Townies flock to show
A&P Association delighted as over 13,000 through gate
The Stratford A&P Show is known to be the weekend where town comes to country, and this year town certainly came — in the thousands. Stratford A&P Association secretary, Vicki Jagersma, says over 13,000 people came through the gates over the two days.
“It’s the highest number of visitors we’ve had to the show in years,” she says.
“We are extremely happy with the turnout, with the weather kinder to us this year than last.”
Vicki says the community support for the event justifies all the work done behind the scenes to produce the show.
“We love the support we get from the community.”
That community support translated to big crowds across the show, watching everything from shearing and wood-chopping to beef, lamb and dairy competitions as well as equestrian events, lawnmower racing, and a range of stalls, entertainment and food stands.
Amongst the many visitors enjoying Sideshow Alley — the Mahons Amusements fun fair on site — were Tate, 8, and Mana, 5, Fraser, along with brother Jonah, 4, and dad Luke.
The brothers, and their dad, enjoyed a friendly car chase on the Dodgems, with Mana and Tate full of glee as they tried to crash into their younger sibling and dad.
They had come to the show from New Plymouth, said Luke, and were enjoying a fun day out.
Also having plenty of fun at the show was 9-year-old Cassandra Bond. The Tawhiti school pupil was there with her parents, and pet lamb Spot.
Cassandra and Spot entered the lamb categories at the show, coming away with a ribbon for calling as well as first place in the dress-up competition in which Cassandra and Spot transformed themselves into buzzing bees.
Also enjoying a win in the lamb section was 6-year-old Tim Downs and his lamb Joey. The Toko school pupil received the Bert Downs Memorial Trophy for Best Overall Reared lamb, judged across both the junior and senior categories. The trophy was presented by Bert’s widow, Doris. It wasn’t just a cool trophy to win for Tim, but also a very meaningful one, as Doris and Bert are his great-grandparents, he said.
It wasn’t just youngsters and their lambs hoping to win awards at the Stratford A&P show, with the award for best trade exhibit always a tough one for judges to pick, said show manager Stephen Vince.
“Everyone put a lot of effort into making sure their stalls were well displayed.”
After much deliberation, the title of best trade exhibit was awarded to Hāwera business Landscape Essentials Nursery.
Stephen said it was clear business owners Tanya and Kurt Phillips had put a lot of work into making their stall look “vibrant”.
“It was entertaining and they were both very approachable.”
Tanya said she and Kurt were thrilled with the win.
“We love coming to the show and being involved. It’s a great chance to be social and chat with everyone.”
Highly commended went to Metal Craft Xtreme and third place went to Vision Living.
While the stalls and trade exhibits had plenty for visitors to see on the day, younger show visitors were kept entertained with a great range of entertainment in the Matahio-sponsored Kids Zone area. From virtual reality games, to the more traditional ball pits and bouncy castles, there was plenty to do and explore, as well as some free fruit available thanks to New World Stratford.
Taranaki-based magician and balloon-artist Josh was present keeping tamariki amused with his jokes and magic tricks, much to the delight of 7-year-old Ella Williamson from New Plymouth, who said the magic show was the best part of the day.
“I like seeing the animals, but the magic man is even better. He makes lots of bad dad jokes but is really good at magic.”
Another section of the show popular with tamariki on both days was Axiom Training’s stand where they could try their hand at steering and controlling a (not so) little yellow digger. The digger had been loaned by Kiwi Hire Group in New Plymouth, and was popular with both children and adults, all keen to have a go at operating it. Axiom Training national training manager for tertiary, Damon Taylor, said they were enjoying talking to people about the many opportunities offered through Axiom Training.
He and his colleagues hadn’t been expecting it to be quite so cold however, and they had been shopping at the show themselves, with Damon modelling a cosy poncho he had bought from a fellow stall holder to keep the wind at bay.
It was never going to be cold enough to stop 5-year-old Hunter Thomas having a go at controlling the digger however, with the Ngaere School pupil saying it was lots of fun trying to move the machine forward and dig up some soil. It was, he said, the best thing at the show.
For siblings Lara, 16, and Taylor, 11, Abraham, all the fun of the fair was clearly to be found in the area known as Sideshow Alley, where Mahons Amusements were running a wide range of carnival rides.
“I can’t help but scream on them.
”Taylor said the rides were all good fun, and screaming on them was just a natural part of the enjoyment. Members of Stratford’s No 48 Squadron and New Plymouth’s No 8 Squadron Air Cadet units were camping on site over the weekend, demonstrating their marching and parade skills as well as assisting with litter clean-up, while hoping to recruit more members.
Cadets meet once a week, and get to participate in a range of activities both locally and nationally, said Cadet Warrant Officer Achim Hanne of No 48 Squadron. He had joined up some years ago after seeing air cadets at the Stratford A&P show himself and since then had received numerous opportunities through air cadets, including attending week-long camps at Ohakea.
Also showing off their skills at following commands were plenty of sheep dogs on Saturday morning, when the sheep dog trials took place. It was Peta Fearon’s first ever dog trials, but it wouldn’t be her last, she said.
She said she and her dog Yoda had received plenty of support from fellow competitors at the event. “It’s just amazing how supportive people have been of us, it’s really nice and really friendly.” Peta, who is based in