Community
18 July, 2025
State recognition for Jasmine
CAMPERDOWN Pastoral and Agricultural Society (P and A Society) member Jasmine Edwards has taken out a high honour at a recent awards night for agricultural show societies across the state.
Mrs Edwards had previously been named as a finalist for the Victorian Agricultural Shows’ (VAS) Outstanding Individual Contribution in the 25-39 years category before last Saturday being announced as the award winner at the VAS’ annual general meeting convention.
The award acknowledges an individual who has made an outstanding achievement or contribution to their agricultural show or field day – their work may have assisted individuals or groups or developed competitions or programs which have assisted their society and their general community.
She said the victory was made extra special as it was part of the inaugural awards ceremony.
“I feel very honoured to have won, especially being the first year it’s been held,” Mrs Edwards said.
“I’m also very surprised because there was some tough competition.
“I thought it would be very tough as some of the other finalists had done quite a lot for their show, particularly the runner-up to me.
“He had done a lot within his show and had some ideas that I’m going to take on.
“When he was announced as runner-up, it was quite exciting there was a chance it might have been me.”
Mrs Edwards has been involved with the Camperdown P and A Society since 2014, starting off as the chief horse steward for the Camperdown Show.
She has also served as show secretary for three years and has been the secretary for the south western VAS group since 2022.
Among Mrs Edwards’ achievements was securing a grant to fund two dressage arenas as well as working to reinvigorate the show jumping section through boosting volunteer numbers.
She was also one of few Victorians to have attended three Agricultural Shows Australia conferences.
Mrs Edwards said she was pleased to see the VAS awards recognised show societies of all sizes.
“It shows that, no matter what size your community group or community event is, there’s lots to do and it’s worth being a part of,” she said.
“The biggest thing for me is that feel good feeling after you’ve had your show day and it’s all coming together, and just seeing the community rally and the committee’s enjoyment.
“We’re really lucky because we have a really good committee that all gets along, and they have been amazing.
“I’m thankful for the committee that’s always standing behind me – it’s not a one-man show, and I couldn’t do it without them.
“It’s a great initiative they’ve now got these awards that recognise volunteers.”
Mrs Edwards said she was inspired to continue her focus on the younger cohort after seeing no finalists in the under 25 category of her award.
“I really want to bring in that younger generation so I’m looking at running a young farmer’s challenge at the show,” she said.
“It’s something that’s trying to be built up at all shows in the state, but at this stage it’s not something we’ve run before.
“The south western group was the only group that didn’t have a junior ambassador on the weekend, so it would be great to try and get a junior to be able to represent us next time as they are the future.”
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