CAMAS — The nine-member delegation from Poland expected to learn about Camas’ business, government and education practices. Along the way, they discovered residents’ hospitality during a trip to church.
Following Sunday Mass at St. Thomas Catholic Church, church members served the visitors pierogis with Polish sausage. The stuffed dumplings of unleavened dough are a traditional Polish staple. The meal delighted the visitors’ taste buds and left a lasting impression.
“It was kind of shocking that they were serving pierogis,” said Harald Brol through translator Tadeaus “TZ” Zbiegien, a Poland native living in Camas.
The Eastern Europeans’ visit to Camas resulted from the Clark County city’s 6-year-old sister-city partnership with three Polish cities — Krapkowice, Morawica and Zabierzow. The Polish residents from the three cities will leave Sunday after spending nine days in Camas.
Camas is no stranger to sister-city arrangements, having partnered with two Japanese cities 30 years ago. That partnership ultimately led Camas City Administrator Lloyd Halverson to start a similar one with the three Polish cities.
A Polish delegation visited Camas four years ago. Likewise, Camas officials have visited Poland and are planning a return trip in May.
The visits are mutually beneficial, all involved said, because they offer learning experiences for both the visitors and hosts, and build relationships between people of different cultures that are, at least in theory, long-lasting.
During interviews Monday afternoon in the Camas Council Chambers, member of the Polish contingent lauded their host city for its business growth, its green landscape and its governmental foresight. They provided a presentation about Poland later that evening at the Camas library.
A visit like the one the Polish made to Camas this week would not have been possible before 1990, the visitors said. The reason, they agreed, was government bureaucracy, which made it difficult to travel outside the country.
But the country has become more forward-thinking in recent years. The government ditched the country’s planned economy for a market economy and encouraged freedom of speech. The nation’s youth embrace American and European culture (i.e., American grunge greats Nirvana) and food (i.e., McDonald’s), while also enjoying traditional Polish fare.
“They’ve transformed their society in less than a full generation,” Halverson said.
This new commitment to business and cultural entertainment would likely surprise most Americans, the visitors said.
Brol, the city administrator of Krapkowice, was eager to visit Camas because his city, like Camas, has a long-standing paper mill near a river. He was curious how the business and the city functioned together. What he found was enlightening.
“Not only are they trying to make a profit, but they are looking to influence other parts of life — protecting the environment and being friendly,” Brol said via interpreter. Krapkowice is in southwest Poland and has around 18,000 residents. Camas has about 17,210 residents.
Camas has grown its business base in recent years through exhaustive planning. City governments do not often draft a “master plan” in Poland, Brol said, but he hoped his city would begin to adopt some of Camas’ advance planning practices.
The Polish visitors toured the city’s wastewater treatment facility Monday.
“I was very, very surprised because your water is so natural,” said Ludwik Kumanski, a business owner from Morawica, a village of around 1,000 people in southern Poland. “It’s very clean.”
Water taken from the ground in Europe often contains large quantities of magnesium and iron, requiring expensive cleaning processes, Kumanski said.
Elzbieta Burtan, the mayor of Zabierzow, visited Camas four years ago. Among the nine on this year’s trip, she was the only person who had previously visited Clark County. Her chief desire, she noted, was to see how Camas had changed.
“The city is getting more beautiful,” she said via translator. Her city has a population of fewer than 5,000 people.
New businesses have popped up along Camas’ landscape, she added. She marveled at how cities partner with private organizations to pay for public projects. She hopes to make that a common practice in Zabierzow, she said.
The knowledge-gathering expedition has also stretched to the visitors’ American host families.
For instance, Camas Councilwoman Linda Dietzman said she was amazed that Polish city councils sometimes have more than 20 members. She marveled at their ability to reach consensus despite the varying opinions voiced.
“It gives me great hopes for my city,” she said. “Every city and council has problems and differences. I was very impressed with their ability to work through differences, though.”
