Prescription for success

Elizabeth Lillis
CHEMIST John Benyan recalls his early days judging wines at the Pakenham Show.
Donning a white coat from his day job he would use his best knowledge to judge the homemade wine classes and, in later years, the beer classes.
He said Peter Ronald and David Bourke asked him to help out at the show, starting with the wine judging.
“ I think they thought because I was a chemist I’d know something about wines,” he said.
After 20 years on the show committee, Mr Benyan has taken the reins as president of the Pakenham and District Agricultural and Horticultural Society.
He remembers the early days tasting some strange wines.
“I think there was a bit of funny business by a couple of the guys,” he said. “Strange things being put in for the judge.
“It was just a bit of fun.”
“This year we have a professional wine judge, Jim Freebairn, which is great for the show.”
Mr Benyan admits to not knowing a lot about how a show was run in the early days but says he learnt a lot from the many others on the committee.
“Peter was a stickler for detail, I learnt a lot from him and David,” he said.
Mr Benyan’s grandfather was involved with the Lilydale Show and he remembers going along as a child and really loving the experience.
He and his wife Trish moved to Pakenham with their three sons Michael, David and Andrew and settled eventually just north of town on a rural acreage in 1971.
“We lived in a little cream brick house behind the pharmacy on Pakenham’s Main Street when we first moved to Pakenham,” he said.
Mr Benyan will be steward for the gumboot throwing competition at this year’s show.
He says it’s a novelty event that always attracts a crowd.
He has fond memories of a visit by the Guinness Book of Records in the 1980s to record a world record for gumboot throwing – set by Roland Doom.
“I think it still stands,” he said.
Mr Benyan said some of the other competitions such as the Iron Man and Iron Woman competition and the dog jumping competition were great as they provided an opportunity for everyone to join in the fun.
Mr Benyan has watched Pakenham grow from a rural township to a larger urban area and feels the show can only benefit from this population change.
“It gives people the opportunity to experience at taste of rural life that they may not have grown up with,” he said.
He said it provided producers and those with a passion for their work with animals to showcase products and their abilities.
Mr Benyan says he is keen for the show to move with the times.
“We will be having suggestion boxes around the show this year for people to put their ideas forward,” he said.
He is grateful for all the work the show’s committee members and other volunteers put into organising and running the day.
“They are really hard working volunteers,”he said.