It'll be all hands on deck at the 60th New Zealand Merino Shears in Alexandra this week, with most of the championships society's 10 life members pitching in to help.
This includes Graeme Bell, who, at the age of 10, wagged school and headed "across the road from home" to assist at the first Shears in 1961, when it was held at the town's War Memorial Hall.
The event is now housed at Molyneaux Stadium and will take place on Friday, October 1 and Saturday, October 2, under alert Level 2 restrictions.
Bell has been there every year, except when the traditional shearing sports season-opener was cancelled because of the pandemic, 12 months ago.
Amid a meeting yesterday with president and fellow life member Greg Stuart, Bell reminisced about his early days, when he was 11-12 years old.
The deputy principal of his intermediate school would look in on the way to work, and spot Bell helping with the sheep.
"Mark you absent today then, Bell?" the teacher would ask knowingly, he recalled.
Due to Level 2 restrictions, there will be no public entry at this week's championships -just officials, and about 140 shearers and woolhandlers split into different days to comply with gathering limits.
Bell, who is now 70, will be there to help out as well.
"I'm not sure what my role will be," he said.
Over the years, Bell's tried his hand at everything, including the important job of arranging sponsorship.
Stuart called him "the general dog's body".
On both days, everything has to be ready by the 8 am reporting time for competitors, with the competition starting from 8.30 am.
There are 76 entered across the open, senior, junior and novice woolhandling grades being contested on Friday, and 65 in the open and senior shearing grades on Saturday.
The event kicks off the 50th season of the national All-Breeds Championships - the multi-round ironman event of shearing, inaugurated in Alexandra as the McSkimming Memorial Triple Crown when the first heats were held in 1972.
From wagging school to life member, Graeme Bell at the New Zealand Merino Shears in 2007. Photo / Des Williams - Shearing Magazine
Now known as the PGG Wrightson Vetmed National Shearing Circuit, it has 25 entries, from Northland to Southland, with qualifying rounds at Alexandra on Saturday, the New Zealand Spring Shears in Waimate on October 8-9, the New Zealand Corriedale Shears in Christchurch on November 11-12, the Rangitikei Shearing Sports in Marton on February 5, and the Pahiatua Shears on February 27.
The top 12 qualify for the Circuit finals at the Golden Shears in Masterton on March 3-5.
The winner, or top New Zealander, in both the Merino Shears open shearing final and the Circuit gains automatic selections into the New Zealand Transtasman series team.
The woolhandling events are part of the South Island open, senior and junior woolhandling circuits.
Organisers at Alexandra, who have been living in hope of a relaxation of the restrictions, will be strictly enforcing the rules.
This means no late entries, admission only for officials, competitors and sponsors, contact tracing procedures, hand sanitising, social distancing and mask-wearing at all times indoors, except while competing.
The Merino Shears is the first of what was to have been 59 shearing sports shows throughout the 2021-22 season, as stand-alone competitions, at A and P shows or country sports days.
For a third season, the pandemic has again flexed its muscles, with the cancellation of four A and P shows in October so far, taking the number of cancellations since the start of the first lockdown in mid-March 2020, to more than 20.
The Northern show in Rangiora and the Wairarapa show at Clareville, near Carterton, have been cancelled in both 2020 and 2021.
Shearing Sports New Zealand chairman and former multiple Circuit winner Sir David Fagan breathed "a sigh of relief" to see the season getting underway, especially with the fine wool Merino Championships back after last year's cancellation.
"It's good to see the committee being proactive, ticking all the boxes, and dealing with all the protocols," he said.
Leon Samuels (left) and Troy Pyper after finishing first and second in the PGG Wrightson National Shearing Circuit final last year. Photo / SSNZ
"And it's great to see the many life members and long-serving volunteers - some for 40 or 50 years, some as we see with even 60 years behind them. It does help the shows evolve because they can show young committee members and supporters how the show is run."
The pandemic prevents West Australian shearer Damian Boyle from defending the Merino Shears open shearing title he won for the eighth time in 2019.
Among the 40 chasing the title, will be four of the five finalists from that victory - Cheviot-based former Southland shearer Troy Pyper, Invercargill gun Nathan Stratford, Brett Roberts, of Mataura, and Merino-shearing record holder Stacey Te Huia, now based in Central Otago.
Also competing will be Invercargill shearer Leon Samuels, who won the finals of the PGG Wrightson and New Zealand Shears Circuits when both were held in Te Kuiti last April, following the cancellation of the Golden Shears.
Missing for the first time in about 35 years, will be 2019 fifth placegetter and former shears president Dion Morrell, who said he would have been at the "local show" again, but for being out of the area at the weekend.
His daughter, No 1-ranked 2020-21 season open woolhandler Pagan Karauria, will be back to defend her local open woolhandling title.
The field of 25 also includes fellow 2019 finalists Amy Lee Ferguson, of Invercargill, Candy Hiri, of Mataura, and Chelsea Collier, from Gore, plus, top North Island hopefuls Joel Henare, of Gisborne, and Keryn Herbert, of Te Kuiti.
