Bill Rumsby remembers many years of the Barraba Show

A BARRABA SHOW STORY

Bill Rumsby stopped me in the street: “You’ve been asking for local stories,” he said. “Here’s one – I’ve been to every Barraba Show in the last eighty years. Can anyone beat that?” Bill was born in 1943. He has seen a photo of himself as a toddler with his family at the Show; he has memories of heading into town in the horse and sulky, off to the Show. 

In later years, with his own family, the Show weekend was the big one of the year. The Rumsby family became involved in many of the Show’s activities. Among other things, Bill showed his chooks, and organised the Poultry Section for a while. They nearly missed one Show – his daughter had been in hospital in Sydney and she was being discharged on the Show weekend. They picked her up and managed to get back to Barraba in time to get to the Show.

The Show was not held for a few years during World War 11 – so we worked out Bill must have attended more than seventy-five of the one hundred and thirteen Barraba Shows.

Do you know anyone who might have attended more? We would love to hear from you about this topic, or other Show stories in the next few weeks: Write in to The Editor,       

Barraba Community News, email news@barrabacommunitynews.org.au, or drop it off at The Community College, Alice St.