Sad News

It is with a heavy heart that TDA sadly announces the loss of one of their longtime members Betty Thomas of Winchester, Indiana. Betty lost her fight with Leukemia only one month after being diagnosed.  Betty, her husband Jerry and their granddaughter Haley have been very strong advocates for these wonderful long eared animals we all love so much. Jerry and Betty’s farm Thom-Ass Acres is located 70 miles East of Indianapolis.

Betty, Jerry, Haley and their donkeys were frequent visitors to local rest homes, hospitals and schools. During Christmas and Easter, the Thomas’ made the rounds reminding people how these little beasts of burden carved their place in history. They loved parades of all kinds even making it to the Mule Day parade in Columbia, Tennessee. They also participated in the March for a Cure for breast cancer with their donkey Snickers. They won the TDA Ambassador of the Breed Award 4 times and took the Reserve award 7 times. All Betty’s family and friends, along with her furry family will miss her very much.

Betty & Ezra at the nursing home.

South Carolina State Fair, 1st Place Costume Class 
Wizard of Oz
Left to Right: Poncho, as the Cowardly Lion; Deby Cochran, as the Wicked Witch of the West; Betty Thomas, as the Tin Man; Tom Cochran, as the Scarecrow; Jerry Thomas, as the Wizard; Leana Lefrapper, as Dorothy; Weezer, as Toto; and Diane Sears, as the Good Witch of the East.

July Shows

July was a busy show month for those members that show their donkeys, with the Celebration and the Bedford County fair everyone had their hands full.  I would like to congratulate all those who participated at these shows, you make Tennessee proud.  With 2 new shows in the lineup this year we can maybe take a couple breaths but then it is back to work, or play depending on your perspective.

Let’s talk a little about the Celebration, it was hot, well I bet you knew that. I guess we could start at the beginning which would be NMDA halter. We had 24 ribbons awarded to animals exhibited by members. Fantastic, great job everyone. One of our Club Member's, Dennis Vonderfecht won Reserve Grand Champion Jack with his beautiful Donkey, Rusty Weir.  Katrina Fleener won Reserve Grand Champion with her donkey Golden Anne (this jennet will be 20 years old on August 21, 2011 and this was her first show). Dennis Vonderfecht won Reserve Grand Champion with his Gelding, Red Dynamo.

Next up was the ACOSA Nationals,  we Tennesseans kicked some spotted ASS!! Grand National Champion Jennet Antonia and Res Grand National Champion Willa Cather both belonged to Dennis Vonderfecht, Yea! Grand National Champion Jack was Tin Roof Sunday, again Dennis and Res Grand National Champion Jack was Bosco, Yea me. Other TN Donkeys that did well were, Hello Darlin- Sandy Carroll, Jealous Much- Half Ass Acres and Merlin- me. Last and definitely not the least our Mammoth friends Hollywood and High Noon belonging to Joe Thomas showed off their pretty spots.

Performance In-Hand classes up next. Lead Race where my husband Brian and my donkey Bosco got beat by a woman with a broken toe!! Do you think he will live that one down?  I believe there was another that also fell fate to the toe, dare I say Joe showing Dayle’s donkey Partial Eclypse (Mookie). Then in In-Hand Jumping our son Zachary and his donkey Beaujolais beat Dad with Bosco taking 3rd and 4th and yes 1st was the broken toe! In Hand-Trail we won’t even go there. In Coon Jumping we found some redemption with Bosco taking 2nd, Beaujolais got 4th and Dayle with Mookie picking up a 6th.

On the In-Hand Youth front Miss Katie Randall was smokin’ bringing it with two places in trail, a 3rd in Lead Race and in Coon Jumping she nabbed herself another 3rd.

