Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 19, 1994 TAG: 9406190082
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: RAY COX STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
As the location for a horse show, this one was a trifle on the unusual side.
When people gathered to show fine horseflesh in those days, the site was often out in the country somewhere, for obvious reasons of open spaces and the delicate olfactory sensibilities of city folks.
But when the Kiwanis Club and Junior Woman's Club of Salem collaborated on a horse show during the autumn of 1931, at the height of the Great Depression, they didn't go out to some bucolic plot to stage it. They put it right smack in the middle of what was then the town's leading subdivision.
Langhorne Place was, in October 1931, still being developed. Nevertheless, it was only a short bicycle ride from downtown, which hardly qualified as the rural setting for such local horse shows of the day as the ones held out in Fincastle or at Hollins.
Still, that part of Salem was not without equestrian history. More than 100 years earlier, there was a race track across the road from the entrance to the subdivision. President Andrew Jackson, a noted gambler, was known to have patronized the track on his travels as a congressman from his home in Tennessee to Washington, D.C.
The Salem show ring of 1931 was, at best, makeshift. In place of the traditional grandstand, patrons sat in the sun on temporary bleachers and folding chairs, if they were fortunate enough to find one. Being out in the open on the sunny afternoon of Oct. 3 was not in the least unpleasant although we may presume that some of the ladies of fairer complexion brought along their parasols.
The good people of the Kiwanis and woman's club, who were hoping to raise money to provide indigent children with eyeglasses, school lunches, necessary surgeries, and dental care, must have been delighted when a throng of 2,500 showed up for the event.
The proceeds from such a gate would pay for many pairs of spectacles.
Even by the standards of the day, it was basically a humble affair. But it was the first modern horse show held in Salem and as such, was the direct ancestor of the huge Roanoke Valley Horse Show that is held annually at the Salem Civic Center.
Byrd Willis Hopkins, 76, of Botetourt County was a 13-year-old riding in one of his first shows that brisk autumn day. For young Hopkins, the show was a rousing success because he was one of three children's class winners along with Helen Chewning of Roanoke and Sallie Mills of Bedford.
Hopkins had grown up on an estate in the shadow of Tinker Mountain that included land on which he still resides. The fine old place was called Garland Orchards (it still stands) in honor of his father, the orchardist of the same first name.
The family had always kept horses, three or four of them of showing quality, that were taken care of by the farm help.
"We even kept mules to pull the wagons and sprayers we needed around the orchard," Willis Hopkins said.
Hopkins and his sister Nancy had learned to ride under the watchful eye and stern visage of a Major Graves, a retired military man who ran the riding program at Hollins College.
Young Hopkins had shown at Fincastle (which also doubled as a racetrack, entertainment for the sporting crowd of the day) and Hollins before the Salem show. On the afternoon of the Salem show, Hopkins could have been forgiven for taking a look at the sizable gallery and being a tad intimidated.
Not at all.
"I wasn't nervous," he said. "It was nothing more than an oval fence with some chairs set up around it."
Hopkins rode a hunter transported to Salem by means of the family automobile and a trailer. The Hopkinses knew the route from Garland Orchards well; his mother was one of the Salem Logans.
Willis Hopkins inherited some of the family practicality.
"Trailers have always been a lot better than trucks to move horses with," he said. "With a truck, you've always got to look around for a hill to back up to so you can get the horse on. As a matter of fact, I still have that same trailer."
The prime movers behind the first Salem show were gentlemen of some substance and stature in the community: Frank C. Wiley, W. Alex Oakey and Frank H. Vest. They were delighted with the turnout of the original affair and emboldened by their success, organized the Salem Horse Show Association to sponsor future competitions.
The next year, the show was moved to the grounds of Roanoke College and expanded from 10 to 13 classes. This time, a throng of 3,000 showed up.
However, in subsequent years, interest began to wane and the show eventually died.
Wiley, Oakey, and Vest no doubt would have been stunned to discover the popularity and scope of the modern Roanoke Valley Horse Show.
"It's quite a show now," Hopkins said. "It really is."
More on the show For a preview and schedule of the Roanoke Valley Horse Show, see the special insert section in today's newspaper.
by CNB