The second inaugural running of the Blue Ridge Fall Races to benefit Blue Ridge Hospice
Please save this date for this year's Blue Ridge Fall Races!
September 20, 2008
For Sponsorship Information please contact: Melanie Marks at 540-722-6403 or email: mmarks@wisemanandassociates.com
For Advertising Information please contact: Jan Graber Kerns at 540-539-9389 or email: ccgifts@shentel.net
Blue Ridge Fall Races - 2007 (Winchester Star Article - PDF/188k)
Blue Ridge Hunt proudly announces the secpmd inaugural running of the Blue Ridge Fall Races to benefit Blue Ridge Hospice.
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Saturday – September 20, 2008 |
Announcing our 2008 Event Sponsor
Woodley Farm near Berryville, VA
- From Rt. 7 340 South 4 ½ miles turn left on Rt. 255(Bishop Meade Road), then turn left on Briggs Road and go approx. 1 mile to race course on left.
-From Rt. 50 340 North 4 miles turn right on Rt. 255(Bishop Meade Road), then turn left on Briggs Road and go approx. 1 mile to race course on left.
Over Timber, Hurdles and on the Flat
Sanctioned by the Virginia Steeplechase Association
We would like to Thank our 2007 Sponsors
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Valley Equine |
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Beverage Sponsor: Bud Select ~ Step up to Select |
Cocktail Reception Sponsor: Wiseman & Associates |
Race Sponsor: Omega Drywall |
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Course Partner: Valley Health |
Course Sponsor: Caroll Construction |
Program Sponsor: Yount, Hyde and Barbour |
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Course Sponsor: Bank of Clarke County - “Since 1881, Banking Done Right…Longer!” |
SOUTHERN HEALTH A Coventry Health Care Plan |
Course Sponsor: SHOCKEY - The Partner of Choice |
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American National |
Lodge Construction Inc. |
Various levels of sponsorships are available for companies and individuals.
For more information, view the Sponsorship Opportunities section of this Fall Races flyer: (PDF/2MB)
Or contact Melanie Marks: 540-722-6403 or e-mail: mmarks@wisemanandassociates.com
Event Highlights
A Kids Corner will be available for all children and will include: face painting, pony rides and moon bounce. A vendor alley will provide fun shopping opportunities.
Find fabulous bargains with quality tack at reasonable prices inside our Tented Tack Shop onRace day. Thanks to the donations of Blue Ridge Hunt members and others in the community, Saddles, bridles, halters, blankets and tack room treasures galore await the savvy shopper. Donations and shoppers are welcome! All proceeds go to benefit Blue Ridge Hospice and Blue Ridge Hunt. We ask that your tack be in SAFE condition and as CLEAN as possible. Tack, as well as hunt or equine-related gift items and accessories are most welcome! Any items left after the races are over may be claimed by the donor. Otherwise, items will be given to the Blue Ridge Hospice Thrift Shops for later sale. Please contact Linda Roberts, 540-837-1899 (lindajroberts@mac.com) if you would like to donate items.
TO BE ANNOUNCED AT A LATER DATE |
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History of Blue Ridge Hospice
Serving an Eight-County Area of the Shenandoah Valley
In 1974, when Winchester resident Gail Rodgers faced the death of her father, hospice services did not exist in the Shenandoah Valley and were little recognized in the United States. Some years later, Gail and longtime friend, Helen Zebarth of Winchester, decided to bring the hospice experience to others. Their determination created the foundation for Blue Ridge Hospice in 1981. In1983, Helen asked The Winchester Star to publish an article about hospice and the local need for this service. Funds arrived, thanks to the community. Support and volunteer effort have been strong and generous since that time, allowing for the expansion of services and staff to care for more patients from our area.
As Blue Ridge Hospice's founders demonstrated great courage to act on their beliefs a quarter of a century ago, Hospice staff, volunteers, and supporters are taking leaps of faith to continue brightening life's journey for others. With patients and affiliate services in the City of Winchester, Frederick, Warren, Shenandoah, Page, Clarke, Rappahannock, Fauquier, and Loudoun counties, Blue Ridge Hospice now has more than 182 staff members and an eight-bed residential center with a waiting list. By the end of 2007, Blue Ridge Hospice cared for more than 881 patients and well over 2,000 family members through its affiliated services.
As Blue Ridge Hospice enters its 27th year, a second residential center is planned to serve the needs of our community. The journey continues and for Blue Ridge Hospice the vision is bright, thanks to the support of so many who care.
History of The Blue Ridge Huntby Norman Fine
Today’s followers of the Blue Ridge hounds ride over the same hills and fields and along the same twists and turns of the Shenandoah River as did George Washington nearly three hundred years ago when he followed the hounds of his employer and friend, Thomas, sixth lord Fairfax. Since that time, this gently rolling grassland in the Valley of the Shenandoah on the west side of the Blue Ridge has continued to echo to the music of hounds, the huntsman’s horn, and the rhythm of galloping horses.
Washington, at age sixteen, had come to Fairfax’s Greenway Court (situated in what is now the village of White Post, in Clarke County, Virginia) to help survey Fairfax’s holdings. The two pursued the native gray fox behind hounds that Fairfax had sent over from England even prior to his arrival.
For one hundred years after the death, in 1782, of Lord Fairfax, foxhunting in Virginia flourished privately. Many landowners maintained a few hounds for sport and met when they wished, each bringing his own hounds. However, by the time the War Between the States had run its tragic course, the southern economy was crippled, its social fabric asunder, and its citizens poverty stricken. Those changes set the stage for the formation of organized hunts and subscription packs.
The period following the war saw a number of Englishmen moving to Virginia. Although there were probably as many reasons as there were Englishmen who came, one can draw some obvious conclusions. A substantial part of an entire generation of young Virginian men did not return home from that unfortunate conflict, and large properties in that beautiful countryside were, and would continue to be, inherited by women. There must have been a vacuum for men, and it would certainly not be filled at that time by American men from the north.
Many of the Englishmen who came here were fox hunters in their native England and were no doubt anxious to organize their sport along traditional lines. One such English emigré, Archibald Bevan, helped to organize the Blue Ridge Hunt in 1888, and he served as its first Master.
William Bell Watkins, Alexander Mackay-Smith, and Mrs. George (Judy) Greenhalgh, Jr. were among the Hunt’s most influential Masters of the twentieth century. The current Masters—Mrs. Harry (Doris) Stimpson, III, Mrs. Wayne (Linda) Armbrust, and Mrs. William (Anne) McIntosh—have built upon the dedication and know-how of their predecessors and today field a pack of English and Crossbred foxhounds that are equal to the beautiful and hallowed country across which they hunt.
- For sponsor and ticket information contact:
Melanie Marks at 540-722-6403 or e-mail: mmarks@wisemanandassociates.com
- For advertising information contact:
Jan Graber Kerns at 540-539-9389 or email: ccgifts@shentel.net
© Copyright Blue Ridge Hospice 2008
Last updated: February 5, 2008