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Twinning Chairperson is Citizen of the Year 2005

Joan Grieve, chairperson of the Penicuik /L’Isle sur la Sorgue Twinning Association was chosen as Citizen of the Year.  She was presented with a commemorative engraved Edinburgh Crystal plate by Penicuik and District Community Council on 13 June.  On receiving the reward the mother of three said: “I am delighted.  I could not have done it without the support of my husband, family and all the committees, who have become my friends.”

Joan and vice chairperson Lis Imrie prepare to feed the French teenagers

During her many years as a resident of Pencuik, Joan has been an active member of the community, involved in numerous local groups particularly Ladywood Primary School Parent Teacher Association, the Swimming Pool campaign and the town twinning association.   It was under her tenacious leadership that the Bilingual Project  with L’Isle sur la Sorgue was conceived and developed.  Apart from her tireless “hands on” work for good causes she has been a loyal, supportive friend to many individuals.

With winter outside it is good to think of our twin town in sunny Provence in the South of France.

Many of us will be heading there this year as we have an exciting programme of events to share our language and culture with our friends in L'Isle sur la Sorgue.

The new chairman of the Comite des Jumelages, Bernard Girardin and Sarah Boggs, who is also involved with the Music School and Bilingual Project, visited us in February to discuss future events.  Bernard had never visited Penicuik before but was keen to be able to speak from experience when promoting twinning.  Despite the Arctic conditions he found a very warm welcome further helped by haggis, whisky and other local specialities.  There was a packed programme, including visits to primary schools, Beeslack High School, ceilidh danging, the rugby club, golf club and Glencorse Pipe Band.  It was great to be able to discuss future plans face to face.

MAIN EVENTS THIS YEAR

The bilingual school will take place in L'Isle during the first week of July with the French contingent coming to assist with local playschemes the week after.  We have recruited a group of Fifth year pupils from Beeslack and have been fortunate to secure the services of local people from a variety of backgrounds to act as junior and senior group leaders.

There will be a special "French Club" at the Buzz club every day which primary school children can sign up for in advance.  There will be more information in the local press nearer the time.

In October a group of local ceilidh dancers from Annabell Oates Community Education class at Beeslack, members of the Penicuik Folk Club and the Glencorse Pipe Band will invade L'Isle sur la Sorgue to take part in a major cultural festival.  There is great excitement in France and planning is underway.

FUNDRAISING EVENTS

There was an old fashioned games evening on 12th February with Beetle Drive and dominoes.  It was good to see a number of children and everyone had fun.

This year's ceilidh took place on 12th March and was a huge success with music provided by Auld Spice.

THIS SUMMER IN L'ISLE SUR LA SORGUE

Here is a programme of the main events in L'Isle sur la Sorgue for those planning to visit during the summer months.

This information is from www.ot-islesurlasorgue.fr. This is a new version of the website.  More information is available from our Links section.

Bilingual Project 2004
"Pour les jeunes par les jeunes- For the young by the young"


A group of 10 S5/6 pupils from Beeslack Community High School spent a most successful week
at the beginning of July in L'Isle sur la Sorgue. They were taking part in a bilateral project,
funded by the European Community through the British Council, aimed at encouraging young
people of different nationalities to work together. 

While in France the Scottish teenagers organised activities every day for French primary children. 
Through games, competitions, singing and dancing, all lead in English, they shared their
language and culture with the children, who thoroughly enjoyed the experience . While in France
the Beeslack pupils had a break from work to enjoy themselves in the sunshine, visit Avignon,
Fontaine de Vaucluse and attend local festivals. They were also received by the Mayor of L'Isle
sur la Sorgue. 

The Penicuik youngsters worked together with a group of 11 French teenagers. They in turn came
to Penicuik between the 24 July and 2 August to help in a similar way with the summer
playschemes at the YMCA and Beeslack Community High School. Among the activities were
games in French, baking pancakes and learning about the bridge at Avignon. Children, helpers
and leaders all enjoyed meeting the young French visitors and many friendships were formed. 
A full programme of sightseeing, fun and official events was organised by Joan Grieve and the
twinning committee. 

Here is a report of the visit to France which appeared in the local paper "Provence"




TEN SCOTTISH TEENAGERS LEAD WORKSHOPS AT PETIT-PALAIS

They arrived last Saturday and since first stepping on to Provençal soil they have not been idle.
They were kept busy with the village festival at Petit-Palais, an evening of Scottish music and
dancing in the playground of the Lycee Benoit where they were staying, a visit to Fontaine de
Vaucluse, the "must do" Avignon festival and canoeing down the Sorgue. However over and
above all this they organised innovative workshops for 27 Provençal children at the Petit-Palais
school. Play based activities to help the children learn the basics of the language of Shakespeare:
colour, numbers, parts of the body all illustrated by songs from their homeland, games and
treasure hunts. Fortunately these 10 young Scottish people were not left alone to run classes at
this "bilingual school" as they were supported by their leaders, Lorraine, Jennifer, Carol, Evelyn
and Janet and benefitted also from the help of some of our local teenagers, Julien, Florian, Emilie,
Carla, Agathe, Francois and Pierre-Loup.


PENICUIK THE HILL OF THE CUCKOO

On Wednesday evening this party were received at the town hall for a toast to friendship. This
was the occasion to emphasise the bonds of friendship between the town and Penicuik, home
town to these young Scots. And even if this exchange was not organised by the Twinning
Committee but the Aj'Isle Association, it will have been greatly helped by the longstanding
relations between the two towns. 

At the end of the month ten youngsters from L'Isle will further strengthen these cross channel
links. They will in turn leave to lead workshops in the French language for Scots children from
Penicuik, the hill of the cuckoo.

Members of the Scottish group with friends from L'Isle sur la Sorgue Twinning Association.