Moving on to the harness classes, we do love those reins! This Pleasure Driving class was not for sissies! WOW what a class, any placement in this class was a winner so two thumbs up to Dayle and Mookie for their 3rd place and to Sandy and Hermes for 5th. Way to go girls. Obstacle driving was so tough only 4  finished. Mookie and Dayle snagged 3rd while Beaujolais and Zachary took 4th.  In Reinsmanship Zach and Beaujolais got 4th not only showing up Mom but Aunt Dayle as well with us taking 5th and 6th. Speed driving, how fun is that!  Zach and Beaujolais are like Maverick and Goose “They feel the need, the need for speed”. In Pole Bending less than half a second off the leader they took 2nd place with Mom and Bosco sliding into 3rd and a respectable 5th for Dayle and Mookie.  Up next in the Single Stake Race and our dynamic duel slide into a very fast 2nd with Sandy and Hermes grabbing 5th while mom was completely shut out, I may hear about that a little.
Then Snigging, what can I say (he loves Snigging) well again a fast 2nd place time was posted by Zach and Beaujolais followed by a 4th for Dayle and Mookie and 5th for Sandy and Hermes. So, all in all a pretty good show.  If you would like to see all the results you can go to http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/ShelbyvilleShowResults2011.html

 

The Bedford County Fair is always a good time, it lacks the pressure of the Celebration. It is a bunch of good friends having a good time in the blistering heat, but with a breeze. Congratulations to
all! Here are the results:

 Adult Pleasure Driving-    

                     1^st CCC Love Bug                              Laura George

                     2^nd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse    Dayle Haworth

                     3^rd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                Theresa Puckett

                     4^th Sassy’s Charlie Brown                   Sherry Puckett

                     5^th Valiant Diego                                Lydia Spears

Youth Pleasure Driving-          

                     1^st CCC Love Bug                               Brittany Conyer

                     2^nd Twister                                        Shyanne Lopp

One Barrel Speed Race-         

                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais           Zachary Puckett

                     2^nd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                 Theresa Puckett

                     3^rd Rocking NT’s Nickelback               Bill Poole

                     4^th Sassy’s Charlie Brown                   Sherry Puckett

                     5^th Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse     Dayle Haworth

Pole Bending-                            

                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais            Zachary Puckett

                     2^nd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                 Theresa Puckett

                     3^rd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                     4^th CCC Love Bug                                Laura George     

                     5^th Valiant Diego                                 Lydia Spears

Snigging-                                   

                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais            Zachary Puckett

                     2^nd Sassy’s Charlie Brown                    Sherry Puckett

                     3^rd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                     4^th Stormy                                         Travis Henderson

                     5^th Twister                                         Shyanne Lopp

Halter- Std/Mammoth-         

                     1^st BAF Do A Fancy Dance                    Katie Randall

Halter wean/year Jacks & Geldings-   

                     1^st Castlewoods Red Gold Ransom        Dana Rathbun

                     2^nd BAF Short Spot Peppi                     Jerry Sircy

                     3^rd HHAA Jealous Much                       Dena Wilson

                     4^th BAF My World Joe Dirt                    Betty Sircy

                     5^th BAF kickin A                                  Kay Allen

Halter wean/year Jennets-
                     1^st Legendary Gypsy Rose Lee             Richard Fleener

                     2^nd LGL Tinker Razzle Dazzle               Jerry Sircy

                     3^rd Sassy’s Violet                                Sherry Puckett

                     4^th Crooked Creek’s Trinket                Theresa Puckett

                     5^th H & V Farms A J                             Hunter Hughes

Adult In Hand Jumping-  
                     1^st Crooked Creek’s Bosco                  Brian Puckett

                     2^nd Dan                                             Travis Henderson

                     3^rd Stormy                                        Travis Henderson

                     4^th Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                     5^th Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais            Zach Puckett

Youth In Hand Jumping- 
                     1^st Circle C Radar                                Kendall Allen

                     2^nd KKR High Roller                             Katie Randall

                     3^rd CCC Love Bug                               Brittany Conyer

                     4^th Twister                                         Shyanne Lopp

Coon Jumping Std-           
                     1^st BAF Do A Fancy Dance                    Katie Randall

Coon Jumping Mini-               
                     1^st Dan                                             Travis Henderson

                     2^nd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse    Dayle Haworth

                     3^rd Stormy                                       Travis Henderson

                     4^th CCC Love Bug                              Laura George

                     5^th KKR High Roller                            Katie Randall               

Adult In Hand Trail-                

                      1^st Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                      2^nd Legendary’s Hearts Wide Open     Kandi Wilhoit

                      3^rd Stormy                                       Travis Henderson

                      4^th Lazy J’s Elvira                              Dana Rathbun

                      5^th Valiant Diego                                Lydia Spears

Youth In Hand Trail-              

                       1^st KKR High Roller                           Katie Randall

                       2^nd Circle C Radar                             Kendall Allen

                       3^rd Twister                                      Shyanne Lopp

                       4^th CCC Love Bug                              Brittany Conyer

Best Matched Pair-                   

                       1^st Stormy                                       Travis Henderson

                            Twister                                       Shyanne Lopp

                      2^nd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                 Brian Puckett

