CELEBRATION STORY( Coni, from 8)
How did this Celebration, this“ Community Miracle” begin? The story is told in the 1953 BLUE RIBBON by the man who started it all— the late W. Henry Davis, of Wartrace, Tennessee. Mr. Davis relates how the idea of a“ Walking Horse Festival” first occured to him while he was buying hay in Winchester, Tennessee, during that town’ s Crimson Clover Festival. The idea that Bedford County should have a festival, a“ Walking Horse Festival” would not let him rest until he had enlisted the aid of other horsemen in the county and begun to formulate a plan of action. Mr. William L. Parker, Shelbyville banker, invited Mr. Davis and his group to meet with the Lion’ s Club on Thursday, May 11, 1939. to present his plan. Enthusiastically endorsing the idea of such a festival, the Lion’ s Club sought joint participation of other civic clubs in Shelbyville, and a committee for the Celebration was soon formed to launch the event with a three-night show held at the high school athletic field September 7-9, 1939.
From this promising, but humble, beginning just twenty-five years ago the Celebration has steadily grown into the marvelous recreational institution that it is today. Among the more remarkable aspects of this“ Community Miracle” are these:( 1) the way the spacious grounds and comfortable facilities have been developed entirely out of the Celebration’ s current income from ticket sales and similar revenues, without a dollar of public, governmental funds being received;( 2) the enthusiastic and harmonious cooperation of many civic groups over such a long period of time;( 3) the unselfish and skillful management of a closelyknit executive committee which has functioned solely for the benefit of the community, the spectators, the exhibitors and the Tennessee Walking horse— with no personal gain received or expected for the countless hours spent in guiding the Celebration and administering its affairs( Mr. William L. Parker, Mr. Phil J. Scudder, the late Mr. W. Clyde Tune, Sr., and the late Mr. T. Franklin Boyd constituted the original executive committee; Mr. Parker and Mr. Scudder still serve as members, and Mr. Tune and Mr. Boyd were active members until their deaths);( 4) the integrity and fairness of all those managing the affairs of the Celebration, so that no suspicion of favoritism or influencing the results of the show has ever arisen— a remarkable record indeed!; and( 5) the desire of all those connected with the Celebration to make it annually“ bigger and better than ever.” Such is the quality of the leadership that one cannot predict any limit to the growth and success of this“ Community Miracle.”
The present Executive Committee of the National Celebration consists of: Mr. W. C. Tune, Jr., President; Mr. W. L. Parker, Vice- President; Mr. P. J. Scudder, Secretary-Treasurer; Mr. E. L. Adamson, Director; Mr. R. M. Thomas, Director; Mr. H. J. Thompson, Director; and Mr. H. C. Tilford, Jr., Director. Mrs. Ivan Potts is secretary to the Executive Committee and very efficiently looks after the innumerable details of the operation. The entire Executive Committee generously gives their time and ability to the management of the Celebration.
Among the“ old-reliables” of the staff are: Mr. Sam Gibbons, manager of the horse show; Mr. Emmet Guy, announcer; Mr. Jimmy Richardson, organist; and Mr. Les Nelson, photographer.
For the 1964 Celebration, the Judges of Walking Horses will be: Mr. C. A. Bobo, Thomasville, North Carolina; Mr. Leon Hall, Hillsboro, Missouri; and Mr. Hershel Talley, Baileyton, Alabama. Judge in the Saddle, Fine Harness and Roadster Division will be Mr. Paul Raines, Memphis, Tennessee; Judge of Equitation will be Miss Dorothy Dukes, Brentwood, Tennessee, all of these are officials of outstanding quality and integrity. The Celebration remains the high court of the show horse world.
What we have said about the“ Community Miracle” has already explained many of the reasons why the Celebration has been aptly called.“ The Greatest Horse Show on
Earth.” Where else can you go to find as many as sixty or seventy stallions of the breed in one ring? Every one of these has been a winner at other shows. Every one is well bred, thoroughly trained and expertly ridden. Almost everyone would be proud to own any one of these superbly conditioned animals, and all the other classes are well filled with Walking Horses of similar qualities. As one spectator said,“ when all those heads start nodding and the riders glide by as if on flying carpets, I feel something I have felt nowhere else on earth.”
Mare and foal, stallion and five of his get, weanling, yearling, twoyear-old, junior horse, amateur mount, mare, gelding, stallion, pony, stake horse— all are there at the Celebration. Only in the“ Big Ring” do you these days see all the top horses meeting head on for the blues and the trophies. Only there is the winner really THE WINNER, so it is either win now or“ wait till next year.” For the man, woman, or child who has been there even once, the Celebration is“ The Greatest Horse Show on Earth.”
Certainly by now you are convinced that the Celebration is truly the“ World Series of the Walking Horse.” But for additional support to our claim, let us again quote from the words of Mr. W. Henry Davis in the 1953 BLUE RIBBON:“ We feel that the Celebration has done more than anything else to stimulate the production and training of better horses and has caused the value of show horses to advance many, many times over what it was before the Celebration was instituted. A blue, championship or grand championship ribbon from the Celebration means much more in the minds of the Walking Horse people than a similar ribbon from any other show.“ If you know any exhibitor of Walking Horses who does not share these sentiments, please do not embarras him by writing in to tell us his name— he would be looked upon as a nice fellow who must have been accidentally dropped out of a barn loft on his head, for how else can you account for such human frailty?( Continued on Page 30)
16 VOICE of The Tennessee Walking Horse