THE 2024 Australian National Show and Shine Euroa has been cancelled after organisers of the iconic car show were unable to form a new committee at their recent annual general meeting.
The fate of the event in 2025 and beyond will depend on individuals stepping up to fill core committee positions and other volunteer roles.
Past president Ian Langlands said no one at the AGM nominated for the positions of president, secretary or treasurer.
Mr Langlands did not renominate for president because he will be overseas when the event is normally held.
The immediate past secretary and treasurer also plan to be away during the event.
“There’s a lot of factors for people not to put their hand up,” Mr Langlands said.
“But without people putting their hand up, you can't have these things.
“We will try again for 2025 to get people to come along, take positions and get involved, but it’s no guarantee.
“Whether it's Rotary, Lions or whoever, most of them have got an aging membership – that's one issue.
“And secondly, it's getting people to take time out of their busy lives to do it.”
Mr Langlands said an earlier attempt to hold an AGM failed because too few people attended to form a quorum.
He said organising last year’s event had been a struggle, too.
The 2023 show had been on the verge of being cancelled, but it went ahead after the committee successfully campaigned to get more volunteers.
“I'm not critical of people not putting their hand up – everyone's got a busy life,” Mr Langlands said.
“But… if we start working on it next year for 2025 and we still can't get numbers, it'll be the end.”
Rob Asquith had organised the first Australian National Show and Shine Euroa in 2002.
“It is a very poor situation that we're going to lose one of the biggest events in Euroa,” Mr Asquith said.
He recalled there had been about 200 cars at the inaugural 2002 event.
The show, which is normally held in October at Euroa’s Seven Creeks Park, now attracts about 1000 cars and motorbikes, and about 7000 people.
The Euroa Gazette asked Mr Asquith, who has remained a committee member since 2002, if he considered nominating for president.
“Well, look, I’m 84 years of age and I've been doing it now for 24 years,” he said.
“It's not for me now to drive it forward.”
He said an option to keep “the show and shine name” alive in the future could be a smaller event at the Euroa Showgrounds, which would be logistically simpler to organise and operate, requiring less volunteers.
Strathbogie Shire Council administrator Peter Stephenson said the event delivered a “considerable economic boost to the Euroa region” and council is sad it will not proceed in 2024.
Euroa Chamber of Commerce president Stephanie Swift said: “It is a big loss to our community, economically and for our growing tourism economy.”
“The chamber will look at ways we may be able to assist the show and shine committee further in the future and hope to see this amazing local event happening again,” she said.