by Sahar Foladi
The Dandenong Show has long been a family affair.
Next year, show president Kate Reedy will pass the reins to her aunt Leanne Graham who will serve until 2026.
Ms Graham last served as the president in 2000 at the age of 35 and next year she will serve as a 60-year-old.
She speaks passionately about the show, reminiscing about when she first joined the committee at 25.
“We’ve changed from a full farming show (with tractors on display) and turned more business-like because our demographic has changed.
“We’re in the middle of suburbia here, attract a much more multicultural crowd and we rely on the likes of showmen skills to bring rides to people.
“Gone are the numbers of people in things like crochet and knitting.
“Now there’s increase in card making.”
She recalls the “amazing sight” of people lined at the gates at the past “grand parades” of cattles and sheep in the main arena.
Those spectacles are no longer staged, but the famous rides and fireworks endure.
“They were the days where we got thousands and thousands (people) at the show.
“Unfortunately, the way the world is now, people have to be smarter about the choices they make when they spend their weekly payslip.”
She says she doesn’t prefer either way and is just as “passionate” about the show.
“I don’t have children but I want it to be going when my great nieces and nephews have their children
“To a certain degree you have to move with time, you want to ensure your attractions are fit for purpose but also engaging the community coming to see it.”
Both Leanne Grahama and Kate Reedy have long family connections with the show’s organisers including Alf Follett who was president for the show’s 100th birthday in 1971.
He was a market gardener in the Noble Park area and later a cattle farmer at Nar Nar Goon and Clyde. He was also a president and judge for the ANRA (Australian Novelty Racing Association).
He had a daughter Joan, and son John, both becoming heavily involved in the show.
John went to become president in 1981 and in 2022 in its 150th year and has enjoyed over 50 years on the committee.
Joan’s husband Brian Graham also joined the committee and was president in 1990 and 1998.
Joan and Brian’s daughter Leanne Graham, was next to take the reins as she joined the committee in 1990 as a young 25-year-old.
And this year, Kate Reedy – Joan and Brian’s granddaughter – will hand over to her mother’s twin sister Leanne Graham.
All up, that’s four generations that have worked tirelessly for the Dandenong Show since the 1960’s.
“I’m immensely proud of Kate. It was only four years ago we lost her mother,” Ms Graham says.
“She’s still heavily involved, her husband’s in the committee and she has brought two children in the world that are gorgeous.
“I hope that she continues long after I’m gone. I hope in my time I get to see some of her children become president.
“It’s great that we have so many members of my family heavily involved.”
According to Ms Graham, she has counted almost 200 years of the family’s four generations on the committee of the show.
It definitely won’t stop there as Kate’s 2-year-old son Alfred sat front and centre for the show’s 2022 photo that has pride of place in the Administration Pavilion at the Showgrounds.
