Sister city auction draws enthusiastic crowd

Kieran Kenison shows the crowd a case of strawberries up for bid at the 2014 Sister City Exchange Program auction.

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| June 21, 2014 6:05 AM

MOSES LAKE - The bidding was fast and furious at the Sister City Exchange Program auction Thursday.

The Sister City program sends high school students from Moses Lake to Yonezawa, Japan, and kids from Yonezawa to Moses Lake. The program has been in existence for more than 30 years, chaperone Krystin Moore said.

The exchange students, and the committee, raise all the money for the trip, with the exception of plane tickets, Moore said.

The teens selected "represent our town in our sister city," Moore said. Three teens will be making the trip in 2014, Vlad Mazhnikov, Kieran Kenison and Madison Herrin.

Mazhnikov said he's always studied Japan, its culture and history. "It always fascinated me," he said. Visiting the country is one of his goals, he said.

Kenison said he wanted to see more of the world. "I've never been further out of the country than Canada," he said. Herrin said she liked the idea of learning about another country, a different history and culture, and showing American life to a teenager from another country.

Yonezawa is on the main Japanese island of Honshu, northwest of Tokyo, an agricultural town. Ginny Hirai, a longtime program volunteer, gives the exchange students some lessons in the language and the region's culture, Moore said. Ginny Hirai and her husband Paul are longtime supporters of the program, she said.

The teens live in the homes of the exchange students, learn about the education system, tour the town and surrounding countryside.

Mazhnikov said he's also interested in old Japan. "I want to see history. Ancient history," he said. "I really want to see some temples," Herrin said, and learn more about Japan's history and culture.

Kenison said he wants to see a little bit of one of the most famous cities in the world. "I kind of want to see Tokyo when we touch down," he said. Like the others, he's interested in experiencing another country, he said.

The luncheon filled the table in the Moses Lake High School commons, and auction participants had their choice of 20 gift packages. They ranged from Seattle Mariners tickets to a Kindle Fire to martial arts lessons. Auctioneer Chuck Yarbro is an alumnus of the program, making the trip in 1985, he said, and returned to Yonezawa as a chaperone. "You can never come back from a trip like that and not have it change your life," he said.

The amount raised through the auction was not available at press time.