Meet this year’s Wagin Woolorama Rural Ambassador, Chloe Blight

Chloe Blight has been attending the Wagin Woolorama each year since she was a child, but this year she will have her most important event role yet as its 2022 Rural Ambassador. Originally from a sheep and grain farm in Highbury, some of Chloe’s favourite childhood memories are of checking out the sheep and stalls at the Wagin Woolorama. She jokes that as she got older, her love for horses grew and she would “drag” her parents to the Horses in Action competitions at Woolorama to watch her compete. By the time Chloe was a teenager, her brother Clinton founded a Merino sheep stud in Narrogin and Chloe found herself in the show ring holding on to her family’s precious show rams. These days, Seymour Park Poll Merino Stud is regularly in the winner’s circle at the Wagin Woolorama and other State and national competitions for its high-quality stock. “I have very vivid memories of the Woolorama and it was a consistently good event held at the perfect time of year,” Chloe said. “Farmers have finished harvest, kids have just gone back to school and this is something for rural residents and communities to really look forward to.” These days Chloe works as a relationship analyst for Rabobank at its Narrogin-Lake Grace branch. And while she lives in Highbury, Wagin is very close to her heart. Cementing her love for the town was the fact she was part of the Wagin Hockey Club last year, playing for the women’s side that won the grand final in the Upper Great Southern Hockey Association. Regional sport is incredibly important to Chloe, who represented Australia in the Under-21 side in Fiji for the Oceania Pacific Cup in 2018 just a year after pulling on her first WA jersey. For Chloe, the desire to be this year’s Rural Ambassador comes back to one thing. “I love rural communities … I want to showcase the opportunities,” she said. “Something really important to me is to see young people stay in rural communities.” Chloe’s family has had a long association with Woolorama, with her grandfather Geoffrey Blight running one of the first animal farms at the event. Her parent Michael and Paula Blight still run a mixed farming operation at Highbury. “My grandfather would have a chook on his head and a fox on his shoulder,” Chloe laughed. “He would travel around and you’d see him with a mob of sheep in the main street of Perth.” The annual title of Rural Ambassador is bestowed on a young rural adult aged between 20 and 30 with a passion for living and working in rural communities. The national competition starts with the appointment of up to 12 Rural Ambassadors per State, who then compete for the title of State or Territory Rural Ambassador. Those winners then go on to compete against other winners in a national stand up. Chloe takes the role from 2022 Rural Ambassador Lucille Isles of Wagin, who was one of three judges that picked who out of three top entrants would receive the title. As part of her Rural Ambassador duties, Chloe will help organise this year’s Young Farmer Challenge with 2021 Rural Ambassador Kelly Gorter. “Until you are really involved with the event, you don’t understand quite how big it is and how much organisation is involved,” Chloe said. “But watching all the pieces come together, I can’t wait for this year’s. I know it will be a big success because of the amazing people behind it.” For Chloe, this year’s event will be a chance to showcase the many opportunities available to young people living in regional communities. She believes Woolorama is the perfect platform for her cause. “The Woolorama is for everyone, coming from a young person’s perspective,” she said. “Everything you see is local and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to promote the show.”