May 7, 2013
A record crowd, a record sideshow alley and record entries in photography, cooking and Lego … all in all, the 106th Kingaroy Show at the weekend was a record-breaking success!
Show Society president Cliff Seiler said close to 5000 people went through the gates on Saturday.
“That means every second person in town went to the show. We can’t do much better than that!” he said.
The weekend was “absolutely extraordinary”, in fact, so much so that Cliff organised a photography flyover by local charter operator Tony Pratt to make sure the event was recorded from the air.
The weekend started with the Junior Judges on Friday which was very well supported.
On Saturday morning, the refurbished Poultry Pavilion was officially opened. The pavilion is named after the late Cliff Edwards who was Show Society president for more than 25 years. His widow Dulcie officially cut the ribbon.
Cliff said the new pavilion – which attracted more than 260 entries this year – was an example of what could be achieved when groups worked together for the same purpose.
“A crew from the poultry club got into it and were working late into the night for weeks to get it fixed up,” he said.
Popular this year was a kids’ pet poultry competition where children brought along their pet chooks and had to do all the handling (no adults allowed).
“It’s all about encouraging young people to get into show competitions,” Cliff said.
And it’s not only young people that the Show Society targeted. Men’s sections made a debut in the cookery competition this year.
Cliff was proud to note that he came second, with a chocolate cake baked from his mother’s own recipe.
“I hadn’t made a cake since I was about 13 years old,” he said. “But other guys are now saying they’ll have a go next year, just to beat me.”
The pressures of office must be telling for Member for Nanango Deb Frecklington, who last year scored a first prize and “Champion” in chocolate cakes. The former Ardlethan show champion this year scored a second in sponge cake and third in date cake. But her daughter Lucy did better … two firsts, a second and a third.
The Fine Arts and Photography competitions this year found a new home in the re-roofed pavilion near the main gate.
The roof was replaced at a cost of $6000 for the 2012 show but the Show Society was unsure how best to use the space. So this year the over-flowing photography exhibition was invited in and it worked well.
“It’s a nice hall now for those competitions,” Cliff said.
Saturday night was topped off by a huge fireworks display and a Queensland Title at the speedway.
On Sunday, the poultry pavilion hosted an extremely popular guinea pig competition, another opportunity for children to get involved with the show.
“We’re just trying to get back to basics as a country show and it’s working. We’re looking for a real carnival atmosphere,” Cliff said.
The Show Society is already working on ideas for next year’s show, including ways to improve the experience on Sunday. Ideas that are being tossed around include a rodeo, country music, camp oven dinner or a battle of the bands.
“The good thing is we’re starting on ideas the day after the last show,” he said.
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