HOSPICE OF THE EMERALD COAST BENEFITS BY

HORSE SHOW

 

 

The Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show and Music Festival Board of Directors, and Todd Fisher, Executive Director are proud to contribute $20,000.00 to Hospice of the Emerald Coast which serves Bay, Calhoun, Escambia, Gulf, Holmes, Jackson, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Washington counties in Northwest Florida.   The donation will be presented to Hospice by Philip Griffitts, President, Cathy Williams, Vice President, Don Shafer, Treasurer, Ben Lee, Secretary and Todd Fisher, Executive Director at Hospice of the Emerald Coast offices located at 2925 Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd on November 7, 2006 at 3:30 p.m. 

 

Fifteen hundred families in Northwest Florida with members who are terminally ill will be helped this year by Hospice of The Emerald Coast. The Hospice philosophy of care is committed to fulfilling both patient and family needs.  Hospice of the Emerald Coast provides care for individuals who have a life threatening illness and are no longer being treated for a cure.  Hospice of the Emerald Coast admits patients based on their health needs, not on their ability to pay. 

 

The Horse Show partnered with Hospice of the Emerald Coast to provide the much-needed services necessary to produce the 2006 Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show and Music Festival. The Hospice volunteers did an excellent job in helping to put on the show, staffing, organizing parking, ticketing, promotions, entries, ground decoration, etc.  The volunteers really took pride in their work and deserve much credit for the Horse Show’s continued success. The Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show & Music Festival would like to thank Hospice of the Emerald Coast for all their hard work and dedication during the 2006 event. “Since the inception of The Gulf Coast Horse Show and Music Festival our organization has donated more than $600,000.00 to charities in Northwest Florida. Of this amount, $205,100.00 has been donated to Hospice of the Emerald Coast over the past 8 years.  Additionally, during this week an estimated 4.9 million dollar impact is felt from this event every year by our local economy.  We are happy to do our part for our community. Working with an outstanding organization like Hospice of the Emerald Coast makes it all worthwhile.  Our whole purpose is to have a quality event for Northwest Florida and to raise money for charity organizations, enhance education and expose people to different breeds of horses.  Each year we have fulfilled our goal”, says Todd Fisher, Executive Director of the Gulf Coast Horse Show and Music Festival. 

 

 

The Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show and Music Festival is in its 9th year and has already achieved many national awards including the highest awards a horse show can receive in this country.  In 1999, 2000, 2001 and 2002 the show was voted the “Best Multi-Day Show” in the country by the readers of the Walking Horse Report, one of the industry’s largest publications. In 2001 and 2002 the show was voted the “Best Multi Day Horse Show” in the country by the National Walking Horse Trainers Association.  In 1999, 2000, 2003 and 2004 the show was voted “Reserve Champion Multi-Day Horse Show of the Year” by the National Walking Horse Trainers’ Association of all the horse trainers in the country.  In 2001 the Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show and Music Festival won the “Emerald Award of Excellence in Show Management” by the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ and Exhibitors’ Association of all exhibitors and owners and again the “Best Multi-Day Horse Show” by the Trainers Association, beating one of the largest and oldest horse shows in the world.

 

The Gulf Coast Charity Horse Show and Music Festival is a charitable event that is always held the last full weekend of April in Panama City Beach, Florida.  This year’s event will be held at Frank Brown Park. The Horse Show traditionally has over 500 horses entering the show, some coming from as far away as California to compete.  The crowd is estimated at approximately 10,000 people per night attending the show.  It is a festival with great music, great food, art and merchandise vendors, amusement rides for the kids, a petting zoo, variety acts and more.

 

The 2007 event is planned for April 26th- 28th, 2007 at Frank Brown Park in Panama City Beach, Florida.

 

Anyone desiring information to attend this great event that benefits Northwest Florida and the Tennessee Walking Horse Industry should call the Gulf Coast Horse Show & Music Festival offices at (850) 914-9030 or the Panama City Beach Convention and Visitors Bureau at 1-800-PCBEACH.