Sister City - Periers, France

On Wednesday, August 18, 2010, our Bethany Beach Town Council hosted Mayor Gabriel Daube, of Périers, France as the two towns joined together in the act of "Twinning" or "Sister Cities". Shown in the picture to the right from left to right are Councilpersons, Jerry Dorfman & Jack Gordon, Mayor Gabriel Daube, Mayor Tony McClenny, Vice Mayor Carol Olmstead & Councilpersons, Lew Killmer, Joe Healy and Margaret Young.

Périers, France is located in the northwest of France just a few miles from the Normandy beaches, on which the allied armies came to the rescue of France on June 6, 1944. The citizens of Périers, who were liberated from German oppression on July 27, 1944 have welcomed American soldiers and their family members who have visited the town for these many years. Click here to visit their town website.

		The picture to the left is of the permanently installed sign located on Garfield Parkway to celebrate the ongoing relationship between our two towns. The seal of each town is shown linked together by "...twinned in friendship...".

Mayor Gabriel Daube and his lovely wife, Sylvianne are shown in the picture to the right. His background includes a stint in the French Air Force, where he served as an air traffic controller. He received an advanced degree in Political Science in Paris. His political career has included being an aide to a French congressman, a manager of a Regional Consul office, Director of Staff to another congressman and currently the Mayor of the city of Périers for a 6 year term, of which he has served 3 years. He also works as a consultant to Developers of Retirement Communities.

		From left to right in the picture to the right, we picture three generations of the Levaufre family: Henri Levaufre, his grandson, Julien Levaufre and Julien's father, Christian. Henri was fourteen years old at the time of the allies invasion. "Henri Levaufre is a retired Electrical Engineer, who continues to live in Périers, Normandy, France. During the course of his work, he recorded the location of anything of historical significance that he or his work crews found on what had been the battlefields of World War II. He also spent decades of his own time researching the events that took place at these locations. The result is that he has become an award winning authority on the battles that took place after the D-Day invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944." This information is taken from his book, "WE WERE AT NORMANDY", page ii.