From New Paltz to Niimi may sound like a travelogue, but that’s exactly what it is. The local organization is devoted to cultural exchange between the sister cities of New Paltz and Niimi, located in the Okayama Prefecture in Japan. That cultural exchange includes a visit this spring of 13 students from New Paltz Middle School, some of whom participated in a recent Battle of the Bands to raise funds for their trip.
In an effort to ensure the program was open to all students in the district, the cost of the trip is being collectively paid for through donations, including various student and parent-led fundraisers, community donations, raffles, and cow patty bingo — which is exactly what you think it is. The New Paltz Cinema has held fundraising movie days to help. And on Saturday, March 21, a Battle of the Bands was held at The Falcon in Marlboro, with four acts comprised of teenagers — and a couple of parents — entertaining a packed house.
Now in their third year of playing music together, Five Leaf Clover took first place in the Battle of the Bands. The group, featuring Violet Vogel, Willow Liebowitz, Viv Mone, Camille Reid and Mira Goldmark won a grand prize of four hours of studio time at Black Sheep Studio in Gardiner, with the tracks professionally mixed by Eric Casimiro.
Other bands included the Disk Jockeys, Error and the Delulus. Each drummer who performed went home with a set of sticks donated by CHBO Drums, who also donated sticks and a djembe to be raffled off. A $50 gift certificate to Japanese restaurant Hokkaido in New Paltz was also raffled off.
“It was a big crowd and people were very supportive and generous,” said Casimiro, who performed with his son Milo in the Delulus; Milo is also one of the 13 students heading to Japan in May. “I think it was the first Battle of the Bands that the Falcon had ever hosted, and I think they were very excited for the response.”
Like some of the other student delegates heading to Japan, Milo Casimiro got to know their counterparts during their visit to New Paltz last fall. And he’s learned about Niimi in preparation for the New Paltz student trip. The city has a population of under 30,000, less than half of their peak over 70 years ago. Niimi is perhaps best known for its cattle, producing wagyu beef.
Milo, who played piano and sang with the Delulus, is looking forward to reconnecting with Yamato, a student from Niimi who stayed with the Casimiro family during their visit.
“That was super fun,” said Eric. “I think Milo’s exchange partner and himself were. I mean, when they saw each other, everybody kind of cried because they were so excited to see each other. And they were such a good match, just energy-wise.”
The Japanese students stayed with local host families and explored the region, visiting the Walkway Over the Hudson, Hurd’s Family Farm, Huguenot Street and Mohonk Mountain House. They also spent several days attending classes with New Paltz students.
Evangeline Chesser is another New Paltz middle schooler who enjoyed getting the know the students from Niimi, particularly Chinatsu, who stayed with her family in New Paltz, and who she’ll stay with in Japan.
“Everybody just got along so well, and we just made like an instant connection, and it was really exciting to be able to show everybody, all the Japanese students, how it is to be an American student in New York,” she said. “So we showed them like typical Hudson Valley things like apple picking and corn mazes…It was just a really fun experience.”
In addition to visiting Niimi, the New Paltz students and their chaperones will spend time in Kyoto, Osaka and Tokyo during their trip.
“I’ve always been very interested in Japanese culture,” Evangeline said. “So I’m very excited to like see how the students live their everyday lives.”
That cultural exchange is key to the program, said New Paltz Central School District Superintendent Stephen Gratto.
“(It) was not to simply meet kids for a couple of days and never hear from them again,” Gratto said in January. “We wanted to truly have certain kids from Japan come to us, stay with us, and then we would keep in touch throughout the year, and then we would go back there.”
Camille Reid, who performed in both Five Leaf Clover and Error during the Battle of the Bands, isn’t part of the exchange program, but she is happy she was able to help raise money for her friends who are.
“I love to play music, and it seemed like a fun thing to do,” she said. “And also, a lot of my friends are going on the exchange trip. And it’s always great to help them raise money and help them go where they’re going.”
Five Leaf Clover played mostly covers, but also one original number Camille said will likely be one of the songs the band records with their grand prize studio time. Five Leaf Clover shows no signs of slowing down.
“We all enjoy making music and just learning it all and putting it together,” she said.
Middle schooler Tiffany Chainam’s family was a co-host of a Japanese student last fall and looks forward to seeing all the visitors on their home turf. She jumped at the chance to become part of an exchange program practically on the other side of the world.
“I really love traveling and when they said, ‘You could travel to this really far place, it’s our sister city, I was really excited,” she said. “I want to see how are things different there, even though the kids are such close age to us. How they learn how their lives just operate so much differently than us.”
Like some of the other students, Tiffany has been learning a bit of Japanese ahead of their journey, in the hopes of being able to more fully immerse herself in the culture.
“I’m really excited to see um, all our Japanese friends again because we had such a good time when they came,” she said. “It was really a bonding experience. And I’m also really excited about the food.”
Tiffany said she’s fielded plenty of requests from friends who’d like her to bring a piece of Japan back with her.
“A lot of people, when they heard I was going were like, ‘Oh, can I have this?’‘Can I have that?’” she said. My friends want a lot of stationery. And I honestly do too, because I heard Japanese stationery is really good.”
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