agricultural show
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Submitted by Mrs Kate Ogle
The Agricultural Society was formed in 1922 with Mr C. Wisbey as the inaugural President and the Secretary was Mr R.M. Jury. Names of all Presidents and Secretaries are available but far too numerous to list in this submission, however the list has been compiled and can be viewed separately. Unfortunately the Minute Books from 1922 to 1953 appear to be missing and we would greatly appreciate anyone with knowledge of their whereabouts to come forward with that information as they are going to be an invaluable resource in the future of the newly formed Nyabing Historical Society.
The Inaugural event was called ‘The Kent District Show’ however this name changed several times over the years and, in the last years of it’s lifetime, was known as ‘The Nyabing – Pingrup Show’.
The role of Patron was always well represented, often by members of parliament, who would be there to open the annual event with the appropriate speech and words of welcome.
Trophies … Trophies for the various competitive sections were donated by the local business people from Nyabing, Pingrup, Katanning, relative stock firms and numerous stud breeders in the district.
Stewards … Many stewards were needed for the individual sections and it was found that under the guidance of the older experienced volunteers, the young ones became very valuable workers within the society and more than ably filling the roles of stewards as they gained this experience.
Schedule … To raise the money to print the Program Schedule, we would run advertising within the program and once again this was well supported by the local businesses of the region. The schedule was generally printed by the Great Southern Herald in Katanning.
From the 1988 Nyabing Show Schedule
Printed by the Great Southern Herald in Katanning.
Click an image above to enlarge
agricultural show
Ball … Over many years the Agricultural Society presented a ‘Show Ball’ on the Show night. These were well attended and always good old wholesome country fun.
Miss Showgirl … In the latter years of the Show, the Society would also run a ‘Miss Showgirl’ competition and when, one year, there was fewer female entries, we also ran a ‘Mr Showgirl’ competition. This was an extraordinarily successful event with an amazing amount of young male entries looking very much like their mothers, as they paraded in mother’s best outfits, wigs and makeup!
The annual winner of the ‘Miss Showgirl’ competition would further go on to represent her district in the ‘Regional Miss Showgirl’ competition.
Show Day Entertainment … The Katanning Brass Band was a great contributor to these annual events, playing all day as they motivated the spirit of the day. Children were well catered for with an abundance of sideshow stalls and rides from where they rarely departed, as their parents wandered the popular Exhibition Hall viewing the craftsmanship of the local exhibitors. Many patrons with their weary feet would sit and rest up around the Gymkhana area as they watched the horses.
Nyabing-Pingrup Agricultural Show
D Hobley
Trade Exhibits … The most popular exhibits for the men at the Show had to be the Farm Machinery, Cars and latest ‘gadgets’. Stock firms would display their general farming merchandise and this would give the busy farmer some leisure time to ponder on what’s new. Of course these exhibits were presented mostly by Katanning businesses, keen to reach the locals.
Hogget Competition … For several years a ‘Hogget Competition’ was run in conjunction with the Show and the winner was announced to the anxious participants on the day.
Last Days of the Show … With the exception of 1942 – 1946 when the Show was in recession (due to World War Two) and recommenced after the war, with Mr E.F. Goodchild as President and Mr Colquhoun as Secretary, it otherwise ran continually from 1922 until 1995 where in it’s final year Mrs Gloria Jury was the last Secretary and Mr E.P. Goodchild as the last President.
Commemorative Stone and Dispersal … A stone to commemorate the work and achievements of the Agricultural Society can be found in the Recreation Grounds where the much loved Exhibition Hall once stood before the Shire deemed it as old and out-lived in it’s use. The Showground was vested in the Shire and was renamed the Recreation Ground.
The last ‘Show’ was in 1995 with everything dispersed and shared between the Non-Profit organisations of the district. The sheep yards stayed on the grounds to be utilised as a selling complex for the local stud breeders.
Summary … The Annual Agricultural Show has left wonderful memories in the hearts of the locals and contributes proudly to the history of the Kent Shire.
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IN THE NEWS
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From the TROVE Website:
INAUGURAL SHOW – 1922
Western Mail
16 November, 1922
The Nyabing Agricultural Society held its first annual show on Thursday, November 2, at Nyabing, the racecourse being utilised for the purpose, and the initial venture proved very successful.
