Sister city charter retired as Dixon and its Russian sister city, Dikson, drift apart

DIXON – The Dixon Sister Cities Association has retired its charter with its first established sister city – Dikson, one of the world’s most northern settlements – in Siberia.

Dixon officials decided to discontinue the 36-year-old charter because they have not been in contact with the people of Dikson in a long time, Dixon Sister Cities Association President Steve Caudillo said. Mayor Glen Hughes made the announcement May 3 at the annual Illinois Sister Cities Association conference at Sauk Valley Community College.

Caudillo said Dixon had a good relationship with Russia’s Dikson for many years and would be open to reactivating the partnership if they ever want to reconnect.

The relationship between Dixon and Dikson began in 1989, near the end of the Cold War. Russian journalist Boris Ivanov sent a letter to the Dixon Telegraph in response to President Ronald Reagan referring to the Soviet Union as an evil empire, former Mayor Jim Dixon said.

In the letter, Ivanov wrote, “we’re not evil. We’re just nice people out here in Siberia, and you know, we wish you would not think of us as being an evil empire,” Jim Dixon said.

Ivanov also wrote that he decided to send the letter because Dixon is Reagan’s hometown and Ivanov’s hometown also is Dikson, but in Siberia, Russia, Jim Dixon said.

The publisher of the Telegraph at the time, Bill Shaw, gave the letter to Jim Dixon thinking that as the city’s mayor, he might want to write back – which he did. Jim Dixon wrote a letter, had a community member translate it to Russian, and sent it.

In it, Jim Dixon said he wrote, “Why don’t we find a way to get together and get our communities corresponding back and forth?”

From there, the two began corresponding. The relationship between the two cities was formalized with the sister city charter in May 1989 at a conference in Tashkent, Russia, by Dixon and then-Dikson Mayor Nikolai Kartamychev, according to dixongov.com.

To represent the partnership, they made flag pins that were half of the red Soviet Union flag and half the sister city’s flag, Jim Dixon said.

“At the time, we were at the tail end of what we refer to as the Cold War, and we felt that we were helping that melting of the Cold War,” Jim Dixon said. “We felt we were making some impact in Siberia.”

There were several exchanges between the two cities over the years. The largest was a delegation of 60 people from Dikson who came to Dixon. Going to Dikson was a Dixon police officer, a Dixon Public Schools teacher and about three students along with former Mayor Jim Dixon and his wife, among many others, Jim Dixon said.

In 1994, Shaw and Ivanov published a book called “From Fear to Friendship: Dixon, Illinois, and Dikson, Siberia” about their found friendship watching the political tension unfold between the Soviet Union and Western democracies while living in countries that promoted opposing ideologies.

The sister city charter now will be placed on “emeritus status,” a designation that recognizes an individual’s – or in this case, a city’s – service and contributions upon their retirement from active duty in an organization.

Dixon also has sister city charters with Castlebar, Ireland; Herzberg/Elster, Germany; and Thika, Kenya. A delegation from Herzberg/Elster visited Dixon in July 2024, and Caudillo said they’re planning for a Dixon delegation to visit Castlebar in the near future.

“Through sister city relationships, we are creating networks of global citizens who understand that our future is intertwined and collaboration is the key to progress in the world today,” Caudillo said. “That’s what we need. We need mutual understanding, peace and collaboration.”