Dubbo Show Society acknowledges Chris Edwards with honourary life membership

The rather emotional Mr Edwards, took his moment on stage to thank everyone who comes together every single year to volunteer and help make the show what it is.

"This is certainly unexpected and very much appreciated, it's always a pleasure to be part of Dubbo Show and 150 years is an incredible achievement and makes this even more special," he told the crowd.

"I need to thank everyone who makes this show possible, I'm always amazed at the outcome after it all comes together."

During his moment in the spotlight there was one special person that Mr Edwards couldn't go without thanking.

"I have to thank my beautiful wife, without her support...thank you for helping me through this, I'm really lucky...it's been amazing all these years," he said.

Mr Edwards first got involved with a show society when he lived in Nevertire and someone on the committee asked if he and his wife would look after the dog show.

"We didn't know one thing about dogs but we did it and then when I came back to Dubbo - where I was from originally - my uncle was on the committee and one thing lead to another and here we are," he said.

"I got involved with harness racing at the show, back when the show society ran the trotting and every person had a horse.

"That was a major part of the show and it's just gone from there."

The life membership was "humbling" for Mr Edwards, who told the Daily Liberal the recognition wasn't why he worked so tirelessly for the group.

"You don't do it for that, it's just part of being involved with a group of like minded people and it's a really satisfying feeling that you've done something with a group of people that turns out like this [he points to the packed showground] where you wouldn't have a hope of doing it yourself," he said.

"I just really didn't expect this, I didn't think I would be someone worth awarding this too, so I feel really humbled by it."

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As the preceding Dubbo Show president from 2015 to 2020 Mr Edwards said the committee was made up of a group of nice people.

"Someone told me years ago if you put in you get more back and it seems to work like that," he said.

"It's just a pity that it's harder getting younger volunteers, life is just getting so hectic, but the show is a great thing for the town."

The transformation of the Dubbo Showground was something that always impressed Mr Edwards, who worked hard setting up the grounds in the lead up to the 2023 show.

"It's funny I've been delivering meals to our volunteers in all the different sections and as I go around I can just see all the people with their families and the kids are smiling and looking at what's happening here and there," he said.

Mr Edwards said he wouldn't have been able to stick around on the committee for as long as he had without having lots of fun over the past 30 years.

"You've got to have fun otherwise it's just not worth it," he said.