Staff
The annual Rimbey and District Horticultural Show that was on the verge of packing it in for good just one year ago has pulled itself up off the canvas and has made a remarkable comeback with one of it’s best shows in many years.
“Actually, I was quite amazed. If you can remember last year, it was in doubt if we would have another show but we’ve been very fortunate in having four or five younger people join our group and it has really rejuvenated it,” said Mary Burrows, president of the Rimbey Horticulture Society, which hosted the show. “We’ve had the best show this year than we’ve had in many recent years. Considering we had a very cold spring, a heat wave, hailstorms and all the elements, we had a successful show and we’re very pleased.”
Most impressive for Burrows was the number on entries received by children that including a colouring contest that attracted over 100 entries. In fact, the show saw substantial growth in every category involving kids.
While Burrows acknowledged the staging of the show took a Herculean effort on the part of all the members and volunteers, she credited Diane Pearman for the increase in children’s entries.
“This is largely due to the fact that we had a younger person encouraging the kids to do this,” Burrows said. “Diane is a young mother herself and it was wonderful that so many juniors participated. She contacted the schools and got entries in the writing and colouring contests with each child entering receiving a ribbon.”
Not only were the overall entries up from last year, but so were the number of people who showed up to check out the many exhibits, plants and flowers.
“The attendance was good, especially later in the morning when the farmer’s market closed and people seemed to gravitate towards the show, so it was good for us,” Burrows said. “Attendance was really up and we had more exhibitors this year than last year as well. It’s the best show we’ve had in years. I think when people realized that we might not have another show, they sort of came out of the woodwork.”
As for next year, Burrows said plans are already underway. The organization will be holding a meeting later this week to digest the show and will also be hosting their annual awards night next month where the winners of the various competitions will receive their awards.
Despite their successes this year and the increase in membership numbers, Burrows said they’re always looking for more help and input.
“We have one elderly lady that’s over 90 and this was the first time she ever exhibited and she was so excited she said ‘I’m going to join your group’. We’ve also had several comments about our group because we all get along so well, we’re a happy bunch and we like doing what we do,” she said. “It makes it easier for me. I didn’t do all this work by myself, believe me. I delegated, delegated and delegated and all the committees came through 110 per cent. It was really good working with them and had a lot of cooperation from all the members.”