Stella and Arlo McMahon get set for fun at the Bemboka Show.
Amali Osmond enjoys the face painting at the Bemboka Show.
Bemboka Show Committee stalwart Pat Bateman opens the 2013 Bemboka Show. Mr Bateman has been attending the show since 1940.
Anne Vickers, entertainment coordinator for the Bemboka Show Committee, spends months making the piñata for the show and this year was another stand-out.
Mogilla locals Elizabeth and Merv Dorrough from Sandy Creek Olives at their stall at the Bemboka Show.
Mabel Ashburn and Ruby Boyer wait for the Tiny Tots Competition at the Bemboka Show.
Rebecca Lupton with her daughter Stella Forbes, who won “chubbiest cheeks” in the Tiny Tots Competition at the Bemboka Show.
Casey Curtis with her daughter Miley, who won “longest eyelashes” in the Tiny Tots Competition at the Bemboka Show.
Participants in the boiling billy relay at the Bemboka Show spring into action.
Kevin Ormes and Tom Wotton at the Bemboka Show. Mr Ormes came second in the giant vegetable category with a monster zucchini.
Professional saddle fitter, Paula Jeffery from Canberra, demonstrates how to correctly fit saddles to an interested crowd at the Bemboka Show.
Bemboka Show Committee president Carol Jay with retired local farmer Pat Bateman as he opens the Bemboka Show.
Tabitha Bilaniwskyj-Zarins from Tabandy Farm demonstrates how to spin yarn using fleece from her own flock.
Chaser tries his best at the Bemboka Show dog jump.
A crowd of children gathers for the dog jump.
Zorb balls and a jumping castle were popular attractions at the Bemboka Show.
Tia Elder, Divyatma Swarawati and Jas Canby enjoy ice-cream and face painting at the Bemboka Show.
An eager participate in the under 8s piñata.
Maggie Ormes tries her best to break the piñata at the Bemboka Show.
A lolly scramble ensues after the piñata is finally broken at the Bemboka Show.
BEMBOKA Show provided a fantastic end to show season in the Valley, with organisers delighted with the event’s return on Sunday.
Rain last year caused the cancellation of the show, so the pressure was on the small but hard-working Bemboka Show Committee to make this year’s event a stand-out.
“In general the committee is very, very pleased with how it went,” president Carol Jay said.
Exhausted but happy, Ms Jay and the committee were still busy yesterday packing away ring surrounds and cleaning up.
“We still haven’t been through the gate takings, but there was definitely a big crowd here with a lot of families, a lot of children, which was great,” she said.
“The ring events went fantastically well and the cattle section had a huge amount of entries.”
The show was opened by retired dairy farmer Pat Bateman, who has been an integral part of the show since he first attended the event as a child in 1940 and almost every one since.
Pavilion entries were down this year, perhaps reflecting the havoc that record temperatures in January played on gardens across the area.
Despite this, members of the Bemboka Garden Club put in a fine showing in the flower section and locals John and Robyn Cullen yet again dominated the vegetable section.
Children’s novelty events were a popular attraction, with plenty of willing participants for the billy boiling race and the wiggly pig relay.
Although temperatures rose in the afternoon, Bemboka Showground had plenty of places for show-goers to sit under a shady tree and watch the entertainment.
Hit of the afternoon – literally – were the giant homemade piñatas, with children giving their all to release the lolly bounty inside.
The main ring was abuzz all day as a large number of entries brought horse riders to the show from across the Valley and as far away as Canberra.
Ms Jay said the committee was particularly pleased with the new local food producers’ trade stalls and events.
“We had SCPA (South East Producers) here as well as local producers of things like olives and wool to promote sustainability and the local food movement, and I think that’s something that will evolve over the years into something even bigger and better.”
* PHOTO GALLERY, www.begadistrictnews.com.au
