MARYSVILLE – The Marysville man who served as organizer, tour guide, interpreter and cultural liaison for the mayor and two City Council members on a recent visit to China was named the city’s Volunteer of the Month. Mayor Jon Nehring presented the award to Noah Rui at Monday’s council meeting.

Rui accompanied Nehring, Mark James and Steve Muller, and the council members’ wives on a trip to Marysville’s Friendship City of Yueqing, China, in mid-February. They also went to Beijing and Shanghai.

“Noah’s work was absolutely indispensable,” Mayor Nehring said. “He worked full-time early morning through late night arranging most aspects of this trip, including the important official duties as well as the day-to-day necessities such as transportation and food. The trip would not have been possible without Noah.”

Rui volunteered countless hours over several months making arrangements and advising the Marysville group on cultural expectations and decorum. He previously helped form the Friendship City relationship with his hometown of Yueqing and organize two trips to Marysville by Yueqing government and business officials in 2015 and 2017. Marysville established a Friendship City relationship with Yueqing in 2014 to promote educational and economic opportunities and cultural awareness. When the Chinese delegation visited Marysville in 2017, they discussed local government issues with city leaders before touring the city’s water treatment facilities.

The city leaders paid for the recent trip out of their own pockets.