ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, June 16, 1996 TAG: 9606170016
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZK
It should be a happy silver anniversary for the Roanoke Valley Horse Show this week. There's an impending divorce, however.
The Roanoke Valley Horsemen's Association is seeking a new partner to help stage the annual show, which begins Monday at the Salem Civic Center. That's because the Junior League of the Roanoke Valley is dropping its co-sponsorship after 15 years following the $50,000 Grand Prix of Roanoke and Saddlebred Championships on Saturday night.
``We've talked to three or four organizations and there's been some interest, but there's nothing finalized,'' said June Camper, the horsemen's perennial co-chairwoman of the $200,000 show. ``We have decided the show will go on as is in the future, even if we have to hire horse show professionals to come in and help us.''
That's good news for the Roanoke Valley. Virginia's largest multibreed, Class A show has an economic impact of an estimated $11 million on the region. The exhibitors love the show. This week, the parking lot behind the civic center is accommodating a record 859 stalls for competitors, and some of those will be double-rented. The four-legged visitors could exceed 900.
The 200-member horsemen's group has a contract with the civic center through the 1998 show. The Junior League's co-sponsorship is ending, however, because the organization wanted to turn elsewhere for its contributions to charity. Show profits have diminished the past two years. Also, some of the Junior Leaguers - many mothers working outside the home - didn't want or couldn't afford to volunteer the time it took to sell and stage the horse show.
The Junior League took two votes on the sponsorship issue, and the divorce did cause some rancor among its membership. However, there's no indication the decision will be reversed. Last year, the show's profit was $28,543, with the Junior League getting 75 percent of the cut. The horsemen say this year's numbers should improve. Still, profits aren't what they once were.
The record, set in 1990, was $71,038, although that was an anomaly. Since the introduction of the Grand Prix in 1985, most of the pre-1994 profits approached $40,000.
The horsemen's group will spend this week sending a message that the show isn't going anywhere, because the Junior League's exit only brought more questions to an event that had lost its gracious benefactress, the late Marion Via. The impact of her death in January 1993 remains evident in the Grand Prix purse, which has gone from $125,000 to $50,000.
The horsemen's association, which puts its share of show profits into college scholarships and equine programs, is determined to make the 1996 show special. The group wants to attract another local civic or fraternal organization to join in staging future shows. It also knows that if the show slips, so might the number of exhibitors.
Don't expect that to happen. If anything, the Roanoke Valley Horse Show has become more attractive, because competing shows held annually in mid-June have moved to other dates. That leaves more horses for Salem.
``We feel real good about the future,'' Camper said. ``We want the show to be the same. We want it to still look the same. We want it to still feel the same.''
It does. It's just not quite as green.
LENGTH: Medium: 69 linesby CNB