Midwest Charity Horse Show gets underway today with ribbon cutting
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
SPRINGFIELD, IL – The Midwest Charity Horse Show and The Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce in an increased effort to make the Springfield community more aware of the impact the equine industry has on Springfield held a ribbon cutting ceremony to kick-off the show’s 65th edition today at 10:30 a.m. at the Illinois State Fairgrounds Coliseum in-gate. Guests included Illinois State Senator, Larry Bomke; Illinois State Representatives, Rich Brauer and Raymond Poe; Department of Agriculture Director, Charles Hartke; Illinois State Fair Manager Amy Bliefnick; Bureau Chief, Randy Wells; and American Saddlebred Horse Association Past President, Judy Werner.
The Midwest Charity Horse Show, one of the premier Saddlebred, Roadster, Morgan and Arabian horse and Hackney/Harness pony shows in the country, has over 600 horses and ponies, and to date is the largest horse show on the Illinois State Fairgrounds. The show runs June 13-17 with performance daily at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. This year Midwest is featuring 28 vendors selling everything from clothes and jewelry to horse equipment to tasty ice cream treats. Not only does Midwest provide Springfield an opportunity to see world champion-caliber horses and ponies strut their stuff but also tourism officials estimate that the Midwest Charity Horse Show has the potential to bring $1.5 million to Springfield’s economy. The equine industry is not only highly beneficial to the city of Springfield but also to the state of Illinois contributing through the production of goods and services valued at $1.3 billion.
Since its inception, the Midwest Charity Horse Show, a non-subsidized, all volunteer organization, has donated its annual proceeds to a Springfield area charity and has selected Camp COCO as its beneficiary since 1988. For more information about Camp COCO call (217) 545-2955 and for more information about the horse show log onto www.midwestcharity.com.
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