They put a full stop on a tumultuous 2020 with the recent opening of The Woolshed Function Centre at the Waimumu site, near Gore.
Southern Field Days chairman Warren Ross said it was a new purpose for an old shed.
"It was an existing building that we ran the [MLT] bar out of for the field days and we thought we may as well put it to good all year-round use."
The idea was that it could be used as a function centre for events such as weddings and small to medium-scale gatherings, and would provide income. For the Southern Field Days, it would still be the MLT bar.
The committee had come up with the idea during the Covid-19 lockdown, but it was really event manager-secretary Jude McNab "who made it come true", when she took over the role after the 2020 field days.
"To keep with the theme of being rural, I thought the idea of making it into a woolshed lookalike would be perfect," she said.
"With a bit of suggesting, well, a lot of dropping hints in all sorts of conversations and I guess a bit of nagging, the committee came on board with the idea.
"We had access to an old woolshed from Waimumu that we could dismantle and build our own shearing board (stage). We were wanting to keep it rustic and with the scrim around the walls, a wool table as the grazing table, refurbished wooden bar and wool press bar leaners, its starting to look a lot like a woolshed.
A large grassed area was still a work in progress, and roses and grasses would be added.
It would not have happened without the support of committee members Chris Giles, Brent Dickie, Andy Roberts and Mr Ross who had put in many late nights in the past three months, after working their day jobs, she said.
"I had a vision, they saw my vision and we now have The Woolshed Function Centre. A place where new memories will be created."
Following on from the construction of a new toilet block last year, Mr Ross said the project had injected some positivity into uncertain times, not just for the world in the grip of a pandemic, but for farming.
"We’ve just got to sit tight for a year and see what happens in this climate."
