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Man's Efforts Bring Together 2 Sister Cities

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) -- More than 350 miles separate the two Hagerstowns, one a city of about 40,000 in western Maryland within driving distance of Baltimore and Washington, D.C.

The other one is a town of just under 1,800 residents in eastern Indiana, about an hour's drive to Indianapolis to the west and Dayton, Ohio, to the east.

Mike Keifer of Hagerstown, Maryland, is the driving force behind an effort to establish a sister-city designation between the two namesakes.

It was curiosity about three years ago that led Keifer, now 63, on a Google search to the discovery that there are only two towns named Hagerstown in the United States.

Once Keifer found out that the Indiana town was settled in 1832 by pioneers from Hagerstown, Maryland, who named it after their hometown, he knew he had to pursue the sister-city connection.

Keifer said the sister-city relationship with Wesel, Germany, has been a success, but distance can be an issue. But Hagerstown, Indiana, is within driving distance.

"It's a seven-hour drive on (Interstate) 70 and one right turn. It's a much easier thing to do than ... going to Wesel, Germany," he said.

Keifer started having conversations with local officials and businesspeople he knew, all of whom agreed it was a good idea.

After some time, with nothing happening on the idea, Keifer contacted Karen Giffin, the community affairs manager for Hagerstown, Maryland.

She arranged for Keifer to meet Mayor David S. Gysberts and present the sister-city idea at a Hagerstown City Council meeting on Sept. 3, 2013.

Prior to the meeting, Keifer made contact with officials in Hagerstown, Indiana, who had sent a letter expressing interest in a sister-city connection, which he presented to the city council here. Keifer got approval to move forward with the project.

When Bob Warner, former city manager, and Councilman Brian Longbons of the Indiana town and their spouses were headed to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, for the Warners' son's wedding, plans were made to pay a visit to Hagerstown, Maryland.

During the four-day visit in early October 2013, the Indiana officials were "wined and dined" and presented with official proclamations establishing the two towns as sister cities during a City Council meeting.

Keifer was in Hagerstown, Indiana, in August 2014, where Indiana officials "repeated the favor," presenting their proclamations to Keifer during their annual Jubilee Days and flying the Hagerstown, Maryland, flag at their City Hall.

He was given a tour of Tedco Toy Co., sampled sweets at Abbott's Candies and ate lunch at Willie and Red's Restaurant.

Keifer learned about the town's history, including the Perfect Circle Co., which operated there for 100 years.

The company was a global leader in the development and manufacture of piston rings, and gave the world cruise control, introduced as Speedostat in the 1958 Chrysler, according to the town's website.

Current Town Manager Chris LaMar and his wife attended the Alsatia Mummer's Parade last October.

"(It was) like no other parade I've seen. It was incredible," Chris LaMar said during a telephone interview. "I think it's really neat. It's amazing we're the only two Hagerstowns in the world."

The connection means so much to Keifer that he and his family have chosen to establish The Keifer-Hull Sister City Scholarship as a legacy.

The first scholarship, worth $500, will be presented to a Hagerstown Junior Senior High School senior in Indiana in 2016 by Keifer and one of his two daughters, Staci Hull.

"He's been a very vocal advocate. ... It's there for the whole world to see," Gysberts said in a telephone interview of Keifer and the sister-city designation on the new Hagerstown sign.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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