A KIDDERMINSTER organisation will celebrate 50 years of fostering the spirit of comradeship with a town in Germany with an array of events throughout this year.

The Kidderminster/Husum Twinning Association is 50 years old in 2005 and will mark the occasion with a packed calendar of events and activities.

There will be a race night at Kidderminster Cricket Club on February 26, a concert with The Valentines and Russell Painter will follow in May and, in June, there will be a first for twinning when a team of golfers from the German seaside town visits Kidderminster.

Another first is the planned launch of a website with a "where are you now" section.

Long-serving association stalwart and current secretary, Kidderminster town clerk, Charles Talbot, said: "We plan to organise a reunion of anyone who was in the twinning youth group while it was running between 1960 and 1995."

Mr Talbot, who was heavily involved with the youth group, which saw scores of youngsters travelling between the two towns over the years, is urging any of them to contact him.

As a former mayor who ran the twinning association between 1961 and 1973, Mr Talbot is also well versed on its history.

He said it was 1955 when a visit to Husum by Kidderminster town clerk, the late John L Evans, led to the formation of the association.

Mr Evans had gone to Husum, which lies in North Friesland, close to the Danish border, as part of the post-war impulse by the government of the day to build bridges in relations between Britain and Europe.

When he returned, he recommended to Kidderminster Borough Council a formal link should be formed. A civic visit followed the next year and, from there, the organisation began to blossom.

In 1976, the signing of the official Town Twinning Charter signified the end of the "engagement" to Husum and the beginning of the "marriage", Mr Talbot said.

Today, a bridge in Husum is called the Kidderminster Bridge and a red telephone box stands in the town as a symbol of the relationship.

The intervening years since 1955 have seen probably thousands of people visit Germany and many return trips to Wyre Forest by Husum townsfolk, Mr Talbot said.

"Last year alone, more than 400 Kidderminster people visited as members of different groups to take part in 400th anniversary celebrations of the town's charter," he said.

"I think the greatest thing about town twinning is that it gives every section of the community the opportunity to widen their life experience by having contact with another culture," he added.

Until more recent times, the youth side of twinning played an enormous role, Mr Talbot, who took the first youngsters over to Husum in 1962, explained.

He said: "In the early 60s, this was a great opportunity for young people. Unlike today, they could not just pick up a rucksack and go abroad.

"Countless young people benefited because the only way for young people to travel then was in organised groups. "

Besides the young people, cultural and sporting links have also played a huge role in twinning, he said.

Mr Talbot explained although the association had 160 individual members, its strength was as an "enabler" and it had many member organisations of "all shapes, sorts and sizes".

A visit in 1989 by Kidderminster Choral Society to the Theodor Storm Chor proved fruitful and a bond was forged which has carried on ever since.

Kidderminster chess, swimming and boxing clubs are just a few of the other organisations which have developed close links.

To obtain tickets or information for any of the events or to find out more about the youth group reunion plans, call Mr Talbot on 01299 832797.