Koorawatha Show Colin Fisher (bottom left) with Mary Gee, daughter-in-law Jane, Steph Cooke and son, Brett.
It’s not often that someone’s dedication to fruit and vegetables encompasses 73 years of stewarding at a show, which is why Mr Colin Fisher was publicly recognised with a certificate from local member, Steph Cooke at the 73rd Koorawatha Show.
The 94-year-old has volunteered at Koorawatha Show since he was 17 years old and has helped every year since.
A born and bred local, Colin was initially asked by a local police officer to mind the fruit and veg at the first show. He has dutifully kept his promise and was accompanied this year by his family to accept the award.
Koorawatha Show Society Secretary, Mary Gee, says this year’s event had a fairly good number of horse and cattle submissions.
“Numbers were down in everything, but the quality made up for it,” she says.
“When it came to the prince and princess competition, it really came out of the woodwork.
“I didn’t even know there were that many kids in Koorawatha!”
Pavilion entrants were also down this year, which Mary says could be due to the poor weather they had been encountering beforehand.
Due to extreme heat, the flower section had been heavily impacted.
Stallholders and the Show and Shine were in abundance and Mary says, despite the smaller attendance by visitors and entrants, everyone had a great day.
“We’ve been told they’ll come back next year, so we can’t complain about that,” she says.
“People sat around for ages, just talking.
“Everyone seemed to have a thoroughly enjoyable day.”
Running without a hitch, Mary says they are already looking forward to planning next year’s show.
“We are often told that people are surprised the show is still going, but are glad that it is,” she says.
“Whatever we can do to keep it going, we will.
“Out here, we tend to lose too many things [such as country events], and once lost, it’s hard to get back.
“We are made up of consistent, conscientious people who keep on, keeping on.”
Although the numbers of visitors had lowered this year, Mary says seeing people enjoy themselves is more important.
“It’s something money can’t buy,” she says.
In terms of how they might improve these statistics for next year, Mary says they will be looking at introducing more cost-effective activities for their youngest participants, as well as potentially introducing more elements from traditional side show alleys.
“We want to provide a wider variety of options for the least amount of money,” she says.
This year, they had a mechanical bull ride, inflatable jumping castle, basketball and other options that saw children line up all day to play.
“We also had working horses, who were new this year,” says Mary.
“We had a young bloke at the bottom of the showground with draft horses, and he showcased different ways of harnessing.
“For some, the actions brought back memories and for others, it was the first time many had seen a work horse in action.”
Although they weren’t able to successfully run their yard dog trials this year due to time shortages, they’ve already seen interest expressed in organising next year’s event.
“All in all, everyone had a good day and thoroughly enjoyed themselves,” says Mary.
“Next year, we hope the weather is better and we have heaps of flowers and crafty people.”
– Elizabeth Kovacs
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