The Boorowa Show 2022

The Boorowa Show was held on the 4th and 5th of March 2022, with the main day being Saturday the 5th.

This was the first time in two years that the Show had been held (COVID cancellations) and there was much excitement in the town and surrounds about the event.

The weather forecast said that we could expect thunderstorms all day, but prayers were heard and the rain held off until 2pm.

The Show was opened at 11am by “The Land” journalist Stephen Burns, sporting his signature pink hat.

There was great entertainment at the Boorowa Showground for the whole family, with Walter Whip and the Flames providing whip-cracking lessons and displays and music provided by the talented Josie Laver. The Boorowa Car Club came out trumps with some stunning vehicles carefully restored and lovingly maintained by its members.

Rumour has it that there were 60 more horses participating the show jumping and horse ring events than there were in 2020, and the high quality of our equine participants was truly outstanding.

However, there weren’t many sheep on exhibit: the number of Poll Dorset, Border Leicesters and Merino sheep up for judging was small. That said, Guy Evans, from Tara Park Merinos, Boorowa, exhibited the supreme Merino and Merino ewe. A display of their respective breeds was had by Tom Corkhill, Normanhurst Border Leicesters, Boorowa, and Dane Rowley, Springwaters Poll Dorsets, Boorowa.

The winners of the flock ewe competition were announced: 1st Dermot and Teena McGrath; 2nd Bruce and Narelle Nixon; 3rd Murray Dymock; 4th Diesel and Danny McGrath; 5th Ben and Toyha Johnson.

In the fleece entries, CT Merriman and Son, Merrignee Merinos, Boorowa, exhibited the grand champion fleece, while Andrew Green, Clear Hills Pastoral Co, Godfreys Creek, had the champion commercial fleece valued at $111.92.

Refreshments on the showground included our stalwart Lions Branch, who in addition to providing barbequed delights were collecting money for the Queensland and NSW flood recovery. Also in force was Mike Ward and his team from the Boorowa Top Pub.

The artistic talents of Boorowa and region were on display in the Pavilion, with the nearby village of Rye Park punching well and truly above its weight. The Champion Photograph of the Show went to Regina Proctor with her stunning closeup of a kookaburra. Talking of her win, Regina said that she was “seriously blown away.” Regina is an amateur Rye Park artist who specializes in photography and painting. This was the first time she’s entered her work into the show. Her kookaburra photo was taken with a Canon Powershot SX50HS. Regina also came away with a first prize for Nature/Wildlife Photography (photo of her cat “Pixie”), and a second prize for Novice/Unrecognised Artist for her painting of a wren on a lily.

The number of exhibits for the handicraft display was down on 2020. It’s speculated that this is related to the pandemic and the fact that we have only just inched out of the Omicron wave in late 2021/early 2022.

That said, there were some notable winners:

• Robyn Pescud, who is a member of the Tuesday Stitching Group, won the Most Successful Exhibitor for her gold thread stitched Christmas table runner. Gold thread is difficult to work with as it’s delicate and breaks easily.
• Louise Baer won several prizes for her knitted toys. Louise is a member of the Borrowa Arts and Crafts Co-operative.
• Sina Banks (one of the founders of the Tuesday Stitching Group) won First Prize and Most Outstanding Exhibit for her delicately stitched cockerel. The cockerel was stitched using a variety of embroidery stitches.
• John Dymock won first and second prizes for his woodwork. The first prize was awarded to a fruit platter made from a felled pine tree in Scott Street, Boorowa, and the second prize went to a fruit platter made from red cedar acquired from an old cupboard found at the Taralga Tip.

The fruit and vegetables were plentiful and of great quality. Of the tomatoes, Judge John Dymock said, “For the first time in many years we had several tomatoes that weighed over 1 kilogram.”

Rye Park School trumped others at the School’s Challenge with the presentation of a most tasty basket of assorted vegetables.

There was a tempting display of preserves, with Bernadette Taylor being amongst the prominent first prize winners. John Dymock won first prize for his loaf of white bread. John acquired his recipe, the “Easy Bread Recipe” from the Woman’s Weekly, and said the secret is to follow the ingredients list and method meticulously. Full report next week.

• Topics:

• Ag Show