Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, June 25, 1995 TAG: 9506260040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
What is the future of the state's grandest horse show?
There will be a 25th annual Roanoke Valley Horse Show next year. The co-sponsoring Junior League of the Roanoke Valley and Roanoke Valley Horsemen's Association have agreed on that, although the Horsemen's group has yet to renew its contract with the civic center beyond today's show-closing, 11th annual Rolex Grand Prix of Roanoke.
The Junior League won't vote on whether to continue its long association with the horse show past 1996 until November. There is enough question about the league's continued ties with the show to make the subject one that has been discussed repeatedly, albeit very quietly, during the Class A show that has had another successful week-long run in the valley.
Sources from the Horsemen's Association and Junior League say profits from the show have dropped significantly in recent years, and the horse show has been one of the Junior League's major fund-raisers. Although league members continue to support the show and volunteer toward its success, the diminished returns have become a subject of debate.
However, much of the uncertainty about the Junior League's future simply is societal.
One league member said its membership is down about 100 from two decades ago. That's because more women are working outside the home, and working mothers have less time to volunteer for community projects. However, the Junior League, which takes three times the profit from the horse show compared with the Horsemen's Association share, must gauge just how much the show means to the community, too.
The league's focus is community involvement. The week-long horse show has an economic impact of $11 million annually on the Roanoke Valley. Since its 1972 debut, the show also has returned $600,000 to the valley in grants, scholarships and projects. There is no question about its importance to the region.
So, will the league vote on what the horse show means to the league or what it means to the valley?
The Horsemen's Association would like to think there is another community group ready to help with the horse show if the Junior League drops out, and a few business leaders have assured the horsemen the aid would be there. It's unlikely the horsemen could be a solo sponsor for the show, at its present magnitude. A show with a reduced number of days and classes isn't in the consideration stage yet, either.
Although the number of horses and entries has remained stable in recent years after stretching the grounds' capacity in the late 1980s, profits have fallen because more of the jumper-class entry fees have been turned into prize money.
That has been the case since the 1993 death of Marion Bradley Via, the show's loving and nurturing benefactress.
Via's annual support for the jumper classes - including what quickly became a world-class Grand Prix - was in the $200,000 range at the time of her death. The 1993 Prix had a $125,000 purse. Last year, it was $75,000. The 2 p.m. Grand Prix in the civic center today has a $50,000 purse, matching the figure sources say still is and will continue to be provided by Via's estate.
During her years as the show's major provider, Via asked the co-sponsors to refrain from turning to a major corporate sponsor as an additional funding source. Now, if the horsemen and Junior League want to continue as co-sponsors profitable enough to stage the show and fund their projects, there may be no other choice.
To think the Roanoke Valley Horse Show is in trouble is horsefeathers. However, to realize the show has reached a crossroads takes only some horse sense.
by CNB