A former competitor at Tockwith Show has taken up the reins as president for 2018.
Fiona Harris and her family have been involved in the show since the 1970s when she was a child competing in the children’s and pony classes.
Having been part of the volunteering committee since the early 1990s, including nine years as treasurer, she will now serve as president and has announced that her chosen charity will be the British Heart Foundation in memory of her father.
Fiona said:
Tockwith Show has always been very much part of our family life and I’m delighted to be this year’s president. The event itself continues to go from strength to strength and is a highlight in the Yorkshire summer calendar.
A huge amount of hard work goes into organising the show and our fundraising. It’s wonderful to have the support of the committee and I’m very much looking forward to working together and planning next year’s special event.
Outgoing president Richard Search added:
It’s been such an honour and great pleasure to be show president this year.
Our focus on rural life and local produce always appeals to our visitors and everyone I speak to on show day has such a fondness for the event. The annual inter-pub tug-o-war and the traditional dog scurry continue to be star ringside attractions.
Fiona has lots of experience having served as treasurer for the last nine years and I am delighted to be handing over the ceremonial ‘crook’ to someone who is so committed to the Tockwith Show.
- Tockwith Show takes place annually on the first Sunday in August. Its history dates back to 1945, when it was founded as a purely horticultural event.
- Since then, it has expanded to include agriculture in its scope and, in 2004, took the significant step of acquiring its own field, securing the event’s future and allowing improvements to be made to the site.
- In 2014, it built a new storage facility on site to help with the set-up and take-down of the annual show, along with events throughout the year. The £35,000 project was funded by grants from the Garfield Weston Foundation, the George A Moore Foundation, the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and NFU Mutual, alongside gifts from the Friends of Tockwith and District Agricultural Society.
