Sister Cities of Jasper recognized for achievements

Fresh off the cusp of celebrating its 40th anniversary, Sister Cities of Jasper, Inc. announced it had received honors for a recent program it coordinated.

Sister Cities of Jasper was awarded the 2025 Innovation Award in Arts and Culture for communities with fewer than 25,000 people from a global list of candidates.

The honor was announced during the Sister Cities International Leadership Conference in Fort Worth, Texas which was attended by Sister Cities of Jasper Vice President Sandy Wehr and Secretary Sheri Keller.

The award recognized the successful Culinary Exchange, which was coordinated by Kent Seger in 2024. Applications were accepted, and Jamie Boaz of KlubHaus61 and the Schnitzelbank, Kim Mitchell of Snaps Café, and Haley Ondiek, a Consumer and Family Science teacher at Jasper Middle School, traveled to Pfaffenweiler, Germany, and were exposed to many German kitchens, learning about various German cooking methods and ingredients.  They were hosted by families in Pfaffenweiler during their stay.

Then, in 2025, Alexander Horst, Mario and Silvia Woerner, Heike Duerr, and Daniel Conrady of Pfaffenweiler traveled to Jasper and participated in numerous tours of local restaurant kitchens, meatpacking locations, and grocery stores to learn about American cooking methods and ingredients. They were hosted by families in Jasper during their stay.

Local participants in the Culinary Exchange experience were Wood Capital Pizza, Grounded Natural Foods, Emerald Greens, Merkley & Sons Meats, Jasper Middle School, Oink Inc Smokehouse, The Schnitzelbank Restaurant, Snaps Café, Retro Mexican Restaurant, BMF Saloon, Patoka Lake Brewery, Patoka Lake Winery, Old Homestead Distilling Co., and Parlor Donuts.

Also, during the International Leadership Conference, Sandy Wehr, a longtime member of the Sister Cities of Jasper Board of Directors and chaperone for the Student Exchange Program, was recognized and honored as an Honorary Board Alumni for Sister Cities International. Sister Cities International’s Honorary Board Alumni is comprised of key individuals who have shown leadership to Sister Cities International through the years. Ms. Wehr was also the 2020 Indiana Sister Cities Volunteer of the Year and was awarded the local German Heritage Award in 2023.

Sister Cities of Jasper was previously named the 2018 Outstanding Program for Cities under 25,000 from Sister Cities International, the Indiana Sister Cities Award for Best Program in 2019 for importing Pfaffenweiler wines, and the 2019 Innovation Award for Business and Trade for a city less than 25,000 from Sister Cities International for Importing and Distribution of wine from Pfaffenweiler, Germany. In 2020 they were awarded the Innovation Award for Arts and Culture for Cities under 25,000 from Sister Cities International for the logo project. A contest was held to find a new logo depicting the Jasper-Pfaffenweiler Sister Cities relationship. Tracy Lorey of Running Design Studio submitted the winning logo.

Sister Cities of Jasper was awarded the Best Overall Program in 2021 by Sister Cities of Indiana in recognition of the outstanding student exchange held during the 2020-2021 school year.

More information on Sister Cities of Jasper can be found at www.sistercitiesofjasper.org.