New England Horsemen’s Council 2011 year end awards banquet, hosted this year by the Maine Horse Association and their committee members Jo Hight and Paulajean O’Neill, was held January 28, 2012 at the Portland Marriot at Sable Oaks in South Portland, ME.  Giving out over 100 beautiful awards including the USHJA Zone 1 Champions, the NEHC brought together exhibitors and horsemen from all over New England for a wonderful evening of networking, dining and dancing to a live band. Along with their awards, each Reserve Champion and Reserve received a gift of a NEHC horse registration for the coming year.

Taking over the reins this year from Joan Travers, the 2012 NEHC President, Sue Arthur, did an excellent job of organizing the event and keeping everything running smoothly.  New this year, the NEHC sponsored a ‘Meet and Greet’, offering an opportunity for exhibitors to meet with various Medal Committee members.

Representing the Huntseat Medal was New England Equitation Championships Liaison Beverly Gifford-Vars, and Olana Laffey who doubled as the USHJA Representative for zone one awards. The Western Medal Committee was the event organizer and was represented by Camille W. Pepin, Anne Messina, Ginny Kavannagh, Jim Mullaly, and for the Saddleseat Medal was Sherri Lampropoulos, Lillian Gillpin, and Katie and Sharron Alemian.

Seven past NEHC Presidents were in attendance, Joe Lombard, Carlton Chamberlin, Daniel K. Chamberlin, Marilyn Childs, Beverly Gifford-Vars, Joan Travers, and Liz Rooney, the first woman to be voted in as a NEHC President, and who received a lovely tribute for a lifetime of supporting the NEHC.

This year’s banquet started off with the Meet and Greet, followed by a social hour to catch up on everyone’s news, a delicious buffet dinner with choice of Chicken Forestiere, Baked Haddock, and Cheese Tortellini in Pomodoro Sauce, salad, mixed vegetables, and followed up with some serious chocolate cake.

As the award presentations progressed, a raffle organized by the Western Medal Committee and held as a fund raiser was drawn by ticket number giving winners a great group of prizes and gift baskets to choose from. The junior young ladies were all dressed in ‘evening chic’, creating quite the fashion show as they stood for their award pictures.

After the presentations, coats, ties, and shoes came off as the Brian Curtis Johnson band began to play on stage and had everyone up and dancing till the end of the evening. Over 175 exhibitors, trainers, and family members attended this year’s banquet and all agreed it was held in typical NEHC style creating a great atmosphere to celebrate the 2011 show champions!

For a complete list of all the year end awards, visit the NEHC web site at www.NEHC.info .