Global connections

A tale of Three Geraldines: New sign connects Towns across the Globe

Excerpt from Four Peaks Gazette, Geraldiuen community news, all credit to them. See https://facebook.com/fourpeaksgazette for more.

There are only three places in the world called Geraldine - one here in SouthCanterbury, one in Montana, and one in Alabama. Resident David Jennings discovered this unique connection and decided it was something worth celebrating.

Mayor Nigel Bowan and David Jennings (McKenzie Lifestyle village resident)

Geraldine, Montana, has a population of around 200 people, while Geraldine, Alabama, is home to about 750. Despite the distance, David saw an opportunity to build a friendship between the three small towns that share not just a name, but a strong sense of community spirit.

Last Christmas, David helped organise a Christmas card exchange between the towns. Around 400 cards were sent from Geraldine, New Zealand, to both Montana and Alabama - written by preschoolers, Residents of resthomes, and other community members. In return, cards and messages poured in from the two American Geraldines. Since then, residents have continued corresponding, forging genuine friendships across the world.

To mark this special occasion, David worked with the Timaru district council and the mayors of both U.S. Geraldines to create a signpost showing the direction and distance to each town. The council supplied and installed the post support, while each mayor paid for their town's sign. Mckenxie lifestyle village kindly funded the "North-South pole" sign and other incidental costs.

The Geraldine Men's Shed Trust constructed and erected the sign, which now proudly stands just west of the public toilets on Cox Street.

David says the project has been a true community effort."It's wonderful to see how something as simple as a shared name can bring people together across continents," he said.

With the sign now in place and friendships continuing to grow, Geraldine, New Zealand, has quite literally put itself - and its sister towns in Montana and Alabama - on the map.