The Kyneton Agricultural Society has honoured president and long-serving committee member, Vince Lakey, with life membership.
Mr Lakey was an incredibly hard worker and a passionate advocate for the show in his 14 years on the committee, becoming president in 2019.
Society secretary, Josephine Rutledge, said the life membership also recognised the efforts of the whole Lakey family, with Vince recruiting many of his seven children to help run the Kyneton Show each year.
“Vince comes with a very, very capable and supportive, active family,” Ms Rutledge said.
“The Farm Shed simply would not have happened, many years in a row, without Vince’s children and they’ve been incredibly dependable for so many years now.”
Mr Lakey joined what was a small committee at a time when the future of the show was in doubt.
“There was basically no money and the show was on its knees,” Ms Rutledge said.
“Things were really tough and I know Vince was a great support to former president Michael O’Sullivan and to Renai Dudley during her secretary and treasurer years as well as to Ros Matheson when she took over as treasurer.”
Mr Lakey said the show had not only recovered since but was growing every year, now attracting people from all over the state.
“We’ve had many people from Melbourne come up for it and people from other regions because they’ve heard about it,” he said.
“We’ve even had different show committees come to see why are we doing so well.”
While there was no show in the last two years of Mr Lakey’s three-year presidency because of COVID restrictions, he says it will come back better than ever for the 160th Kyneton Show on November 18-19.
“The volunteers will be very invigorated after two years without running a show and lots of ideas will have come up and the next show should be a very, very good show,” Mr Lakey said.
The presentation was Mr Lakey’s last Kyneton Show function. He and wife Barbara, a long-time teacher at Kyneton High School, have moved to Darwin where Vince will take up a new role as a lecturer at Charles Darwin University after many years teaching at Sacred Heart College in Kyneton and then at Salesian College Sunbury.
The society will appoint its next president at its annual general meeting, 7.30pm Monday April 11, at the Kyneton Showgrounds Watts Pavilion.
