St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities Celebrates 35th Anniversary in Bologna

On September 10th, 2022, an official delegation of the City of St Louis including Michael J Cross, President of the St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities (far left), and Jack Baumann, CEO of Guidester Travel (center left) presented Deputy Mayor Anna Lisa Boni with a Resolution from the City of St Louis at the City Hall of Bologna during the celebration of the 35th anniversary of the St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities.

MICHAEL CROSS
President, St Louis-Bologna Sister Cities

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I was honored to lead an official delegation of the City of St Louis to the City of Bologna as President of the St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities. Joining me was Jack Baumann, CEO of Guidester Travel and members of our sister city committee. We presented Deputy Mayor Anna Lisa Boni with a Resolution from the City of St Louis at the City Hall of Bologna during our celebration of the 35th anniversary of the founding of our organization which has brought our two great cities together. 

The City of St Louis Resolution was sponsored and signed by Alderman Joe Vaccaro of the 23rd Ward and Alderman Joe Vollmer who represents The Hill neighborhood.

During our meeting with the Hon. Ana Lisa Boni and secretary of international affairs Silvia Sassu, we discussed our immediate future collaboration on several initiatives, both economic and cultural. Hon. Boni gifted us with an exquisite print from the collection of Giorgio Morandi, one of Bologna's greatest artists. 

The St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities' mission is to foster mutually beneficial relations in economic development, education, art, culture, medicine, and sports between the cities, increase international business contacts, increase awareness of our cities' similarities, encourage opportunities to become host families for visitors and students from abroad, and showcase St Louis as an international city.

The partnership between St Louis and Bologna was founded in 1987 by Cav. Franco Giannotti, Msgr. Salvatore Polizzi, and Mr. John Ferrara. The St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities is part of the World Trade Center - St Louis and fully supported by the City of St Louis and St Louis County governments.

President of the St Louis - Bologna Sister Cities, Michael J Cross, presents Deputy Mayor Anna Lisa Boni with a Resolution of the City of St Louis at the City Hall of Bologna, Italy during the 35th anniversary

The statue of Neptune also called “il Gigante” (the Giant), or “al Żigànt” in Bolognese dialect. It was built in 1566 and is located in Bologna's Piazza Maggiore near the City Hall. Photo by Jack Baumann.