Lifetime commitment to the Sale Show

Former chief steward of the Sale Show, Sue French, looking through Gippsland Times coverage of a previous show. Photo: Stefan Bradley

Stefan Bradley

For over 40 years, Sale resident Sue French has been the chief steward of the Exhibition Pavilion at the Sale Show. The 79-year-old will finally step aside from a role she’s put her all in since the early 80s, and hand it over Trish Brown.

“I oversaw the whole running of the Exhibition Pavilion,” Ms French said.

“You’ve got to get all your lists of all your sponsors, the exhibition vans and your stewards. You have to get everything ready for the schedule, or the other stewards have to give you any changes.

“And when the schedule is done, then you’ve got to prepare the pavilion and get everything ready.”

Next month’s annual show will be the 159th. It’s been a part of our local history forever.

Ms French and her late husband, John French, for decades would be working throughout the year to get the show ready. They were volunteers, just like everyone else at the Sale and District Agricultural Society, and they took it seriously because they just loved it.

Sue French with The John French Award of Excellence, which was named after her late husband. Photo: Contributed

John died in 2019. He was involved in the Sale Show since he was about 14 – over 60 years. John and Sue were married for over 50 years.

“My husband and I were both life members (since 1998). When he died, we took the hearse around the arena. It was his second home – if you wanted to find him he was up there at the showgrounds,” Ms French said.

Around 1980, Ms French and her husband John were living on a farm, and she entered the cookery at the Sale Show, and one of the ladies asked if she wanted to be a steward.

“I said, ‘what’s that involve?’, and they said to come back at 11 o’ clock and you’ll see. So I went back, and I was hooked,” she said.

“I loved it, because I love cooking.”

A couple of years later she became chief steward of the Exhibition Pavilion

It involves thousands and thousands of entries of those exhibiting their cooking, knitting, flowers, the art from the general public, families and school children.

“It’s a huge job, and when people come and help, they realise what a big job it is,” Ms French said.

There were no family holidays around Sale Show time for over 40 years, which was fine by her because she truly loved what she was doing.

Ms French couldn’t even duck over to the Maffra Show and see how they were doing.

“But I originally started entering the Maffra Show when I was 14 in the cookery, and before that, my mum used to enter and win prizes. And I did win a few prizes,” she said.

The Sale Show runs from a Wednesday to Saturday, with horse racing on Sunday. Thousands of entries need to be marked off and put in their categories to be ready for the judges, and prize tickets need to be written out and displayed. And that’s just one aspect of the show that the volunteers need to work on. In the photography section, hundreds of photos need to be placed on the wall.

It’s a huge undertaking, but Ms French loves it, which is why she did it for so many years.

“I just love it. I love meeting the people, I love meeting the children and watching them win a prize. They get so excited,” Ms French said.

“And it’s just a wonderful committee to work with. You wonder how the show will evolve, but everyone has their own job. They come out of the woodwork and the show just happens.”

Ms French is not the only one, with plenty of people at the Sale Show who had worked on it for 20, 30 or 40 years.

The committee has always been open to new ideas and has encouraged young people to take part so the Sale Show can evolve with the times. This year’s theme is ‘Gippsland’s Goldfields’.

The show was on hiatus for two years due to Covid, but when it returned in 2022 it was completely revitalised as the committee was more determined than ever, and the crowd response was sensational.

“That first show after Covid was one of the best ones. This is a place where you can go and just have fun. Everyone was so excited to be back. They just look forward to it and it brings people together, young, old, farmers, everyone,” Ms French said.

The Sale Show became a second home for the French family, as well as for many others.

“The kids all got involved, because they got pulled along. Anyone with family gets roped into the Sale show,” Ms French said.