On the 4-6 June, L'isle sur la Sorgue celebrated their annual game fair.  For more details visit:

http://www.salonchasseetpeche.com/

A ceilidh on 4th February was enjoyed very much and requests for another, later in the year, have been noted.  Thanks to the Town Crier, we have found our first "Twinning School Exchange Reunited".  If anyone wishes to find former school exchange friends, contact the commitee and wee will see if we can help.  We held a meeting on 1st March about our first attempt at a Bilingual Holiday Club with our twin town - we will keep you posted on our progress.

We are trying to find a 25 year old Simon Carol? who visited L'isle sur la Sorgue in 1992/93 with the school exchange.  If anyone can help, please contact Joan Grieve.

Dear Friends,

As we approach the AGM we look back over a very busy year. Here is an update of our activities and future plans. 

Expectations of twinning have changed and while we value traditional hosting within families, it is now only one of many options. Some members prefer being independent, staying in gites or caravans, while still taking advantage of twinning contacts to meet local people. Group accommodation is more popular among young people and, in fact, some projects demand that participants live and work together to encourage a team spirit. 

With the decline of school exchanges the committee has extended its role to encompass pupils in primary and secondary school who we hope are the future friends of twinning. 

Exchange visits:
May: a short but very successful visit by an official delegation from France headed by the Deputy Mayor, who had herself taken part in the first school exchange. 25 years of twining were celebrated and important contacts made with heads of local politics and commerce. 

July: the promotion officer for the L'Isle Game and Antiques fairs came to set up links with Scottish groups. A member of the committee acted as his interpreter.

September: Our first all female exchange with 10 ladies visiting L'Isle sur la Sorgue marked the 25th year of twinning with Penicuik. For most it was their first visit. Representatives from the Twinning Committee, Camera Club and Broomhill Day Centre met their French counterparts to share ideas. As usual the group were well looked after and had a wonderful visit..

Awareness raising events during the past year: 
August: Penicuik Street Fair - On a gloriously sunny day we brought a bit of France to the precinct with many people partaking of tasters of Provençal specialities.

September: an exhibition in the library offered information about L'Isle sur la Sorgue and twinning activities.

November: a "Musical and Quiz Evening" saw a good turn out of friends of twinning old and new exchanging information and testing their knowledge of our twin town.

December: a stall at the "Christmas Fair" selling mulled wine and Christmas stocking fillers.

February : despite dreadful winter weather we had a full hall for our ceilidh, dancing to "The Canongate Cadgers". A memorable evening which we hope to make an annual event.

Future plans:
May: decorating a float and having a stall for "Penicuik on Parade"

Organising an evening meal and ceilidh for a visiting group from the Jean Bouin secondary school in L'Isle sur la Sorgue.

Early July: sending a group of 10 young people from Beeslack Community High School to work as play leaders in a bi lingual summer school in L'Isle sur la Sorgue

Late July: hosting a group of teenagers from L'Isle who will help with local play schemes in Penicuik

Launching the final version of an information leaflet and setting up a web site for the Association.

Next year: hosting visits from a Primary school from L'Isle and the local rugby team.


Ongoing activities:
School links: linking primary schools in Penicuik and L'Isle sur la Sorgue who will correspond by e-mail and exchange project material with a view to future
visits.

Investigating new ways to revive links between the high schools through targeted curricular activities.

Exchanges: acting as coordinators for proposed exchange visits.

Fundraising: looking at new ways of raising money as well as raising awareness of twinning activities and French culture.

Battling with the intricacies of applications for EU grants for youth activities 

Twinning- the bigger picture: 
We regularly attend meetings of the Midlothian Twinning Association where we have the opportunity to meet representatives from other twinning committees and share ideas. In future we hope to meet with twinning groups in the Borders and East Lothian.

SUMMER FESTIVITIES IN L'ISLE SUR LA SORGUE

The 14th of July (le quatorze juillet) is a day of celebrations throughout France. L'Isle sur la Sorgue has its own unique festivities on the River Sorgue, which flows through the town and gives it its special character. 

The day starts with a river parade (le defilé nautique) bringing together all those involved with the river e.g. divers, fishermen, punters. Later there is a race of flat bottomed boats called "nego chins" which take their name from the Provençal, meaning "not a dog". They are so unstable that not even a dog would be tempted on to them. You can imagine the fun with boats crashing into each other and being overturned as competitors vie to negotiate the water falls and weirs and finish first. Another popular event is the jousting tournament (la tournoi des joutes) where foolhardy locals joust with long poles, not on horse back, but standing on the prow of a boat. Fortunately it is the hottest time of year so no one minds falling in.

During July and August the water festival continues. On Sundays, when the town is full of visitors to the market, there are demonstrations of fishing from a bygone age ( La p che d'antan). Strange old fishing equipment, retrieved from attics and outhouses is used most successfully by members of the Piscaire Lilien. This brotherhood dates back to the end of the 16th century, when local fishermen supplied enormous quantities of fish and crayfish to the Palace of the Pope in Avignon. Nowadays the group organises the water festival to maintain the traditions of L'Isle sur la Sorgue.

There is also a floating market (le marché flottant) selling all kinds of local produce with most of the traders wearing beautiful Provençal costumes.

The highlight of the festivities is the river fairy tale (la féerie nautique) which takes place at night. This is a procession of illuminated floats moving down the river. They represent a multitude of fantastic themes - tropical islands, fairy tale palaces, scenes from the Arabian nights etc. These are huge structures with people standing on them singing and dancing. Last summer the L'Isle sur la Sorgue committee created a papier maché Scottish castle and Loch Ness Monster to celebrate 25 years of twinning. (25eme anniversaire du jumelage)

For more information go to: http://www.ot-islesurlasorgue.fr/