Mr Allitt was from a family of avid horsemen and women, and naturally assisted with the horse events at the Deni Show.
Mrs Allitt assisted her husband in those roles, but also eventually became involved with the pavilion section.
Still active as a Show Society member and pavilion steward to this day, the Pastoral & Agricultural Society took the opportunity on Saturday to reward Mrs Allitt for her dedication.
She was presented with a Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Agricultural Shows Award by Deni Show Society president Chanetelle Shevels during the pavilion trophy presentations.
Mrs Shevels said the award recognises Mrs Allitt as a “show legend”.
“We are celebrating more than 50 years of a true show hero and contributor to the Deniliquin Show pavilion,” she said.
“Not only have we received spectacular entries into the pavilion from Mary since 1973, Mary is celebrating 44 years as steward and 29 years as part of the main show committee.”
An active contributor to the show even after welcoming five children to the family in the late 1950s and in the 1960s, Mrs Allitt would often travel the region of show business, clocking up “many miles.
“Some 30 years ago the show committee had plans to upgrade the pavilion and Mary travelled with the then president Alec Allitt and other committee members to view and inspect numerous pavilions in the region,” Mrs Shevels shared.
“A plan and design was eventually formulated and the pavilion was upgraded, as well as refurbished with glass cabinetry to protect show entries from the elements.
“The 200 feet of cabinets were all donated by community members. Mary and Doreen Moore contributed $800 to a section.”
Mrs Allitt has been the pavilion’s wool craft steward for more than 25 years, and also spent three years in charge of jams and sauces and five in the needlework section.
She and Mrs Moore would also travel to other region shows to judge wool craft, needlework and cooking.
“The show and pavilion has been Mary’s passion, and this was evident when she became the delegate for the NDASA group in 1993 and continued to travel several times a year to Melbourne - and continued on doing so for 11 years,” Mrs Shevels said.
“Mary became the first ever lady president of the NDASA and held this position for several years before taking on both secretary and treasurer roles later on.”
As a pavilion entrant Mary has won several blue ribbons in wool craft and needlework, as well as the coveted Audrey Wise Trophy for the most outstanding entry in the pavilion.
She’s also progressed to region and state level with her entries, including the Melbourne Royal, Sydney Royal and the Bendigo Wool Show.
Outside of the pavilion, Mrs Allitt played a large role in the newly installed barbecue area at the show which has been a huge success.
And she has contributed much more to the community outside of her show role, through the CWA, Red Cross, school fundraising committees and in knitting Care Bears for children in hopsital.
“When the show is over and done each year, Mary can always be seen during the year at numerous locations around town selling raffle tickets to raise funds for items shortlisted by the committee and for future improvements to make the next year’s Deniliquin Show better than last year’s,” Mrs Shevels said.
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