Bill Mahncke

Bill Mahncke has a history of over six decades of showing at and attending the Royal Melbourne Show. He is the second generation of showmen in his family, following in the footsteps of his father. From the 1950s Bill remembers attending the Show with his dad. Even as he grew older and started working, he still made sure he at least made it back in time for the Grand Parade each day. As he remembers:

I used to do the horses early in the morning and be finished, jump on the train, and be out here at the showgrounds in time for the Grand Parade. I wouldn't miss the Grand Parade for quids. I used to race in there, grab a horse, and off I'd go in the Grand Parade.

Bill even met his future wife at the Show. As he recalls: ‘I was only a bit of a kid when I first saw Phyllis; she was with her uncles, the Galloways, she used to go to the Show.’ Bill went on to get a job working with Phyllis’s uncles and became very involved in breeding and showing Clydesdale horses. Bill’s connection with the Show became more involved as he became more active in the organisational side of things. For a number of years, he was in charge of allocating the boxes for people and horses each show – an incredibly challenging exercise.

It was the atmosphere and the camaraderie that drew Bill back each and every year. ‘It was really something to participate in’, he recalls:

… it didn't matter whether you had the Clydesdales … pigs, cattle – you seemed to look forward to seeing one another, those times … Everybody tried to work in, it was good.

 Both Bill and his father were awarded the President’s Medal in honour of their contribution and dedication to the Show.