General News
25 October, 2025
Dimboola Show icing on the cake
The Dimboola Show celebrated its 140th year in style, with great weather, community enthusiasm and a very large variety of activities keeping the solid interest of all who attended.
With rides, classic cars, horses, displays, rock climbing, motorbikes, pets, flowers, tiny goats, art, tractors and much more, the Recreation Reserve on Saturday was a hive of hustle and bustle.
On Tuesday morning, Dimboola A & P Society president, Harvey McKinnon was still buzzing about the success of the event, exuding delight at all the details, especially highlighting the keen involvement and interest of children on the day.
“There was great young family activities – when you see a lot of young kids there, and they're all enjoying it … The young expressions (on faces) – for preschool they sit down and they do little things that they can take with them,” he said.
“We had a certain time for this sand pit where there was 20 ducks, and each duck had a prize. There was 30 kids in the sand pit ... and there was still a pair of shoes left there until Monday!”
With about 50 or 60 painted paper plates, about 40 painted wooden spoons, and then with many entries in the colouring-in section, he had his work cut out to judge the entries.
“There was probably 50 in the primary school section, and about 25 in the preschool section,” Harvey said.
Harvey said this year’s show got a pleasing boost from the involvement of some new people.
“We were fortunate enough to gain a few people on the committee, and it was like changing the oil and filters and putting a new battery in the old John Deere tractor,” he said.
“It gave us a bit of life, and they created a lot of enthusiasm. So setting up was a lot easier, dismantling and cleaning up is done – and I think it's done better than we've ever seen it.”
He said there were also several parts of the show that the organisers “didn’t have to worry about” with the welcome help of some non-committee members, such as the sand pit and the sheaf tossing.
“So there was things that were done on the day that we had no involvement (in), but they made the day,” Harvey said.
One activity that was inherently designed as hands-off – and mostly for the entertainment of the audience – was the inaugural Human Sheep Drafting where teams of three people “move three sheep without touching them with your hands, so you've sort of got a straddle them, like a riding a horse, and you move them to the gate to put them into the other”.
“The women actually beat the men,” Harvey said.
Some other positive indicators from the day included the popularity of food and goodies on offer.
“Our luncheon, which we supplied, sold out, and we also gave 29 free lunches away,” Harvey said.
“It went well. The CWA ladies were very satisfied and I think the progress committee that run the tea, they were satisfied. We had show bags there too.
“I think our gate will be up – so (that’s) terrific.”
Harvey said there was also a noticeable uptick in interest in the display of pets.
“The one section that was bumped up a fair bit was the pet section,” he said.
“In some years the cabinets are not full, or the pens are not full, but we had rats to guinea pigs to dogs with pups. We also had a little incubator that was hatching quail at the time.
“Here’s little quail cracking out of the egg – and that's something that goes back 60 years ago or so, when you'd go to shows and you'd see the chickens (in) all different colours and the ducks slipping down the slides and that.”
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