I presented this letter at the County Board of Supervisors meeting last night. I don't know if anything will come of it but at least I have made them aware of the situation.
Why did it take until May 27, 2014
for the date to be set for the 2014 Rural Retreat Fair? I say look no further than the dysfunctional
Fair Association.
Since moving to the county in 1999,
I have seen a steady decline in the quality and attendance at the RR Fair. That is, with the exception of the
horse events which have always been popular and well attended.
Three years ago I joined the Glade
Mountain Saddle Club which sub leases the arena area from the Fair
Association. I did this in order to gain
access the arena for the 4-H Saddles and Bridles club for which I am a
volunteer leader. Since joining the
club, I have had the honor of meeting and working with very dedicated and civic
minded horse enthusiasts. What I've never understood however, was the continual friction and animosity from the
Fair Association toward the Glade Mountain Saddle Club. I truly felt that if the FA could just meet
and talk with us we could work out any perceived differences or problems.
With nothing but goodwill in mind I
decided to attend the May 27 meeting of the FA.
When I arrived I was promptly told to state my business and leave
because they were busy and could not proceed with their meeting until I was
gone. My ‘business’ was trying to find
out the fair dates and offer the Saddle Club’s help in trying to better the
fair. This year the GMSC will celebrate
it’s 50th year and we wanted to commemorate this anniversary by
sponsoring horse events for 3 consecutive nights during the fair. I believed that as a representative of the
Saddle Club, a doctor and respected member of the community I would be welcomed
at this meeting; however, I was summarily dismissed after 10 minutes. I was told
that it was in their bylaws that no visitors could attend their meeting. I have never been so uncomfortable or treated
so rudely in public. The way the FA is being
run is a disgrace to the community. I
feel that as the lessor, The County Board of Supervisors has the responsibility
to step in and disband this dysfunctional group and replace it with a properly
run and publicly open organization.
Thank you.
In response to our club asking to have events at the fair we were told they could extend the fair one day to Sunday and we could do something then. What an unbelievable and short sighted organization. So our club is now planning a 3 day "Horse Fest". We have our work cut out for us on this one.
4 comments:
How rude!!
You Go Girl!
Oh my! As someone who works on our local fair board it sure seems a mystery to me! Are you sure you don't want to move to our area and run horse events here! ;)
Wow you would think they would be happy to have extra help! Hope you get something better going on around there
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