Sister city celebration served with mustard
Palmerston North is celebrating its 40-year link with Missoula, in the United States, with one of the most American of pastimes: A hot dog-eating contest.
There will be rides, entertainment, and food carts to acknowledge the relationship from noon til 4pm in Te Marae o Hine/The Square on Saturday.
The day, celebrating all things American, will provide Palmerstonians the opportunity to munch their way into hot dog-eating folk law, with an event organised by Kevin Gray, owner of Graze Kitchen, Gracias Tex-Mex, and the Ice Creamery in Downtown.
Contestants organised into three age groups will have three minutes to consume as many hot dogs as they can, with a $100 cash prize for the winners.
Vouchers for the Downtown eatery will be prizes for second place contestants.
The world record is 75 hot dogs, but Gray thinks between five and 10 is a more realistic limit for Kiwi appetites.
The day is being organised by Palmy BID, a group made up of, and working for, local business interests.
BID acting business manager and Manawatū Chamber of Commerce chief executive Amanda Linsley said the group wanted to encourage people into the city and inspire them to ‘‘stay a bit longer’’.
Missoula is located in the northwestern state of Montana and borders Dakota, Wyoming and Idaho, with Canada to the north.
It is a university city surrounded by mountain ranges with a river running through it, similar to Palmerston North. The starkest difference is wildlife, Missoula having native moose, bears and eagles.
When Palmerston North mayor Grant Smith led a delegation to Missoula four years ago he was surprised to see deer walking the streets, ‘‘just grazing at the side of the road’’.
Missoula celebrates New Zealand and Palmerston North every year, often with a game of rugby, Smith said.
‘‘The benefits of having a sister city are massive. These connections stop Palmerston North from being a provincial backwater which we could easily be if we weren’t so outward looking.’’
Little known facts about the sister city relationship are that Palmerston North has a Missoula Reserve – off Rodeo Drive and down from Trump Place – Palmy is home to a mural painted by Willow Kipp, a Blackfeet/ Shoshone-Bannock first nations’ artist, and there is a meeting room in the council building called the Missoula room.
Palmerston North has four sister cities. In addition to Missoula there are two in China; Guiyang and Kunshan, relationships established 30 and 26 years ago respectively, and the recently added Mihara in Japan.