Just how many highlights can there be to one day? As a family, we have certainly had a
fabulous time in the past few hours!
Today we attended the Crystal Brook Agricultural Show. Our Concert Band was booked to perform for
the most of the day, so first thing in the morning, we packed up our
instruments and music, and headed out the door. Arriving at the show (on time, I might add!) we set up our chairs
and stands, and proceeded to play. As
always, ‘Moondance’ and ‘Aladdin’ proved to be most popular, as well as ‘Comedy
Classics’.
Of course, there were several breaks during the day, during
which we were able to wander around and view the stalls and the
exhibitions. My 16-year-old and myself
had several entries in the art & craft section, so once judging was
complete, we headed for the pavilions.
Helena’s artwork was most impressive, and I was the proud mother, who
received several comments from random people, congratulating me on how talented
she is. Here’s her 1st prize
entry of a portrait of David Tennant as Dr. Who:
All in all, out of twelve entries, she received: 4 firsts, 3 seconds, and 4 thirds!
As for myself, I had entered several paintings and drawings
in the art section, and several
scrapbooking pages and cards in the craft section.
My results:
Art Section: 4
firsts, 2 seconds, and 3 thirds.
Craft Section: 2
firsts, 1 second, and 3 thirds.
Of all my entries, my personal favourites were a rural
scene, which I completed in pen and watercolour, my coloured pencil gate, and a
scrapbooking page featuring our ten-year old, Aimee.
After lunch, it was back to performing more classics such as
‘Hogan’s Heroes’ and ‘The Man from Snowy River’, then once again, we had time
to wander around the fair. Something I
had been looking for was a new hat, and Helena, too, had been searching for a
hat that would suit the ‘jazz musician’ in her. And, we found both! So
for our final set we donned our new purchases, and played the rest of the set
out in style.
The afternoon break also saw the ‘Intermediate Rural
Ambassador ‘ competition. The band
members suggested to our Daniel that he should enter. It was a bit of tongue-in-cheek, as they did not expect him to
actually do it, but once he discovered that the organisers did not, as yet,
have any entries, and money would be awarded for prizes, he was in! He then dragged Helena into the competition
as well, and before long, other people joined in as well. All the entrants filled in a form that
stated their names, age, location, school, and their hobbies. As each name was called, they then proceeded
up onto the stage, where they answered a few questions in front of the judges
and the crowd.
Then it was time to wait and allow the judges to make their
decision. The runner-up was announced
first – Daniel Maher! Of course, we
all cheered, as did ALL of the concert band – a band member had taken out
second place, and everyone was most impressed!
After another few minutes, the announcer declared the winner
of the competition to be: Helena
Maher! You can just imagine how the
band cheered, and how proud her parents were at that moment – with two of our
children taking out first and second place!
Helena then received her ribbon, and they both received their prizes -
$40 for first, and $20 for second. Of
course, I did suggest to Helena that she could, therefore, pay for her own hat,
but sadly, she did not agree…
And then it was time for our final set. By now, it was very cold and windy, and
threatening to rain, but somehow, we didn’t seem to notice – it had been a very
good day! But the surprises were not
yet over. Once we had finished and
packed up, we headed once again for the pavilion to pick up our art and craft
entries. We then discovered that Helena
had won the trophy for her art section, and was presented with a limited
edition, ‘Year of the Farmer’ gold-plated coin. By this time, Helena’s name was becoming very well known, and she
even came across people talking about her as she wandered around the show, speaking
about how lovely she and Daniel were (just one more ‘proud parent’
moment). And people were also stopping
me as I walked, and congratulating me on my talented children.
As we headed for the bus, I decided to take one quick look
at all the animals that had been entered into the show – cute puppies, cats,
rabbits and the like. Now, you’ll
understand how funny this is when I say that yesterday, I had decided that we
would not buy another dog until at least Christmas – and probably not until we
had made a firm decision as to when, and if, we were moving house, or staying
where we are. But, there were
puppies! Yep, I was gone, and of
course, the children heartily agreed with my choice! I had always wanted a border collie, and we found a border collie
cross – hey, close enough! So, we
parted with the $80, and brought home our newest family member – Crystal (so
named because we bought at the Crystal Brook Show). Needless to say, our family members who had stayed home for the
day were most delighted when we arrived home!
 |
| Isn't she just adorable? (And the puppy is cute, too!) |
So just how many highlights can there be in one day? Quite a few, it seems - And now we even have a Young Rural Abassador living under our roof!
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