The weather was extraordinary, if a little hot, for the North Coast National Lismore Show last Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Alexandra Parade showgrounds.
From doughnuts to potato twisters, monster trucks to show hacks, and showbags to scones, scones, and scones, the event had anything you could possibly wish for in an agricultural show.
Between the ring events and poultry and cattle schedule, as well as the cooking, handcrafts, and the arts competition, there was enough to keep everyone busy for the three days that the show ran, from Thursday to Saturday.
There was also plenty of entertainment with the woodchop program, the Ashton’s Circus arena and the Community Stage highlighting plenty of local talent.
And of course scones which the women of the Lismore CWA, both the Day and Evening groups, kept churning out for hours on end, to the delight of show goers who gobbled up Devonshire Tea like it was going out of fashion – which of course it isn’t!
Young Woman
Maddy Dillon from Coraki was crowned this year’s Young Woman, a ‘show girl’ competition that chooses a young women with knowledge, charisma, and a deep connection to their local agricultural community, to represent the area at the zone and hopefully the state at future show events. The Young Woman competition is for those aged 18-25.
Dillon works in the agricultural industry on a dairy farm and says this is the first time she has entered the show girl competition, but says she has visited the show as long as she can remember. ‘I love the community involvement and getting to meet lots of people. It’s good seeing everyone’s products, and produce, and the farmers getting together, the whole show in general.’
Dillon says she would love the opportunity to be a part of the Easter Show in Sydney next year. ‘This has been a really great experience. I was very nervous and I did not expect to win at all. I’m not the typical “lady”, I suppose, that you’d would think would get picked for this. My family jokes around and says, “you’re a rough farm girl”.
‘It took me by surprise that I won and I’m very, very grateful, very happy and very proud of myself, to be quite honest, so to make it to Sydney would be a wonderful achievement for me.’
Dillon said the judging was not about beauty and etiquette, but about being able to speak well promoting the agricultural industry. ‘The Lismore show is a great thing to promote, and for me, it’s great to be able to talk about the dairy industry, because it’s in a decline, so promoting that industry is good.’
Teen Show Girl
Teen Show Girl Rose Mills said it took a while for some of her friends to warm to the idea but now they are very proud of her Lismore Show win. As part of the Young Woman program there are also junior competitions. The Teen Show Girl event is open to young women aged 13-17 and this year’s winner is Rose Mills.
The 14-year-old from Goonellabah said it was the first time she has entered the event and she wanted to take the opportunity to develop confidence.
Mills said she felt that the show was a great way to put a spotlight on the town. ‘It gives the community a chance to come together and learn more about things that are going on around us.’
She also feels the show girls event is a positive program for young people. ‘I feel like if young girls do more things and try different things, such as Teen Show Girl, they can gain more confidence – it’s about becoming more positive and trying different things you wouldn’t have expected yourself to do.’
Mills said at first most of her friends were a little bit skeptical about her entering the competition. ‘My best friend was like, “do it” the whole time. She wanted me to enter, but my other school friends were unsure of what I was doing. But after they saw me in the parade last night, they were a bit more understanding.
‘My mum and dad are super happy. They are very, very proud.’
Volunteering at the show
Chief Steward, Andrea Bryant, is not only an award winning baker, she has been volunteering at the event for a long time. ‘I have been a steward and working here, and bringing entries in since I was about nine or 10. I have been Chief Steward since 2021, so I’m looking at about 63 years of involvement with the show.’
Bryant says agricultural shows are important because they bring the community together. ‘If there’s no people, like all of us volunteers who do this, these events don’t happen. There is so much talent out in this area around here that needs to be displayed.
‘I do it to help make the displays. There’s a fellow who does the vegetables – if he didn’t do it, there wouldn’t be a vegetable display. He does a lot of hard work making it look so good.
Not only for locals
‘We’re getting a lot of feedback, from people asking if you can bring items from outside the area. Yes, you can! It’s the North Coast National it’s for all of the North Coast, it’s not here just for Lismore,’ she said.
And of course, there was a huge side show alley with plenty of activities and rides and lots of showbags!
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