Two musicians from Tuskegee traveled 1,300 miles north to join several local musicians on stage last weekend, deepening the nine-year bond between South Berwick and Tuskegee, Ala.
Seven guests from Alabama, including the musicians, arrived in town Friday for the weekend of celebration, which was planned to recognize the second annual Tuskegee Day in South Berwick.
“This has been incredible,” Guy Trammell, a Tuskegee historian, told nearly 90 people at a community dinner at the First Parish Federated Church Saturday evening.
“Especially at times like this, this can show the world what can happen. We are all friends here and we all just come together to talk,” said Trammell, who has been to South Berwick three times before.
Town Council Chair John James, in welcoming the Tuskegee visitors, cited several ways the two communities have similar attributes and interests.
The Common Ground Tuskegee-South Berwick Sister City relationship began in 2017 as a way for two communities – one with a population over 90% white and other over 90% Black – to reach across the racial divide and create less division and fear and more understanding.
In addition to the free community dinner, the three-day visit included a talk Saturday at the Federated Church on the history of enslaved Blacks in Maine dating back to the American Revolution and a musical festival Sunday at the Community Center.
Visiting musicians Doug Eaves, a bass player, and Jerome Temple, who played keyboards and sang, both in South Berwick for the first time, took the stage with local musicians Susie Burke of South Berwick, as well as Madeleine and Chip Harding of South Berwick and Kent Allyn of Kittery. South Berwick eighth grader May Woods sat in at the keyboard for one tune.
The event ended with many of the estimated 70 people in the crowd up and dancing to “Mustang Sally” by Wilson Pickett.
Eaves and Temple had warmed up in a jam session in a private home the night before and then Sunday morning accompanied the chorus at the Federated Church.
“I promise you from this day forward I’m going to do everything I can to make sure the world will know about the people in South Berwick,” Temple, accompanied by his wife Tiffany, told the congregation.
“It needs to be known throughout this world because if the people knew more about the people in South Berwick, it would be easy for the world to change,” he said. “Consider yourself leaders.”
The weekend was organized and funded by members of the joint planning committee of the Common Ground Tuskegee-South Berwick Sister City project as well as members of the Federated Church, Chip Harding, local businesses and community volunteers.
Since the relationship began, dozens of residents from both towns have made the trip to visit each others’ towns. In 2025, the South Berwick Town Council declared June 22 to be Tuskegee Day in town. To avoid Father’s Day and graduation weekend, the celebration this year was planned for earlier in June.
The weekend ended with visitors and hosts already discussing how they want to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the relationship.
