Irish sister city visit

By Vanessa Overholser - Staff Writer

The City of Morehead had a few out-of-town guests to visit last week. Citizens from Morehead’s sister city Ballymena, Ireland came to Morehead to perform dances and music for local residents during their visit Sept. 12-19.

“Kentucky Center for Traditional Music (KCTM) assisted sister cities by scheduling performances at schools in the Morehead State service region,” said Erin Moore, Outreach Programs Educator for the Kentucky Folk Art Center and the KCTM.

Three musicians and six dancers performed traditional Irish music and dance. Performances took place at Duff Elementary in Floyd County, Rowan County Middle School, Morehead Conference Center for local elementary schools, and Botts Elementary in Menifee County, Moore said.

The Ballymena dancers/musicians performed at KCTM Thursday evening for the community. There were about 115 people in attendance that evening. Many who came to the show were MSU faculty, staff, students and Sister Cities Board members.

“They were amazing,” Moore said. “The students were captivated by their performance. So we were satisfied.”

Ashley Gilliam, secretary of the Sister Cities Board, went to Ballymena for the second time over the summer.

“This was my second trip,” Gilliam said. “The desire to move there increases. I look at ways I could move there.”

Gilliam said the Morehead Sister City board members had a special reason for going to Ballymena.

“We went over there not only because we have a sister city in Ballymena,” Gilliam said. “It was our 10-year anniversary being a paired with Ballymena. There was a lot of celebrating. We went to a barbecue to celebrate our 10-year anniversary at the Arthur Cottege. The Arthur Cottage was a historical building. We sang and danced. We mingled with the town’s people, their council members, chamber of commerce came and local officials.”

She described what Ballymena was like.

“The landscape is a little bit different,” she said. “They have some rolling hills like we do here. You feel very at home. It is very beautiful and I usually don’t want to go home. You think you know about the colors of green but when you get to Ireland it’s different. The colors are more vibrant there. The population of Ballymena is much larger than us but it has a small town feel to it. They have a population of 50,000 plus. You see people out on sidewalks being friendly to others just like a small town.”

Ballymena’s music is another reason why Morehead and Ballymena were paired as sister cities, she said.

“It’s not much different,” Gilliam said. “It is very similar because what we call bluegrass music is what they call folk music. It sounds very similar in the way it’s played and they tell a story. It seems like there everyone’s a musician. Everyone has these music abilities and they get together and pick and grin.”

A total of 18 people went on the trip. Thirteen of them were residents of Morehead. They left July 29, traveling to northern Ireland and Scotland.

“We all had a great time,” Gilliam said. “We were very welcomed in Ballymena. It was a chance for us to meet other people in Morehead. You travel together, you’re stuck in airports together and you come home as friends. It is a good chance for citizens to get to know each other and experience things together.”

Gilliam said the trip was great for both Morehead and Ballymena.

“It think it re-established the connection with Ballymena and opened doors for musical, art and cultural exchange,” she said.

Gilliam said anyone who is interested is welcome to be a member of the Sister Cities board.

“Anyone who wants to be on the board can attend our general meeting in November,” Gilliam said. “We have another sister city. It is located in Yangshuo, China.”

For more information, email moreheadsc@gmail.com.

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