02/12/10…….Thame-Romanian friendship grows

A group representing the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association, which included three ex Mayors of Thame, recently paid a visit to Romania as guests of the Sinaia Town Hall. The trip included visits to two local primary schools and the Prince Cantacuzino College (the secondary school), as well as a visit to the Pelisor Castle, the former home of Queen Marie of Romania, granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England.

Ex Thame Mayor, David Bretherton, Chairman of the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association, said: ?On this, our second visit to Sinaia, we were able to stay a little longer and were treated to visits to the local schools and ventured onto the Transylvanian Plain to Bran Castle (Dracula?s Castle). “Once more the hospitality was superb and the scenery fantastic, and thanks to the exchange rate, the shopping and booze inexpensive. I am now looking forward to taking a larger party to see what the town is like in the Spring time.?

Vlad Oprea, the Mayor of Sinaia, said: “It was a pleasure seeing our friends from the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association and I want to continue our friendship, which started exactly a year ago here in Sinaia. I want to thank all members of the Friendship Association for the initiative to start-up this collaboration. There is great potential to work on many joint projects and I hope that the twinning protocol could be signed soon.”

Jeannette Matelot Green, also a former Mayor of Thame, said: ?Once again, a memorable trip. We visited three schools, the two primary schools entertained us with local music and dance and the secondary school sixth formers gave a wonderful presentation of their impressions of Britain which they had visited on school trips. Marius Ciortan and I met members of the Sinaia Rotary Club. We were impressed with their fundraising projects which included the restoration of the architectural heritage of the town and awards to high achieving students from the secondary school.?

Irina Avramescu, Internal Relations Officer at Sinaia Town Hall, added: “For me every twinning project that grows is a new accomplishment, as our town is already twinned with eight other towns in the world. This is the feeling I have about the relationship of cooperation between Sinaia and Thame. It is a beautiful idea that I hope will materialize into common projects. It was a pleasure to see again this group of wonderful people from Thame. You’re welcome whenever you can visit us.”

Former Thame Mayor, David Laver, said: ?I can say that I found the town and the country very interesting; the surrounding countryside is very picturesque. The itinerary was very well organised by the town council of Sinaia and we were very well looked after. I particularly enjoyed visiting the schools and the chance to meet some of the staff and some of the pupils there. The opportunity to explore further into Transylvania and to visit the Bran Castle was a bonus and I would certainly visit again to find out more about the country.?

Marius Ciortan, himself originating from Romania, is the Secretary of the Thame-Sinaia Friendship Association. He said: ?We identified a lot of new potential projects especially with the Prince Cantacuzino College. On that day some of the sixth-formers were rehearsing for their graduation ball. They have got a very busy youth theatre group there with performances in French, English and Romanian and regular exchanges with youth from Sinaia?s twin town in France.

“I envisage a good potential link and exchange opportunities with our Thame Youth Theatre and Lord Williams?s School. I also feel there are also great opportunities for teachers? exchanges among the two towns’ primary schools.?

He added: ?For the future, we are looking forward to welcoming new members to our friendship association and also to ‘kicking off’ some of the potential projects with various groups in Thame. We will be organising a fundraising quiz night with fish and chips at Barley Hill School on Friday, January 28, 2011, from 7 pm.” Tickets will be available at