Big Train Celebrates Sister Cities Night, Hosts Former Maryland House Delegate Member

Dance Troupe by Mark Thalman

ROCKVILLE, Md. - The Bethesda Big Train celebrated Sister Cities Night on Saturday for game two of its doubleheader against the Alexandria Aces. The national organization allows cities within the United States to adopt and develop relationships with other international cities. The team also welcomed the Hung Ci Dragon-Lion Dance Troupe. The team honored Upcounty Hub and Kids Enjoy Exercise Now as the game’s Community Heroes. 

Upcounty Hub by Mark Thalman

Ana Sol Gutierrez is a former Maryland State Delegate and was the first Latina to be elected to the Maryland General Assembly. She now is part of Sister Cities and is grateful for the work that she gets to do everyday. 

“I like the concept of bridging between the city at the city level and the United States and internationally,” Sol Gutierrez said. 

Teach Roberts performed on behalf of the Hung Ci Dragon-Lion Dance Troupe. He said that they perform during large celebrations like the Chinese New Year but other events like weddings and grand openings. He also hopes his performance can help connect with the community

“[We also] do little things that just bring good luck and hopefully bring blessing and joy,” Roberts said. “As you saw, we get kids excited and get that whole emotional experience.”

Sol Gutierrez is part of the Montgomery County program of Sister Cities and partners with cities from five different countries, which include China, India, South Korea, Ethiopia and El Salvador. Sol Gutierrez serves as the committee chair for partnering with Morazan, a department in El Salvador. 

“We wanted to befriend them and see how we can help them in education and health,” Sol Gutierrez said, as she explained why they picked Morazan. 

Sol Gutierrez wanted to get involved in her community when she saw people from El Salvador migrating to the United States. She also saw an increase in the number of immigrants coming to the Washington, D.C. area. Her initial calling card was in education. 

“I noticed that these kids were getting a second class education,” Sol Gutierrez said. “That was not fair.”

In 1990, Sol Gutierrez decided to run to be on the school board to advocate for kids that were not getting the education that they deserved. She noted that English was not the first language of a lot of these families, which made it difficult for them to speak up for themselves. 

“I didn’t know what I was running for, but I knew it was education,” Sol Gutierrez said. “Education is the key to everything.”

After serving on the board for eight years, Sol Gutierrez moved on to the state level to become a Maryland State Delegate. She is very proud of the work she accomplished while in office. She pointed out that it’s not always about passing new legislature, but sometimes keeping in place existing laws is just as important. 

“I defended the driver’s license access to immigrants,” Sol Gutierrez said as the highlight of her career. “There was a commission that said that states should not give driver’s licenses to immigrants.”

The commission was in the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. At the time, Maryland was one of the only states to keep the current laws in place that allowed immigrants to acquire a United States driver’s license. Sol Gutierrez said many people “would be cooked” if they did not have a driver's license. The Maryland House Delegate member said she fought the legislation for over half a decade. 

Roberts explained that although there is a baseline of how everything is done, Dance Troupe gives him the freedom to be creative. 

“None of [what we do] is planned or choreographed,” Roberts said. “It’s like jazz, once you learn all the notes, you’re free to roam. Some rules are made to be broken.” 

Dance Troupe by Mark Thalman

Sol Gutierrez was thankful for the opportunity that the Big Train provided. She acknowledged that Sister Cities is still a small organization and many people don't know that they exist and what they try to accomplish. 

“People should be aware that Montgomery County is very interested in being a good neighbor internationally and welcomes immigrants,” Sol Gutierrez said. “Our Sister Cities program are advocates and ambassadors to the rest of the county.”

The Big Train will play their second doubleheader in as many days when they host the Southern Maryland Senators today. Game one will be the rest of a suspended matchup and pick up in the third inning at 4 p.m.