Penola P.A. & H. Society vice president Jake Rowe will travel to Murray Bridge later this month to compete for a chance to be a state rural ambassador finalist.
This year, a smaller rural ambassador program is being run in Murray Bridge due to the cancellation of the Royal Adelaide Show.
The revised event will start on September 25 and only run for three days instead of the usual five but will feature the same opportunities and participants.
“We get to see how bigger shows run, compete against each other to help promote small country shows and bring some ideas back to help with our local shows,” Mr Rowe said.
Mr Rowe said the winner from the Murray Bridge event would go on to compete at the state finals held at the Royal Sydney Show next year.
“All the states are meant to hold their finals before the end of this year so then the state finalists can go to Sydney next year but there is obviously a bit of uncertainty around it,” he said.
Mr Rowe was meant to be the 2019/2020 ambassador, but COVID meant last year’s event was cancelled so it has been 12 months since the award ceremony happened.
“Being a regional ambassador means you are the representative for your local country show, so you are part of the opening ceremony and you are there to help promote country shows,” Mr Rowe said.
Mr Rowe said he was driven to become a regional ambassador to encourage younger people to join their local shows in a bid to keep country shows going.
“I am the youngest on the Penola Show society at 27-years-old and the next youngest would be 40 with a majority of members in their sixties who have been on the board for over 30 years,” he said.
“I think it is important to try and get the younger generation excited about country shows so they might want to join show committees or boards later on.
“Otherwise, when committee members retire there will be no one to run rural shows and they will die off.
“The shows are something everyone looks forward to every year, so I am just doing my part in trying to keep them running for as long as possible.”
