Owensboro, the third largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, has over 57,000 inhabitants. The first mention of its existence comes from the year 1798 and in 1866, it was incorporated as a City of Owensboro. Owensboro is located on the banks of the Ohio River, in a coal basin in the western part of the state. The city is often referred to as the „cradle of industry ". The city has developed a range of industries, such as steel, mining, paper and food processing industries, such as the distilling industry (the famous Kentucky whiskey).
Owensboro is also a centre of art and culture. There is the second largest art museum in Kentucky as well as a large Natural Sciences Museum introducing the structure of our planet, the history of Native American civilization and archaeology. Owensboro is also often called the "city of festivals". Very popular is the international Bar-B-Q Festival held in May and attended by about 40,000 people every year. The July Summer Festival brings concerts of popular music performed by the local symphony orchestra. The city is also a "bluegrass" centre with an international festival of this musical genre taking place every September. The important cultural centres in the city include the River Park Centre with a hall for 1500 people. In the city there are 20 parks with 32 tennis courts available, a variety of golf clubs and a number of courses for the popular softball and basketball. Near the city, regular horse-racing takes place.
Cooperation with Owensboro
Olomouc collaborates with Owensboro on all sorts of levels, but students and scouts are the most active in this regard. In Owensboro there are several colleges, of which the most known are Brescia College, Kentucky Wesleyan College and Owensboro Community College. The month-long training course for 30 students from Owensboro and Western Kentucky in Olomouc is a traditional annual event which always takes place in June. During the week, students are having lessons by their own teachers who accompany them, while in the afternoons they explore Olomouc and its surroundings and on weekends historic cities like Vienna, Krakow, Budapest, Bratislava and Prague. High schools are actively involved in cooperation too. There are regular exchanges of high school students from Gymnázium Hejčín and in the past, Gymnázium Tchaikovsky was also involved.
Students of Caritas – College of Social Work in Olomouc and their counterparts from Owensboro take part in mutual internships focused on social work and education. In 2006, 15 Scouts from the Velký Týnec and Doloplazy attended a summer camp in Kentucky. Scout exchanges have been operating for several years now alternating on a yearly basis. In addition to scouting exchanges, official visits by representatives from both cities take place as well as city council staff internships and exchanges of visits between representatives of the police and the fire emergency forces. Both cities also promote each other in the area of tourism. Local artists perform regularly in Kentucky and doctors from the University Hospital in Olomouc participate in medical congresses in Louisville, Kentucky. In 2009, together with official representatives of the Olomouc city council, the 35-membered Ateneo University Choir visited Owensboro and performed at local schools, churches and at a regional autumn festival for almost three weeks.
WWW