When the Walgett Shire’s Citizen of the Year, Jane O’Brien, opened the 72nd Walgett Show on Sunday May 9 she made some very pertinent comments about the importance of the local show to districts such as ours.
“From its inception the show has been a meeting place – an excuse to ‘down tools’ and ‘go to the show’…These days we seem to all lead a hectic lifestyle and be constantly ‘on the move’. The annual show is a constant and comforting in its continuity when so many community events have ‘gone by the way’. It is something to look forward to, to work towards.”
There is something about the local show that, as Mrs O’Brien said, is timeless, particularly in a district as large and as varied as ours. It has the potential to provide a snapshot of our community and this year was no exception.
The Gordon and Leonard Pavilions were full to bursting with beautiful exhibits which many people had obviously gone to extraordinary efforts to produce.
The flowers smelled phenomenal. St Joseph’s School, Jess Richardson, Cynthia Fuller, Colleen Edgar, Robyn Parker and Jillian Friend had some success in the rose, indoor plants and decorative sections.
The ladies exhibited their finest wares in the handicrafts. Jennifer Colless, Marion Ward, Judy Newton, Jean Tyson and Joan Pearson were among some of the most successful exhibitors in the dressmaking, crochet and knitting sections.
In the Aboriginal artifacts and painting section, the champion article (local senior artifacts) was Steven Welsh’s. Mr Welsh picked up the champion (article open artifacts). Shane Boney won the champion exhibit (local art) and Tanya Murphy won the champion exhibit (art open).
Liz Powell won the Pat De Lepervanche Memorial Trophy for the champion exhibit in fine arts. Claudia Powell won the champion exhibit in children’s fine art.
The photography was well worth a browse with many entries in each of the various sections. The winners of the special photography sections were K Flint (Walgett Shire Council local scene – by local exhibitor), Emily Newton (Walgett Shire Council local scene – by local exhibitor, 18 years and under), M Duncan (Walgett District Tourism Association ‘The Gate’ Competition) and Jane Clemson (Outback Arts’ ‘People’s Choice’).
Mardi Remond won the champion colour exhibit. Mrs Remond also won the most points in photography. Sue Currey won the reserve champion colour exhibit. K Flint won the champion black and white exhibit, while Jo Coleman won the reserve champion black and white exhibit. The most number of points in junior photography and the champion junior photography exhibit was Emily Newton.
The children’s exhibits were, as usual, a highlight – schoolwork, craft and cooking displays indicating that there will be many exhibitors for many years to come from across the Walgett shire. In the infants’ schoolwork section, Taia-Lee Morris’ was the best piece of writing. Khayden Morgan’s was the champion infants artwork. Khayden also won champion infants’ schoolwork. In the children’s cookery, the most number of points in preschool cookery went to Zach Swinton. Johno Evans won the Olive Colless Memorial Trophy for the most points in infants cookery. Most points in lower primary cookery went to Charlie Berrell and Sam McKenzie took home the Betty Hawkins Memorial Trophy for the most points in upper primary cookery. Timmy Murray and Tyson Teane-Jones came equal first in the champion high school cookery.
The dogs and pets were also judged.
Elstow Charolais Stud and Truro Hereford Stud did well in the cattle sections. Elstow picked up the JP O’Brien Memorial Trophy for the most successful exhibitor in cattle (any one breed), the Beef Breeder’s Cup, the FL Marhsall Trophy for best cow with calf and many more. The two best bulls were from Truro.
Kate Halliday took home the Under 25yrs handler’s trophy.
Amongst the sheep and wool exhibits, Bando took out the champion and reserve medium wool ewe, champion strong wool ewe and the most successful exhibitor among many others. Bonanza, Tootha, Moongulla, Wyuna, Lyndon and P and C Marshall were also successful exhibitors in the wool sections.
The poultry sections saw the Provest and Trindall families battling it out for another year.
The motorbike and ute shows were bigger and better than ever and it was quite spectacular to see all the machinery lined up near the secretary’s office. The burn-out competition in particular drew a lot of interest
The campdraft, showjumping, sporting and ring events attracted strong nominations as usual.
The atmosphere at this year’s show was terrific thanks to the Jan Marshall Memorial Hospitality Tent, Ben Salt’s music and the stalls and displays.
Neville the Snake Man, Rajah the Clown, Dan Murphy and his band Murphy’s Law, and the Quickshears competition provided further entertainment.
The fireworks display did not go according to plan on Saturday evening however, the Rural Fire Service put on an amusing demonstration in the meantime.
It certainly was an action-packed couple of days and it would seem that some are already keen to start the countdown to next year’s show.
After all, there’s only 50 weeks to go…
(Please note that not all the results are available at this time).
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