Show Society secretary Heather Bush said about takings were about $13,000 to $14,000 through the gate, which was down a few thousand from the usual number.

“The show went really well; we had good numbers of people, good numbers of livestock, i’d say we had more commercial exhibits than we have had for a very long time,” she said.

“The new family area was very popular, a lot of people commented on how good the fireworks were.

“At the opening of the show, Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke announced that we are to receive a bit over $50,000 to help us finish off the large multi-purpose shed we built at the back of the showground.”

Another new exhibit that proved popular was the lawnmower racing.

Claudia Dowell was named 2018’s Showgirl with Maddison Sedgwick the runner-up. 

Claudia will now be the ambassador for the Cootamundra Show in the coming year and represent the show at the zone finals at Junee in February.

Mrs Bush said there was a severe thunderstorm warning active for Cootamundra on Saturday and the number of people entering the showgrounds slowed down when the actual storms arrived.

“The takings on the gate were down a little bit and that was mainly due to the thunderstorm we had during the middle of the day,” she said.

“We had a short sharp thunderstorm when we had to stop the ring events and get the horses off the ring and also stop the livestock judging that was outside.

“The people on the gate told us that lots of people were pouring in before the thunderstorm and after that it really slowed up.”

Other extreme weather, in the form of drought conditions, was no deterrent for farmers.

“We ended up having a really great shearing competition in spite of all that,” Mrs Bush said.

“We had a massive fleece section and the judging seemed to be twice as big as it usually is and filled half a shed with good quality fleeces.

“It’s good to see in a year like this when you expect exhibits to be down; our exhibits are bigger than they have been for several years.

“It’s great to see the spirits of farmers are still up despite the conditions, maybe it was nice for them to have a day out at the show.”    

Riverina MP and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack also attended the show.

“We didn’t think he’d be able to now that he’s the Deputy Prime Minister and a very busy man but he came to our opening and presented a life membership to our treasurer, Anna Craig,” Mrs Bush said.

“It was a very well deserved life membership.

“I don’t think we have ever had a deputy prime minister at our show before.”

Mr McCormack thanked the organisers, saying that events like the Cootamundra take work “all year round bye a group of dedicated people to bring off”.