BOB Thompson is the showbag king.
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The 80-year-old Temora resident has been coming to the Albury Show for the past 35 years, and first joined the show circuit at age seven.
Mr Thompson said his adopted mother had been a fortune teller who took him to shows far and wide in his early years.
After working as a mechanic and panel beater from age 16 onwards, he eventually got back on the road and said his family now attended 300 shows each year.
“I’m past my use-by date, but I’ve got a couple of years to go still,” he joked.
“We go as far as Darwin and Cairns; we don’t have much home time.
“I like the travelling and the fresh air, and you meet different people in each town you go to.
“There’s not too many people who don’t know me around this ground: you can ask them, they’ll all tell you about me.”
Mr Thompson has several showbag vans at the Albury Showgrounds for this year’s event.
He said the show — which started last night and runs until tomorrow — had its ups and downs.
“We seem to cop rain every time,” he said.
“But if it was no good, I wouldn’t keep coming all the years I’ve come.”
The show was well-attended yesterday; organisers hoping reduced ticket prices will lead to bumper crowds.