Sam, Cassie and Jack Bush.
Cootamundra Show’s Bush family were awarded the Royal Agricultural Shows Youth Award for their commitment and contribution to agricultural shows around NSW with passion and pride.
Cassie, Sam and Jack Bush were all awarded during the Cattle Dinner after Cassie previously won Young Woman of the Year at the very same show.
Jack Bush said, “we have been involved in the show movement for a long time, most of us from birth pretty much. A lot of our first Sydney shows, we were only a few months old, so we’ve been a part of it for a long time and the president of Coota Show has talked about it previously.
“It’s nice to be recognised for all the things that we’ve done, it’s just been good.”
Even without the award, Jack said it would have still been an amazing night.
“It was really good. There was a guest speaker [at the Cattle Dinner] and a few other people were recognised for their contribution to the show, which was good.
“It was really nice to be recognised for all things that we’ve done and it was a nice feeling.”
The Bush family have been involved in the Show scene since before most people reading this would have been born.
“It’s generational, my grandfather was the President for about 20 years, and he was the President right up until he passed away and then my dad was the President as well for about 20 years. My great uncle was also the treasurer for a long time. My mum has been the secretary for more than 15 years. My brother and sister have been heavily involved in the cattle side of the show and also in the junior section. We’ve helped other people in our family and other people in the community, which has been really good.
“We’ve been quite heavily involved with the Coota Show for a long time and then Sydney show, Sam was the Rural Achiever two or three years ago.
“It was really good to get the award with Cassie and Sam. I know they’ve both done a lot together and we’ve all done a lot together with the shows and I just wanted to thank them as well as they did really well.”
Heather Bush was a former Young Woman of the Year and spoke proudly of her family and how they’ve come since her stint at the Show.
“Very proud and very pleased for them that their efforts have been recognised and they certainly don’t do it for the recognition. They volunteer for things like that because they love doing it.
“They don’t even need my encouragement. They just do it on their own.
“Our family’s been involved with the Cootamundra show for a long time. Their grandfather was the show president in the 80s. Their great grandfather was the ringmaster for several years and their great great grandfather was involved in the Cootamundra show as well.
“My husband Geoff he was the president for about 14 years at the Cootamundra show and it’s just been a long history of family involvement and it’s not something that we’ve ever tried to make them become involved with, they’ve just grown up with it and just done it naturally, it’s just something that’s second nature to them.
“In 1990 I was a state finalist in the showgirl competition as it was called then and representing Cootamundra show and for me, it was the first time that I’d ever been to the Royal Easter show, whereas our children have been to the Royal Easter show every year since they have been born. I actually met my husband at the Sydney show in 1990. He was an RAS Rural Achiever in 1990 and it was a great experience for me. It just takes you to the next level if you do something like that and there’s a whole world out there that you don’t know about until you actually try.”
– Jack Murray
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