It's what's protected by lock and key in a number of cabinets that usually draws an eye.
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Civic gifts are a long held tradition in local government, small tokens of a town’s history are exchanged in a formal reception.
Relationships between two people and local government aren’t as different as they might seem.
There’s courtship and flirtation in both.
“Before you become Sister Cities there generally is a courting period,” Tamworth Regional Council governance manager Karen Litchfield said.
“You visit them, they visit you - you determine what you have in common and what the benefits are of such a relationship.”
Tamworth has five international Sister City relationships, there’s Gore in New Zealand, Chaoyang in China, Nashville in the USA, Sannohe in Japan and of course, Tamworth UK.
Gore and Tamworth have reached the point in their relationship where it’s no longer necessary to exchange gifts.
The mayor of Gore, Tracy Hicks has been to Tamworth Country Music Festival nearly 26 years in a row.
That’s a lot of civic gifts.
One look around Tamworth mayor Col Murray’s office shows he’s been the recipient of some interesting objects himself.
There’s a Nashville Predators hockey team jersey, a blade made from 30,000 year old Swamp Kauri wood from Gore and a caligraphy set from Sannohe gifted to Oxley High School.
And, like secret Santa there’s a trick to the trade to avoid gift faux pas.
Over the years Ms Litchfield has learned that when it comes to civic gifts, big isn’t always better.
A beautiful ceramic kookaburra sitting on a wooden branch caused a modest drama some years ago.
“I had to try and get it back to him because he left, I had to try to ship this kookaburra to Gore which was quite a process,” she laughed.
“I think he ended up getting it a couple of months later after I found a courier company who would ship it across because it was untreated.
“So we had to treat the wood first and then send it across.”
Part of Ms Litchfield’s job is to find gifts that clearly reflect Tamworth.
In Australia, delegates from other countries are mostly fond of the barbecue culture - but overseas the process to welcome guests can become incredibly ceremonial.
You’re respecting each others culture, you do some research beforehand so you are aware of what their cultural requirements are.
- Cr Phil Betts
One of the best gifts given on behalf of the city to Chaoyang was a live performance from country music favourite Adam Harvey.
With a crowd of almost one million packed into the performance space, Harvey took up the stage and played country.
But, it was his acoustic performance of the national anthem in Chinese that really got listeners moving.
Chinese military were scattered through the crowd and not even they could control the raucous response from the audience.
“The reception we got for Adam was just awesome,” Cr Betts said.
“It’s the significance of giving the gift that’s the biggest aspect of it.
“Out of that comes economic benefits because it strengthens the country music industry and business relationships - it’s not just ceremonial it does lead to economic business.”
Chaoyang returned the favour with a colourful model of the Kingdom of Heaven temple.
Ms Litchfield remembers it well, given to Tamworth just before Chaoyang was due to host part of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“We’ve received a lot of beautiful gifts especially from the Japan and China relationships,” Ms Litchfield said.
“I remember the Kingdom of Heaven temple that we were gifted right before China hosted the Olympics.
“In 2008 a delegation came and they were just so excited to be hosting the Olympics.”
Along with Adam Harvey, council has gifted a pictorial history of Tamworth, small golden guitars and even an Akubra hat.
The records archive holds around 100 civic gifts dating back to Parry Shire Council days and possibly beyond.
When a visitor arrives they are formally greeted by the mayor, before the ceremonial gift exchange followed by a cup of afternoon tea.
Positioning is no mistake either, the gifts given by a visiting country are given pride of place in council’s building when delegates arrive.
It’s a mark of respect for their culture and the growing relationship Cr Betts said.
“It’s a long-standing practice in local government to exchange gifts as a tradition, it’s a sign of good will,” he said.
“You’re respecting each others culture, you do some research beforehand so you are aware of what their cultural requirements are.
“Especially the ones with China, Korea and Japan - they’re very formal and they put great emphasis on the formality.”
A civic welcome has been part of the region’s local governance from as far back as the 1900’s, perhaps further.
New Zealand bowlers were given a civic reception in Glen Innes in 1939, the bowlers sang ‘For They Are Jolly Good Fellows’ in Maori before leaving for Armidale and Tamworth.
Beyond international delegates, Tamworth extends its civic welcomes and gifting to Friendship Force Australia.
The club invites people from other countries for homestays to make friends around the world.
The visitors really appreciate the warm Australian welcome Cr Betts said.
“We might just give them a small golden guitar pin as a token of our appreciation,” he said.
“It’s not the monetary value it’s the relationship and the cultural value.
“A civic gift to us is something that’s from the city of Tamworth and it means something or has a history to Tamworth.”