Twinning Ceremony in Billericay

During 1998 a Twinning Agreement was established with the town of Fishers, Indiana, USA which culminated with the signing of a Twinning Charter at a ceremony held in the church of St Mary Magdalene, Great Burstead, Billericay on 7 September 1998.

The signatories to the Charter were the President of the town of Fishers, the Chairman of the Billericay Twinning Association and a representative of Billericay Town Council.

In the evening a celebratory dinner was held in Barleylands Restaurant which was attended by seventeen residents of Fishers including the Town President, the Town Communications Co-ordinator, the Executive Director of the Chamber of Commerce, the President of the SCI Committee, the Principals of the Senior High School and the Junior High School and members of the SCI Committee.

Billericay was represented by a representative of the Town Council, the Chairman and members of the Billericay Twinning Association, members of some of the organisations in Billericay and families who hosted the visitors.

A shield, carved by a local craftsman, was presented to the President of Fishers to commemorate the event whilst a framed painting of Billericay was presented to each of the American guests.

During their visit the Americans toured the High Street, visited the Library, the Police Station, the Fire Brigade Station, had a guided tour of Norsey Woods ending with an informal garden party at the home of a member of the BTA committee which was also attended by representatives of Billericay Town Council and other organisations in the town.

In their rather hectic itinerary the Americans also visited the industrial estate at Radford Way, lunched at the Edwardian Club and saw examples of the art of "glass blowing" at Barleylands Museum.

Most of the local schools entertained the visitors for a day providing them with lunch and a tour of the classrooms. They were able to sit in on some of the lessons and talk to the students and also see some of the paintings and other works of art crafted by members of the senior classes. A most interesting part of the itinerary was a video conferencing link with the Senior and Junior High Schools in Fishers where students from each country were able to see and talk with each other.