                            Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais          Zach Puckett

                      3^rd Stonegate Acres Partial Eclypse      Dayle Haworth

                            Rocking NT’s Nickelback               Bill Poole

                       4^th Circle C Radar                              Kay Allen

                             Valiant Diego                               Lydia Spears

Halter Jacks 2 & Over-                

                       1^st KKR Merlin                                   Brian Puckett

                       2^nd Sassy’s Charlie Brown                  Sherry Puckett

                       3^rd Crooked Creek’s Bosco                Theresa Puckett

Halter Geldings 2 & Over-       

                       1^st Rocking 615 Howington                 Dana Rathbun

                       2^nd KKR High Roller                            Katie Randall

                       3^rd Assphalt Acres Good Tipper           Diana Poole

                       4^th HHAA Lightfoot Lee                      Dena Wilson

                       5^th Circle C Radar                               Kendall Allen

Halter Jennets 2 & Over-         

                       1^st Lazy J’s Elvira                             Dana Rathbun

                       2^nd HHAA Bumble Bee                       Dayle Haworth 

                       3rd LGL Farm Li'l Misty                     Betty Sircy

                       4^th Legendary’s Hearts Wide Open     Kandi Wilhoit

                       5^th HHAA Gypsy Heart                       Dena Wilson

   

Novice Day @ Half Ass Acres - June 11th

by Theresa Puckett, Reporter

We would like to invite all our members to a day of fun, thrills and excitement. Mark your calendars for our first annual mock show and novice day on June 11^th. Our start time will be 9 AM but you are welcome to show up at anytime. This event will be at Dayle and Joe Haworth’s Half Ass Acres in Chapel Hill, TN. Bring your donkeys and play with them or come and use one of the many that will be available. You also have the option of just coming to visit. Lunch will be provided along with drinks but you might want to bring a chair. This event is designed around helping people do things like trail, jumping and driving along with how to put panties on your donkey. You don’t have to show to get something out of this day. We would very much like to meet your favorite long eared friend. Each newbie (which can be the person or the donkey) will be paired with a seasoned donkey handler to help them with the task at hand. As we all know, donkeys are full of surprises so we expect this day to be full of laughter. More details will be emailed out soon.

The Path to the Awards Banquet

by Theresa Puckett

Wow, we actually made it! This year’s award ceremony read something like an “action thriller”. It began in early November… I started trying to contact the lady that we had been using the last several years for our plaques, only to find out that she no longer worked there and the new owner had no idea how to do them. So, I am now standing there with my pants down trying to figure out what we were going to do. Franticly, we started looking for an alternative for the plaques, but was finding it difficult to stay within our budget. Then we found a lady that could do sublimation (a type of printing for the plaques) but had never done one with photos before… but said she would like to give it a try.  So we sent her a design, she printed it, and it looked great.   To help keep the price of the plaques in budget, the awards committee designed the plaques.

Things were looking up.  The points were tallied, photos were sent in, the date was set and a place was booked. All seemed to being going well then BAM! We found out that the place had double booked and we got bumped. So we were then faced with the question of a different date or place. After talking to several members to see what would work best it was decided to try to find a different place and keep the date. We started calling around trying to find another place and most were booked already. Finally after talking to about a dozen places we located a meeting room and booked it. You would think at this point all was good but, NO.  I got a phone call Friday night about 6 PM, the awards are the next day, and the storm the night before had damaged the roof and the room we had booked had gotten flooded. They wanted to know if we wanted to go ahead or cancel.  After banging my head against the wall for a few minutes I called them back.  They had been working on the room all day and assured me that they felt that it would be fine in time for our meeting but it was our call. So we went with it and everything turned out great.

Front Row (L to R) Zach Puckett, Kay Allen, Shyanne Lopp, Laura George, Lydia Spears, Theresa Puckett
Back Row (L to R) Kandi Wilhoit, Katrina Fleener, Dennis Vonderfecht, Dena Wilson & Travis Henderson

Congratulations winners! 

