Barraba’s 111th Show has been declared a great success by organisers, entrants and visitors. The official opening of the show was attended by Kevin Anderson who presented Kerry Ann and Campbell Tonkin with life membership badges for the Barraba Show Society for over 25 years of dedication to the show, especially to the campdraft section and more recently the cutting events. Brook Smith 2022 Barraba Show Young Woman spoke, welcoming everyone to the show, as did President, Dave Penna.
The Show ran over the weekend of 4-6 March and included the full complement of attractions and activities. The Open Rodeo and Xtreme Broncs events, including live music afterwards, were included in the general admission tickets, and attracted large, enthusiastic crowds.
Entertainment for the weekend included horse competitions, show jumping, cattle, sheep and wool, yard dog trials and pavilion competitions following the 2022 theme of ‘Sunshine’. Pavilion competitions included cooking, jams and preservatives, photography, crafts, pottery, knitting and crochet, flowers, fruit and veggies. There were also vintage machinery and car displays, vintage shearing competition, petting zoo and sideshow alley full of rides and foodstalls.
This Show also held a ‘Farmers Challenge’ where teams competed against each other in fun challenges such as rolling out a swag and rolling it up again the fastest. “It’s just a bit of fun and is great to watch, the best part about the Show is bringing rural people together”, said 2002 Show Young Woman, Brook Smith. Brook and the runner-up Young Women of the year Mia Burgess and Eleisha Outridge, were all actively involved in the Show, judging and running some of the competitions, lending a hand where it was needed, and presenting awards and ribbons.
Show President, Dave Penna said, “There’s been a huge crowd this year. It’s been surprising how many people have come through the gates”. Dave said many of the events have been a stand out in 2022. “This year’s Horse events have been great. I’ve never seen the hack area so full of horses, let alone the camp draft. The Extreme Bronc horse rodeo on Friday night was an extreme success! There were plenty of people there, good crowd, and well behaved”
Tim Crowley, past president of the Show, and current committee member, also said the 2022 Show was a winner. “It is going really well. Plenty of attractions, a lot of sheep this year which is great to see. The schools have come along with their sheep and they’ve gone really well. We had big rodeos too, which were fantastic.”
Damien Crump from Crump Stock & Station Agency in Bingara judged the sheep section, which he said was a very difficult job with a good showing. He also was impressed with the 2022 Show. “This Show has been amazing and a real credit to the committee, ” said Damien. “From what I can see this Show goes for miles. There’s been a good turnout and good numbers.” Damien is the President of the Bingara Show Society, whose Show will be held 13-15 May.
Chief Steward of the Pavilion, MAny Cabot said, “The pavilion looked terrific. There were lots of entries and I think the quality of the work was very high. I think everyone took the Sunshine theme on board and it made it really colourful and fun in the Pavilion. The school and pre-school displays were especially good. The flowers and the fruit and veg were of course spectacular with all the rain.” The Pavilion itself has had a major facelift. “First we got a new floor, and this year we got a new roof and new walls. It’s now water-prrof and bird-proof,” explained Mandy. Mandy singled out the Pavilion volunteers for praise. “They are very hard workers and got everything done.”
President Dave Penna said the whole committee of volunteers who put on the Show have been outstanding. “Our committee is brilliant. We have here very dedicated people, very good at their jobs. We’ve got a new secretary who is powering through the work and she’s doing really well.” Dave also invites anyone interested in lending a land for the 2023 Show to join in. “We can never get enough volunteers, so if you want to come along it’d be great.”
By Jane Harris
