A Global Partnership
Manhattan strengthens international connections with park
Former Mayor Ed Klimek, the Partner City Advisory Committee, the Manhattan Parks and Recreation Department and donors have put their heads together to revamp one of the entrances to City Park while promoting a budding international relationship.
The large boulders on the corner of Poyntz Avenue and 14th Street disappeared this month as demolition of the site began. In April, construction will commence for the Partner City Flag Plaza, a commemorative entrance to one of Manhattan's oldest parks that will pay homage to the Partner City alliance between Manhattan and a small riverside town in the Czech Republic called Dobrichovice.
Liz Beikmann, vice chair of the committee, said the plaza will draw attention to and honor the partnership and that that area of the park needed something to spruce it up.
The group envisions a peaceful spot to welcome its visitors and hired Bowman Bowman Novick Inc., the architects who completed the Hale Library expansion, to put their ideas to paper.
The design, according to a city commission agenda memo, included an informational panel providing the details of the partnership, a seating area and modern landscaping in front of a stone wall that reads "Welcome to City Park." The illustration showed four flagpoles that will fly the Manhattan, Dobrichovice, U.S. and Czech Republic flags. The plan also incorporated a sculpture by local Czech American artist Glen Lojka.
At a committee meeting held on March 2, Klimek, chair of the committee, spoke on the progress of ongoing fundraising for the project. The committee has $35,000 and a goal of $52,000.
Klimek said he felt pretty enthusiastic about the goal. "I don't have any fears of not reaching that," he said.
The committee developed a website for those wanting to donate from the Czech Republic. Donors can purchase bricks, benches and flagpoles at their suggested values or can give a monetary amount at their discretion.
The partnership with Dobrichovice, made official in 2006, aims to rejoin and further strengthen an already present link between the two cultures.
According to a Partner City Flag Plaza pamphlet, "The relationship has begun a sharing of cultural, educational, youth and civic understanding and friendship between the two cities."
So, what is the connection between Manhattan and a central European country about 5,000 miles away?
Barry Michie, director of international programs, said a large population of Czech Americans lives in Kansas, including Manhattan. The U.S. Census Bureau reported 18,021 Kansans identified themselves as having Czech ancestry in 2000.
Reestablishing this connection is a recent venture because, for nearly 50 years, the rule of the Communist Party made the Czech Republic impervious to travelers, either coming or going. In 1989, the country transitioned to a democratic government — opening the doors for Czech Americans to reconnect with the "old country."
Michie said the Partner City program is a way for people of Czech heritage to make that connection since the links had been broken for over 50 years. "It's a bridge and a connection that people can follow up on if they want to," he said.
Professor Emeritus Joseph Barton-Dobenin, who taught in the College of Business, has been the driving force behind the partnership.
Born into a very wealthy Czech family, Barton-Dobenin immigrated to the U.S. at age 18 when the Communist Party took over and his family lost everything. But, following the Velvet Revolution in 1989, the government reimbursed him.
Known as the "millionaire in one day," Barton-Dobenin, who recently turned 90, granted K-State funds for the International Student Exchange Program to bring Czech students to Manhattan and send K-State students to the Czech Republic. He also worked to help Manhattan select Dobrichovice as its partnership city and gave the initial donation for the plaza.
"The main purpose is just more or less a cultural exchange, learning more about the different cultures — for international understanding," Beikmann said.
Students, public school teachers and Manhattan city officials have made repeat visits to the "bedroom community" as Beikmann calls it.
The partnership not only allows Kansans to follow their roots back to the Czech Republic, it lets others build new ones in both countries.
The Dobrichovice mayor, his family and students from several Czech universities have visited Manhattan.
Marcel Mika, Czech graduate student in computer science, is one of 10 students on exchange and in the HIS host family program at K-State. He chose the state of Kansas for his college study abroad experience because, he said, "Kansas is typical American state."
Mika, who described his culture as "very Americanized," said he knew what to expect before arriving in the U.S., yet he still found differences. After experiencing K-State's course structure, the friendliness and extroversion of the people, the food and, to him, the more morally restrictive nature of American society, Mika said, "Everything is quite different."
While it contributed to his cultural understanding of Midwest America, the exchange made Mika appreciate the place of his upbringing. He said, "I'm really proud of my country."
Beikmann, a member of Mika's HIS host family during his stay, said the Czech students' visits here help dispel the stereotypes about Americans, just as her visits shattered her own.
"I always hated Communism all my life, but you begin to understand and know why things are there," she said.
Beikmann recalled one Czech student's reaction to Americans. "They were not at all what she thought they would be, and I think that's partly probably what we try to convey with the host family program, with the exchanges and the partnership," Beikmann said.
