Colette Acheson Photography:David Tanaka

ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA, the online encyclopedia, "Town twinning is a concept whereby towns or cities in geographically and politically distinct areas are paired, with the goal of fostering human contact and cultural links. In Europe, such pairs of towns are known as twin towns, friendship towns or partner towns; in North America, India and Australasia, the term sister cities is used for the same concept; and brother cities is the term in the former Soviet bloc." This idea of connecting people worldwide through the twinning concept was a dream of the late American president Dwight D. Eisenhower. His hope was that the world as a whole would move towards greater peace and understanding by building on mutual respect and friendship between individuals and communities from different cultures.

No matter what it's called, the Lethbridge Twinning Society is dedicated to promoting friendship and understanding between Lethbridge and its three twin cities. The society encourages individuals to connect with citizens in other countries and learn more about each other's communities, cultures and lives.

The Twinning Society is a grassroots non-profit organization, and operates independently of the City of Lethbridge. The first twinning relationship for the Lethbridge society began with Culver City, California and has expanded to include Timashevsk, Russia and Towada City, Japan.

For the full story pick up the current issue of Lethbridge living Magazine