Vermont city thanks French city for misspelled jerseys

Montpellier, France, ordered jerseys for its professional soccer team and fans but the jerseys came in misspelled, with just one L instead of two. (Photo by ||read||/Flickr, CC BY 2.0)

MONTPELIER, Vt. — Vermont’s capital city said merci via Skype on Thursday to a French city it’s named after for some misspelled soccer jerseys that were sent its way.

Montpellier, France, ordered jerseys for its professional soccer team and fans but the jerseys came in misspelled, with just one L instead of two. The city in southern France decided to send the jerseys to Montpelier, Vermont, which is spelled with one L, not two.

Montpelier Mayor John Hollar thanked Montpellier Mayor Philippe Saurel by Skype from the city’s high school gym, where students wore the donated jerseys for the event.

“If you could just send me a few jerseys every couple of weeks I could be the most popular mayor ever in Montpelier,” Hollar said.

The jerseys will be auctioned off to benefit the athletic department and other charities. Noel Riby-Williams, a Montpelier High School senior and soccer player, said she hopes to raise money for a church in Ghana, where she was born.

“It’s just great that out of a little kindness another little kindness happens. And if everybody in the world just spread kindness the world would be such a better place,” she told WCAX-TV.