BY FRANK DELANO

PRINCE'S TOWN, Ghana--A seat of honor is reserved in West Africa for the mayor of Fredericksburg.

In Ghana, tribal chiefs at ceremonial occasions sit on ornately carved, often ancient wooden stools. Now, when Prince's Town Chief Nana Kundumuah IV [kun-DU-mu-ah] and the 14 elders in his council meet, a new stool waits empty beside them.

The vacant stool is a public symbol of Prince's Town's new sister-city relationship with Fredericksburg. Everyone in town hopes to see a Fredericksburg mayor sitting on it one day.

Mayor Tom Tomzak said he was "honored" by the gesture, but has no immediate plans to take a seat.

"I'm looking forward to visiting Prince's Town, but I really don't know when," Tomzak said.

Prince's Town also awaits another VIP visitor from Fredericksburg. In July, an unidentified Prince's Town man said: "Pamela Bridgewater, the American ambassador [to Ghana], she's from Fredericksburg, right? Fredericksburg has produced many famous people. When is she coming to Prince's Town?"

"At my first opportunity," Bridgewater said in an e-mail to a reporter. "[I] have had tons of official visitors and responsibilities, but visiting Prince's Town is among my priorities when I get the first free moment."

Bridgewater said the U.S. Embassy in Accra is seeing an increase of interest from cities in Ghana and the United States seeking sister-city ties.

The Ghana government is also welcoming tourists and investment through its Joseph Project, a campaign designed to reconnect blacks around the world with their heritage in Mother Africa.

At a City Council meeting Aug. 14, the Fredericksburg-Princes Town Sister City Association extended an invitation to city officials to join association members when they visit the poor, remote town in October.

Sister City Association President Paula D. Royster also asked the city for $10,000 to help pay travel costs, but council members did not act on her request. No officials have yet signed up, she said.

The October trip will be the first for Royster and other Fredericksburg members of the group. Association Vice President Powell Holly delivered a laptop computer to Prince's Town when he was in Ghana on business in April.