The special train chartered to bring Katanning visitors to the show was well patronised, siding en route adding its quota until it was severely taxed accommodation. In addition to arrivals by train, numerous visitors travelled by road, and the attendance was most satisfactory. Continue reading
NYABING’S FIRST SHOW
A promising Inauguration
Sunday Times
19 November 1922
By CROSSCUT.
The progressive history of the district of Nyabing was marked on Thursday, November 2, with a white stone when the first annual agricultural show was inaugurated with great enthusiasm and distinct success. Nyabing is a little township situated at what is at present the head of the line 263 miles from Perth and some 31 miles from Katanning upon the Great Southern Railway, from which point it branches.
It differs little from the ordinary, well-known type of bush townships. There is the usual store, the usual social hall, the usual schoolhouse, and the usual scattering of dwellings stringing out at ever increasing intervals into the empty fastnesses of scrub and timber which make the puny efforts of man appear so futile and ineffectual in comparison with the breadth and length of the mighty, untamed spaces. It is more the appearance than the fact, however, that forces this impression on the mind.
The forest is being brought into subjection. For many miles on every hand the pioneer has wrought and fought his way, and no matter how far one travels in whatsoever direction there is always the glint of a homestead roof in the farther distance, always a patch of clearing and of cultivation to be seen somewhere before the next horizon. The railway is rapidly forging ahead; sidings are being put in at reasonable intervals, and “feeder” roads are being cut mostly by gangs of returned soldiers which will bring civilisation nearer to the farmer.
That Nyabing is feeling the impetus is evident from the success which has attended its first agricultural show, which it is intended to hold annually. The scene was a brisk and lively one, and if the exhibits were not so numerous as may have been hoped for, they were better than might have been expected from so young a centre.
Very early in the morning the clans began to gather, and by noon all the fun of the fair was in full swing. A very roomy “refreshment room” was erected in which a capital cold repast was served up at midday and evening, the settlers of the district for many miles around contributing liberally to the commissariat, the takings for the day from this source alone amounting to some £130.
As usual, the ladies were enthusiastic workers, Mesdames Wisbey, H.E. Quartermaine, Cook, Fiebig, Meyer, and Misses Chasely, Moore, Cook, Halterman, Brennan and Davey being exceedingly active in attending to the requirements of the guests.
Mr. A Thomson, M.L.A, the member for the district, neatly introduced by the president of the society, Mr. Carlton Wisbey, formally declared the show open. He emphasised the importance of the show to Nyabing, and prophesied a long visto of recurring show days, each increasing in prosperity with the assumed progress of the locality, and expressed his opinion that before long the Nyabing Agricultural Society would have won for itself a leading position among the older associations of the West.
Mr. W. J. Ashton, secretary of the R.A.S. of West Australia (Royal Agricultural Society of WA), was an interested visitor, and declared himself well satisfied with the initial effort of the newborn society.
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1933 SHOW
Nyabing Notes
Agricultural Society
Great Southern Herald
29 July, 1933
The annual general meeting of the Nyabing Agricultural Society was held in the Nyabing Hall on the 16th July 1933, there being a very fair attendance. The financial statement was adopted. This revealed a debit at the end of May 1933, of approximately £70. The auditor’s report was also read and accepted, the auditor to be thanked for his full and clear statement of the position of the society. Continue reading
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20th ANNUAL SHOW
Splendid Sheep and Hall Exhibits
Great Southern Herald – Katanning
Edition of 22 October, 1941
The Nyabing Agricultural Society held Its 20th annual show on its ground at Nyabing on Saturday and achieved a remarkable degree of success. The outstanding features of the show were the sheep exhibits, about which the judge (Mr. P. C. Stone) commented very favourably, and the display in the exhibition hall, which in every section was the best so far staged by the society. Continue reading
Click HERE to a full list of trophy winners for the 1941 Nyabing Show.
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25th ANNUAL SHOW
KENT DISTRICT SHOW
POST-WAR RECORD ATTENDANCE
Great Southern Herald
6 October, 1950
The 25th Annual Show conducted by the Kent District Agricultural Society was opened at Nyabing on Saturday last, September 30, by the Member for the District, Mr. C. C. Perkins M.L.A. The Show was outstandingly successful, with excellent entries in the majority of sections and an all-time record attendance.
