Fun show to aid hospital for children

Published 11:38 pm Monday, April 24, 2006

You don’t need a horse to have a good time at this Sunday’s fun show at the Murray County Saddle Club. The show benefits St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis.

Gates open at noon, and the show starts at 1 p.m. Admission is $2, and entry fees to participate are $2 for each event.

The hospital tries to find better ways to treat cancer and other childhood diseases, and also seeks cures, causes and ways of preventing those diseases.

The fun show is “a good after-church activity for the family,” even for those who don’t wish to participate, said Sonya Stanley, a member of the saddle club. “It benefits kids, so we think it’s an important cause.”

This is the fifth year for the fun show.

“We had a very good turnout last year,” Stanley said. Approximately $1,700 was raised.

Since the saddle club, at the foot of Fort Mountain on Highway 52, has a cover, the show will be held rain or shine, she said.

There will be 12 events. Some require horses and some don’t.

One event is a tunnel race where riders race to one side of the arena on their horses, crawl through a tunnel, and get back on the horse to race back to the other side of the arena. What can make the race amusing is sometimes horses wander away from the riders as they crawl through the tunnel.

There will also be barrel racing, pole racing and a tater race, Stanley said.

“Anybody can participate at any age,” she said.

Several items — including horse tack and feed, tanning bed visits and fishing poles — have been donated for a raffle. Tickets are $1 apiece. The drawing will be Sunday afternoon.

There will be face painting for the children, and concessions will be sold, Stanley said.

“All of the stuff has been donated, and all the money goes to St. Jude,” she said.

A donation bucket will be at the gate, and there are also donation buckets at Harris Sutton Chevrolet in Chatsworth and radio station Georgia 99 in Dalton.

For more information, or to make a donation, call Stanley at 706-217-9580 or Cindy Sitton at 706-695-5864.