Along with visits to NASA and the Denver Broncos Stadium, the delegation was greeted with open arms by their Littleton counterparts for Western Welcome Week last week.

David Gilbert at the Littleton Independent followed much of their visit and has kindly allowed the Bega District News to republish his content.

Littleton and its sister city of Bega, Australia continue to leave their mark on one another.

The cities, officially united in friendship since 1961, exchanged gifts at a special reception at Littleton City Council chambers on August 14.

Littleton Mayor Debbie Brinkman presented the leader of Bega's 22-person delegation, Andrew Warby, with a picture of a bench and plaque in the process of being shipped to Bega. The plaque reads, “True friends are never apart. Maybe in distance, but never in heart. To Bega From Littleton 2018.”

Warby presented Brinkman with a painting by Indigenous artist Joe McKenzie called “Spirit Dance”, which portrays a wild dance of two benevolent Aboriginal Australian spirits.

Warby said he's thankful for the bond between the towns.

“I was born in 1961, the same year as our relationship, and the tie between our towns is stronger than ever,” Warby said.

“With the group traveling with us, it will only grow stronger. Since Colorado's admittance to the Union 142 years ago, Bega has been involved with over one-third of your state's history — a lasting friendship.”

The Bega delegation's two student ambassadors, Jess Heaton and Matthew Gibbs, unveiled Roo & Baby Roo, a four-foot-high steel statue of a kangaroo with a baby, built by artist Pat Lomas.

Mayor Brinkman said she anticipated that the statue might soon adorn Littleton's Bega Park, the small but attractive green space at the east end of Main Street commemorating the two cities' partnership. She added she hoped Littleton's bench would be added to Littleton Gardens, Bega's equivalent park.

The reception also featured presentations by Heaton and Gibbs, sharing their own life stories and extolling the virtues of life in Bega.

Heaton told the story of her decision to graduate from high school early and move into a trade school program, which she said drew pushback from adults and her peers.

Gibbs, a high school junior, shared his love of volunteering, including participation in events like Relay for Life, music camp, and a stint portraying Santa Claus for Alzheimer's patients.

“The Bega Valley is known for its inclusiveness,” Gibbs said. “If you want to do something and you have like-minded individuals around you, you'll succeed.”

Warby said he and his fellow Australian delegates were enjoying their week with their Littleton host families.

“It's like catching up at Thanksgiving,” Warby said.

Littleton rolled out the red carpet from the moment guests from sister city Bega landed on Colorado soil.

The whirlwind 10-day trip showcased what Littleton and Colorado have to offer, said Wilt Cooper, president of the Bega/Littleton Sister City Exchange program.

Delegates from Bega visit Littleton every five years, Cooper said, and Littleton delegates visit Littleton on an alternating five-year schedule. This visit’s delegates include Bega vocational school students Matthew Gibbs and Jess Heaton, who won competitions to join the trip.

The delegations stay with host families during the visit, and attended the Family Night Concert and Fireworks event at Sterne Park that officially kicked off Western Welcome Week on August 10.

The delegation also took in a rodeo in Fraser, the alpine slide in Winter Park, a tour of the Denver Broncos’ stadium, a fancy reception at Columbine Country Club, and other destinations before culminating in the August 18 Western Welcome Week Grand Parade, where the delegation had a place of honour on a parade float.

“The furthest I’ve ever traveled is Queensland (Australia), so I’ve never known much else except Bega,” Heaton, 18, said in an emailed statement.

The royal treatment is the least Littleton can do for their guests, considering how Littleton’s delegation has been treated in Australia, Cooper said.

“They treat us like kings and queens when we visit,” Cooper said.

“Those of us who have gone down there have made lifelong friendships, so it’s good to get to return the favour.”

When Dick Lautenbach was called up to the stage at the reception ceremony for the Bega, Australia, sister city delegation to accept his role as one of the grand marshals of Western Welcome Week on August 9, the moment recognised a friendship that dates back more than six decades that Lautenbach helped inaugurate.

Littleton’s sister city relationship with Bega had its origins in 1954.

That year, Curly Annabel, the editor of the Bega District News, became enamored of Littleton after seeing “Small Town Editor,” a State Department-funded film about Houstoun Waring, the legendary editor of the Littleton Independent.

By 1961, Waring and Annabel were friends, and Waring tapped Lautenbach and other head honchos of the Littleton Chamber of Commerce to spearhead a “sister city” relationship, part of a program created by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

The intervening decades have seen Bega and Littleton send delegations back and forth, fostering cultural exchange and friendship, Lautenbach said.

Lautenbach’s fellow grand marshal was to be Bruce Annabel, Curly’s son.

“It’s been a marvelous relationship,” Lautenbach said. “I watched Bruce grow up, and it will be such an honour to stand beside him in the parade.”

With hearty handshakes and hugs, the American and Australian delegates of the Bega-Littleton Sister City Exchange greeted each other with the warmth of family members on August 9.

Bega Park at the east end of Main Street was the setting for the reunion, named for the Australian town that has served as Littleton's sister Down Under since 1961. The American and Australian flags flapped overhead while the Littleton Community Band played both "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "Advance Australia Fair".

“It's like coming home,” said Barb Westmacott of Bega, who with her husband, Bob, has hosted Littletonians on their visits to Australia, and traveled with the delegation to America during every visit since 2001.

“The first order of business is just catching up with old friends.”

The visit bears extra significance to Bruce Annabel, whose father Curly Annabel helped initiate the relationship between the two cities. The elder Annabel, a newspaper editor, became smitten with Littleton in the 1950s after seeing a film about Houstoun Waring, the Littleton Independent's legendary publisher.

The younger Annabel, who has visited Littleton “a dozen times, and three with the delegation,” will serve as one of two parade marshals, the other being Dick Lautenbach, a lifelong Littletonian tapped by Waring to organise the official sister city relationship.

“It's a great honour” to serve as marshal, Annabel said.

“Although it's more an accolade to my dad and the wonderful legacy he left than it is about me.”

Lautenbach said he's thrilled to still be participating in the relationship after all these decades.

“We'll be climbing and hiking together, going out to dinner — it's really special to have these friendships from the other side of the world,” Lautenbach said.

- with the Littleton Independent