Community events – they are what make us.
They are run by the community – for the community and the Northam Show – held last Saturday is a classic example.
The event is run entirely by a volunteer committee that gives up countless hours to prepare, budget, negotiate, communicate, co-ordinate and complete many other tasks in order for it happen.
It’s not just a case of picking the date, booking a few attractions over the phone and then opening the gates on the day – if only it was that easy!
Add in all the different attractions such as chickens, rams, horses, cooking competitions, entertainers, sideshow alley, first-aid volunteers, trade stalls...the list goes on and you quickly realise how big the job is.
And then of course you hope and pray that the weather will be good enough for people to attend.
Thankfully on the weekend the weather was perfect and the organisers were greeted with a good, and hopefully, appreciative crowd.
When I was talking to Fiona Brown on Saturday it quickly became obvious how much passion that people like her have for an event like this.
They are the lifeblood of community events and interaction – and hopefully there will be many more Fiona Browns involved in the future.
Congratulations to the Brown family for being recognised this year at the show – in particular Fiona’s mum Pauline who had a display honouring her involvement.
It’s a great idea to recognise the show movers and shakers and hopefully organisers will continue that theme in the 2018 event.
Congratulations to everyone who was involved behind the scenes this year.
As well as everyone who entered a competition or was a judge in one of the hotly-contested sections.
In their thank you message – show organisers summed it up brilliantly.
“This is done purely for you.
“Without the volunteers there would be no show.
“If you get the chance, thank a volunteer.”
Show organisers are also interested in any feedback to make next year’s show a better one.
If you want to get involved – or even send them a thank you message – the address is northamagsoc.secretary@gmail.com