Didn’t expect ‘best job in the world’
SCOTTISHBORN Jane Stalker almost did not come to New Zealand and ‘‘never ever’’ thought she would stay in Wanaka.
In the 1980s the medical secretary was invited by a friend to spend winter working in New Zealand but after growing up near Glasgow she wasn’t keen.
‘‘I didn’t want to come here as it was too much like Scotland, I wanted to go somewhere tropical, but I worked at the Snow Farm the first year they had the crosscountry and had a great time.’’
In 1988 she met her future husband Doug Stalker while working another ski season in New Zealand.
‘‘I never thought I’d ever stay here, it’s 30 years this year, crazy isn’t it? But when you look around you think where else would you go? Where else is as nice as this?’’
When Mrs Stalker was pregnant with her first child a work colleague suggested she apply for the job of event manager of the Wanaka A&P Show.
‘‘I remember my very first show and back then it was only on a Friday (and not a Saturday) so Thursday was set up and warm up. The competitors arrived and there were queues of people asking questions, wanting this, needing that and complaining and at the end of the day I went home and I just looked at my husband and broke down in tears. I didn’t expect that, I thought I’d done all the work but the next day everything was fine. Next year I thought I am going to be ahead of this and that’s what happens, you get better and better. Now I always think of the Thursday before the show as the ‘‘Oh s... day’’, when if things go wrong, they’re hopefully going wrong then, and we can patch it up before the show starts.’’
When asked what her job involved, Mrs Stalker said it was easier to say what she did not do.
‘‘I don’t take the competition entries and put them into the entry system and I don’t do finances, because I have a colleague that does that, but I do all the other stuff.’’
She said ‘‘all the other stuff’’ ranged from deciding what to put in the sandwiches to booking flights for entertainers.
‘‘During the year you sit and tick away and then when it’s show time it’s like the box opens and everything happens.’’
Show time is when Mrs Stalker walks around the grounds as much as possible trying to keep one step ahead of any dramas.
‘‘I also like to look at where all the crowds are, one year everyone was around the Jack Russell race, and I thought, ‘hang on if they’re all here what’s happening out there’, so I went running over to the other side of the show and they were all there, too.’’
‘‘There were so many people and they were all sitting down having a nice time. I just love this job, it is such a buzz.’’
Mrs Stalker said although organising and running the show was very much a team effort, she took any criticism ‘‘very personally’’.
‘‘We did a survey a few years ago and we were blown away by how positive the feedback was, the only complaint was they wanted more food and more shade. So, this year we have a great big sail shade coming, because we I do listen to what everyone says.’’
Over the 20 years Mrs Stalker has been show coordinator the Wanaka show has grown exponentially but she stayed determined to keep it grounded in its rural roots.
‘‘I think we still have a good mix when you look at what we’ve done with the woodchoppers and the dog trials, the shearers and the goats. The trade exhibitors complement the show as well as pay for the rest of it, but if farming people want to come and help maintain the local rural roots they are always welcome.’’
The first Upper Clutha A&P Show was held in Cromwell in 1895 and shifted to Wanaka in 1933 to the A&P showgrounds on the lakefront where it has been held almost every year since.
The Wanaka A&P Show is now spread across the showgrounds and Pembroke Park and has more than 450 trade exhibitors. It attracts more than 40,000 visitors over two days.
Mrs Stalker attributes the success of the show to the location, good weather, shopping, entertainment, and a blend of urban and country to meet the needs of everyone.
However, she was quick to say there was always room to grow and the next focus would be education.
‘‘We’ve got a great shearing show now and that’s something that has just developed over the past few years, and now we’ve got the woodchoppers commentating, and we’ll build on that.’’
Mrs Stalker said when she first took the job she never she imagined she would be still doing it 20 years later ‘‘but it is addictive’’.
‘‘I think I’ve got the best job in the world because I love it. Every year you can change it and improve it. It’s as good as it ever was but we have to adapt to changing times. I think if we are doing that then we are winning.’’