The Rise and Fall, The Re-birth. The following article is the fourth and final in a series about the history of our organization. Sundance 500 International. In the three previous articles we explored the origins and founders of our organization, the early years of Sundance 500 Intvernational when it expaned to a worldwide oganization, the period of struggle following Mary Manley's death. This last article covers the time period from late 1992 until the present. During this decade, many different people served in leadership positions as the Board struggled to resolve organizational and financial crises. This series of articles was written to give the membership an overview of how Sundance 500 International began and has survived in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary in 2003. It also provides a brief historical record of the organization for the future Appaloosa enthusiast. We hope you have enjoyed the articles.
PART FOUR - The Rise
Sundance 500 International entered the 1990's with a solid membership base of approximately 200 members and continued to have consistent newsletter publications. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw internal struggles among Sundance 500 International leaders but the membership was growing steadily. As the organization moved into the 1990s it seemed unable to break the patter of internal organizational turmoil as some officers and directors filed complaints and threats against others. One director was unjustly accused of acquring Sundance 500 property that was actually personal property purchased from old Appaloosa breeders. Other members filed complaints against the editor and some of the officers and directors.
As Sundance 500 International entered 1993, Gene Carr was serving as President, Elaine Whitworth was Acting Secretary and Jane Kilberg continued as Newsletter Editor. The organization began a "revitalized stllion and sales listing" known as Sundance Resources, which was to be updated quarterly. Once a horse was listed, the intent was that it would remain listed indefinitely for the initial fee. Gene Carr was inducted into the POA Hall of Fame and there was a reprint of the POA article. These historical type articles became labeled as "a bit of history" and were very popular with the membership. Gene Carr submitted an article on inbreeding. Betty Pumpiam, an ApHC director, submitted reports to Sundance 500 International about the Appaloosa Horse Club.
The March 1993 newsletter featured a picture of Double Jay Flashdance of Australia, a grandson of Unaka Sun. In May, the third annual photo show had 81 entries. The Sundance Share-an-ad in Appaloosa Journal occurred at least once a year. The newsletter continued to include mnay letters from members, ads, opinion pieces and ApHC news. Along the way the focus of the newsletter changed directions. The editor had allowed the newsletter to evolve away from a Sundance 500 and foundation focus and towards wht was label an Appaloosa Appreciation Society, and more of an ApHC watchdog.
In November 1993, the organization had a roster of 128 Sundance memberships with 311 actual members. The first Sundance Newsletter index was published in December of 1993. It consisted of an index of the articles published in the Newsletter from 1989 through 1993. This provided a great list of information on various Appaloosas, and a quick way to locate a favorite article.
In March 1994, the Board of Directors approved the idea to nominate Sundance F500 to the ApHC Hall of Fame. The nomination was successful and Sundance F-500 joined others in the ApHC Hall of Fame. The newsletter continued to be the centerpiece of the organization and began to use cardstock covers for the first time. Members continued to support the newslettr with letters, articles, viewpoints, ads, and stallion service donations. There were many photo shows. Jane Kilberg reported in July 1994 that the 93-94 Sundance Directory was distributed to 2000 people.
The mebmership continued to grow - in August 1994 the membership rooster was at 298 with total actual members of 386; by September those numbers had grown to 311 members with 409 total members and by October 1994 the membership had reached 325 with 425 actual individual members. (Sundance 500 International's past historic record high membership was reached in 1980 at 415 members.) Member input to the newsletter continued to be strong throughout this period. The membership base continued to grow.
Elaine Whitworth resigned as Secretary/Treasurer in early 1995. The focus of the Newsletter appeared to shift somewhat, from information on foundation Appaloosas to more information to ApHC news. Carol Blair became the new secretary in March of 1995 and by July the membership had grown to 349, with 470 total individual members. By December, the membership had grown to 412, with 543 total members.
There was some turmoil within the Sundance 500 International Board of Directors during 1995. In light of some charges filed with ApHC, the Board was asked to participate in a "vote of confidence in Jane Kilberg as editor." In September it was reported that the Board supported Jane and she continued as Editor, but President Carr warned that a lawsuit against Sundance 500 International could bankrupt the organization. Jane filed a complaint against a director, which would have resulted in the member's permanent expulsion from Sundance 500 International. A special committee was appointed by the Board, which ultimately decided not to expel the director. Amends were made and the director was reinstated.
Carol Blair announced in January 1996 that she was resigning as Secretary, but would continue until a replacement could be found. She recommended that the Newsletter, which had grown to 60-80 pages per issue, be shortened. There wee two candidates for Secretary/Treasurer and one for Editor. The Board was asked to review and provide feedback on the Newsletter in light of allegations of over editing.
Karen Kirton became the new Secretary/Treasurer. President Carr asked that membership think about how others in the Appaloosa world view Sundance 500 International. He said, "It is very imprtant that the founding principles of the orginal members be carried on. The Newsletter was not meant to be The National Appaloosa Inquirier. It was founded to promote the SD500 bloodline and work with the ApHC." There was a motion to have a Newsletter Committee and to limit the term for an Editor to three years, with periodic reviews. There was a second motion to survey members regarding the newsletter and to study the mebership by region. The April 1996 issue of the Newsletter requested applications for Editor. There was much disenchantment by some members because of where the roganization was headed. Many felt Sundance was not adhering to the founding principles of the organization, and was being taken down a different and unacceptable path.
In May of 1996, the newsletter included a special edition Sundance Photo Show. There were 125 entries. During this time Sundance 500 Internationa was trying to maintain the current membership and manage the enormous organization it had become.
The organization's bank balance was over $11,000 in June of 1996. In August, the balance was just over $10,000 and in September it was $9300. It was to be the beginning of the downward spiral of Sundance 500 funds. A part of this is due to the changing of the Newsletter's method of printing. There were other reasons as well, including excessive phone bills, and lack of membership advertising which is the basic support of the newsletter.
Gala Argent served as President from April to August 1996. Gala attempted to get Sundance 500 Internatoinal organized and back to normal, but after several months resigned effective August 29, 1996. In November, the organization boasted a membership of 525, with 700 total members. There was a motion by the Board of Directors to remove Jane Kilberg as Editor, which failed. A new president was not elected until December. Arita Harwood became the next Sundance 500 President. There were several new additions to te Board to fill vacancies, Lisa Banks and Fred mcLaughlin joined the Board. There was a membership of 562, with 751 total members. The Board approved an Organization Task Force to prepare a written set of Interdepartmentally synchronized procedural guidelines for the smooth operation of Sundance 500 International.
