Medford and Alba, Italy celebrate 60th anniversary of historic phone call that strengthened ‘person-to-person’ relationship
Medford Mayor Randy Sparacino, seated, toasts Tuesday with Medford Sister City Committee Chair Robin Snider, other committee members and their counterparts in Alba, Italy, celebrating 60 years of partnership between the two cities. [Andy Atkinson / Mail Tribune]
While intently watching a live video feed of dignitaries from Alba, Italy, on Tuesday, Medford Mayor Randy Sparacino nervously asked, “Can they hear us? Hello?” before greeting them from a City Hall conference room.
At first not everyone could clearly hear Sparacino’s counterpart, the mayor of Alba Carlo Bo, but technical problems did not stop the sister cities from popping a champagne cork and jumping to commemorate exactly 60 years since the two cities called each other for the first time.
“I think it’s great, at a time when there’s so much negativity in the air, to celebrate something that’s so important and monumental … It really provides an opportunity for a cultural exchange,” Sparacino said after the meeting . “I’m proud that we’re still doing this today.”
Alba, Italy, located on the western side of the European country above the “boot”, covers more than 20 square miles and is home to more than 31,000 people. It is known for its wine, the white truffle and as the headquarters of Ferrero, maker of Nutella.
Alba and Medford became sister cities in 1960, when President Dwight Eisenhower started the “People to People” program to promote relations between the US and other countries.
John Snider, then mayor of Medford, chose Alba to be his city’s “sister” because of the similarities they shared: population, climate and agriculture.
Two years later, on July 26, 1962, Snider and the mayor of Alba, Osvaldo Cagnasso, called each other by telephone with the help of the first telecommunications satellite, Telstar.
“It’s great to be able to speak with you across the many miles that separate our sister cities and tell you how proud Medford, Oregon is to be associated with Alba in a mutual friendship program,” he said. Snider in a recording of the call provided by the Medford Sister City Association.
Since then, the fraternity has grown into not only regular trips between dignitaries to Medford and Alba, but a student exchange program that has sponsored more than 400 Medford students since its inception. The same can be said for Alba students, like Guido Roggero, who studied at Medford in 2019.
“I was very proud to be selected to represent Alba,” he said during the call on Tuesday. “I still remember the wonderful experiences I had in Medford, especially going to open houses with people at night. They made me feel at peace in a completely new place and welcomed me into their home.”
But like everything else, the sister city relationship has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. On the one hand, there have been no student exchanges since Roggero’s last visit.
Robin Snider, the daughter of the former Medford mayor, who heads the Medford Alba Sister Cities Association, called the pandemic pause “sad.”
“We forget that, all this time in the last two years, we could use Zoom,” he said. “The only thing that’s hard sometimes is the nine-hour time difference and finding a time that works for us and them.”
But they did find a moment, and it was spent with comments in both Italian and English from the mayors and the association. Video montages were also played, with photos of the two cities brought together over the years.
Technology was something Alba’s mayor touched on during his remarks to Medford officials Tuesday.
“We have seen that technology can do a lot, but it can never completely replace personal relationships, meetings, exchange visits and experiences,” said Bo. “We keep our bond alive. My invitation is to come and visit us in Alba as soon as possible, starting with the next Truffle Fair!”
In his prepared remarks Tuesday, Sparacino weighed in on the 1962 phone call.
“While many years have passed, our feeling about our friendship remains the same,” he said. “Medford is proud to be associated with Alba, our sister city.”
Contact reporter Kevin Opsahl at 541-776-4476 or kopsahl@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @KevJourno.