Show Awards:

Grand Champion: Crooked Creek’s Bosco

Res. Grand Champion: Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais

Champion Youth:  Katie Randall

Res. Champion Youth: Shyanne Lopp

Champion Halter Jack: Country Music's Rusty Weir

Res. Champion Halter Jack: KKR Stroke of Midnight and Farmstead's William Blount

Champion Halter Jennet: Hill Co Mini's Lexus

Res. Champion Halter jennet: Farmstead's Chessie

Champion Halter Gelding: Wit's End Tumbleweed

Res. Champion Halter Gelding: Farmstead's James Otis Watson

Champion Halter Mammoth: J. B. Royal Alexandria

Champion In-Hand Performance Jack: Crooked Creek’s Bosco

Champion In-Hand Performance Jennet: Crooked Creek’s Beaujolais

Res. Champion In-Hand Performance Jennet: Legendary's Heart's Wide Open

Champion In-Hand Performance Gelding: God's Little Acre Farm Dan

Res. Champion In-Hand Performance Gelding: HHAA Valiant Diego

Champion Harness Jack: Crooked Creek’s Bosco

Champion Harness jennet: Crooked Creek's Beaujolais  

Champion Harness Gelding: HHAA Valiant Diego

Res. Champion Harness Gelding: CCC Love Bug

Champion Spotted Color: KKR Merlin

Res. Champion Spotted Color: Ma & Pa's Antonia

Champion Solid Color: God's Little Acre Farm Stormy

Res. Champion Solid Color: Country Music's Rusty Weir

Champion Best Matched Pair: Crooked Creek Bosco & Beaujolais

Res. Champion Best Matched Pair: HHAA Valiant Diego/Circle C Radar

Non-show Awards:

Kerri Little Memorial Rookie of the year: Dena Wilson

Mike Pallota Memorial Ambassador of the breed: Champion: Heavenly Snickers

                                                                                          Res. Champion: J&E Ezra

Martha Wilhoit Memorial Driving Award: Champion: Heavenly Snickers

                                                                            Res. Champion: Assphalt Acres Good Tipper

2012 TDA Calendar - fundraiser

TDA 2012 Calendar Fund Raiser
by Theresa Puckett, Club Reporter

TDA is embarking on their first ever fundraiser and we are very excited about this project. We are going to publish a calendar for 2012. What does this mean to you our members?  Well, this means several things. First off, you can buy the calendars when they are published to help support your club and second, is that you are invited to help us showcase our longear friends. We, the fundraising committee want you, our members, to send in your favorite photos of your donkeys for a chance to be in the calendar. The photos will be submitted to the committee anonymously for the voting process. If your photo is chosen there is a $100 publishing fee. This fee gets you, the winner, a month in the calendar which consists of the full page photo of your donkey, a place on that month to advertise your farm or add a message and one copy of the calendar. You will also receive any additional calendars you may want to purchase at a discounted rate (discount to be decided at a later date).

Calendar Layout:

Rules:

·         The photo must be at least 300 dpi to be considered.  Anything less will be discarded. If you need help with this or do not understand what we are asking please contact us. Your photo can be submitted via email or regular mail but if you email make sure that the photo does not get compressed in the emailing process.

·         The photos can be whatever you like, a donkey at liberty, a person with a donkey, even a show photo may be submitted.  A copyrighted photo cannot be used unless it is accompanied with written permission from the photographer!

·         The dead line for submitting photos is March 1st 2011.

·         Please keep in mind before submitting a photo that you must be willing to pay the publishing fee if your photo is selected.

• A person or farm can submit as many photos as they wish but can only win once unless there is lessthan 12 people or farms represented. 

• All photos must be emailed to Dayle Haworth at minidonks@united.net or mailed to her at 2356 Feed Mill Road  Chapel Hill, TN 37034

Any questions about the calendar can be directed to Theresa Puckett, at ccrdonkeys@comcast.net  or by phone 615-230-7260, Kay Allen at kayy@united.net or by phone 931-364-5057 or Dayle.

The committee reserves the right to veto any photo or message that they deem to be inappropriate.

A copy of the calendar contest contract needs to accompany your photo (contract found below).

Contest Contrast:  

I understand that by submitting a photo or photos to the TDA fund raising committee that I am willing to pay the $100 publishing fee if my photo is selected. I own all rights to these photos or I have written permission from the photographer to use these photos. I am not infringing on any copyrights with the photos I am submitting.

Signature:____________________________________

.

