Bill was at the first A & P show and he'll be at this weekend's too!

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 8, Issue 373, 12 February 1991, Page 12

Bill was at the first A & P show and he'll be at this weekend's too!

Raetihi resident Bill Strachan is planning to be at the 80th annual Waimarino Agricultural and Pastoral Show this weekend but he won't be entering any competitions. But that's alright, he has won prizes in several A&P shows, including in the first back in 1911 when he was 11 years old. At that time his family lived at Rangiwai and made the trip up to Raetihi most years to go to the show. "The show in those days was a three day affair," said Mr Strachan. "We would spend days cleaning the buggy for the trip." He said they had to ford the Whangaehu River which could come up into flood in half an hour.

At the show, Mr Strachan said his father always won the buggy and pair competition. "There was at least half a dozen to ten in the buggy and pair, and they were judged on their appearance and then they judged the equipment on the horses afterwards, and you would get a prize for the best equipment or best horse or best pair or something like that." In those days George Ellis Pike had a boarding house in the main street and you would doss down on the floor, because there was a lot of people coming to the show." "All round the show ground was beautiful bush, all along the western side and the south western side was beautiful bush." He said the great fire destroyed the forest.

"The show though, was practically the same it is now," said Mr Strachan. "You had the cattle and the sheep and a fleece of wool judging and the horse, the ring events." "But it was more like a picnic in those days. You'd all picnic underneath the beautiful bush all around the edges." "I got three prizes in that first show, for pony and best rider, and best equipment." "It's different today though, the facilities at the showgrounds now are much better than they used to be in those days. As it grew in popularity more and more facilities were added." "It's improved out of site now, there's more events, more competitions more people

entering." "The prize money wasn't very much. Things were pretty tough then." "Raetihi was always recognised as a good show though." He said with the King Country being dry people had to get a permit to bring beer in to the show. "You were limited to five gallons per man then. An it was pretty hard to get a permit from the police." "But we used to get it in all right." He said the beer would come from the Kutze Brewery in Taihape. "Kutze was a German, and he changed his name to Couttes in the War One, because there was a lot of feeling about the Germans." "I remember the

Ohakune police constable Jim Anneson - he found a bottle of whiskey under the police station one day and the cork was a dried out so

he wasn't sure if the whiskey was any good. So he asked an old joker to taste it. He was a bit shocked to be asked by the constable to drink

the whiskey - couldn't believe his luck really." "But constable Anneson kept the rest for himself. He was a good constable though."