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When Manhattan became a partner city of Dobrichovice, Czech Republic the goal was to build a bridge between the two cities. Both cities wanted to provide an educational opportunity to their citizens. No one could dream this partnership would flourish into what it is today.
The Idea
The idea began with former Manhattan Mayor Ed Klimek. Klimek wanted to establish a partner city for Manhattan and he began to search in 2005. In 2006, Joseph Barton-Dobenin, former K-State professor and Czech Republic native, decided to help.
Dobenin takes frequent trips back to his homeland and offered to search for the perfect city to partner with Manhattan during one of these trips. Dobenin received interest from Dobrichovice, Czech Republic. The paperwork was signed, sealed and delivered. In 2006, a partnership was born.
Since then, the partnership has continued to grow. Several community members, including Klimek, have traveled to Dobrichovice. “I was invited on an official state visit,” Klimek says. “The people there are similar to us. They have similar desires and even their government is much like ours.”
English is the official second language of Dobrichovice. Both cities have a city council and a mayor, and citizens have a desire to get ahead in life according to Klimek.
The Plan
However, the cities are not relying on their similarities. Both cities are making an effort to further educate respective citizens about the partnership. One major step in that direction is the building of flag plazas in both cities.
Klimek says the Manhattan City has voted to allow the building of a plaza in City Park to honor Dobrichovice. The plaza will include the flags of the Czech Republic, the United States, Manhattan and Dobrichovice in addition to educational panels that will inform visitors about the partnership and the Czech Republic.
The new flag plaza will not be the only way to get a glimpse of the Czech culture. Klimek also says that Amanda Arnold Grade School in Manhattan is implementing a program to help students learn about the partner city. Students are speaking Czech and celebrating Czech Day. Students at participating grade schools eat traditional Czech foods. Children also get to watch and participate in Czech dances and listen to Czech music. In addition, sixth graders get to meet and interact with Czech sixth graders through Skype.
“Manhattan and the Czech Republic have a lot that they can learn from one another and the best way for that to happen, is actual interaction with the other culture,” says Liz Beikmann, partner city committee member.
The Exchange
The grade schools are not the only educational institutions reaching out to the Czech Republic. According to Beikmann, K-State has hosted more than 200 Czech students in the last 16 years including Marcel Mika.
Mika is a student in computer science who is attending K-State through an exchange program with Prague. Although many exchange students are not from Dobrichovice specifically, Mika says the fact that Manhattan is eager to learn about his home country is encouraging.
“I was surprised because I thought when I get to America, no one will know where the Czech Republic is,” Mika says. “But I was impressed to see that everyone in Manhattan knew about the Czech Republic, and still wants to learn more.”
Beikmann says the partnership has a lot to do with that knowledge, but there is a long way to go. One way many residents are getting involved is the Helping International Students (HIS) program. Beikmann is a part of this program and says the program assists exchange students during their stay in Manhattan. The organization is run by local churches and sets every student up with a “host family.” Host families provide each student with someone to show the students around, feed them a home-cooked meal and help them adjust to life in America. Beikmann has hosted over 20 Czech students through the HIS program, including Mika. Beikmann has also traveled to the Czech Republic multiple times, both to experience the culture and to catch up with students she has hosted. “Anytime you have a program like this, that helps one culture understand another culture, I think that is important,” Beikmann says.
The Culture
Exchange students immerse themselves in American culture everyday and have begun to notice differences between the two cultures.
“In Europe, everyone is more introverted, in Manhattan people are very friendly, they say hi to you even if they don’t know you,” Mika says.
Mika also says that you would never see a pick-up truck in the Czech Republic because everyone drives much smaller vehicles. “Everything is bigger in America: the cars are bigger, the roads are bigger, the houses are bigger,” Mika says.
Beikmann says that with the differences in culture, Manhattan has much to learn from a partnership with Dobrichovice. “One thing I have found in my travels is that the Czechs have a wonderful sense of humor,” Beikmann says. “That is something I thought was a very pleasant surprise.”
Ultimately Beikmann says, the partner city is a great opportunity for Manhattan residents to learn more about another culture.
“Many people I know still call it Czechoslovakia,” Beikmann says, “so there is obviously a need for knowledge.”
The Future
In the future both Klimek and Beikmann want to see the partner city program to continue to develop.
“We have to continue to get the word out and the flag plaza will be a big part of that,” Klimek says. “But we don’t want to stop there, we want this partnership to truly be a cultural exchange, where people are traveling and make lasting relationships with people of a different nation.”