Winters and Almogia, Sister Cities

As I continue to gather my notes and files together for my upcoming trip to Spain, I allowed my mind to trickle over some of the past 'hunting and gathering' and my head stumbled on the thought about the Sister City Program in Winters, California.  What happened to it?  What does a Sister City Program entail?  Who is taking care of this now since Michael S Ruiz died in 2006?

I contacted the Winters Chamber of Commerce and received the following communication:

Patricia,

     I remember Mike very well.  I am the Youth Day Parade Chairman as well and Mike came through the parade with the Almogia flag draped over the car. We had several conversations about the Sister City Program when it was new. You would have to contact City Manager John Donlevy at City Hall (795-4910) to see if the program is still active.  I don't believe it is any more.  I had the Almogia flag at one time, but turned it back in to City Hall many years ago.  It would be a nice thing to keep going since there are so many Winters descendants from there.

Mike
Winters Chamber of Commerce/Visitors Center


He was correct.  Today, I spoke with Mr. Donlevy, who kindly told me that my timing was great because he and some staff members had recently gone through some storage areas at the City Hall and found the certificate for the program.  He agreed to scan and email it to me.  Of course, I would like the original but the subject did not come up and I will be content with a copy...

And the Almogia flag?  Mr. Donlevy does not remember seeing that but he graciously offered to look for it after I told him I would soon be in Almogia and it was very important to me to either open the program again in Winters or discuss (with my brother doing the Spanish vocals of course) with the Mayor of Almogia the attributes of the program there.

It would be a shame that this program died with my biological father when he worked so hard to arrange it and placed such importance on the Almogia group of men who came to America in the early 1990s to be part of his dream.