In every way, the 26th annual show conducted by the Kent District Agricultural Society, held at Nyabing on Saturday last, was successful. During the past year, the Society has been working hard to effect improvements to the annual event and also to the grounds. The fine show ring, constructed by the Society last year, has been further improved by the grading of an approach roadway so that spectators’ cars can park along the rail, while a half-mile semi-circle of trees has been planted about a chain back from the ring fence, and in the future will greatly enhance the appearance of the grounds. Improvements were also effected to the luncheon booth, and a considerable amount of money was spent during the year on enlarging the sheep pens.
The ladies’ committee upheld the fine record established over the years and provided excellent luncheons and afternoon teas, while an efficient band of officials capably handled the running of the show, from the manning of the entrance gate to the conduct of the ring event programme.
Gate takings on the day were almost double that of last year and the record attendance had ample entertainment with the fine array of exhibits, a comprehensive programme of ring events, stalls booth and an extensive display of industrial exhibits. For the first time in many years, side-show men again put in an appearance.
There was one minor accident during the ring events; an entrant in the five-furlong hack race received lacerations and slight concussion when his girth slipped, and he was thrown. Perhaps the luckiest on the show grounds was a competitor in the hunter event. Unknown to him, his girth broke as he entered the race to the hurdle, and he took the jump with the leather hanging. He was just starting to head for the next hurdle when the shouts from the ring stewards pulled him up, and it was not until he turned and the saddle moved under him that he realised anything was amiss.
THE EXHIBITS
This year the Society made an all out drive to cater for sheep exhibits and the effort was rewarded with the penning of over 90 entries, which gave the judges an exacting task. The judges were outspoken in commending the quality of exhibits penned, which were in excellent condition and equal to anything they had seen in the current round of agricultural shows this year. In the selection of the grand champion ram for 1950, the two open-class judges were unable to make a decision and called in the two judging the farmers’ classes; points between the two finalists remained so close that eventually a fifth adjudicator was requested to assist in making the final award, which went to W. A. Larter. Wool exhibits were outstanding and carried more condition than in previous years.
Owing to seasonal conditions, fleeces carried a fairly long dusty tip but throughout the entire wool section only three of four fleeces showed any sign of tenderness. Judging in the medium and strong wool classes was difficult owing to the remarkably even quality of exhibits. The “Herald” award of the-best fleece went to Martyn Brothers, who defeated W. A. Larter, the winner over the past two years, by one point.
Women’s sections were generally well supported, although the needlework entries were hardly as numerous as last year. Outstanding exhibits in the cookery classes were those in the decorated cake and fruit cake entries while in the flower section some beautiful blooms were entered for the Iceland Poppy and Pansy classes. There were also some excellent individual exhibits in the Carnation, Marigold and Nasturtium classes.
In the needlework section, the outstanding entries were seen in the fancywork and crochet classes; collection of coloured fancywork, afternoon tea cloth and cushion cover classes. Some really pretty exhibits were entered in the class catering for work made from sugar bags.
Nyabing usually stages a good display of agricultural produce and this year again, competition was keen in the majority of classes. Those outstanding were entries in new season’s oaten and wheaten hay. Dairy produce entries was good, and quite a fair selection of vegetables was displayed.
One of the most remarkable exhibits in the exhibition hall was that entered in the handicraft section; W. Batt took first prize with a collection of hand-made tools, including sets of spanners and screw drivers, which defied distinction from the machine-made article. Other beautiful examples of handwork were entered by an immigrant, O. L. Oplinski who showed three pairs of handmade shoes.
OFFICIAL OPENING
Society president, Mr. W. J. Hicks, extended a hearty welcome to show visitors and expressed his delight in seeing the exhibition hall, sheep section, ring events and the function generally, so very well patronised. He thanked all Society officials for the co-operation and the judges for their services. Mr. Hicks said the Society was deeply indebted to the splendid band of ladies; without whose help it would be impossible to run the show. Before introducing Mr. Perkins M. L. A., he paid tribute to the wonderful work done by the secretary, Mr. J. Deacon.
Mr. Perkins congratulated the president on the outstanding success of the show and complimented the Society which was, as were all agricultural societies, doing a great deal in promoting the advancement of its district. He hoped the Society would continue to make the progress it had over the past years, and, in officially declaring the show open, wished it all the success for future years.
In moving a vote of thanks to Mr Perkins for opening the show, the Hon. J. M. Thomson M.L.C., added his congratulations to exhibitors for the display they had put on, and the Society for the obvious success of its annual function. He also paid tribute to the wonderful job done by the ladies in catering for the luncheons and afternoon teas.
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