Oak Ridge will receive the Sister Cities International commendation during the Lou Wozar Awards Luncheon at the annual conference in Atlanta, Ga., on July 23. The awards program has been in existence for 39 years.

Linda Brown, SCSO president said: "This is an honor for the city of Oak Ridge and speaks highly of the many hours of work by SCSO volunteers and Oak Ridge organizations that made our year 2000 programs successful. Special thanks go to Tom Row and Annie Cachiero and the United Way of Anderson County, the Oak Ridge school administration, the city of Oak Ridge, the Oak Ridge City Council and Mayor Kuhaida, Parker Hardy and the Oak Ridge Chamber of Commerce, Tom Rogers and Technology 2020, Bill Biloski (Bechtel Jacobs), CROET and the many other individuals and organizations who help make our sister city partnerships with Obninsk and Naka machi successful.

"Oak Ridgers Nina Petrov, Carolina Ravina, Marti Fleischer and Tomoko Krieger deserve special mention for their contribution of time and talents to our programs."

The SCI Annual Awards Program recognizes the work of outstanding city programs in the nation. These programs demonstrate to other cities how to incorporate exciting and innovative new ideas and exchanges into their own sister city program.

The Oak Ridge Sister City Support Organization is a non-profit all volunteer run organization whose main mission it to assist the City of Oak Ridge in implementing sister city relationships it has established with Naka machi, Japan and Obninsk, Russia.

For more information about the Oak Ridge Sister City Support Organization, make plans to attend its quarterly meeting on Thursday, June 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Oak Ridge Library meeting room or call SCSO secretary, Ken Luckmann, 483-3958.