CAVY ENTHUSIASTS JUST LOVE NARRANDERA
It’s a busy weekend for Narrandera, with the National Cavy Show on all day Saturday.
People will be coming from all over Australia and judges will be flying in internationally to show cavies (or guinea pigs). The public are welcome to visit and there will be guinea pigs for sale on the day as well.
Australian National Cavy Council secretary and cavy judge Sarina Etherington shed some light on the black art of cavy showing.
“There’s seven breeds: marked, satin, self, crested, agouti, course coat and longhair. We’ve got standards for each breed. They get points for eyes, the ears,
their colour, their presentation. They’ve got to be clean and their fingernails have to be clipped. And they have to stay on their cushion and not bite the judges, or that’s an automatic disqualification.”
To qualify as a judge is a long and difficult process.
“You have to be in the club for about five years. You have to get trained by a senior judge for about three or four years, and then you have to pass exams, and then you have a probation period. I’ve been breeding cavies since I was 12 and I’m 54 now, and I’ve been judging for 30 years now.”
This year all the judges are international.
“We have two Swedish judges. They actually just got married two weeks ago and they’re going to New Zealand for their honeymoon after the show,” Ms
Etherington said. “There’ll be people coming from Cairns, from Brisbane, from all over up north. There’s people coming from Perth. We’ve got one lady
who travels the furthest, she drives four hours to Perth, takes a five hour flight to Melbourne and then drives six hours to Narrandera.”
It’s a question that has to be asked; why have a national show in Narrandera?
“We’ve always come to Narrandera,” Ms Etherington said. “It’s central for everybody to get there. It might not seem like it, but it is. We were looking at Canberra, but it’s a lot of work to find the same venues, the same restaurants. The committee has tried to move it, but people like it where it is.
“Plus we love your town. I’ve been coming here since I was a little girl.”
GET READY FOR THE GANMAIN SHOW
The Ganmain Show is on this Saturday and the small community of Ganmain will showcase the best it has to offer with a large contingent of volunteers hosting
the largest annual event on the local calendar. Beyond Bank is once again the major sponsor of the show.
A new attraction at the 2017 show not to be missed is the Epic Darren comedy show which involves one larrikin Aussie, one very small motorbike, and some props to entertain the crowd. This “motorcyclist” mimics some of the big-time stunt shows in his own way.
People at the show this year will see a wood chopping demonstration presented by third-generation wood-chopper Brent Smith from Albury. Brent has previously represented Australia in the under 21 team and is a current NSW team member. He and his father Mark will display several disciplines of the
sport in the arena.
To add to the woodchopping there will also be a chainsaw carving demonstration. The demonstration will continue throughout the day.
Exhibitions which fill the pavilions are testament to the community’s willingness to get behind their iconic local event. In the main pavilion there is a great display of local talent in sections such as farm or garden produce, handicrafts, cooking, fine arts and photography. The livestock pavilions are an excellent showcase of the animal production systems in rural areas.
The equestrian arena is always a spectacular sight with horses and riders competing in a range of classes from show jumping to light horses and the heavyweight
Clydesdales.
Dogs are another feature of the Show with the Championship Dog Show attracting a broad range of quality dogs locally and from interstate. The skill of the yard
dogs and their handlers will also be seen again at the show featuring a full line up of working dogs competing for a share in an extensive pool of prizes.
Kentucky Animal Farm enables children to touch and hold the small animals, and sideshow alley is always a hit. Lifestyle stalls have been included in the Ladies
Marquee with some of the local businesses displaying their goods. There will also be displays of farm machinery and vintage cars.
Young people can get involved with the Showgirl competition with all age groups up to 17 years able to enter on Show Day. Judging will start for the junior sections at 1.30pm adjacent to the main stage and 18 to 24 years to enter with an expression of interest prior to show day.
The Farmers Hat Toss is back again. Three age groups will have the chance to see who can toss the hat the furthest, sub-junior ages 8–11 years, junior ages 12–15 and the Open Toss for ages 16 and over.
The quick shear competition has grown to attract shearers from across the Riverina to go head to head for up to $1000 in prizemoney.
Another event which proved very popular with the spectators last year was the Farmers Challenge. Ten teams of four lined up last year to challenge each other with activities such as tieing a fence, rolling tractor tyres, carting bales of hay.
Fireworks will finish off the day.
ROCK AND HULA THE NIGHT AWAY
The perfect way to cap off a day at the races is with a night on the dance floor.
Live music will be played all night at the Narrandera Ex-servicemen’s Club for the Rock-a-Hula.
A pre-event for Narrandera’s Rockin’ on East Festival this October long weekend, the Rock-a-Hula will feature a slew of local musicians from Narrandera,
Griffith, Leeton, Barellan and Wagga, all playing hits from the 50s and 60s.
Gary and Leanne McDermott, Neville Kschenka, Sharon Benjamin, Peter Anthony, Ben Kschenka, Mark Hillier, Chris Kschenka, Anthony Ireland and Nathan Kschenka will all be performing on Saturday night.
“We’ve also got Emma Cantrell, she’s the hula hoop expert. She’s going to give a demonstration, and then there’ll be a competition,” said Neville Kschenka. “You should see her; she can get about ten hoops going at once. There’ll be 50s and 60s music, people can practise their rock and roll dancing.”
The hula hoop competition will be for the person who can keep a hoop moving for the longest time.
“Last year was it very successful, so hopefully this year will be too,” Mr Kschenka said.
Courtesy buses will be leaving the races from 5pm and the Rock-a-Hula begins at 7.30pm. Tickets are available at the door. Entry is $10 for adults, $5 for kids and children under 12 are free.
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