Carlsbad Sister City Ambassadors

From the Editor’s Desk, January 2026

For more information or to enter, contact Laurenn Barker, CSCA Secretary and Arts Program Mgr. at artlark17@yahoo.com

We are in the process of adding a new page featuring current Futtsu Exchange offferings and also past exchange visits to showcase just how beneficial and immersive our exchanges are.

As part of our exchange commitment with our Sister City Futtsu, Japan, they sent 5 students and two chaperones here to Carlsbad. They have just left after being with us August 22 - 28, 2025. A great and memorable time was had by all. A slide show to highlight their visit is available to the left.

They went on a tour of San Diego and Coronado Island, Legoland, Carlsbad High School, Magnolia Elementary School, City Hall, and, with much anticipation, the Padres vs the LA Dodgers at PetCo Park although the final score was perhaps not to their liking!

Tom Hersant arranged a visit for Governor Kotaro Nagasaki of Yamanashi Prefecture and Doctor Hiroshi Tasaka (author and former advisor to a Japanese Prime Minister) at Aptera, the innovative solar powered vehicle manufacturer in Carlsbad. They were gobsmacked by the Aptera visit (and test drive) and spent some time with their CEO exploring a relationship between Aptera and the supply and manufacturing businesses in his prefecture, as well as Japan more widely. Aptera has both a vehicle and an energy side (highly efficient solar panels and software for vehicles) and the Governor wants to see if he can help promote Aptera at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Aptera CEO Steve Fambro was positively interested and will begin sharing information with Governor Nagasaki.

Czech Historical Spas and Festivals April 27 thru May 6, 2025.

Eleven of our travelers were hosted by Karlovy Vary’s Madam Mayor to a number of exclusive mayoral events during the festivities of that week. Pictures will be forthcoming.

See their complete itinerary here.

Our Sister City Karlovy Vary’s Mme Mayor Andrea Pfeffer-Ferklova and her husband Tomas visited us October 18. Among other activities, they were able to visit Calloway Golf for a factory tour. A special event since Andrea and her husband are both avid golfers.

In "Creating meaningful connections..." we will be visited by Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka in the next two or three weeks. Dr. Hiroshi Tasaka is President of Think Tank Sophia Bank, former Special Advisor to Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan, Tama University Professor. He graduated from the University of Tokyo with a PhD. in Nuclear Engineering and is an advisor to the Governor of Yamanashi Prefecture in Japan.

CSCA along with Sister City International has sponsored the 2024 YOUNG ARTISTS AND AUTHORS SHOWCASE. The Young Artists and Authors Showcase (YAAS) is an annual contest that encourages youth worldwide to express the mission of Sister Cities International through original artwork, literature, photography, and music.

Please consider a great CSCA sponsored tour to our Sister City Karlovy Vary in the Spring of this year. After expressing your interest by submitting the signup form, a detailed itinerary and further details will be sent to you. [Note: This tour has been postponed until Spring 2025. We'll keep you posted.]

Ms. Mayor Andrea  Pfeffer Ferklova of Karlovy Vary invited us to a special event from November 24th through the 26th . View a video of Tom's trip to Karlovy Vary shown on the left.

CSCA's president Tom Hersant presented before Carlsbad City Council a brief review of its accomplishments in 2023 and a look forward to upcoming projects. In attendance were two CSCA sposored students, Rhiana and Isaac, along with CSCA Directors Laurenn Barker and Katherine Doherty. The Mayor and Council Members Bhat-Patel and Acosta expressed interest with the idea of a new Ireland connection. That makes it a definite “Go” for Council approval if we get agreement with the Northwest Ireland folks on a beginning Friendship relationship.

Please read this informative article, A Tale of Two Cities: Bridging the Gap between Czechoslovakia and California in The Sage about Carlsbad and sister city Karlovy Vary. Also, please visit Consulate General of the Czech Republic in Los Angelesfor upcoming events and articles

Our Carlsbad students returned on June 23rd from a delightfully memorable visit to Futtsu and other Japan cities and now it is our turn to receive four middle school girls and three chaperones; one lady and two men. A four student and two chaperone delegation from Futtsu, Japan visited us this August 22-27. Some of the planned activities for our delegation visitors included trips to Hollywood, Beverly Hills, Rodeo Drive and an Angels baseball game. There was a meet-and-greet at Carlsbad High School and later visit to LEGOLAND.

Then there was the great reception held at the La Costa Valley Master Association on Friday, Aug. 25 to honor CSCA's 35 year anniversary sister city affiliation with Futtsu, Japan. Over seventy invited guests were there to help us celebrate. With some sadness our guest delegation will be departing Sunday morning, Aug. 28.

A mayor-to-mayor Lego building competition at LEGOLAND was held Saturday, August 26th. See a video of the fun on the left!