage includes a prominent image of a central Kentucky Thoroughbred farm, since all five cities share a strong connection to the Thoroughbred horse.  Other images represent special qualities about each of the other four cities:

• The furled festive beach umbrellas of
  French resort Deauville,
• The placid sheep of Kildare, raised both for
  food and their high-quality wool,
• The breathtaking cherry blossoms of
  Shinhidaka that bloom in the spring, and
• The Newmarket Clock Tower built in 1887 to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee.

“Blue Grass Airport is proud to be sponsoring this display with the Lexington Sister Cities Commission,” said Eric Frankl, executive director at Blue Grass Airport.  “With nearly one million passengers traveling through Blue Grass Airport annually, this new display will increase passenger awareness of our global partners.”

A Sister City relationship is created when an American community joins with a community in another nation to develop friendly and meaningful exchanges.  The Sister City program was launched by the White House in 1956 as a national concept when President Dwight D. Eisenhower called for massive exchanges between Americans and the people of other lands. Hundreds of American cities responded and Lexington was one of the first when it twinned with Deauville, France in 1957. 

Blue Grass Airport, the Official Airport of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games, is served by seven major airlines providing convenient non-stop service to 13 major hub cities and connecting service to hundreds of destinations worldwide.

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