A&P a low - key show

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 624, 20 February 1996, Page 1

A&P a low - key show

Alow-key, friendly Waimarino Agricultural & Pastoral Show entertained 500-700 people on the weekend with stalls, side shows, horse events, pet parade, a clown on stilts and the traditional grand parade. The feature of the show this year was a bullock team from Kaitaia — the first one seen in the Waimarino for more than 60 years. A number of people showed interest in the team considering the importance of such teams in the early milling and development of the Waimarino. The team of eight short-horned bullocks, aged from two to eight years, have been in training just four months so the crowd was told that the demonstration was limited. Despite the team only drawing an empty sled, it was still of interest to see how the handlers could get the team to pull in line, turn a circle and ignore distractions including a runaway rottweiler (a quick snap of the whip saw the offending canine steer well clear of the team). Others in the parade included Allan Rennie of Taihape on a horse-drawn sled, Ian McCoubrie and Tom Mowatt in a gig, Don Allomes and his wagonette, a vintage Dennis fire engine driven by Jeremy Nash, a vintage Citroen driven by Alan Bowater and other vintage cars from Horopito Motors, Horne Brother's float, new cars from local dealers and an amphibious farm vehicle, and Pat and Kelly O'Neill' s prize Hereford bull Okahu Genius, winner of the Auckland and Royal shows championships several times. Gate takings for the show were down on last year despite the great weather, with $950 collected and $ 1 526 collected last year. Show committee secretary Bernice Frost said they only charge $2 per person and the fact they only Turn to Page 2

A&P low-key

From Page 1 missed their $ 1 000 target by $50 was pretty good. She said taking into consideration the number of free passes there was a reasonable number of people. Farmers were noticeably absent, apparently because many are in the middle of haymaking following a spell of wet weather some weeks ago. Consequently sheep and cattle entries were down. Horse entries were similar to other years, although many complained that the competitions could have been better organised. In the produce shed, flowers dominating the competition. Judges Roger McDonald and Marie Clemmet both said the overall quality was very good, making judging very difficult. Hand crafts were also of high quality. HoweVer baking and preserves offered virtually no competition with few entries. Marring the weekend was the theft of a DB display tent on-Sunday. The tent, on loan, was taken, apparently with no-one noticing who took it, angering show organisers. And on Sunday police were called after a complaint of disorderly behaviour but the offender was not located.