Mrs Wheatley said the feeling of winning hasn't changed as she and her husband enter in the show every year.

"There's always that bit of apprehension before they announce the results, but it's always a good feeling when we see that we have won" she said.

"I think I've won close to 30 times now. I stopped counting after a while, but we have been here for 34 years and there's a couple of years when I didn't win, so I'm thinking it must be close to 30 times now."

Mrs Wheatley said Sheila Blackwell introduced her to horticulture exhibits.

"When I first moved here 34 years ago, I went to an autumn flower show that was held by the Kempsey Agricultural Society," she said.

"As soon as I entered the hall Sheila Blackwell jumped up and grabbed me by the arm, took me around all the exhibits and explained to me what the judges were looking for and why one exhibit was better than another.

"She encouraged me to enter in the shows, and I've been doing them ever since."

Mrs Wheatley said she always thinks of Sheila Blackwell when she gets her entries ready for the show.

"I often think about her when the show starts creeping closer," she said.

"It's sometimes a little bit frustrating when you can't come up with all the entries that you think you might be able to for the show, and when that happens I always think that she's up there laughing about that."

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