YOU don’t have to be born and bred rural to hold an appreciation for the country.
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Twenty four-year-old Bonnie Skinner is a glowing example of this, and has just been named the Goulburn Showgirl for 2015.
Bonnie was raised on the Northern Beaches of Sydney, her father a musician and mum a TV producer.
Despite her coastal roots, she was always into horses and fascinated by the allure of rural life. Upon graduating school in 2007 she made a decision to leave her urban life behind.
Now, after a gap year spent in the Snowy Mountains and another six at uni in Wagga Wagga studying Equine Science and Honours in Applied Science, Bonnie is a territory manager for animal pharmaceutical company, Jurox, and services an area stretching from the Snowys to Eden, Canberra and the Southern Tablelands.
She made the permanent move to Goulburn in April and entered the Showgirl competition to meet new faces and become more involved in the community.
“I’ve always been interested in the rural lifestyle and issues surrounding regional areas,” Miss Skinner told the Goulburn Post.
“Even if you don’t grow up in a rural area you can still appreciate it and get involved with rural life. I’m lucky to have experienced both sides.
“My friends in Sydney think it’s a bit funny that this is the direction my life has taken, but they are also very interested in it because they don’t know much about rural areas at all.
“Goulburn suits me down to the ground. It’s a good community, a reasonable size, the people are friendly and it’s a good base for me with my job.”
Miss Skinner will now wait and see what her Showgirl schedule has in store for her.
A development weekend has been booked for the end of January as have duties for the 2015 Show. She will also appear in the Showgirl Zone Finals in Eurobodalla.
“It’s such a good tradition and great for young girls to show interest in their rural areas. It’s really good for developing presentation and personal skills,” Miss Skinner said.
Following her term as Showgirl, Bonnie hopes to further develop her interests in agronomy and livestock nutrition with a distance degree in rural science.
