Betty Burgess and Kay Kyle

Betty Burgess and Kay Kyle are both dedicated members of the Country Women’s Association (CWA). Combined, they have spent over half a century volunteering at the Royal Melbourne Show in the CWA Cafeteria.

Betty first got involved in 1975, joining the Pascoe Vale branch of the CWA. Kay initially joined the Rosebud branch. Neither of them had a connection with agricultural or rural life, though Betty jokes that Pascoe Vale in 1975 was almost like living in the country!

Kay started out washing dishes at the Show, but quickly worked her way up the ranks to become Treasurer and then Catering Chairman. Betty began making sandwiches at the Show, before also taking on various roles, including Catering Chairman and State President. Betty remembers her first few years making sandwiches:

The ladies that were our office bearers in those days, they would teach us how we had to make a sandwich properly. The butter had to go right to the edges, and the meat didn't hang over the side; they were very, very strict in the way they taught us to make sandwiches.

Kay and Betty also remember the immense work that would go into getting the CWA Cafeteria ready for the Show each year, before professional cleaners were hired.

It was a barn of a place … it had a roof but no ceiling as such. We only had it for the Show time period, so in between of course the rooms were empty, and the possums moved in. So, each time we'd go to the Show, we would have to clean the walls, wash them down, and paint them. It was really three days' hard work getting these rooms ready and healthy enough to pass the health regulations.

While there have been many changes over the years, the CWA Cafeteria has remained a popular feature of the Royal Melbourne Show. As food vendors and the demands of the public have increased, the CWA has worked hard to remain competitive, while being true to its ideals. Kay recounts:

We've tried to bring back like the old-fashioned apple pies, lemon meringue pies, so people know that it's home cooked food and that it's not brought in. We keep the cottage pie going, the curried sausages, beef stroganoff; we're trying to show people that it is all really home-cooked food, and that brings people in itself. 

Given the very long days and hard work involved in volunteering at the Royal Melbourne Show, why do women like Kay and Betty keep coming back? ‘I have made some good friendships’, says Kay, ‘I think that’s the biggest thing overall with CWA: the friendships, it’s great’. Betty recalls, ‘We worked hard, like they do today, but it was a lot of fun, we had a lot of fun’.