MILLICENT Show Society president Neville Copping delivered an upbeat address to the annual general meeting on Monday night.
First elected in 2017, Mr Copping spoke about the Millicent Agricultural, Horticultural and Pastoral Society’s achievements over the past 12 months to members.
Mr Copping was re-elected unopposed as president but told the yearly forum 2019 would be his last at the helm as he felt such leadership terms should last only a few years.
He said 2018 had been an eventful year as the society achieved several notable milestones in making the showgrounds more self-sufficient and repairing the main show hall called Vera’s Hall.
“During the winter Vera’s Hall was underpinned and the two corners rebuilt,” Mr Copping said.
“This was made possible by a generous donation from Infigen, two private donors, the market proceeds organised by Trudy Mengersen and the auction held in September.
“The work was undertaken by the incredibly talented stonemason “Plum” Werchon who also was very generous in his quote for the above work.
“Having the hall available for the show again was a huge bonus that was appreciated by everyone, hopefully we can now work on replacing the kitchen area as our next project.”
Mr Copping said the society was also lucky to secure a work group who painted the hall’s interior and exterior.
“Throughout the year we have been working on approval for the recreational vehicle park at the showgrounds.
“This was granted in August with many thanks to Frank Brennan for all the work he undertook in the application and approval stages.
“It should be up and running shortly.
“Other improvements include the erection of the lights we purchased from the Millicent Football Netball Club and the removal of the sheep pens from under the shed adjacent to the cattle ring which will now be developed as an undercover seating area.
“We are so lucky to have ‘Mr Fireworks’ Robbie Balfour providing our firework display at the Millicent Show.
“I think they are the best in the South East.”
The society president thanked Wattle Range Council for mowing the grounds pre-show and for its continued support during the year.
“The gardens managed by Sue Vanderheul were another highlight with many patrons commenting on how nice the gardens are and the improvement they make to the atmosphere of the show.
“A big thank you to the Keatley family for the improvements to the animal nursery which was a much talked about feature of the show.
“The 2018 Millicent show was a great three days with most sections returning a profit.
“The attractions we secured were okay but probably need to look at this expenditure more closely in the future.
“The gate (of $32,000) was slightly down on 2017 but we must remember we had stunt pilot Chris Sperou in 2017 which set a benchmark.
“A new attraction in 2018 was the lawnmower racing and it hopefully will get bigger this year.
“In closing it has been in my opinion a very successful year in the history of the showgrounds to have been president at the time we repaired and used Vera’s Hall at the annual show for the first time in many years.”
