The Griffith Show judges were rendered speechless when speech pathologist Bronte Koster aced her interview and was awarded the title of 2019 Griffith Showgirl.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
As the new ambassador for Griffith, Mrs Koster is hoping to be a voice for the community and dispel the myth that being a Showgirl is all about having a pretty face.
To hammer the point home she and the other two candidates decided to turn up to the Showgirl interview in jeans, shirts, and boots to show that they meant business.
"We're passionate about showing that being a showgirl is about more than being up on stage and holding flowers," Mrs Koster said.
"I have the core belief that rural women have a place in our community; we can be leaders, we can work hard, we can volunteer; there's a lot more to a woman than putting on makeup."
READ MORE
Hard work and community engagement has always come naturally to Mrs Koster, who has thrown herself headfirst into community and agricultural activities from a young age.
Her most recent hobby-horse is duck raising; she's incubating a clutch of 36 duck eggs and is expecting to be a duck mum around October 25 when they hatch.
Another one of her passions is campaigning for better health services in rural areas, which she sees as severely lacking compared to their city counterparts.
She studied speech pathology at the University of Newcastle, and when she returned home to start work in Griffith she was "shocked" by how different the levels of healthcare were.
"Out here I've seen kids wait a year and a half for NDIS funding, which means I'm physically blocked from being able to do anything until this funding comes in," Mrs Koster said.
"It's been something that shocked me and it's another reason I wanted to become a showgirl after hearing it was about being an ambassador for the area."
This is just one of the causes she intends to champion as the Griffith Showgirl, and she'll be hoping to get a bigger platform by succeeding at the zone finals and heading to the state level just like her 2018 predecessor Sarah Cudmore.
"I want to be investing in my town and our children here," Mrs Koster said.
***
While you're with us, did you know that you can now receive updates straight to your inbox every Monday at 6am from The Area News? To make sure you're up to date with all the Griffith and MIA news you can sign up here.