A unanimous decision by Rochester’s Great Northern Show committee to go ahead with the 2023 two-day community event is expected to attract hundreds of people back to Rochester later this month.
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The show, which will open on Friday evening (February 24) with a family carnival and fireworks, has a 26-strong committee — and a string of volunteers — behind its organisation.
Admission to both days of the show will be free, ensuring the entertainment is available to the entire community.
The show is from 5pm until 9.30pm on Friday and then from 9am to 3pm on Saturday.
A November meeting of the committee decided that, unlike several other scheduled events in the town, the Great Northern Show would go ahead and be a shining light for the resilience of the community.
Secretary Maxine Weigand said the committee had a goal of drawing people back to Rochester.
“It has been non-stop since we decided to go ahead with the show in November,” Ms Weigand said.
“We really wanted a show that had at least one thing that appealed to everyone.”
Ms Weigand is a comparatively “new arrival’’ to Rochester and took on the role as secretary, in support of 10-year committee member and now president Pat Nicholson, in October last year.
It has been a “wild ride” since then, as after the unanimous decision was made in November to continue with the show there have been many moving parts.
“Planning had commenced, but with the floods and resulting late harvest it has pretty much come together during January,” Ms Weigand said.
“We are really happy with what has been put in place, it is going to be a fun event.”
Ms Weigand and treasurer of the past five years Deb Chancellor have taken lead roles in the overall co-ordination, but they said each section had its own leadership team.
Last year the show only had a horse element, but this year will see the return of dairy cattle, dogs, poultry and goat categories, along with a beef cattle heifer spectacular on Friday evening.
Ms Weigand said Friday evening would see a lot more activities, along with multiple food vendors and an aerobatic plane display.
“On Friday night Brodie Collins from Lockington is expecting almost 100 entries,” she said.
“We had it planned for the last show before it was abandoned.”
The show committee, due to the range of activities on offer, is expecting a wider than usual demographic at the show.
“There is a bar on Friday to go with the fireworks, a car display and Stewart Bryant Whipcracking will also be a highlight of the night,” Ms Weigand said.
“Along with multiple food vans, market stalls and the carnival.”
Although there will be no home-craft competition, the pavilion will have displays and is also running a photography competition.
“The theme for that competition is Animals in Action,” Ms Weigand said.
She said with so many people’s homes affected by the flood there was limited opportunity for people to enter home-craft sections, with kitchens and gardens out of action.
Bendigo Lego Users Group will be another featured organisation, along with the Echuca/Moama Model Aero Club.
Rochester Historical Society is putting on a display, and sitting alongside the cars and utes at Rochester Recreation Reserve on Friday evening will be some of the super-charged tractors from Elmore’s annual tractor pull.
A colouring-in competition, which has been distributed throughout the local school community, has a spectacular first prize on offer.
The winner will get to push the plunger (for visual purposes only) to start the fireworks about 9pm on Friday. An hour earlier the aerobatic display will be high above Moon Oval.
While facilities have been impacted at the recreation reserve following the floods, both Campaspe Shire Council and Northern Hire Group have come to the rescue with toilets.
Entries for the show have been “very positive’’ according to the first-time secretary, particularly to the livestock competitions.
There is a range of community groups involved, among those Rochester Lions Club, which will have a barbecue at the event.
Other activities for children include a petting zoo, reptiles and face-painting on Moon Oval.
Ms Weigand said she hoped people planning to attend the show encouraged people from out of town to come to Rochester.
“Ideally we would like people to spend dollars in the town and extend their stay in town,” she said.
“There are some really unique components to this year’s show; the Lego group from Bendigo is bringing over a Lego mural of a street scene, including the Bendigo tram, which was put together by the community.
“We’d love to love to do something like that for Rochester in the future.”
Full details about the show and other activities are available on the Great Northern Show Facebook page.
Kyabram Free Press and Campaspe Valley News editor