The Sister City Exchange between Georgetown, Kentucky and Tahara City, Japan celebrates 35 years in 2025
Submitted on March 30, 2026
By Kelly McEuen, ’93
From the beginning of the Sister City relationship between Georgetown and Tahara City in 1990, the focus of the exchange has been students, education, and the environment. I’ve been fortunate to be part of this exchange nearly from the beginning, starting when I was a Junior at Georgetown College. Here’s a short history of how it all began. In 1990, Former Georgetown Mayor Tom Prather brought community leaders together to seek a potential Japanese sister city. The connections he forged continue to this day; current Tahara City Mayor Masayoshi Yamashita was a civil servant in the Tahara City government at that time and supported the official twinning of the cities. Today, Yamashita is in his third term as Mayor, and Prather continues serving as the Chair of the Sister City Committee.
In 1991, Scott County High School and Seisho High School twinned as Sister Schools and began an annual exchange of students bringing hundreds of students and host families together. At nearly the same time, Georgetown College professors Drs. Jim and Ruth Heizer helped to recruit Georgetown College’s first Tahara City student, Yutaro Furuhashi ‘93.
Yutaro and I became friends and that friendship helped connect me to other Japanese students on campus, including Mari Saito ’92, whose father was GC Missionary in Residence, Yukari Yamaoka ’94, Takanobu Araki ’93, and Toshio Cho ’97. In my junior year, I was elected Collier Hall President and took responsibility to welcome Taka and Toshio, who were freshmen.
Through daily interactions with Japanese students, I began to realize the impact for the College of having Toyota’s first North American plant just north of campus. And it awakened an ambition: maybe a Kentucky boy like me could live in Japan someday, even mastering the Japanese language, and use it back home in Kentucky in the distant future. After all, I was already keenly interested in global affairs and world religions. Drs. Robert Snyder, Keon Chi, and Vernon Mallow fostered this interest in and outside of class. Living abroad seemed to be a possibility, and the exchange was about to grow in just such a manner.
Georgetown College entered into the Sister City exchange when its Provost, Dr. Charles Boehms, led an exploratory group to visit Tahara City. When Dr. Boehms learned that Assistant Language Teachers (ALTs) were being hired by the city, he asked if the Tahara Board of Education would consider hiring recent GC graduates as ALTs. At this point, my Georgetown College friendship with Yutaro changed the direction of my life. While staying with Yutaro’s family during his visit to Japan, Dr. Boehms learned of my preparations to learn Japanese and move to Japan. As a result, once Tahara City approved the idea of the ALT from Georgetown College, I was chosen to be that first GC ALT. I moved there in April 1995, and Georgetown College
has been sending graduates to teach there ever since, spreading 30 years of Tiger Pride across Tahara’s public schools and community.
During my four years in Tahara, I never felt like my life was on hold. Not only was I teaching in junior high schools and meeting students, I also spent Fridays at Tahara City Hall learning about their government and board of education. Because the Tahara people valued our sister city relationship, I felt embraced and supported. My time at Georgetown College prepared me for these situations and helped me to be flexible and open-minded to a whole new culture. Ultimately, I got to be a citizen diplomat for both communities.
After my time as the first ALT, I continued to provide support to the Sister Cities relationship, serving as a translator when needed and helping Georgetown College select new ALT candidates, and providing support as they prepared for their time abroad.
Because of this long-standing relationship, I was delighted to take part in the 35th Anniversary Sister City Exchange in September 2025. GC Alum Mayor Burney Jenkins ’76 coordinated the exchange, and the Tahara delegation included my dear friend from our Georgetown College days, Yutaro. While here, the delegation met with President Allen and ate at Country Boy (owned by GC Alumni who had also served as ALTs in Tahara). I was then also able to return to Tahara as part of Georgetown’s delegation, bringing this decades-long partnership full circle.
The Sister City partnership is a cherished exchange that has provided wonderful experiences for students and strengthened education for both communities for the past 35 years. Here’s to continued success for another 35 years.
