Pic 2: BTG141220CP2 Caption: It is challenged by Chief of Police Senior Sergeant Fraser.
Pic 3: BTG141220CP3 Caption: They are allowed to pass and form up for formal presentation to Tararua Mayor Tracey Collis.
Pic 4: BTG141220CP4 Caption: Mayor Collis inspects the troops.
Pic 5: BTG141220CP5 Caption: Mayor Collis talks about the special relationship Tararua has with the Battalion.
Pic 6: BTG141220CP6 Caption: Dignitaries listen to the address. From left veteran Bonnie Bodley, National Vice-President Bob (Bukit) Hill, Past Mayor Bill Bly, Wairarapa MP Kieran McAnulty.
Pic 7: BTG141220CP7 Caption: Camouflaged snipers lead 1RNZIR from the parade.
Pic 8: BTG141220CP8 Caption: Six present or former Mayors in attendance: Back from left Alex Walker (Waipukurau), Tracey Collis, Maureen Reynolds, Front from left: Bob Trotter, Roly Ellis, Bill Bly.
By Dave Murdoch It was all pomp and ceremony on Dannevirke's High St on Saturday, December 5, before the Christmas Parade, when the 1st Battalion RNZIR from Linton Military Camp renewed its very special charter with Tararua.
The Charter Parade is a tradition going back centuries that signifies the bond between the military and the people, where a military unit entrusted with the protection of a city is permitted to march through the streets with "drums beating, colours flying, bayonets fixed and swords drawn".
Camouflaged snipers lead 1RNZIR from the parade.
This historical march dates back to Roman times, when weapons were generally banned, and Tararua is proud to be the first district to bestow this honour on its local battalion.
On Saturday, promptly at 10.30am, the battalion marched into High St and was challenged by Senior Sergeant Dave Fraser inquiring what right it had to do this. Upon receiving a satisfactory reply, it was allowed to proceed and it formed up at Ward St to be presented to Mayor Tracey Collis.
After inspecting the troops, Mayor Collis explained the background to the charter developing out of an exercise the battalion held around Dannevirke in 2013, which established such a rapport that then Mayor Roly Ellis proposed a charter.
This eventuated when Ellis presented the charter to the battalion on his last day as Mayor of Tararua on October 7, 2016, at the first Charter Parade held in Dannevirke.
Since then the Charter Parade has been held in Woodville 2018 and now Dannevirke again in 2020.
Mayor Collis said she hoped the link between Tararua and the battalion would grow in strength, as the district really values and respects the relationship.
After the national anthem was sung, the battalion marched off High St and the interested crowd resumed shopping before the Christmas Parade was due to start.
