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Sister city exchange program celebrated at Friendship Garden

Published 1:30 am Monday, April 13, 2026

By Olympic Peninsula News Group

From left, Guppy McCaffrey, 9, of Port Angeles, Sadie Miller, 17, also of Port Angeles and Jasmine Bailey of Sequim pose as garden fairies for fine art photographer Marina Shipova. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
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From left, Guppy McCaffrey, 9, of Port Angeles, Sadie Miller, 17, also of Port Angeles and Jasmine Bailey of Sequim pose as garden fairies for fine art photographer Marina Shipova. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

From left, Guppy McCaffrey, 9, of Port Angeles, Sadie Miller, 17, also of Port Angeles and Jasmine Bailey of Sequim pose as garden fairies for fine art photographer Marina Shipova. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Representatives of the Sequim-Shiso Sister City Association, from left, Janine Miller, Jennie Petit, Jim Stoffer and Annette Hanson were on hand at an open house event at the Friendship Garden at Carrie Blake Community Park to provide information about the student exchange program. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Sequim students in every grade made 120 lanterns to hang from trees at the Friendship Garden. The number represents the students who traveled from Sequim to Japan between 1994-2019 as part of the Sequim-Shiso City exchange program, which was recently restarted after it was halted by COVID-19. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Claire Packer, 6, of Sequim, flies a kite she made at the Friendship Garden open house event at Carrie Blake Community Park. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Visitors take in the view of the Friendship Garden’s pond and the stone lantern that was delivered from Japan in fall 1997. (Monica Berkseth/Olympic Peninsula News Group)

SEQUIM — The Sequim-Shiso Sister City Association hosted a free open house event at Carrie Blake Community Park to celebrate the Friendship Garden and the recent restart of the longstanding Japanese-American exchange program that was put on hold in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Community members had an opportunity to tour the garden on April 4 and participate in photo opportunities, craft making and a kite-building workshop. A ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce also was part of the day’s festivities.

Members of the Sequim-Shiso Sister City Association provided information about the garden and the exchange program.

“This has been a pleasure to invite our community to enjoy our friendship garden to get to know more about us and to learn about our connection to various parts of the community, including the Sequim schools, the Sequim-Dungeness Valley Chamber of Commerce, the city of Sequim and community and how it’s maintaining our cultural relationship with Shiso City across the water,” said Jennie Petit, vice president of the sister city association and a translator for the group.

Hanging from tree branches in the spring sunshine were 120 lanterns made by local students in every grade, representing the number of students who were sent from Sequim to Japan from 1994-2019 as part of the exchange program. The lamps were made from patterns that chief organizer Janine Miller distributed to schools.

With the exchange program underway again, tentative plans call for Sequim students and their chaperones to visit Japan in 2027. Shiso City likely will send students and representatives to visit Sequim in 2028.

The purpose of the exchange program is to promote friendship while learning about each other’s culture.

Ten volunteers provide upkeep for the Friendship Garden, working from 9 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays through October. City parks staff provide ongoing maintenance.

For more information or to volunteer, call Jim Stoffer at 360-775-9356 or email to sequimsistercityassn@gmail.com.

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