Civic clubs assess Celebration business

Concessions like the popular Optimist Club donuts, sold from a booth in the barn area, aren't just a part of the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration experience -- they are a key part of the fund-raising plan for a number of local civic clubs, which in turn support non-profit agencies in the community. Some clubs reported smaller revenues this year, but members are hopeful that the Celebration has turned the corner after its regulatory problems of recent years and that attendance will increase in the future. (T-G Photo by Mary Reeves) [Click to enlarge] [Order this photo]

The weather at this year's Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration did more than create mud puddles and contribute to a few colds. Because rain kept visitors away last month, many of the civic groups operating concession stands will have a slightly reduced budget to work with this year.

"The sales were almost as good as last year," said Earl Pewitt, who managed the Shelbyville Optimist Club donut stand during the day at the Celebration. "Everybody was down a little bit. Between the weather and the price of gas, people didn't come as much."

Weather can always have an affect on attendance at an outdoor event, such as The Celebration. Two nights of competition (Monday and Tuesday) were directly affected by steady rains that were the remnants of Tropical Storm Fay.

Once the weather broke on Wednesday, attendance picked back up to the levels of the previous year -- and in some cases, so did the sales.

"We were down a little bit this year," said Jim Allison with Rotary Club of Shelbyville (noon). "We were really hurting the nights we had rain. The other nights, we were slightly above last year.

"The last Saturday night, we were up 20-25 percent from last year, but over all, we were down."

Besides the weather and gas issues, there was another concern that may have kept the net numbers down.

"We did have to increase prices on several things," said Allison.

Shelbyville Breakfast Rotary Club had the same problem. Although president Henry Feldhaus isn't through crunching the final numbers yet, he also suspects the net will be down this year.

Net revenue is down because of increased costs on the products the club had to purchase, he said. "The gross is down a little bit -- people were not buying as much, and the crowds were lower."

When the clubs' fundraisers -- and for many, the Celebration is the main one -- don't bring in as much money, that means they have less money to return to the community.

"We've got about eight or nine projects we work on," said Pewitt, listing sports teams at Harris Middle and Liberty schools, as well as the Boy Scouts.

"We spend all our money on the youth; it's all youth-oriented. We try to help the junior highs because they don't have as much money."

The Breakfast Rotary's main project is the adult education program located in the old train depot.

"We supply that building, but we're always giving little stuff all year. The majority goes for adult education."

Noon Rotary funds go toward local scholarships, as well as Interact clubs at local high schools, international water projects and fighting polio throughout the world.

Some numbers weren't down, however, which bodes well for future shows.

When the Celebration's entry deadline passed on Aug. 5, 4,222 advance entries had been made.

"We were extremely pleased to see an increase in pre-entries," said Celebration CEO Dr. Doyle Meadows. "Seeing an increase was important because it reversed a five-year period of declining entry numbers."

The total number of entries increases after the show's preliminary classes are completed and championship entries are made. 2,188 different horses made a total of 4,689 entries, including championship entries. That represents a decrease of 55 over the total in 2007, less than one-third of an entry per class.

The 2,188 different horses entered were 36 more than last year. Out of the total number of entries, 2,907 were actually presented in the show ring, which is slightly fewer than showed in 2007, but still one of the highest percentages (62 percent) in recent years.

"To me, that is one of the most telling statistics about our entries," said Meadows. "It's very gratifying to see the number of horses that come through that entry gate, even though the total number of entries may be down a bit. It speaks loudly to the type of horses the trainers are presenting for inspection. All credit for this should go to the owners, trainers, and exhibitors in the walking horse industry. It's their hard work and dedication to the breed, and the excitement of the fans, that makes this world championship horse show what it is."

While no attendance records were broken in 2008, the numbers were still very encouraging to Celebration officials. A total of 139,695 fans streamed through the gates of the Celebration grounds. The paid attendance was also large, with 215,096 tickets being sold for the ten nights of competition.

Once the weather broke on Wednesday, attendance picked back up to the levels of the previous year.

"With high fuel prices and the overall state of the economy, we are pleased with our attendance numbers this year. But with the product we saw in the ring this year, we certainly have something very good to work with," Meadows said.

"When you boil it down, it was a good year at The Celebration," he added. "But that doesn't mean we won't be working hard every day to find ways to make the World's Greatest Horse Show even better. We will."

Pewitt agrees. Plans are already being made for next year's donut booth.

"We're looking forward to next year." He said. "We'll be cleaning our booth up. painting it and having a bigger year."