[RunItUpTheGut]

I am a big time Vick supporter, but I never seen the point in giving someone the key to a city.

Heres what the meaning of it is....
The tradition of conferring upon heroes and luminaries a key to the city dates back at least to medieval Europe. When a monarch or other ruler came to visit a town in his dominion, the city council would greet him at the gates and prepare a "joyous entrance," with flowers, dancing, singing, and so forth. The citizens would also present him with a key—probably a functional one—as a gesture of obedience but also, paradoxically, of autonomy. By offering a key, the citizens demonstrate that they have not been forced to grant the monarch entry and that they might have chosen not to. In medieval Europe, there was also a related custom of giving certain tradesmen preferred status so that they could enter a gated town on commercial business without first paying a toll.