Heavy rain over the previous three days resulted in the official cancellation of the 109 th Pambula Show, but in true country style, the Pambula P and A Society opened the gates to the public and many events proceeded.
According to Society secretary Robyn Bain, early rain and thunderstorms on Saturday morning meant that for certain events at least, safety could not be guaranteed if the full program of activities had gone ahead.
“The wood chopping in particular is a big crowd pleaser, but also one where competitor safety has to be recognised,” Ms Bain said.
“The ground is very wet and in the event that rain continued, slippery logs and hands were a real issue. We simply had to make the call early on and go with it.”
In spite of the cancellations, for those folk who went along, there was still plenty to see in the pavilion and the dog high jump, shifted into the wood chop arena, drew a large and enthusiastic crowd.
Most horse events also went ahead, as a result of the sandy grounds of the purpose built arena draining particularly well, though winds did play havoc with the advertising billboards supporting the show jump rails.
While the day went off in fine spirits generally, one minor disappointment was experienced by members of the Gordon Family. Gathered to open the show, the several generations of Gordons, whose name has been linked to the Pambula Show for many decades, were keen to ‘launch the ship’ but the official cancellation meant there was no official opening.
“We’ll just have to gather them all up again next year and rain weather permitting, we’ll do it all again,” Robyn Bain said.
