The life-long friendships and confidence gained from The Land's Sydney Royal Showgirl Competition will stay with Samara George and Clare Offley well past the event.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Gunning's Ms George and Crookwell's Ms Offley joined nine zone 3 finalists for the night of nights hosted by Crookwell AP&H Society on Saturday, February 29.
While judges selected Cobargo Showgirl Carmen MacGregor and Cooma Showgirl Livinia Evans to advance to Sydney Royal next month, Ms George and Ms Offley said their true prize was the experience.
Entering the Showgirl Competition was something Ms George said she could finally call her own, after leaving her daughter's father. "I just really wanted to feel like myself again," she said.
Ms George was proud to be crowned as Gunning Showgirl in February. She loved walking around and meeting people at the Gunning Show and will help to plan and organise next year's as a committee member.
"It was so good to represent the community that I've called home for so long," she said. The young mother works in before- and after-school care and now has hopes to study a bachelor of primary education.
She said it was great to make so many female friendships through the competition and ones she would consider as lifelong.
Gunning Show organisers took to social media to say how proud they were of Ms George and congratulated all the women who were in the zone 3 final.
Public-speaking skills and meeting other like-minded rural women were the key takeaways from the competition for Crookwell Showgirl Ms Offley.
The registered nurse was delighted to be sashed at Crookwell Show in February and take part in a personal development weekend with 45 other women in Dubbo as a result.
She said she now hopes to encourage other young women to apply. "I met so many amazing girls. It was such a good experience that you wouldn't normally get," she said.
"You walk into a room, you don't know anyone, but by the end of the weekend, you are all friends. I now have connections all across NSW. I know people from Walbundrie and Taree."
There were 11 entrants in the zone 3 finals, also including Angela McGrath of Tumut, Laura Fletcher of Goulburn, Ellie Grant of Bega, Georgie-May Constance of Nimmitabel, Helen De Costa of Braidwood, Isobel Mihaich of Bungendore and Chenice Jordan of Queanbeyan.
