BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST

The British are coming.

There, we said it.

Last year when Salisbury Mayor Susan Kluttz visited Salisbury, England, the namesake for our fair city, officials there treated her like a queen.

Kluttz wants to return the favor this coming week, dishing out our best Southern hospitality. A group of 20 people from Salisbury, England, including the mayor, the city clerk, councilmen and spouses will visit here for five days, beginning with their arrival Thursday evening.

“They were very anxious to know more about us,” Kluttz says.

Kluttz and her husband, Bill, took a trip to Salisbury, England, last June to participate in that city’s millennium celebration. The English Salisbury had invited the mayors of all Salisburys in the world, and three accepted: Kluttz and the mayors of Salisbury, Md., and Salisbury in New Brunswick, Canada.

Their English hosts filled the five days with events, including two parades, banquets, entertainment, receptions and barbecue — yes, Salisbury, England, is known for its pork barbecue. The Kluttzes stayed at the city’s famous Red Lion Inn, in business for only about 700 years.

As part of her official duties, Kluttz signed a copy and addition to Salisbury, England’s original charter. The copy was buried as part of a time capsule. She also spent considerable time with Salisbury’s entire council and learned that the English hosts knew a lot more about Salisbury, Md., than they did Salisbury, N.C.

Some past Salisbury mayors have visited Salisbury, England, since the 1960s, and their English counterparts have stopped here on infrequent vacations, but “they (the present mayor and council) very much wanted a more formal relationship with us,” Kluttz says.

Kluttz invited them to come and suggested an April or May trip.

The visitors this week will include Mayor Steven Fear, who is dean of students at a Salisbury, England, college; Clerk Barry Pritchard, a retired police chief; former Mayor David McCarthy; future mayor Ian Tomes; and Councilman John Collier, a certified docent at the famous Salisbury Cathedral.

“They’re all very fascinating people,” Kluttz says. “They represent, really, a diverse group of citizens — and they’re very politically divided.”

Pritchard told Kluttz that the U.S. trip is the first thing the Salisbury, England council has ever really agreed on.

The English visitors want to establish a formal sister city relationship with Salisbury, N.C., something that will happen when the two councils pass a joint resolution at 4:30 p.m. on May 14, a Monday.

“What that means and what will come of it, I don’t know,” Kluttz says. But she does see some future advantages.

People from Salisbury who travel to England will have a contact there, a benefit that Catawba College students already enjoyed last Christmas on a school trip. Kluttz also believes that visits here from people in Salisbury, England, will mean a lot to citizens who seldom travel.

Kluttz raised funds from the Robertson Family Foundation and Salisbury Community Foundation to pay for all the expenses, including three public events.

Kluttz wanted all former Salisbury, England, mayors to come, but Pritchard said he had to limit the entire group to 20. The English Salisbury selects a new mayor every year.

The officials coming to North Carolina will bring their robes, hats, chains and maces, which are staffs used as a symbol of authority.

Kluttz says she is flattered that a city with as much history as Salisbury, England, is interested in one of its American namesakes. While Salisbury citizens have earned distinction with the historic preservation of buildings 100 years old and even less, Salisbury, England, has preserved history many centuries old.

“I think that’s why our city appreciates them so much,” Kluttz says.

Here are the three public events connected with the Salisbury, England, visitors’ stay:

• Community Celebration, Sunday, May 13, 3 to 4 p.m., Catawba College Chapel. The celebration will feature local choirs and a symphony brass quintet. The day will highlight Salisbury’s diversity.

Parking will be available behind the Ketner School of Business building, with free trolley rides to the chapel from that parking lot.

• Special joint City Council meeting, 4:30 p.m. May 14 (Monday), Salisbury City Hall, 217 S. Main St. Officials from both Salisburys will meet together and pass a joint resolution signifying their special kinship.
• Lecture-and-slide presentation on Salisbury, England, 5 p.m., Meroney Theater, 213 S. Main St., next to City Hall. Officials with the Salisbury, England, group will speak and show photographs from their hometown. A public reception in the Meroney Theater lobby will follow at 6 p.m.

All these events are free. The Salisbury, England, visitors will be wearing their official attire at each public event.

The English visitors arrive early Thursday evening at the Charlotte airport, where a Salisbury delegation will meet them. They will dine late Thursday at the mayor’s residence, which is within walking distance of all the homes where they will stay during their visit.

Friday’s agenda includes a Chamber of Commerce breakfast, a two-hour trolley tour of Salisbury, lunch with the Rowan County Board of Commissioners, meetings at City Hall with various city departments and civic groups, a welcoming reception at City Hall and a welcoming party at the Salisbury Station.

Saturday is more of a free day for the visitors. They will be offered choices in tours, sports and shopping. Local homes will be the sites for breakfast, a reception and dinner.

On Sunday, May 13, the Salisbury, England, group will attend services at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, have lunch at Sweet Meadow, attend the community celebration at Catawba College and eat dinner at the Wrenn House.

Activities other than the public events Monday include interviews at WSTP Radio, a tour and lunch at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, a reception at Livingstone College, a reception at Leo and Virginia Wallace’s house Monday night and a farewell dinner later that evening at La Cava Italian Restaurant, hosted by City Council and Robertson Foundation members.

The group departs at 9 a.m. Tuesday for Salisbury, Md.