South Otago A&P Show goes indoors
The pipe band played, the Show Queens waved and smiled and the crowd gathered – inside, for the South Otago A&P Show at Balclutha on Saturday.
With last week’s heavy rain in OtagoSouthland cancelling the outdoor events, the show was staged from the Cross Recreation Centre.
There were no hoofed animals, so it was not quite the show they had in mind, South Otago A&P society president Neil Kelly said. ‘‘Without the rec centre we would have had a no show,’’ he said.
The committee had to put ‘‘Plan B’’ into action when it became obvious that both the Clutha District Council sports fields and the society’s show grounds would be too wet to stage the usual outdoor events, he said. ‘‘Normally we’d have sheep, cattle and horses. This year we had the Wonky Donkey.’’
He was referring to children’s entertainer Craig Smith, who was among the indoor attractions to draw a crowed at the show.
He said the society would not know for a few days how the show would fare financially, because of refunds to competitors and exhibitors.
‘‘We are very grateful to the people who donated their entry money.’’
The society was happy that the indoor venue had stayed full for most of the day, he said. Having the event indoors had its upsides, because everything, apart from the outdoor carnival attractions which were held on showground property, was concentrated in one area, he said.
It had given focus to the 50th anniversary celebration of the Show Queens and the accompanying display.
The South Otago show is believed to be the only one in New Zealand that stages an event of this kind.
About 30 former Show Queens from throughout the years gathered, including the winner of the 1968 show, Annette Meyer, of Alexandra, with the third place getter Brenda Ogilvie returning from Australia for the celebration.
‘‘I’ve come from the worst drought (Scone, New South Wales) to one of the worst floods, but it was still a great excuse to come back and catch up with people.’’
This year’s winner was Bayley Coates, of Balclutha. Originally from Maungaturoto near Whangarei, she was a Telford agricultural student, who now works for Advanced Agriculture.
‘‘My thanks go to the South Otago show committee. The weather didn’t play its part, but we still had a good time.’’