2009 TWHBEA Executive Committee

By Jeffrey Howard

LEWISBURG, Tenn. – The newly elected executive committee held their first meeting after the conclusion of the National Board of Directors meeting at the Tennessee Walking Horse Breeders’ and Exhibitors’ Association (TWHBEA).  With nine returning members, the continuity helped the group get right to business.

David Pruett, President, welcomed the new members to the executive committee.  “Welcome and congratulations to you on your election.  There is a lot of work ahead of you,” said Pruett.  New members of the executive committee included Robert Thomas, Kasey Kesselring, Wayne Dean, Kathy Zeis and Rick Womack.
 
The first order of business was to rescind the motion made in the earlier executive committee meeting which required members of the executive and standing committees to sign a code of conduct.  This code came under fire in the national board meeting.  Members were concerned that this code was passed without any input from the board.  Debra Jack agreed with that position and told the national board that it would be rescinded which the new executive committee did as its first order of business.
 
This led to another motion made by Jack that asked for the code of conduct to be sent to the membership via email and the TWHBEA web site seeking comments to be returned before January 5, 2009.  The executive committee will review these comments and come to a resolution when they meet again on January 10, 2009.
 
The executive committee is also looking into the possibility of giving a Tennessee Walking Horse to the children of Barack Obama, President elect, as an inauguration gift.  Always looking for ways to promote the Tennessee Walking Horse, the group felt this would be a good way to expose the nation to the beauty and grace of the Tennessee Walking Horse.
 
A lengthy discussion was also conducted regarding the funding of the Best of America by Horseback advertisement.  Joyce Moyer, past VP Marketing, visited the new executive committee to ask them to continue this advertisement.  The total advertisement that Best of America by Horseback and Tom Seay are seeking from TWHBEA is $22,000 however some committee members questioned the visibility received by TWHBEA for this amount.  Others in support of the promotion questioned whether funds were available to support this promotion.
 
After the discussion it was decided that Joyce Moyer would try and continue to negotiate with Tom Seay as well as look for sponsorships to help fund the initiative.  Kesselring told Moyer he would match a $5,000 donation from Western States which if they donated $5,000 would get $10,000 of the $22,000 required.
 
The meeting ended in executive session to continue the earlier executive session that was not finished because of time.  The previous executive committee cut their meeting short to attend the national board meeting but had not resolved all the matters under the executive session privileges.