By Derek Spellman
dspellman@joplinglobe.com
The mayor of Bethlehem and his wife have tentatively agreed to visit Joplin this Christmas, while city and community leaders are planning a Living Nativity to coincide with the mayor’s visit.
Joplin established a “Sister City” relationship with the West Bank community in 2005. A committee is completing the details of both the mayor’s visit and the large-scale Living Nativity, which will be part of the city’s annual “Holiday Experience,” according to city officials.
“In some ways, this has such great potential for putting Joplin on the map at Christmas time,” said Vince Lindstrom, director of the Joplin Convention and Visitors Bureau, on Thursday.
The tentative plans call for the Bethlehem mayor to be in Joplin during the first week of December. Besides the Living Nativity, the city hopes to have events such as school visits, a university forum, annual Christmas parade, and a community senior-citizen event.
Another hope, Lindstrom said, is to have a Dec. 3 dinner featuring state lawmakers and leaders.
“We want it to be an interfaith salute to Bethlehem,” he said.
The theme for the Living Nativity is to be “O Little Town of Bethlehem.” Lindstrom said the city would like to make the theme of the Dec. 3 dinner “Peace on Earth, Goodwill Toward Men”.
Lindstrom said he first thought about inviting the Bethlehem mayor when planning the city’s annual Holiday Experience. It was then that he turned to Roger Gladden.
Gladden played a central role in establishing the “Sister-City” relationship in 2005. He is a retired senior vice president for Leggett & Platt Inc., and founded Christians for World Peace, a not-for-profit group, in 1996 to minister to and promote a peaceful relationship between Arabs and Jews.
Gladden regularly visits Bethlehem, while his mission supports more than 50 families there.
The L&P; retiree heads the planning committee for the visit of Mayor Victor Hanna Jubrail Batarseh.
Batarseh last visited Joplin in October 2005 for the official signing of the “Sister-City” relationship agreement.
Joplin made quite an impression on Batarseh.
“He always talks about it,” said Gladden, who has visited Batarseh on his trips to Bethlehem.
Sister cities
Besides Joplin, the town of Bethlehem has “Sister-City” relationships with Burlington, Vt., and Orlando, Fla.
