WINDY, humid weather did little to deter crowds of families and children from the Nhill Show on Thursday.
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The annual event featured rides, an animal nursery, shearing competitions, food and showbags.
Show society president Ken Morrison said it was a great day.
“Everything ran smoothly,” he said.
He said earlier in the day, visitor numbers looked promising, but most people would arrive later in the afternoon.
The show was scheduled to run well into the evening, with a fireworks display at 8.30pm.
“The rides and side show will run pretty much until there is no one left,” Mr Morrison said.
“The fireworks are a highlight – they are always quite good.
“Some people come just for the fireworks.”
Mr Morrison said entries in many of the show’s competitions were up this year.
“The pavilion was running out of space for all the entries,” he said.
“Numbers vary every year because they are usually dependent on the season.
“We used to have people who would come with 80-odd entries, but those people are getting past it now.
“But we have a lot of younger people enter the sections, which is great.
“We send the schedule out to all the schools to encourage children to enter.
“Even though young people often move away, if they start participating early, they will continue to do it wherever they go.”
Mr Morrison said the show was always a great chance for people to get together.
“It brings the community together – you run into people you haven’t seen in 12 months, or you run into your next door neighbour,” he said.
Mr Morrison said a lot of work went into organising the show. “I would hate to count the hours,” he said.
“We have probably been working for the past nine to 10 months.
“The events that take longer to organise include the crop competition and the rural ambassador competition.”
Another highlight of the show was the shearing competition.
Competition’s Darren Bone said entries were up on previous years.
“We had the heats in the morning and the finals after lunch,” he said.
“We had a couple more people in the open section than we did last year.
“We also had two learner blokes get up and have a go, which was great because it’s not easy – the sheep can be tough going, but everyone has to shear the same mob.”
The competition included both blade and machine shearing sections.
Mr Bone said the finals of the competition always attracted big crowds.