As we all know, competitions and associations could not happen without volunteers! Kudos to the follow volunteers recognized for achievements in 2020.
Carroll County Equestrian Council Volunteer of the Year
Since 1968 Lynda Arnold has been involved with horses in a variety of ways from horse showing to trail riding. From 2008 to 2013 she was the Horse Show Manager for the Carroll County Western Circuit, which holds its shows at the Carroll County Equestrian Center. She has been a member of the Carroll County Equestrian Council since 2008 and has been the Equestrian Center Manager since 2015. For all of her valuable contributions of her time, skills and talents, the Carroll County Equestrian Council named Arnold the 2020 Volunteer of the Year.
Carroll County Department of Recreation and Parks’ Volunteer Hall of FameGilbert and Janet Breeding have been inducted into the Carroll County Department of Recreation and Parks’ Volunteer Hall of Fame. The couple have been actively serving as volunteers for 45 years and continue to volunteer to this day. They worked with staff to install the first trail system at Piney Run and as part of the Trails Committee (later renamed the Carroll County Equestrian Council) they were instrumental in creating several multi-use trails including those at Union Mills and Gillis Falls. The Breedings are charter members of the Carroll County Equestrian Council. Janet has held the offices of Vice President, Secretary and Treasurer over the years. Together they have also volunteered to train other volunteers and trail users in safety, equipment use, forest conservation practices and stewardship.
US Eventing Association Volunteer Medal Program
In 2007, the USEA launched its Volunteer Medal Program to honor the people behind-the-scenes that keep the sport of eventing going. In 2020, seven volunteers earned their Bronze Medals logging in over 500 hours of volunteering. The following is the Bronze Medal list in order of most hours logged overall. As you can see… Maryland is full of dedicated volunteers!
- Diane Bird (SC)
- Michael Smallwood (MD)
- Art Bird (SC)
- Paige Ervin (MD)
- Angie Leihy (MD)
- Leah Fleming (MD)
- Cynthia Smith (GA)