Specialty Awards Log due now

This is a reminder that the deadline for turning in your points for the special awards (non showing awards) is January 15^th.  So to help you with these I am republishing my article about the awards and how they work. There are several different awards program, so let’s talk a little about the awards programs.

MIKE PALLOTA MEMORIAL AMBASSADOR OF THE BREED AWARD:

Annual award for any event, in any state, that promotes the breed (outside of the show ring). This award is open to all members and there is no sign up fee. Parades, exhibitions, social events, plays, pet days, etc count. Only one event per day will count unless the second event is totally different than the first. Exp: Parade counts 1 point but later that day you do a driving or jumping exhibition that would count separately, but a breed parade two or three times the same day is only 1 point. Group visits, such as schools or other groups to educate or promote the breed also count. Due to a change in our by-laws, this year only, the award will run from Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 31, 2010. Deadline for turning in these points is Jan 15, 2011.

KERRI LITTLE MEMORIAL ROOKIE AWARD:

This award is open to a “novice” person or farm. The winner would be the farm or person that has just started participating in our clinics, exhibitions, parades, shows, or any event that promotes our club/breed and each event is worth 1 point. A person/farm is considered a rookie for two years, unless they win the Rookie Award their first year, which will then make them ineligible for this award the next year. There is no sign up fee for this award.  Due to a change in our by-laws, this year only, the award will run from Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 31, 2010. Deadline for turning in these points is Jan 15, 2011.  

The TDA awards committee is responsible for the above awards. If you have any questions or need copies of any of the point tally sheets, please contact one of us. Dayle Haworth minidonks@united.net  931-364-3715, Theresa Puckett ccrdonkeys@comcast.net  615-230-7260 or Kay Allen kayy@united.net .

Next year all the awards will be from January 1 to December 31.

MARTHA WILHOIT MEMORIAL DRIVING AWARD :

This award was named after Martha because she loved to drive, so this award is for the members who have her passion for driving. There is a $5 sign up fee per donkey which must be paid prior to any driving time to be counted.  This award is tailored with an emphasis on driving. A member that signs up for this award is expected to keep a driving log of the time spent at the reins, which includes ground driving. The only driving time that a member can’t claim is time in the show ring.  Due to a change in our by-laws, this year only, the award will run from Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 31, 2010.  Deadline for turning in your driving log is Jan 15, 2011. If you have any questions about this award please contact Lydia Spears, Ph #931-796-4920 or email:  miniacre@bellsouth.net .

REPORTERS CORNER: 2010 Awards Programs

REPORTERS CORNER: 2010 Award Programs
by Theresa Puckett


It’s hard to believe that another year has gone by and it is time to tally your points. There are several different awards programs and not all are related to showing. So let’s talk a little about the awards programs.

MIKE PALLOTA MEMORIAL AMBASSADOR OF THE BREED AWARD:

Annual award for any event, in any state, that promotes the breed (outside of the show ring). This award is open to all members and there is no sign up fee. Parades, exhibitions, social events, plays, pet days, etc count. Only one event per day will count unless the second event is totally different than the first. Exp: Parade counts 1 point but later that day you do a driving or jumping exhibition that would count separately, but a breed parade two or three times the same day is only 1 point. Group visits, such as schools or other groups to educate or promote the breed also count. Due to a change in our by-laws, this year only, the award will run from Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 31, 2010. Deadline for turning in these points is Jan 15, 2011.

SHOW AWARDS PROGRAM:

There is a $10 fee per donkey. Fee must be paid prior to a show for that show’s points to count for the 2010 show season. At the end of show season, you may only count four (4) Tennessee shows for points. Exhibitor will choose which four (4) shows he/she wishes to count. There is a champion and reserve in all categories. There are 8 awards in halter, In-hand and in harness which are broken down by sex and one for Standard/Mammoth in each category. There are two color awards, one for solid and one for spots, a best matched pair (must be the same two donkeys) and a Grand Champion and Reserve Grand Champion. In addition to these awards there are two youth awards (the donkey being shown by youth must be signed up). This program runs from October 1st, 2009 thru September 30th, 2010. Each member is responsible for turning in their own points! The cutoff date for turning in your points is Dec. 1st 2010. The rules for these awards can be found at http://www.tennessee-donkeys.com/HighPointAwardRules.html

KERRI LITTLE MEMORIAL ROOKIE AWARD:

This award is open to a “novice” person or farm. The winner would be the farm or person that has just started participating in our clinics, exhibitions, parades, shows, or any event that promotes our club/breed and each event is worth 1 point. A person/farm is considered a rookie for two years, unless they win the Rookie Award their first year, which will then make them ineligible for this award the next year. There is no sign up fee for this award. Due to a change in our by-laws, this year only, the award will run from Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 31, 2010. Deadline for turning in these points is Jan 15, 2011.

