MONTEBELLO —?The Montebello-Ashiya Sister City Association (MASCA) will soon bid farewell to the two 2024 Ashiya Cosmopolitan Association student Ambassadors from Ashiya City, Hyogo Prefecture.

Nao Hashimoto, 17, and Tomohiro Shibabuki, 15, will have spent three weeks with host families in Montebello. On Aug. 12, the 2024 MASCA student ambassadors, Isaac Flores and Ben Richards, will return to Montebello after their three-week stay with host families in Ashiya.

The Sayonara Luncheon for Nao and Tomohiro will be held at the Quiet Cannon (Skyview Room), 901 Via San Clemente, Montebello on Sunday, Aug. 18, from 12 to 4 p.m. The event is open to the public and tickets are $35 each or $350 for a table of 10.

For information about the event or tickets please contact Emma Delgado, MASCA president, at (562) 477-0260 or emmadelgado0219@ gmail.com or Carlos Haro at (323) 722-1383 or [email protected]

In 1961, Montebello and Ashiya signed an international agreement as part of the “People to People Student Ambassador Program” initiated by President Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956. Their respective sister-city organizations created the Student Ambassador Program in 1964 and have been exchanging two high school or college students nearly every summer.

MASCA is a nonprofit community organization and donations are welcome.

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