City gets sister in Rauma, Finland

Boynton Beach residents: You have a new sister, and her name is Rauma.

City officials this week agreed to become Sister Cities with Rauma, Finland.

The two cities can connect on issues they both experience, part of a bigger national picture that goes back to the 1950s. President Dwight D. Eisenhower founded Sister Cities International, a nonprofit, in 1956, and now cities all over the country have been partnered with communities across the world.

Boynton has its own branch of the national group, called the Greater Boynton Beach Sister Cities. Rauma is actually Boynton’s third sister, joining Les Cayes in Haiti and Qufu in China. Boynton’s group plans to work with the city’s high school to have students connect in an electronic exchange, said Jeanne Heavilin, president of Boynton’s group.

So do all these siblings cost Boynton taxpayers anything?

The answer is no and even if Boynton officials might want to visit their sis- Alexandra Seltzer ter — which frequently happens — Commissioner Justin Katz made it clear that anyone who wants to travel to Rauma must do it on his or her own dime.

(Because after all, that’d pretty much just be a vacation, and after researching Rauma, and hearing about its saunas, sausage and beer, it’s a vacation I would not turn down.)

At Monday’s meeting, Honorary Consulate of Finland Peter Makila said he’s been working on creating the sister-city partnership for about six years. He and Heavilin said they believe Rauma is a great fit for Boynton.

There are about 26,000 Finnish residents of Florida, and between 10,000 and 12,000 in Palm Beach County, Makila said. Traditionally, the Finnish residents have lived in Lantana and Lake Worth, but Makila said there has been a recent shift south of there.

So, want to know more about your new sister?

■ Rauma, a coastal city on the Gulf of Bothnia, was founded in 1442, and is the third-oldest town in the country. Sweden ruled Finland during that time. Then the Russians took over until 1917. The country will celebrate 100 years of inde- pendence next year. (Boynton was originally founded in 1898, named after Maj. Nathan Smith Boynton, whose direct ancestor John Boynton emigrated to the New World in 1638 from Yorkshire, England.)

■ Rauma has a historic area known as Old Rauma, which according to visitfinland. com, is “stepping into a fairy tale: the colorful wooden houses, decorative gates, cobble stone streets and beautiful public buildings create an atmosphere of the long-forgotten past.” (Boynton does have an Old Boynton Road, but it’s not exactly a historic landmark.)

■ Lace Week. It’s an annual event in July with music, dancing, traditional cooking and lace-making. Lace-making in Rauma goes back to the 1740s. (Last time I checked, there’s no Lace Week in Boynton, but we do have the Haunted Pirate Fest & Mermaid Splash in October and Boynton Beach Blarney Bash in March.)