Longpré-les-Corps-Saints: Twinning, after the football, the onions!
As they say, you can’t choose your family but you can choose your friends, and since Longpré has chosen Eastry we must ensure that our futures are united under the banner of sympathy and friendship.
With this aim in mind the President of the Longpré twinning committee Mr Jean-Luc Freré spoke to the audience at the last town meeting about a future event for the weekend of the 1st May. After plenty of discussion, this date for crossing the channel, with the hand of friendship extended (Literally in French : With the symbol of the lily) was accepted. Also outlined was the possibility of exchange visits between the pupils of our fraternal communities.
Mr Jean-Luc Freré also recounted that during his last visit he was told about ‘the biggest onion competition’ organised by Eastry’s keen gardeners, and that the villagers of Longpré are more than welcome to compete. To inspire you all, to the left is a photo of this important family of monocotyledon plants taken at Eastry. Over to you gardeners of Longpré, and may the best man win!
Twinning: now it must carry on…
14/10/1980 Longpré les Corps Saints.
We already talked about the events around the twinning between Eastry and Longpre. They will remain engraved on Longpre’s inhabitants’ memory for a long time.
The success of this day has been mainly attributable to the organizers, local council of course, and also to the Tourist Information Office with its president Mr Doom and to the Twinning Association, chaired by Mr Jean-Luc Frere.
They all worked very hard. And we should congratulate them, it was done in the different speeches.
Let’s recall some words delivered on this occasion… Mr Drouvin, deputy Mayor of Longpré, who was chairing the official ceremony said: “In a divided world, where different ideologies, racisms, different civilisations and wealth conflict; where spites and desires, loaded with threats, subsist, the hands held out between the two towns, the gesture of peace we are exchanging, are to challenge all the selfishness, the hatred, the fantasies of human beings, who seemed to have lost the senses of balance and reason, as the same time as love and pity leave mistrust and cruelty to them...”
Mr Chabot, representative of the European Towns Council, added: “I’d like now to talk to the young people. Don’t miss the opportunity that both towns of Eastry and Longpré are offering to you, the opportunity to widen your horizons and go beyond the boundaries in order to confront your experiences and your aspirations…””You have there a source of human enrichment that cannot be estimated by money, but which will bring a wider open-mindedness and judgement to you…”
Mr Michel Couillet, deputy, mentioned:
“The idea of twinning complies with a philosophy. This philosophy allows men and women, that do not know each other, to get in touch, which will connect their families and their towns… It is a mean to find the way to a language connection and a shared will… This marriage of reason will quickly become a marriage of heart…”
Mr Jean-Luc Frere, chairman of the Twinning Association, who after thanking the people, who contributed to the success of these two days, concluded: “… We have discovered that beyond the differences, the divergences of opinion or political views, beyond the oppositions of government, people can build something together since they know each other better and therefore they are able to like each other. “ Even the language is not an obstacle anymore when one decided to understand each other and to make friendship happen above everything. “ In this respect, our task has just started. We must now increase this newly born friendship, develop it and cultivate it.”
“ And this action should not only be lead by the Twinning Association and a few officials, but also by every inhabitants of Eastry and Longpré. They should take the matter in hand and make it the matter of all…”
Being
translated! 
THE COCHONNET DOES NOT GO OVER THE CHANNEL.
Twins for nearly 25 years with the village of Eastry Kent (near Canterbury) Longpré twinning association received their English families who were welcomed by their French hosts in the reception room (room of honour) in the town hall.
The president Alain Defebvin in his welcome speech hoped that the two villages can develop deep links through the primary schools, which was endorsed by his English counterpart Roy Marshall, inviting the Longiprates to visit Eastry next year to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the twinning friendship.
There followed a wine reception (a glass of friendship) while Alain explained the itinerary, a visit to the caves of Naours followed by a picnic: the evening being finalised by a visit to Amien Cathedral and to the site of St-Leu.
In addition Eastry have a petanque club, at each meeting the trophy is played for. This time it remains on picardie soil, since Longpré won the match, to the big disappointment of “Terry the Welshman” the man responsible for the English club.
What we will remember of these meeting days, is a lot of friendship, mutual understanding and a clear pleasure to meet one another, and this time on British soil, really far away from the usual political divisions.
LONGPRÉ-LES-CORPS-SAINTS. ~18/5/07
A weekend of Franco-English friendship.
Twinning between the communes of Longpré and Eastry, in Kent (England), created in 1980, on the initiative of an elected official of the time, is always a success. For proof, last weekend, a British delegation came over to the soil of Longpré to confirm these bonds of friendship. They were received on Friday evening, in the room of the town hall, by the mayor, Alain Drouvin. He did not fail in its remarks to underline the friendship between the two communities, before allowing the president of the Longpré committee, Jean-Marc Vermoeren to speak. In the language of Shakespeare, he recalled that this exchange has occurred for the last 27years, and then he gave a gift, in fact a painting on silk of the coats of arms of Kent and Longpré, extremely appreciated by his British counterpart, Terry James. In French, Terry James thanked his hosts for the reception provided to the members of the delegation, of which some have many years of very close links with Longiprates.
During the two days, the British guests were well entertained, including an evening of folk music and dancing and a buffet, which went on extremely late into the evening. And to conclude this short stay, on Sunday morning a contest of a game of French bowls proceeded, because, in Eastry, there is a petanque club which Longiprates named at the time "the booligans". *The tournament, known as the David Skinner challenge, (so named in memory of him, a founding member of the twinning, who died a year ago: he was also named at the Municipal Council’s decision “citoyen d'honneur ” "citizen of honour"), was won by the team from Longpré, to the great distress of Terry James who promised that next year in Eastry he would recover it. This sporting test of course finished in the local pub of Longpré with the ‘pot of friendship’.
From our correspondent: JEAN-LUC FRÈRE
*My interpretation of the French text!
" Le Courrier Picard " ~11/11/08
The A C P G welcome tommies.
There were about one hundred
veterans of C A T M coming from the sections of Hangest sur Somme,
Longpré-les-Corps-Saints
and Bovelles having replied to the invitation for the
meal organised at the Duck restaurant in Hangest-sur-Somme
The assistance had even become international, because Gérard Bailleul, mayor, and Alfred Jourdain, the dean of A C P G had the pleasure to welcome Terry and Nick tommies English and Welsh which raised proudly the poppy, equivalent of the French cornflower
The menu prepared by Alain Souday was appreciated. It was the accordionist, Serge Carpentier, who had the job of animating the afternoon.
Note:- A C P G is the contraction of Anciens Combattants de la Première Guerre (first war vétérans)
C A T M is the contraction for Combattants d'Algérie Tunisie Maroc
" Le Courrier Picard " 25/05/2010
Translation to follow soon
