Miss Showgirl state competition celebrates 35 years

In honour of the celebration, the 35 winners will be invited to reunite at this year’s Ekka and attend the presentation on August 11 and a dinner that night.

A call out on social media to find the lucky ladies saw all of the women make contact.

Queensland Country Life Showgirl Awards Chairperson Lorraine Crothers said some of the past winners couldn’t believe it had been such a long time since they had been crowned and were looking forward to reuniting.

“It’s like a big family...you do come across them each year,” she said.

It was the South West Queensland Sub Chamber in February 1982 whom first suggested the idea of a state wide Miss Showgirl competition.

The Darling Downs Sub Chamber embraced the idea and appointed a committee to investigate the possibility of a competition as they had been running their own regional Miss Showgirl for years prior with success. The state competition began in 1983.

Queensland Country Life Miss Showgirl 1992 winner and national Miss Showgirl winner Kylee Matthews (nee Farmer), who represented the Darling Downs, is hoping to attend the reunion event.

She said only recently she had caught up with the 1992 state runner up, Julie Sheehan, and fellow state finalist and now politician Deb Frecklington. 

“I’m on our local showgirl sub committee and the values are still the same (as 1992), they are still looking for young women to represent their local area and Queensland shows,” she said.

“I just understand how much it’s not a token thing for women to be involved in, it’s actually a very real opportunity for young women to become involved in their communities and I think that’s probably why at the heart of it most women get involved.

“Because they believe in supporting their local community.”

Eidsvold’s Kylie Schooley (nee Williams), who won in 1985, said the show circuit and Miss Showgirl was one of the few country traditions to still be going.