Red Hill Show 2020 Report - Eastern Victoria

While the unstable weather leading up to Red Hill Showday, gave many moments of concern – Saturday, 7th March was perfect.
Crowds topped the previous record of last year, and alpaca entries were up by 10%, supported by the largest number of suris for a long time.
At the beginning of the day, with all exhibitors gathered in the ring for the pre-show meeting, we spent a quiet moment in reﬂection and acknowledgement of the late Bob McLeod’s commitment and contribution to the Region.

The R J (Bob) McLeod tribute catalogue carried the following sentiments:

Bob McLeod – the consummate Show Convenor and Head Steward

Today’s Alpaca Show at Red Hill, marks the closing of the Region’s 2019/20 Show season – a series of ﬁve events, each of which for the ﬁrst time in many, many years was held in the absence of a much respected, much loved personality. Through this Tribute Catalogue, we remember and reﬂect on the signiﬁcant contribution made by Bob McLeod to the life of the AAA Victorian Eastern Region and in particular, to the development and progress of the Region’s annual show calendar. Since the early days of the Region, two names have been closely linked with our show scene – the ﬁrst being the late Bill Plunkett and the second being Bob McLeod, who took over the mantle of Chairman of the Region’s Showing and Judging sub-committee on Bill’s passing. In the fourteen years or so that have followed, we have been privileged to share our “show times” with Bob, who sadly passed away in September 2019, just a week or two before this year’s Show season got underway. Today, at Red Hill, we are all beneﬁciaries of his professionalism and dedication. We thank Bob for the commitment so readily given and acknowledge the legacy that he has left with us.

As exhibitors returned to their penning areas, many spoke of their own connections with Bob and of the pleasure taken from the sentiments of this tribute.

The Pavilion readied itself for showtime. Judges were introduced, exhibitors looking smart in dress code black, assembled at the marshalling area – suris to be judged ﬁrst.

With the Pavilion now fully dedicated to alpacas, and with the McLelland Gallery Spinners and our own Robyn Collett demonstrating the skill of turning ﬂeece into product, our exhibitors and our product stallholders busily engaged themselves with an interested crowd, all day – answering the many questions on all things alpaca, as thousands of the ever-popular selﬁes were taken.

In the show ring, our judges – Natasha Clark, from the Bellarine Peninsula, in company with apprentice judge, Lisa Charteris from New Zealand, gave detailed and insightful reports in support of their judging decisions – delivered professionally and in a relaxed, friendly, informative style. Their communication to the individual exhibitor, fellow exhibitors and the visiting public was appreciated by all, as was the ready smile and the willingness to pose for photographs with the championship winners throughout the day. They gave much and we are indebted to them.

On their outdoor site, a large contingent of our Alpaca Youth Paraders was on show throughout the day under judge, Louise Charman. A great showing and one which drew much attention from the general public. When not directly involved in their Stockmanship and Showmanship competition, the Paraders found time to supervise and mentor some 30-40 enthusiastic youngsters, largely aged 6-11years, through the various elements of the Junior Handler event – as part of the Alpaca Section’s scheduled activities.

We thank all who participated in bringing the Alpaca story to Red Hill – the exhibitors; the judges and stewards; the volunteer support teams of both the Alpaca Section and the Alpaca Youth Paraders; the visiting public and our hosts – the Red Hill A & H Society.

We congratulate the winners of the Alpaca Section’s Supreme Champion awards and we thank veterinarian, Dr Belle Paﬀett, for joining us at our closing ceremony and presenting the trophies – kindly donated by Main Ridge Veterinary Clinic.

Supreme Champion Suri – Chakana Blue Mastermind – 9 month old, medium fawn male, exhibited by Julie Blake, Chakana Blue Alpacas – Seville East.

Supreme Champion Huacaya – Ashbourne The Hipster – 24 months old, white male, exhibited by Rebecca and Darren Hard, Ashbourne Alpacas – Woodend

No show can go ahead without signiﬁcant input and support.

TO OUR FABULOUS SPONSORS:

• Main Ridge Veterinary Clinic
• Lorena Laing – Amano Co Lab
• Creswick Woollen Mills
• Olieve and Olie
• Almora Alpacas
• Alpacas on the Hill
• Tahara Suris

A huge thank you! We are very, very grateful for your generous support, so readily given.

TO OUR MANY DEDICATED VOLUNTEERS

Thank you!! This entire report could be ﬁlled with the above “thank you” in repeat and still not appropriately convey the appreciation for your collective eﬀorts, commitment and sheer professionalism in all that you did for this year’s Show. Many of you were saddled with multi-faceted functions – all of which were carried out with a “no problems” attitude and a great deal of enthusiasm.
Your support was there well before Show Day dawned; was on hand during the day itself and continued where required in the days following. We make mention of the speciﬁc inputs of our locality group members (MPAB):

