Cultural Connection!
21 Sep 2011 10:21:10
Provost Stephanie Young welcomed Marian Galbraith, the Mayor of Groton, Connecticut, to the Council last week who was in the area to rekindle some family connections.
Dr Galbraith was elected as the Mayor of Groton in May this year and will be in the post for two years. Groton is a large town, with 10,000 living in the city and 40,000 in the boroughs. The town is very independent, with its own radio and TV stations and its own electricity supplier. Groton is known as the submarine capital of the world due to its history of submarines in the town and it being the home of the Naval Submarine Base New London, one of the world’s largest submarine bases.
As well as welcoming the Mayor and her husband Ken, the Provost also met Margaret and Gordon McGowan, local residents of Kilmarnock. Mrs McGowan and Dr Galbraith are second cousins, as their grandmothers were twins. Dr Galbraith’s father was born in Kilmarnock and later moved to the USA. The Mayor is very proud of her links to Scotland and has visited many times since first coming over in 1974. Mrs McGowan has also visited Groton.
Provost Young said: “I was delighted to welcome Dr Galbraith and her husband to Kilmarnock. It was very interesting to hear about Dr Galbraith’s mayoral duties and her family’s Scottish history. It was also good to have the chance to develop cultural links between East Ayrshire and Connecticut.”
ends