A circa 1851 print of Sutter's Mill in Coloma will be presented to officials of Warabi City, Japan in recognition of the city's 50th anniversary.
Cameron Park resident Myrna Hanses of the People to People program will deliver the gift from the El Dorado County Board of Supervisors along with a board resolution congratulating Warabi City.
El Dorado County and has had a sister county-city relationship with Warabi for 34 years. The resolution cites a historical connection through Japanese citizens who established a tea and silk farm in El Dorado County's Gold Hill area in 1869. The farm was a mile from Sutter's Mill, site of the 1848 gold discovery that launched California's Gold Rush.
Supervisor Jack Sweeney said the gift was provided at no cost to county taxpayers.
When it comes to giving gifts, "our Japanese friends always outdo us," Sweeney said. A display of samurai armor outside the county Elections Office is a gift from Warabi City.
More important than the gifts, Hanses said, has been the exchange of people. El Dorado County and Warabi have hosted or exchanged 800 to 1,000 people over the past 34 years. In the 1970s, she said, the Warabi City Assembly spent three days in El Dorado County.
"They didn't speak English, and none of us spoke Japanese, " she recalled, "but it really didn't matter."
Warabi residents love Halloween, Hanses said. This year the city will hold a Halloween Parade on Oct. 31, and everyone is supposed to come in costume. It will be followed on Nov. 3 by Samurai Parade, and men in the People to People delegation are invited to dress the part, she said.
– Cathy Locke
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