Tyler Redway
MOUNT Gambier resident Roger Saunders received the honour of a life membership recently awarded for his service to the South East of South Australia and Border Show Societies Association (SEBSSA).
This brings Mr Saunders’ total to three life memberships, with the other two coming from his involvement with the Suffolk Sheep Society of South Australia and the Mount Gambier Agricultural and Horticultural (A&H) Society.
After contributing as a delegate for 30 years, Mr Saunders said he had served two terms as president for both the Mount Gambier A&H Society and the SEBSSA.
Mr Saunders said he began with the Mount Gambier A&H Society after being invited to join due to his own continuous involvement with the show.
After being involved with showing his own sheep during the events, he decided to stop after joining the society as he felt there was other work which needed to be done.
“Originally when I was showing my own stud sheep, I was invited to join the Mount Gambier A&H Society,” Mr Saunders said.
“I stopped putting my sheep on show mainly because of my involvement in the Mount Gambier Show Society.
“With the jobs which involved showtime it was pretty difficult to continue showing when there was other work to be done.”
After facing difficulties with the pandemic in 2020, when many shows were either cancelled or postponed, Mr Saunders said the Federal Government assisted many show societies financially.
“All the shows which were not able to run during this time were given some financial assistance through the Federal Government which probably kept most show societies alive,” he said.
“The shows are a big part of rural and regional life so it would be a shame to see them disappear.”
Mr Saunders said his three life memberships were a unique and humbling experience while he appreciated how everyone involved with the show societies had the same goal of running events for the community.
“The greatest thing is you get to provide entertainment for your local communities,” he said.
“You meet such good and genuine people not only locally but regionally and statewide.”
