That meant I also missed the crowning of Miss Showgirl so I rang Cloncurry Show secretary Sarah Harvey on Sunday morning to find out who won.

Any committee member of any organisation will tell you that the secretary's job is the hardest, thankless and unpaid.

Ms Harvey wasn't immediately available and she could have been forgiven for ignoring my call on Sunday after putting in many big shifts before and during the Show.

But she quickly rang me back not only to tell me who won (congratulations Cloncurry State School history teacher Savannah McDonald, and well done also to runner-up Rachel Lovett, and Miss Personality Sarah Tully) but she also confirmed something that was apparent to me as I attended the Cattleman's Dinner on Thursday night and then the Show itself on Friday.

I thought it brought the smiles back to town.

In fact it did much more than that.

Ms Harvey said she could feel the energy around town during the how.

She was right - the buzz and vibe were apparent, and it was a must needed boost to the district which suffered so badly in the floods in February.

It was good that prime minister Scott Morrison visited shortly after the floods though his visit last month a few days after his election win was better still - and better advertised so the whole town could come along.

As Show president Andrew Hacon noted that visit showed the importance of the North West Queensland and Cloncurry district cattle industry to the nation as a whole.

Despite the weather catastrophe Cloncurry never stopped being friendly even if the smiles were less apparent for a while.

But this 40^th anniversary Show, coming just ahead of the Stockman's Challenge and the Curry Merry Muster is the fillip the town desperately needed to put the disaster behind and forge a brighter future.

Derek Barry