The Story of
Sundance '500' International
The following article is the third in a series about the history of our organization, Sundance 500 International. A series of articles will be printed in subsequent Sundance 500 International newsletters. In 2003, Sundance 500 International will celebrate its 30th birthday. The four articles will be written in chronological order to best tell the history of the organization from its early conceptual beginnings, the association, the incorporation, growth and collapse, and the recent rebirth. Each article will be written in approximate ten-year segments, with the final article to coincide with the 30th Anniversary celebration of Sundance 500 International. Several different authors will be contributing to these pieces and the articles will focus on the people who made up the organization during those periods of time. Sundance 500 has weathered many storms of the past and has survived because of the determined "Sunny" spirit of its members and directors.
PART THREE  - A Time of Struggling to Survive

The following article is the third in the series about the history of our organization, Sundance 500 International. This article covers the time period from 1985 to 1992 during which the leadership changed hands several times after Mary Manley's death on March 9, 1985. The leadership of Sundance 500 International at the start of 1986 consisted of Frank Scripter as President, John L. Baker as Vice President and Kathy Maynard as Secretary, Treasurer and Editor. Mary Manley had held the position of Secretary, Treasurer and Editor for twelve years and with her death Sundance 500 International had suffered a great loss to the organization
both emotionally and structurally. During the next seven years, many changes occur inside of our organization. The following article represents a chronological record of how the officers of Sundance 500 International resolved the problems at hand and were able to continue forward. Most of the information was gathered from Sundance 500 Newsletters and some information collected from firsthand experiences of past officers. The intention is to present a summary of what happened as it was recorded in the newsletters.


Sundance 500 International Suffers Setback

Mary Manley's death was a loss to Sundance 500 International. Many members were saddened by the death and the organization also was suffering. The announcement of her death was made in the brief 2 page March 1985 newsletter, and later the 3 page April newsletter contained a
very emotional tribute to her written by Missy Amrein [see Sundance Newsletter July-August 2002, page 20]. Following Mary's death, there was a void in activity with Sundance 500 International until September 1985 when a new Secretary /Treasurer was appointed.  Chardy Shealy, a past president of Sundance, says that Mary "had not made provision for an orderly transfer of the Sundance 500 business," and "the organization suffered one of its major crises at the time of her death" because of that.

Kathy Maynard of Vermont also agreed to serve as the newsletter editor and issued a four page status report in September 1985. This status report refers to this period as a "time of confusion" and thanks the members for their patience.

Sundance 500 International members had been accustomed to getting their regular newsletter, which provided them a source of both Appaloosa and ApHC information. The first official newsletter following Mary's death was published in the October-November time frame, just in time for the 12th anniversary of the organization. Kathy Maynard, also an artist, illustrated this issue. This issue also included a copy of Sundance F500's ApHC registration papers and called for nominations for new directors. Our organization was trying to maintain the previous standards that Mary Manley had set, but struggled to keep the pace.

The next newsletter issued in January 1986 included a ballot for director elections. Kathy had drawn and printed some note cards and made these available to the membership. The newsletter stated that the March issue would be a tribute to Mary Manley and also the stallion issue, and that the 1985 stallion list would be reprinted. Kathy requested that members send in updates for the stallion list.

Unfortunately there was not a March 1986 newsletter issued, but there was an undated newsletter printed sometime during 1986. This was recently determined when researching the newsletter archives and a copy of this newsletter was found. This issue indicated that the newsletter had not been distributed due to a printer malfunction and offered free 1987 membership to anyone who had paid 1986 dues. At that point Sundance 500 International fully realized the magnitude of what Mary Manley had done for twelve years. Frank Scripter was acting President and realized that Sundance 500 International must take action.


Sundance President Frank Scripter with Solar Flair Eclat in the early 1980s
Emergency Action

The next newsletter was published in February-March 1987 with the help of Gretchen Hanks at Frank Scripter's request. There was no further word to the membership until September 1987 when Gretchen Hanks was temporarily appointed as Secretary, Treasurer, and Editor and a short
newsletter was sent to members. The newsletter apologized for the "unfortunate silence of Sundance 500" and asked that members continue their support for Sundance 500 International because "SD 500 still has a place in the Appaloosa world." The moving words of Gretchen also asked for the membership's help: "The Silence is now a bad memory. Sundance 500 is alive and will need your support." Help had arrived, but it was almost too late.

The October 1987 newsletter published Frank Scripter's letter to Kathy Maynard calling for her resignation and informing the membership that Sundance 500 International would not die under his watch. There were other letters further explaining to the membership what was happening
with the organization. Jane Kilberg wrote a letter asking that Peggy Lopez be appointed as the "next Mary Manley" and stating that Jane and Peggy had new ideas to rebuild the organization. There were statements from members who wished to run for the Board of Directors. It consisted
of the stallion service auction and a few ads. The November-December 1987 newsletter was issued by Gretchen Hanks, and was the last newsletter that she was to publish for a few years.