By BEN CAMERON
THE Pakenham and District Agricultural and Horticultural Show Society has proposed closer ties with the Yakkerboo Festival despite rejecting ideas of a possible amalgamation.
Newly returned show president Geoff Young declared the show was “alive and well and set for 2014/15” yet agreed with a suggestion from former Cardinia councillor and show veteran Bill Ronald that joint initiatives should be considered.
Mr Ronald floated the idea of the show and Yakkerboo jointly buying shared infrastructure.
“It shows how we can work together,” he said.
However he blasted Cardinia Cr Kate Lempriere over her comments in the Pakenham Gazette that both events could amalgamate by 2017.
He said they showed a “lack of respect”.
“Her comments were absolutely outrageous,” he said.
“It’s not fair to compare the two. Joining them is denying the community two events covering two separate areas. Both serve a great role in the community.
“Kate has had little to do with it (the show).”
He said the show was proud of the fact it had rarely asked for a handout although the show has applied for a $10,000 Cardinia Shire Council grant.
“For 95 years we have not relied on funding from council,” he said.
“Yakkerboo has always relied on council funding.”
However, Mr Ronald did not completely rule out a merger in the future as the event faced financial challenges.
“We are trying to see if it can be saved,” he said.
“Maybe if one gets into financial trouble you could amalgamate.”
Mr Young was bullish about the show’s future.
“Kate’s comments don’t help,” he said.
“We have a new home, we can build on it… if we keep this (hard work) up we’ll go a long way.”
The show’s “minor profit” of $1355.99 for the past financial year was affected by several financial issues.
Debts included $650 in withdrawn sponsorship, $230 from four trade stands not paying their accounts, excess insurance costs of $500 due to the misplacement of timing equipment and $300 after an attempted break in on the day of the show.
“The larger events are running at a profit… however, most of the smaller events either just break even or have a minimal loss,” a show report revealed.
“These issues have reduced our profit for the year by $1680.”
The committee also decided to tweak renumeration for the treasurer and secretary roles, with payments changing from $1000 to $6000 to $2000 and $5000 respectively.
It also reduced membership fees from $15 to $5.
New office bearers include treasurer Stephanie Young, junior vice president Catherine Ritchies and secretary Anita Rovers.
The committee also proposed having an Anzac theme for the next show.
