Even Mother Nature expressed her generosity by providing a beautiful day for the Benefit Barrel race for Children with Autism on May 4th. $6000 was raised for the Somerset Hills Learning Institute in Gladstone, NJ. "The entire event couldn't have turned out any better," said show organizer Dawn DeRosa. "The outpouring of support was overwhelming."

A total of 99 entries took part in the day's activities, which included barrel racing, polebending, and silent auction. Delicious home cooked food was available throughout the day.

Donna and Rick Hogan of Sunset Stables hosted the event at their beautiful new facility. Awesome ground conditions were provided and the contestants benefited due to the hard work put in by Ralph Reo.

There were 60 riders in the $1000 added Open 3D barrel race with Stan Wdzieczkowski of Woodstown, NJ taking top honors riding 'Copy One Jet' stopping the timers in 14.408 seconds Stan took home a nice healthy check in the amount of $423 for his efforts. Winning the 2D division was Jesse Longmuir of Jackson, NJ with a time of 15.454 riding Lucky Aquisition. Taking home the 3D division first place check of $ 207 was Kathi Myers from Pedricktown, NJ riding her horse 'Shawnee Tee'.

The Youth 3D barrels, with $200 added thanks to sponsor Wall/Jackson Storage, saw 19 riders in competition. Jesse Longmuir secured the first place 1D win riding her other horse Falcon Hawk with a time of 14.392. Winning the 2D division was Emily Suydam with a time of 15.516 and the 3D division winner was Jessica Imbriaca riding Mystic Raine.

The polebending class saw 20 riders contesting the Jackpot 2D event. Jesse Longmuir stayed on Falcon Hawk and won the 1D division and the 2D division winner was Joy Lynn Fredericks riding L.A. Superstar.

The highlight of the day was the Pee Wee class with a huge 14 entries. Children 8 years and under had the chance to compete just like the big kids. All the pee wees received a blue ribbon donated by Keifers Awards in West Belmar, NJ in addition to a bag full of toys and goodies.
Keifers Awards also donated the beautiful plaque presented to Donna and Rick Hogan of Sunset Stables for hosting the event.

"It was quite evident that the supporters in attendance were there for one reason, to raise as much money as we could for the kids," said Dawn. " Judy Hinnant and her family from Pemberton, NJ put together their own fundraiser and presented a check for $375 for the cause. The generosity continued all day. Sometimes it leaves you speechless!"

"Of course, this event could not have been a success without the tremendous support of all our sponsors. We would like to extend a special thank you to the following for the endless dedication that day: the DeRosa and Nilsen family for providing all the delicious food available all day, Jill Nilsen for handling the silent auction table, Willy Bear for his untiring hard work all day, Pam Huxford our announcer, Vern Packard for providing the speaker system, timers and scoreboard for all of us to enjoy, and all our friends and family that volunteered their Sunday to support this wonderful event." Kersti Mannik and her Speed Wizard Computerized timing needs to be acknowledged with keeping the show running like a clock. Let us now forget all the hard working volunteers who helped make this show such a success.

A very special thank you goes to Michelle Centanni and Sue Simpson for going over the call of duty in securing sponsors for this event. At this time we would like to acknowledge all of our sponsors.

Results

Open 3D Barrels $1000 Added
60 Entries

1D
1. Stan Wdziedzkowski - 14.408 - $423.00
2. Rienne Longo - 14.448 - $317.00
3. Mickey Zdanuk - 14.550 - $212.00
4. Kristen Blanda - 14.557 - $106.00