Ingrid Smith, of Clare, and Matthew Wilson, of Kapunda were announced as the joint winners of the Young Rural Ambassador of the Year Award at a gala dinner at Wilmington on Saturday night.

The joint runners-up of the award were Aaron Hahnheuser of Jamestown and Pauline Rankin of Wilmington.

The Young Rural Ambassador Youth Awards was jointly won by Chelsea Ashmeade of Clare and Megan Wild of Wilmington.

Wilmington Show Society hosted the annual presentation dinner, with catering help from local clubs .

To compete in the regional finals, all competitors first won their awards at their local show.

The regional final winners will go on to compete at state level.

All regional finalists were were interviewed by a panel prior to Saturday night’s dinner, where they were asked to publicly answer the question: “What do you hope to achieve by entering the Young Rural Ambassador Award?”

Promoting local shows to youth and getting young people more involved was a main goal with others speaking about the experience they would gain.

Ingrid Smith, a mother of three, works at the Gums Childcare Centre in Clare, and is involved with the Clare Hockey Club.

She recently moved to the district from Smoky Bay and said she aimed to inspire young people to step up and make a contribution in their communities.

“Without the youth there is no future for country shows,” Ingrid said.

Chelsea is a committed member of Clare Pony Club, has been competing in agricultural shows in many sections since she was seven, and is a cadet journalist with the Northern Argus.

Her main aim as a Young Rural Ambassador is to support young people who want to get involved in country shows and to help local schools to encourage children to enter.

“Children and youth (of my age) need to realise they are the core of the show and it is cool to be involved,” Chelsea said.

All four regional winners will compete on behalf of the Northern Areas at state level later this year and, if they win, will spend two days at the Royal Adelaide Show in September.

The Northern Areas regional finals will be hosted by the Clare Show Society in 2009 and all youth and young ambassadors who want to do something extra for their community are encouraged to enter the competition at the show.