ENSURING an entertaining day out for families is a key part of the Royal Adelaide Show, and looking at all the entries in the competitive classes features on many showgoers’ itineraries.
At this year’s Royal Adelaide Show there were 10,000 ribbons awarded from 9900 classes.
The Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society of SA had its third highest number of entries in history this year at more than 32,000 and about 470,000 people went through the gates.
For some families, including one from the Murraylands, tasting show success makes the event even sweeter.
Lorna Bormann, Mannum, her daughter Cheryl Miegel, Murray Bridge, and granddaughter Emily Mueller, Murray Bridge, all won awards in different categories this year.
“We thought it was pretty special, three generations taking home prizes,” Lorna said.
Lorna took home a third prize in the hand-knitted cardigan or jacket for a child aged 10 years or less category.
Emily took out second place in the iced carrot cake category of the open cookery section. She is also part of the Glenbrook dairy stud at Murray Bridge, which was named most successful exhibitor in the Illawarra breed.
But the biggest success went to Cheryl, who was named most successful exhibitor in the fruit cakes and puddings section.
“I put in five entries and received four prizes,” she said.
The prizes include a first in the plum pudding section, second in the Genoa cake section, fourth in the sultana cake and commended in the rich fruit cake.
Community involvement is definitely no stranger to Lorna, who for years helped her husband Rex run the Murray Plains Crop Competition. The competition no longer runs, but the Murray Plains Farmers group still holds educational days for farmers.
I was wondering why she wasn’t wearing any of the clothes that I had made for her, but they were being stored away to enter into the Royal Adelaide Show.
- LORNA BORMANN
While Lorna had entered categories in a range of country shows in the past, this year was the first time anything she made had been entered into the Royal Adelaide Show.
“I’ve put entries into the Mannum Show, Coonalpyn Show and Murray Bridge Show in the past,” Lorna said. “I’ve entered a lot of folk art over the years, as well as items like jams and tomato sauce.”
But, Lorna’s Adelaide entry was actually a surprise to her.
“I was knitting a lot of items for Emily’s little girl, Renae, who’s one,” she said.
“I was wondering why she wasn’t wearing any of the clothes that I had made for her, but they were being stored away to enter into the Royal Adelaide Show.
“When I was knitting, I was knitting just for Renae, not thinking it would be entered into the show.”
But Cheryl thought her mother’s skill deserved to be put on display before the almost half a million people who attend the show each year.
“We just decided to put something into the show for her, it wasn’t done with the intention of all of us taking home ribbons,” she said.
Knitting is a long-time hobby for Lorna, who runs a sheep and cropping farm with her husband Rex.
“I knitted Cheryl’s school uniforms and I used to make clothes for Emily when she was a baby,” she said.
“But I was very involved in farm work, so finding time to knit got quite hard, and so my hobby was put to the side.”
A couple of years ago, Lorna decided to pick the craft up again. She started off by knitting blankets for the charity Wrap With Love, which provides warm items for people in need across Australia and the world.
“Then, once Emily’s baby was coming along, which was my first great-grandchild, I really got back into knitting,” she said.
For Cheryl, entering into the Royal Adelaide Show is nothing new.
“This year is my second year of entering,” she said.
“I had some good success in my first year, with a second and a third prize in the open cookery section.”
For Emily, it was her first time taking part in the show’s cookery section but she has shown cattle in the dairy ring for the past 13 years.
The iced carrot cake she picked up a prize for this year is a secret family recipe taught to her by Lorna.
Lorna said cooking was a skill passed down through the generations of her family.
“The women in our family tend to bake well,” she said.
It is not unusual to find three generations in Lorna’s kitchen.
“It’s known in our family as Granny B and her cooking classes,” Cheryl said.
“But with all the success Cheryl has had in the show, she’s definitely graduated, there’s no need for granny’s classes anymore,” Lorna joked.
To cap off a very special week for the family, Lorna’s husband Rex made his highest ever return at the Murray Bridge off-shears sale on Friday.
Rex made the auction’s second-highest price of $262, for 30 July-shorn Sherlock-blood young ewes.