By Bill Archer
BLUEFIELD, Va. — A blue sky, warm temperatures and even warmer fellowship greeted visitors and competitors alike as the Bluefield Shrine Club raised the curtain on the 41st edition of the annual Bluefield Blue Gray Horse Show.
“It’s a lot of hard work for the trainers, but this is a great sport for families,” Jean Allred of Fraziers Bottom, Putnam County said. Harry and Jean Allred — no relation to the 2009 Show Judge Steve Allred of Winston-Salem, N.C. — came to Bluefield to support their daughter, Sarah Allred, as she competed in the show.
“Sarah’s been showing since she was 5,” Jean Allred said. “She’s 15 now.” The Allreds are associated with Roger Meade’s stables in Lebanon, Va. “We show at Roanoke, Va., Tazewell, Va., here and Morristown, Tenn. We enjoy it so much that we’re starting a barn at home.”
The Blue Gray Horse Show enjoyed steady growth through the years and about five years ago, the Bluefield Shrine Club rented out more than 300 stalls for the three-day event — the unofficial benchmark for the show’s growth. The slumping national economy took it’s toll in stall-rental in 2008, when the number of stalls rented dropped to 210, according to Joe Vinciguerra.
Vinciguerra and co-chairman, T.A. “Buddy” Warden, have worked together on the show for many years. Bluefield Shrine Club Members have worked at the show since its inception. All proceeds from the show benefit the local Shrine Club’s efforts to the Shrine’s Crippled Children’s Hospitals.
“We rented out 140 stalls this year,” Vinciguerra said. “I would say the economy has something to do with it. We’ve been lucky through the years. People have supported this show, and we appreciate it.”
Vinciguerra was busy taking care of the kinds of details that traditionally arise with almost every volunteer-driven event. When the ribbon/trophy presenters were delayed, he asked Arielle Clauser of Amhurst, Va., and Kamillah Wood of Roanoke to step in and help out.
“We’re both with Stockwood Saddlebreds,” Clauser said.
With the horse show in Lotito Park, a baseball game at Bowen Field and a tent revival in the grass field in front of the Bluefield tennis courts, the city park complex was a hub of activity Thursday night.
“We have a great place to live,” Lisa Huff, chair of the Greater Bluefield Chamber of Commerce board of directors said. Huff and reigning 2009 Miss Cole Chevrolet Mountain Festival Arianna Bailey were walking through the parking lot on their way to the stands where they could enjoy the show.
“There are so many events taking place in this area, I can’t see why anyone would ever say there’s nothing to do here,” Huff said. “We need to take advantage of all the things the area has to offer.”
The Blue Gray Horse Show will resume tonight at 6 p.m., with a pair of sessions scheduled for Saturday, July 25, at 10 a.m., and again at 6 p.m.
– Contact Bill Archer at barcher@bdtonline.com
