Preceding the show on February 14th was the Miss Showgirl Dinner held at the Golf Club. This event was again very ably organised by Sue Wilson with the help of a number of other people. This year the Junior Minor section was won by Stephanie Blinco with the Junior section won by Alexis Brownhall. Unfortunately there were no entrants in the senior Miss Showgirl section. Hopefully this will be remedied in 2010.
The 61st Jandowae Show was held on March 21, 2009. A feature of the show was the return of horses to the main ring following a ban on horses in 2008 caused by the Equine Influenza outbreak of 2007/08. The result was a more traditional looking show which I believe satisfied a large number of people. Pony Club events returned as part of the ring events. I know Gary and Marie who have done a great job organising the horse classes for a number of years now, appreciated the input of members of the Pony Club who took care of their events.
The pavilion was again the centrepiece of the show. Prior to the show a facelift was given to the pavilion with the pigeons being fenced out and many of the stands being repainted. Ivan Grundy took much of the responsibility for this work and must be congratulated and thanked for the large amount of work he did. Rod Dolley provided his time and expertise when it came to the painting and we thank him also, along with a number of other people. George Sturgess took responsibility for revamping the stands used in the Photography section. Thanks George. A lot of hard work to clean and prepare the pavilion for the Show was achieved by our dedicated volunteers and we are most grateful for their efforts.
Stewards responsible for each section once again did a fine job of pulling it into shape for the show. It was satisfying to see the pavilion full of exhibits. A feature of the exhibits was the Scarecrow competition which was organised by Donna Tanner and Gladys Franz through their Farm Produce section, with a large number of exhibits scattered throughout the pavilion. The satisfying aspect of this was the enthusiasm with which the Jandowae School and other clubs supported this competition. The Fine Arts section was impressive as usual and contributed an amount of money back to the Show through paintings sold.
The Stud Cattle section attracted 62 entries which was a similar number to the previous year. For the first time, instead of individual breeds, the judging was split into four sections – Tropical, British, European and Small breeds. Exhibitors enjoy coming to our show and those people and businesses who donate trophies must be thanked for their continued support.
The Prime Cattle section was ably run by Alex Haig and his team of helpers. Appreciation must be extended to the Jandowae Pony Club who earlier in the year had received a grant to purchase a large number of portable panels to form a fence around their grounds. Many of these panels were used in the Prime Cattle yards and also in the Stud Cattle area. Numbers in the Prime Cattle section were down on years before with a negative response from potential exhibitors being received during a number of phone calls that were made. In my opinion, the lack of enthusiasm from potential exhibitors from the local area puts a question mark over the future of the Prime Cattle section more so now than ever before.
Following those presented in 2008, a number of Awards of Appreciation were presented to people that have been instrumental in the success of the Jandowae Show over the years. Show Patron Mr Neville Schumann performed this task on behalf of the committee and all recipients were proud of their well deserved awards. Recipients were Bill Wood, Sharmaine Wassell, Bill Cooper, John Haselwood, Janet Loechel and Malcolm Reimers.
This year saw the Committee extend the entertainment budget which by all reports made our show one of the busiest of local shows in the immediate area with more attractions to please the visiting public. One attraction seen at the show for the first time was John and Mary Jewel’s “Australia’s Living History” attraction. This was well received. There were a large number of other stall holders that also attended the show. The above attractions, along with a number of side show attractions (while not as big as in 2008) made for a real carnival atmosphere. There was much positive feedback from stall holders and entertainers who said that Jandowae was one of the best shows they had attended this year.
The Fashion Parade always attracts a crowd and was a success once again. Thanks must go to Kay Grundy for her organisation. Clint Nelson took on the Dog Jump after being absent from last year’s show. This is always well received by patrons and entertains the crowd late into the day. A highly successful rodeo was once again staged by Honky Tonk Rodeo Promotions. Their professionalism is first class and they always put on a good show and certainly pull in the crowd. Cattle for the steer and poddy rides were kindly donated by Col Budden. A truck for carting the cattle was kindly supplied free of charge by Les Marshall and Greg Sharp drove the truck. Marshall’s have also supplied a truck for a number of years for us to cart the seating to and from Dalby. This is most convenient and appreciated by us all. Lester and Jan Mittlestadt must be congratulated on their organisation of the staging of the rodeo.
Terry Arnold played his live music into the night. This was well received by the crowd. Bar takings were high and the large crowd was a happy one and easy to manage when we got to the end of the night. A big thankyou must go to Lillian Krog who organised and oversaw the running of the bar. Many people helped with food late into the night, and while tiring for those who had been on the go all day, it was enjoyable due to the cooperative crowd of people.
It was estimated that a total of app.7500 people attended the show. No show is possible without its sponsors and Jandowae certainly had a large number once again, representing local and out-of-town businesses and families. Margaret Atkinson once again did a sterling job in contacting sponsors and the response was very much appreciated. We also received grants totalling app. $9,500 in the form of app. $6,000 from the Queensland Government and $3,500 from the Wambo Shire Council (now Western Downs) (of which $1,000 was for insurance and $2,500 for entertainment).
I must thank the committee for a job very well done. Once again our secretary Margaret Atkinson has put in more time than most of us put together and done a magnificent job. In combination with treasurer Kylie Brownhall and Heather Gall (who took on the treasurers position during the show period) they made a great team and the show ran very smoothly due to their organisation. Kylie has signalled her intention not to re-sit for the treasurers position. Apart from her work as treasurer, her youthful enthusiasm around show time has been refreshing and we would certainly welcome her input in the future. Vice Presidents Celie Jeitz, Marie Cameron and Sue Wilson have also been very supportive in many ways in the different fields they were involved in. I thank you all for your contributions. Phillip Atkinson must also be thanked for his work on the website which details the attractions, classes and results from the show.
Finally, I would like to thank all of those members who do not have official roles at present but turn up time and time again at meetings and/or to help out preparing for and cleaning up after the show. It certainly gives you a sense of achievement to be part of this team following a successful show that brings the community together. I must also mention those dedicated Rotary members who arrive so early to man the gate, their assistance is invaluable to the success of the Show. On behalf of the Committee I thank you for helping out once again – it is very much appreciated and the show would not be possible without the help and support of all of you.
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