The 134th Junee Show was celebrated as yet another success iteration of the big day at the Junee Showgrounds which saw live music, markets and plenty of side shows to enjoy all day.
President of the Show, Peter Commens said, “The Show went really well. It was probably one of the best days we have had for a long time.
“We had a record crowd, up about 25 percent on what we have had the last few years. Our entries were up by about 20 per-cent at least too. We had really good horse entries, a wonderful pavilion, the junior judging section is growing all the time.
“We were lucky as it was a beautiful day, wasn’t too hot, no wind and everything went to plan and our major attractions, which were the Reptile Man and the Showmo Racing (souped up ride-on mowers) were very popular and they ran three shows for us throughout the day. The lawnmowers get up to 80km/h and I wouldn’t like to be sitting on one doing that speed.
“The day was made a success by the community coming out. For years we set a gate charge which is not very high, only ten bucks for adults to get in. Naturally everything else is going up but we resisted putting our gate up and I think people thanked us for it and they all turned up.
“The main attractions are the highlights, but our pavilion is always a highlight. It was well supported, it was laid out well, it’s only new and looked absolutely magnificent.
Everyone commented on it.“The crowd was up, there was lots of sideshows present and they were very happy. There were no major dramas, no accidents or anything like that. The first aid people said there was only a couple of band aids and a bit of sunburn cream required and I said that’s exactly how we want it.
“The trotters were there and we had enough for one race, but the mini trotters came and had enough for three races. They are always popular as people like to watch the kids and the little ponies.
“Without the sponsors we couldn’t run a show like we run. You can’t run a show just on gate takings.
“Years ago, they might have done, but you can’t do it today.
“Our sponsors are absoutely magnificent and we hoped we looked after them as best we can. We had about 120 sponsors and they are from the big corporates to individuals.
“We are very appreciative of our sponsors, that’s for sure, and they have all been great to work with. When we contacted them again, they are more than happy and it’s good advertising for them as well.
“After the show I said to one of our vice presidents, how are you feeling and he said worn out and so was I.
“When it all goes well, satisfaction keeps you going. I hope and wish that more people would volunteer. We re not asking them to come down and work for days, but if you get another 20 or 30 people that come down and give you two, three or four hours to help set up, help clean up and pack up and things like that, it just makes the job so much easier.
“I am fearful what is going tohappen in a few years’ time because shows and all organisations are struggling to get enough people to come and volunteer and I hate to think what is going to happen in another ten or twelve years’ time. Are a lot of these organisations going to be able to keep going?
“We have a lot of people on our committee that have been there for a long time, some of them longer than me and I’ve been there 59years and we all wear out as we all get a year older every year.
“We couldn’t operate without volunteers, especially the shows. We couldn’t afford to pay people to do jobs. A lot of local organisations do different things for us. Can Assist ran the dining room for us and ran the barbecue and I think they had a very good day.“The volunteers are around for us to be able to run it.