The Walking Horse Trainers’ Association recently declared July 10, 2012, Bedford County Merchant Day and sold T-shirts and signs to merchants in Shelbyville and Bedford County. You can already drive through Shelbyville and see the green signs which signify support of the Tennessee Walking Horse and its impact on Bedford County.
 
With the monies raised through Merchant Day as well as recent phone banks and fundraising efforts by members of the WHTA, the total raised thus far is $66,000.  Randall and Sadie Baskin generously agreed to match up to $100,000 that the WHTA raises. The monies will be used to fund the WHTA Enforcement Initiative, also known as the swabbing initiative. This initiative utilizes gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technology.
 
Merchant Day raised over $8,000 toward the goal and the WHTA would like to thank Susan Coleman for coordinating the event and all the hard work she put into it. A special thank you also goes out to those volunteers who helped on July 10, 2012. Those individuals included Rodney Dick, Philip Trimble, Heather and Brad Beard, Winky and Shelia Groover, Julie Lambert, Jill Derickson, Maria Derickson Bobo, Bill Callaway, Jeff Green, Lynn Womack, Kim Wilson, Link Webb, Dee Cantrell, Becky Woodruff and Marcia Allison.