Fifty trucks made their way to Memorial Park for the annual Deniliquin Truck Show & Industry Expo on Saturday.
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The show and shine entrant numbers were down on last year, which organising committee president Evan Whitbourne said was due to a number of factors.But he said the number of people through the gates was still strong, and that the weekend’s other events were well attended.‘‘The weather may have played a role in the numbers on Saturday, as well as a few big weddings and other events.‘‘And of course the economic conditions (because of drought and low water allocations) would have contributed to the number being lower than last year.‘‘In this climate our truck drivers are going to be grabbing any load they can get. They are not going to come to a truck show if they can be earning an income.‘‘Overall, however, it was a good weekend.‘‘The sponsors were all pretty happy, the gate numbers were positive, the Wall of Fame dinner on Friday night was great and we had at least 50 people attend the memorial service on Sunday.’’This was the first time the truck show was held in October, with the committee deciding last year its September date was too close to footy finals and a similar event in the region the same weekend.Mr Whitbourne said while it was hard to gauge whether the decision made a difference this year, he said ‘‘nobody complained’’ about the date change.An extra, invite only event was added to the weekend’s timetable this year, with a meet and greet and welcome for sponsors held on Thursday night.The annual Deniliquin & District Wall of Fame dinner was held at the Deniliquin RSL Club on Friday night, with a number of guest speakers representing industry and this year’s charity partner Cupid’s Undie Run.Three more people were indicted to the Wall of Fame at the dinner — Phyllis Jones, Gerald ‘John’ Beckon and Gary Hussey.Saturday’s action included the truck and motorbike show and shines, trade sites, children’s entertainment and a goods and services auction.Sunday’s memorial service was held at the memorial wall, at the Davidson St rest stop in north Deniliquin.