Light shed on Kent

By Jim Mynard
LANG Lang is set to become one of the leading shows in the wider district.
Lang Lang Pastoral, Agricultural and Horticultural Society past president Alan Light foreshadowed a strong future for the show society when he congratulated president Stephen Kent on his leadership during a challenging year.
He said, however, the society needed to recruit more young people.
Mr Light was speaking at the society’s annual meeting and dinner in the Palace Hotel, Lang Lang.
Mr Light also congratulated Mr Kent on his re-election because, had he not been elected for a second year he would have been the first Lang Lang Show president not to have overseen a show.
Heavy rain caused the 2011 show to be cancelled at the last minute, and threw the society into turmoil.
Mr Light said the decision to cancel the show was made during an emergency meeting on show eve, after the district received 75 mm of rain in the preceding week.
“We saw strong leadership and went on to face another challenge when Anzac Day and Easter Monday fell on the same day.
“This meant we had to change the Easter Monday Rodeo to Tuesday.
“This was a highly successful event and overshadowed the disappointment we had with the show,” he said.
Mr Light said Lang Lang Show Society was set to be a leading show because he was aware of two shows that had closed and there was a possibility that the Pakenham Show could close.
Reports show that Lang Lang has a big draw card with one of the best dog shows in Victoria and one of the leading horse shows in the state.
Mr Kent commended the work of Helen and Richard Crago who ran the annual dog show in conjunction with the agricultural show.
He said the wet weather created major challenges with ground management and although this caused a considerable amount of work, members coped with the load, making it a good end result.
“This caused the ground to become muddy, raising complaints from the Ellinbank and District Football League, but as the season unfolded we saw many other football grounds far worse than Lang Lang.
“Cancellation of the show required a lot of organisation and many people were needed to pass on the news.
“Shortly after, many Victorian people suffered severe flooding and in response, Bruce Gill and Hugh Bourke organised a donation of cattle from the carcass competition competitors and the stock was auctioned at the Victorian Livestock Exchange, Pakenham.
“The proceeds were donated to the Salvation Army Victorian Flood Appeal.
“Success of the show and rodeo are necessary for us to maintain and continue to improve facilities on the showgrounds,” Mr Kent said.