Kevin and Lucy Hyde

Husband and wife team Kevin and Lucy Hyde have worked at the Royal Melbourne Show for over thirty years. Kevin first started working as a bar steward for the Royal Agricultural Society of Victoria (RASV). He worked throughout the year at RASV functions, but the Show was definitely the busiest time of year. Lucy came on board shortly after Kevin, initially working as a kitchen hand then helping at the bar.

They have both worked a whole range of interesting jobs in their roles with RASV. Kevin became head barman and head gardener, maintaining the impressive green spaces around the showgrounds and serving a variety of distinguished guests of RASV. He remembers meeting ‘dignitaries from all over the world’.

Lucy has taken on a variety of different jobs as the need arose, including becoming the first woman to assist the Cattle Superintendent, working at the wine and dog shows, and assisting with the Art, Craft & Cookery and the Horse Competitions during the Royal Melbourne Show. ‘Basically, if they want a job done’, says Lucy, ‘they say to me “Do you think you can do it?” and I say, “Yes, that’s ok.’’’

Having worked at the showgrounds for so long, Lucy and Kevin have clear memories of the redevelopment. Lucy reflects:

The old showgrounds was lovely, it had a lot of history … I enjoyed the old showgrounds for that reason, but I love the new showgrounds now for how beautiful it looks. It's good to walk around, you can walk around without worrying about stumbling in a hole or something like that, it's fantastic. It's always lovely and clean, it's beautiful.

With so many things happening year-round at the showgrounds, the work never stops for Kevin and Lucy. ‘For us it's full on virtually seven days a week’, says Kevin, ‘with the operations side of it, we're going pretty well all the time. There's nearly someone here from our team seven days a week’.

Having spent over three decades at the showgrounds, it’s become a second home for the two of them. Lucy jokes:

This has nearly been my life for x amount of years, it's like our house. When I bury my husband, this is where he's coming. I always tell him, "I'm going to find a spot here, I'm going to bury you here." He just loves this place and then I've just come along as an added extra. The people here, I've got to say, have always treated me really good. I could never knock the place.