Sale and District Agricultural Society
The legendary monster trucks and their daredevil builder and driver Sam Xuereb will perform at Sale Show’s night carnival on Friday, November 3.
Known as the “mechanical mad scientist” from Hazelwood North, Sam has performed for several years at Sale, always stunning the crowd with his exceptional monster truck tricks.
Sam’s performance will follow a display by Maffra-Sale Motorcycle Club and the ever-popular spectacular Colmac Homes fireworks display.
Xuereb’s interest in mechanical monsters began as a boy, building billy carts, then mini bikes, VW buggies, four-wheel drives, and the world’s first two-wheel drive dirt bike in 1993.
In 1999 he founded Monster Trucks Pty. Ltd. when building one of the first monster trucks in Australia.
Xuereb holds the world record wheelie of 518 metres without the tail gate touching the ground, and also the longest reverse wheel stand at 500 metres.
Sam’s fleet of brightly painted, massive-tyred vehicles includes a tracked World War Two Stuart tank, by coincidence acquired from a Sale and District Agricultural Society committee member, who owned the tank when it was used at his Briagolong farm.
Sam stripped the tank of its heavy sheathing, and with new engine powers it up to 100 kmh (original top speed about 40 mph).
Xuereb has performed at Royal shows throughout Australia, always thrilling the crowds, and his dare-devil stunts at Sale are sure to draw a large crowd.
Sale Show National Great Carrot Cake Competition
Sale Show National carrot cake competition is this year offering more than $3500 in prize money.
Now in its 21st year, the carrot cake contest was initiated by Sale and District Agricultural Society committee member Rosemary Mowat, Stradbroke, seeded with $500 funding.
Society president Ross Jones said the contest had rapidly grown in popularity, the prize money being the highest offered by any of the 500-plus Shows in Australia for a single baking contest.
“We’re very proud of Rosemary’s initiative, and the strong monetary support by major sponsor Covino Farms, Longford, one of Australia’s largest carrot producers, growing a variety of salad vegetables on 1416 hectares.
“And there’s some honour that a carrot cake contest was a few years ago adopted by the Victorian Agricultural Shows organisation representing 115 agricultural shows,” he added.
Billed as the Great Carrot Cake contest, the champion open class winner will receive $1000, also $1000 for the professional class winner.
Mr Jones said the Society also appreciated supporting sponsors, the late John Adams, Midtown Motor Inn and Bulmer’s Gifts.
Carrot cake entries close Thursday, October 26, the Show being on Friday 3rd & Saturday 4th November, 2023.
Early Australian Pioneering Skills, trades and heritage practices of the past is the feature theme at this year’s Sale Show.
Major attraction, on both Friday and Saturday November 3rd and 4th, is a heavy horse-powered working farm machinery exhibition not seen in Sale for many a year, exhibited by Wellsford Heritage Farm (Wellsford exhibited at the nationally-acclaimed Bendigo lost trades and heritage crafts fair earlier this year).
The exhibit includes a vintage horse works machine driving a chaff cutter, a horse-powered loader lifting produce bags on to a two-wheel dray, grain crusher, corn cobber, and rope making display, heavy horse harnesses and an impressive gipsy wagon.
Demonstrators are Brett and Faye Kennedy, of Fulham, and Scott and Vanessa Wells, of Wy Yung, all enthusiasts in preserving pioneering skills and lost trades.
They will talk about their practice in preparing their farm with horse drawn plough, sowing feed crops, harvesting, cutting and stooking the crop, and, finally making into chaff.
“And we will be happy to chat with people who would like to know more about pioneer farming, old implements and other, such as the types of seeds for cropping,” said Brett.
Supporting exhibits include horse drawn vehicles.
Also participating is Stratford and District Historical Society and Sale Historical Society, mounting a display of pioneer farm tools and related items and early Sale and Stratford information.
Stratford secretary Marion Stothers said the Society was delighted to be involved, saying many Stratford families were actively involved in the Sale Show from its beginning.
Complementing the pioneering skills and trades exhibits, the Sale agricultural society’s historian Laurie Smyth will display much of his many years of work compiling almost 3000 pages of show records, dating from 1861.
Mr Smyth said the work, up to 1920, included every recorded show entrant, prize winners, judges and other family names.
“It’s a massive task and am now working on later years so that perhaps within the next 12 months, it will all be complete.”
He added it was important to recognise that the Society was held to be Gippsland’s longest continuing community-elected committee, formed in 1859 following an expression of interest meeting at the Club Hotel, Foster Street, Sale.
Exhibits in the John MacLachlan Pavilion will also reflect pioneer years.
Opened in 1982 and named in honour of the Society’s only life governor, John MacLachlan, a recently completed veranda extension will provide additional under-cover weather protection.
Agricultural Society president Ross Jones said that while latter day Shows greatly varied in in their program attractions, Sale Show continued to encompass much of the old as well as adopting modern trends.
He said that to the early settlers the agricultural show was a major event in their lives – enabling towns people as well as those of the land to meet socially. And, for competitors, opportunity to compare livestock, discuss farming methods and advancements and techniques as well as exhibit showing their household science skills.
“Our indoor pavilions are packed each show with displays of floral work, art, photography, cooking, garden produce and much more.
“There is as always a packed timetable of arena events, especially equestrian show jumping plus the ‘old’ in horse-drawn carriage classes, always a nostalgic favourite.”
