What’s a Sister City?
A sister city is a formal agreement between two cities in different countries to promote cultural and commercial ties, fostering friendship and understanding. This partnership often involves exchanges in areas like education, business, and community development.
How long have we had this relationship with Forres?
Our two towns made it official in 1990!
Why Forres?
Mount Dora has had a lot of Scottish culture and connection over the years, so when visiting, it was a natural fit! Add to this, that the towns were of a similar size, both with a high value for art, creative culture, and flowers/gardens; Mount Dora and Forres also curiously both have a Lawn Bowling Club and a Pipe Band! There are hundreds of other connection points which help to make our bonds strong, but the real question here is: “Why Forres FOR YOU? What connection would YOU like to forge?” A penpal? A business-to-business connection? Perhaps an artist or athlete exchange? The options are endless!
Can we have more than one Sister City?
We can! In fact, Forres has another “twin town” in Germany. However, we in Mount Dora have chosen to focus all of our attention and efforts on this one relationship, and we have decades of beautiful memories and history together because of it!
What do Sister Cities do, exactly?
All sorts of things! The relationship is as unique as the 2 towns involved!
For about 35 years, Mount Dora and Forres sent exchange students back and forth. Through that project, hundreds of families on both sides of the Atlantic were given lifelong memories and precious Scottish-American relationships!
In recent years (due to changing laws, vaccination requirements, and costs of travel etc) the student exchanges have taken a backseat, but we are now focusing on strengthening our connection in other ways.
For example, in 2025:
* a Forres-based artist has been awarded a trip to Mount Dora, where she will be connecting with the local art scene, participating in 2 festivals, and creating a project which highlights the link between our towns—not to mention meeting loads of locals, and visiting all of our beautiful places and spaces.
* a Mount Dora and Forres brewery collaborated on a beer recipe and brewed/sold their Sister City beer at the same time on opposite sides of the pond!
* a Mount Dora young adult fiction author will be visiting & speaking in Forres primary schools with hundreds of donated books!
* Members of a Mount Dora run club will travel to run with the Forres harriers!
* Multiple families and businesses are “penpal-ing”!
* Several Mount Dora schools are kicking off virtual school connections with their Forres counterpart!
* loads of personal travelers are going back & forth to meet new friends in their sister city!
*The MDSCA is facilitating a number of local events (monthly lunches, quarterly happy hours, a fundraiser, and having a volunteer presence at the monthly Plaid-in-the-Park & the annual Mount Dora Highland Festival) to help raise awareness, funds for future projects, and to keep the energy going in our cross-pond connection!
What would YOU like to see happen between our towns?
So can I go to Forres?
You SHOULD! Reach out to jubilee journeys and ask them about the travel & tour packages they’ve put together.
Or, if you’d rather do the trip-planning yourself and just need some connections in Forres, we can help with that: Send us an email and we’ll happily help you make contact with someone to welcome you on that side of the pond.
And finally, make sure you watch this space for announcements about various “educational & cultural exchange” opportunities that will announced soon!
How can I get connected?
1. Sign up: Membership dues are waived for the rest of 2025, and will be only $30 annually starting in January.
2. Like & follow on Facebook and Instagram, and read your newsletters when they arrive in your inbox so that you know exactly what’s going on, and don’t miss opportunities for connection!
3. Join us at our gatherings, and volunteer to help out any chance you get!