• pre-Show set-up team on the Saturday prior – Arthur Biri; Jack & Josh Boer; Peter Collett; Jean Daddo; Brian & John Price; Warwick Robertson.
• Friday’s ﬁne tune team of Arthur Biri; Jack & Rosalie Boer; Robyn & Peter Collett; Jean Daddo; Warwick Robertson.
• post-Show clean-up team of Arthur Biri; Jack, Rosalie, Alecia and Maddy Boer; Jean Daddo; Meg, Brian & John Price; Warwick Robertson; Tim, Larissa and Alexis;
not to forget two other very important teams:
• our traﬃc control wardens: Arthur Biri; Warwick Robertson and Cal.
• our Inspecting Stewards: Jack Boer & Alexis; Arthur Biri & Warwick Robertson
nor those who provided that synergy between the alpacas on show and the range of alpaca product on display at the three trade stalls, set up in the Pavilion by Meg and John Price; Robyn Collett & Jean Daddo (with help from Alexis); and Rosalie and Jack Boer.
and still there is more:
• Warwick “The Voice” Robertson: Coming oﬀ early morning traﬃc control duties and pre-show inspection stewarding, followed by a full day on the central microphone as Master of Ceremonies, Warwick can certainly lay claim to particular mention. His “on mic”, all day performance was masterly – informative, controlling, and one that brought a steadying inﬂuence and created that point of contact with all that was going on in the Pavilion – so essential for all involved.
• Lisa Chiminello: In again taking on the role of Judges’ Chaperone and so ensuring an enjoyable day for both Natasha Clark and Lisa Charteris, while putting in a full day doubling up in the multi-stewarding roles of Registration; Ribbons and Awards and Photography.
A huge contribution, and one taken on with great grace and enthusiasm and carried out with maximum eﬀect.
• Julie Rutherford: An all day, solo eﬀort on the keyboard – dedication personiﬁed. Despite a major glitch in the electronic process which took some hours to unravel, Julie’s expertise won through, ensuring the smooth and eﬀective instant recording of the Show results. A wonderful contribution, quietly made in that usual no fuss, all’s OK, approach to the workload.
• Jack Boer: For his role as Gate Marshal, which saw him over the majority of the Show, coordinating and supervising the entry of exhibitors into the Show ring. A full-on, concentrated assignment, carried out in a style which ensured that competitors and their animals reached the judge in relaxed manner.
• Peter Collett: For his support of the Show overall – in the setting-up of the alpaca section and the product stalls ahead of the Show and particularly, for the time and eﬀort assisting Arthur with the uplift from storage; the transport to the Showgrounds and the setting up of the display of vintage machinery in the days ahead of the Show and be on hand after dark on Saturday, to reverse the process at Show’s end. A most supportive contribution to a display that drew much comment.
• Arthur Biri: For his unstinting, seemingly untiring contribution across a multiplicity of undertakings, which this year not only involved the Alpaca Section activities but also the inaugural display of his Vintage machinery collection, both of which absorbed a large amount of his time and eﬀort – always on hand during our pre-show set-ups, carting, carrying, lifting and always with that great enthusiasm and that inevitable injection of humour.
His inputs on Show Day started in the early hours on traﬃc control; were followed on as part of the Inspection Stewards’ team and continued all day in his capacity as Ring Steward and ﬁnally were rounded-oﬀ with the post Show clean-up of the Pavilion. Then, with Peter Collett’s help, the vintage display was ﬁnally packed up late on Saturday night and returned to storage. A wonderful eﬀort. There seems little doubt that ” Vintage Place”, so named for the machinery displayed, has arrived as a feature display location at the Red Hill Show. We can but look forward to next year’s display.
Sunday morning dawned and Arthur presented again for the grounds’ clean-up. On the Thursday following, he re-attended to assist with an emergency clean-up of an area, to satisfy Shire requirements. His overall contribution…. beyond the call of duty.
• Jean: For the hours spent before; during and after the Show and still going. For her total submersion in Show Day itself as exhibitor; stall holder; and everything else. For her initiative and involvement in the sponsorships obtained; trophy acquisitions and engraving; the arranging of the judge’s accommodation; the design, presentation and printing of the catalogue; and the setting up and supervision of the Silent Auction (Stud Service and Product) which brought in a signiﬁcant oﬀset to the costs of ﬁelding an alpaca show at Red Hill.
An invaluable and extra-ordinary contribution – one that speaks volumes for attention to detail and support of all things alpaca.
• Maddy Bissels – for her support in formatting the Catalogue and for her on call assistance with eAlpaca.
• Lynda Holdsworth – who kept Lisa’s photographs streaming onto Facebook throughout the day; for her ready assistance, as the Region’s Website Editor, in ensuring that promotional material ahead of show day, was uploaded eﬀectively and with total eﬃciency and for her overall support of the event.
• Larissa, Tim and Alexis – for their assistance with the clean-up and pack-up, with a special mention for Larissa, who found time to bake a batch of muﬃns, to feed all who remained at the end of the day.
To All: A ﬁnal thank you for your participation, and for the huge contribution made to the success of the Alpaca Show at Red Hill 2020.
This is not to forget Emma Quigley and Georgia Harper who, at the last moment, were unable to join us. We were grateful for the support oﬀered and want them to know that they were greatly missed.

and lastly to:

OUR SHOW HOSTS – Red Hill A & H Society

Always encouraging, ever supportive – we acknowledge all that you have done this year, and indeed over a great many years, to make an alpaca presence at Red Hill, the enjoyable experience that it is.
We were privileged to be part of the 92nd Annual Red Hill Show.
David Daddo

Red Hill Show 2020
Alpaca Section Convenor
Tel: 5989 2866
Mobile 0429 962 509
e-mail: pitchingga@ozemail.com.au Report dated 26th March 2020