The TDA awards committee is responsible for the above awards. If you have any questions or need copies of any of the point tally sheets, please contact one of us. Dayle Haworth minidonks@united.net 931-364-3715, Theresa Puckett ccrdonkeys@comcast.net 615-230-7260 or Kay Allen kayy@united.net .

Next year all the awards will be from January 1 to December 31.

MARTHA WILHOIT MEMORIAL DRIVING AWARD :

This award was named after Martha because she loved to drive, so this award is for the members who have her passion for driving. There is a $5 sign up fee per donkey which must be paid prior to any driving time to be counted. This award is tailored with an emphasis on driving. A member that signs up for this award, is expected to keep a driving log of the time spent at the reins, which includes ground driving. The only driving time that a member can’t claim is time in the show ring. Due to a change in our by-laws, this year only, the award will run from Oct 1, 2009 to Dec 31, 2010. Deadline for turning in your driving log is Jan 15, 2011. If you have any questions about this award please contact Lydia Spears, Ph #931-796-4920 or email: miniacre@bellsouth.net .



CARSON CARROLL MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP AWARD:

This is a $250 scholarship based on merit awarded to our youth members as they prepare for college or technical school. This award must be asked for and be accompanied by the member’s high school transcript through the third semester prior to graduation. Any member that wants to contribute to this award fund is welcome to do so. If you have any questions or have a youth member that wants to apply for this award, please contact Diana Poole, Ph #615-807-3848 or email tda.president@gmail.com.

REPORTERS CORNER - TN State Fair

by Theresa Puckett

Katrina Fleener

In 2003, the TN Donkey ASSociation put together the first miniature and small standard donkey show at the TN State Fair. Although I took miniature donkeys to the fair in 2000 and showed them in the draft show to try to introduce the miniatures to the fair and in 2001 the Mix’s took some of their donkeys, it wasn’t till the newly formed TN Donkey ASSociation approached the fair that they entertained the idea of a show. The agreement with the state fair was if TDA could put on a show and if the show was a success (and oh what a success it was) the fair would then take the show over. The club came together and through donations and hard work came up with the funds for prize money and to cover the other expenses also. Sandy and Carson Carroll volunteered to be the department head of the show for the fair. Sandy also worked to get the show sanctioned with NMDA. This September 18th the fair hosted the 8th annual show.





 Laura George

The day started out with temperatures in the low 70’s and ended with a high of 88, so not unbearable but warm. The show got off at 9:30 with a parade of donkeys and the presentation of the flag with Dennis Vonderfecht singing the National Anthem followed by our prayer. With 59 donkeys representing 19 different farms and 135 entries it was promising to be a full day and some good competition. Another positive factor at this show was the judge; he allowed the jackets to come off during the performance classes which was nice and also no lap robes in the driving classes. This judge went out of his way to talk to the spectators and let them know what he is looking for in the donkeys, which keeps the crowd interested, especially in the halter classes. Speaking from experience it is rare to find a NMDA judge that acts like they really enjoy what they are doing as much as this one and that makes all the difference in the world. The volunteers helping to run this show were also outstanding, thank you. One more thing I personally want to thank the show staff for being so understanding about, was tack changes!! All in all this was a great show.

Dennis Vonderfecht

The future of the Tennessee State Fair has been a little shaky over this last year and there were times that it looked like there wouldn’t be one at all. With the public’s outcry to not give up on a state fair they managed to push through the 2010 fair. They have outgrown the current location and something has to be done. It is my understanding that the fair is being taken over by a nonprofit organization and the hunt is on for a new location for a fairground and exhibition center. This still leaves the location of the 2011 state fair in question as they would be hard pressed to have the new location ready in a year. I have been assured though that there will be a Tennessee Donkey Show in 2011 just not sure where.

Zachary Puckett

Web site to view State fair photos: http://www.lindasphoto.com/