Show Preparation A Long Job

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30287, 13 November 1963, Page 30

Show Preparation A Long Job

How long does it take to prepare for the show each year? At Canterbury, as with most other agricultural and pastoral associations, the preparation for next year’s show gets under way just as soon as this year's show is finished. The number of manhours involved in this work is almost incalculable, when one takes into account the great amount of work done voluntarily by the 30-odd members of the committee and other members of the association.

After all the people have left the show on the last day, and all the trade exhibits and machinery have been packed up and taken away and all the livestock transported back to the farms, there still remains a great deal of work to be done by the permanent members of the association’s office staff. Prizes have to be sent out, cups and trophies engraved, as well as all the other clerical and accountancy work which accumulates during show time. At Canterbury, the cleaning up work of one show takes from November until March of the following year. As soon as this work is completed, the organisa-

tion and preparation for the next show is launched, with classes to be organised and schedules to be readjusted. This usually

starts in April and carries on right until the show is held. For the Canterbury show, there is a permanent office staff of four, headed by the secretary-manager, Mr H. M. Studholme. They are able to cope with the majority of the work during the year, but a month or two before the show, when the entries start to pile in, it is normal for an extra two persons to be employed.