Letter to the editor in response to David Howard's editorial:

I too appreciate the interest and support of the Tennessean. It is only through continued dialogue that we will fix what’s broken about this industry and work together to protect this magnificent breed. I take exception to much of David’s “Random Thoughts” in his editorial in Friday’s WHR.

First and foremost, my article, like Mr. Groover's article, was not created in a vacuum. Although I may not yet have as much industry knowledge as some, I am surrounded by a staff and industry support group who have spent their entire lives in this industry. We worked together to create a thoughtful and accurate editorial at the Tennessean’s request.

In addition, TWHBEA and the Celebration found a way to work together this year to the benefit of the breed and breed enthusiasts. Because of my business knowledge, I quickly identified that the spectators are key to the Celebration's financial success. When I mentioned this to Ron Thomas, he agreed, and we worked together to develop a plan that would benefit both organizations. In the end TWHBEA purchased 50 box seats to be used in a membership drive and mass mailed this to thousands of people. The result is that we sold all of the intended memberships and brought more than 300 additional people to the Celebration this year.

I hope that rather than continuing to bicker in the media and amongst ourselves, those of us who manage industry organizations will try to work together to find similar common ground. We have made only small steps and we have many giant leaps to make before we achieve real change in the status quo of our industry.

So rather than dismissing people whose thoughts differ from our own, we should all be spending more time working together to help restore our breed’s image. We invite your conversation and hope you will join the dialogue of affecting positive change in this industry rather than blasting those who are working to preserve it.

Sincerely,

Chuck Cadle

Executive Director

TWHBEA