By Melissa Ferris, Dandenong Show Cattle Chairwoman
I was born into a dairying family, which bred and showed stud jersey cows.
My family has also been showing cattle at the Dandenong Show for more than 100 years.
Each year my family would take a truck load of cattle to the Dandenong Show to compete, so I have been attending the Dandenong Show since before I was born.
The show soon became something my siblings and I looked forward to attending every year.
My parents loved the fact that their four children eagerly did the majority of the preparation and they were just the taxi drivers.
We were able to enjoy our day showing, winning some prize money in the handler’s class to later spend on show bags.
We entered the showgirl competition each year, sometimes not being able to get ‘dressed up’ as there was no time between our cattle competition finishing and the showgirl competition starting, meaning that some years we competed in our farm clothes.
An early memory I have of attending the Dandenong Show was leading my jersey cow Denision Park E48, who won Champion Dairy Cow.
I was invited onto the Dandenong Show Youth Committee as an 18-year-old and then nominated onto the general committee to assist in planning the show.
As part of the Youth Committee we organised and held a stockman’s challenge on the main arena.
I then became an active member of the cattle section sub-committee and I now hold the position of chairwoman.
I continue to be involved in the Dandenong Show because I have the opportunity to give back to the community and assist others to have an experience at the Dandenong Show like I did when I was younger.
I also find that the members of the show society are very welcoming and encouraging of young people and they want the show to continue running.
The only way this will happen is through the young people on the committee.
Over the years the Dandenong Show has changed.
The overall size of the show has become smaller and entries have decreased, but the essence of an agricultural show is still present.
The cattle, horses, sheep, animal nursery, show bags, rides, scones, fruit cake competition and fresh produce competition are all on display for the community to view.
The community of Dandenong and surrounding suburbs is very diverse and I would encourage those who haven’t attended the Dandenong Show before or who don’t know what to expect to come along for a look.
The Dandenong Show is family-friendly, with opportunities for the kids to see and pat farm animals, go on a few rides and maybe be lucky enough to go home with a show bag.
It would be great for the community to see what the Dandenong Show has to offer when the country’s coming to town.
