35th Annual Horse Show (2005)
By Diana Genovesi, Peekskill Rotary President
Welcome to the 35th Annual Horse Show sponsored by the Rotary Club of Peekskill. Club members are delighted you’ve come. We enjoy producing this show and are proud that it is recognized as one of the premier family events in our community.
The club hosted its first Horse Show Oct. 9-10, 1971 on Torpy Field, formerly the grounds of the Peekskill Military Academy and now part of Peekskill High School. The club described the event thus: “This first inner-city Horse Show…(is) a wholesome competitive activity for the area’s youth…and a means for Rotary to raise funds for student scholarships and for many volunteer community services the club supports.”
As the show experienced extraordinary growth during the next 35 years, the spirit and purpose of that original show continued. Club members remain committed to offering wholesome and challenging family activities that raise money for the benefit of our community.
This journal is part of the Horse Show tradition and provides us with a major part of the resources that we will use to support vital organizations and educational grants in the year ahead. Every dollar raised goes into the Rotary Club of Peekskill Foundation which disburses these funds back into the community and to worthy international programs.
We thank those who encourage our efforts by buying advertisements in this journal. And we particularly appreciate those businesses — Berger Appliance, Hudson Highland Cruises and Westchester Broadway Dinner Theatre — that donated prizes for our Horse Show Raffle. Their support enables us to contribute each year some $35,000 to charitable organizations, and grant scholarships to students in local high schools.
Education remains a key focus for the foundation with grants this year going to a music program at Woodside and Uriah Hill Elementary Schools, and to Peekskill High School. Exceptional seniors at Peekskill, Hendrick Hudson and Walter Panas High Schools were recognized with scholarships, grants and awards.
The club also focused on programs for young people including sponsorship of Interact Clubs at area high schools; and support for a French student to attend Peekskill High School and spend a year living with families in our town.
Throughout this journal you will see stories highlighting local programs supported by the Rotary Foundation during the last year. We also looked beyond our community for selected international projects. Among them was buying a millet grinder – with guidance from the Peace Corps — that is enabling women in three remote villages in Mali, South Africa to feed their families and earn income to enhance their lives.
The Rotary Club of Peekskill is part of Rotary International, an organization of business and professional leaders. Locally we are a group of about 75 men and women who believe in our community and dedicate countless hours and energy to help make Peekskill and Cortlandt a better place for all of us.
We extend our special thanks to those who attend the Horse Show and help us continue to do our good works.
Thank you and please enjoy the show.
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