Heather’s handiwork pays off

HOURS of painstaking work by Heather Smith was rewarded several times over at Saturday’s Pakenham Show.
The Berwick woman won the coveted H. B. Thomas Memorial Trophy with her exquisite ribbon embroidery.
The memorial award is presented each year to recognise the most outstanding exhibit in the pavilion at the show.
Mrs Smith said it was the second time her handiwork had won best needlework exhibit. She was thrilled with her win, describing it as an enormous honour.
A nurse who works in Pakenham, Mrs Smith said she had been doing ribbon embroidery for about 10 years.
The work was extremely laborious, she said, with each of the artwork’s lifelike ribbon ‘flowers’ taking a night’s embroidery to complete.
“I was really happy with it, it takes a long time, there are a lot of handdied threads in it,” Mrs Smith said.
“I’m lucky to do one a month, they just take so long to do.”
Mrs Smith’s family was on hand to congratulate her on the award.
“I enjoy it, it’s my relaxation,” she said.
“And I love the Pakenham Show.”
The H. B. Thomas Memorial Trophy honours the memory of former Pakenham Gazette proprietor and life member of the Pakenham and District Agricultural Society Herb Thomas. It is chosen from the rosette winners of each section in the pavilion.
The award, donated by Robert Gordon pottery, was presented to Mrs Smith by Herb’s son Ian Thomas, who is a show society life committee member and coowner and director of the Star News Group.