TOWN:Mixture of music blends with barbecue

Glendale was humming to the sounds of mariachi, Greek and Armenian music Sunday.

The Glendale home of Frank Lopez was the setting for the Glendale-Mexico Sister Cities Committee Summer Barbecue.

A mariachi band greeted about 70 guests who dined on sausage and pepper sandwiches on the patio. Committee members in attendance were President Efrain Olivares, Treasurer Celina Enriquez, Nelly and Jose Meza, Carlos Elia, Frank Bacino and granddaughter Jackie Bacino, Mary and Paul Wight, Kay and Walter Hunt, Silvia Larrea, Marya Seelos, and Maria Lydia Cousens.

Glendale guests in attendance included: Dorothy Busk, Louise Wilcox, Alice Farney, Carmen Morales, Ginny and Bill Webb, Kaye Dorey, Shirley Reynolds, Chick Benveniste, Ester Levine, Kaye Rogers, Danielle Sorem and sister Kristen Sorem, and Guadalupe and Fred Sanchez.

Tlaquepaque, Mexico, has been one of Glendale's sister cities for 25 years and Rosarito Beach has been a sister city for 12 years. The city of Glendale supports the Sister City program by donating fire trucks, water pumpers and police equipment, but it's up to the Glendale-Mexico Sister Cities Committee to raise funds for the program. According to Olivares, who has been committee president for 10 years, last year's summer barbecue raised $1,000.

Committee members visit Tlaquepaque and Rosarito Beach for various cultural exchanges, including ceramic arts competitions. Also visiting the sister cities are English teachers and those who teach medical techniques.