Kids and pets bring country to town again

Julian Paterson of Dannevirke South School with Rusty and Lucy, the Suffolk-cross lambs.

For more than 70 years children have paraded their lambs and calves at the showgrounds, taking part in the Town and Country day.

This year, 30 lambs and 33 calves and their proud owners took part in the event which has been held in Dannevirke since the early 1940s when it was known as the Dannevirke Boys and Girls Agriculture day.

In the early days, dairy farmer Jack Whibley organised the event and, when he retired in the 1970s, Margaret Stephenson stepped up to help. On her retirement, the Parents for Kids committee (PFK) at Ruahine School kept the event running for three years.

Now the organisation is in the hands of a group of three sponsors - RD1, Westpac and For Homes and For Farms - who had the show running like clockwork.

Children from Dannevirke South, Ruahine, Takapau, Norsewood and Kumeroa/Hopelands Schools took part, along with a contingent of home-schooled children.

The Hanks children are home-schooled at Woodville and had given their lambs and calves plenty of care and attention. "We do lots of leading and brushing," Kasen said.

However, mum said there had been a few tears when the big, healthy calves stood on the children's toes.