Whither The Days Of Real Sport?

During this year's Days of Real Sport, this writer was told by a worried of­ficial that if Walla Walla and Tri-Cities were to end their pari-mutuel horse racing this year or next-a real possibility-the days of thoroughbred racing at the fairgrounds would end. What to do? Reinvent the event? My thinking:

Building on the upcom­ing Days of Real Sport's Centennial, organize-very soon-a Waitsburg 2013 Committee with 50-75 members, representing as many relevant interests, talents, resources and con­stituencies as possible. For example, the Days of Real Sport board, Lions Club, City Government, Waitsburg Historical So­ciety,

Waitsburg Livestock Fair board, Waitsburg Community Revitalization Committee, the Grange, the Ports of Walla Walla and Columbia, the Walla Wal­la Conservation District, The Times, Blue Mountain RCD, and all interested citizens. That's a starter list. Now that the Days of 2010 are over, somehow a core group comes together over once-a-week break­fast meetings, moving to twice-a-week-or nothing is going to happen. As the core group gains more con­fidence in what it's about, membership expands with larger meetings, and things begin to flow. Put the future of Waitsburg at the center of planning, but keep the Days of Real Sport's Centennial a real focus, the benchmark. If it can be fully reinvented by its 2013 Centennial, anything is possible. But don't end with Days of Real Sport. That's just the trigger event. Waitsburg 2013 might evolve into a full-fledged, public-private partnership (P3), incorporating into an umbrella non-profit organi­zation, an IRS 501(c)(3). It could thus raise and man­age grant money. The Main Street USA organizational model would be useful. Or maybe a co-op.

Two important points: First, market regionally and professionally, from the outset. Somehow hire a marketing firm. An effec­tive,

professional marketing effort is key to the success of a business development strategy. Second, Waitsburg owns the Days of Real Sport, not today's keepers of the flame-the board of directors. Therefore, the whole town must be involved in decisions con­cerning

its future, a lesson never learned, by the way, by the blinkered Pendleton Round-Up.

Four considerations for the Days of Real Sport: 1. Embrace the probable end of pari-mutuel racing in Waitsburg. Just a matter of time. Given that not many people are interested in it any more and most observ­ers

and participants see thoroughbred racing itself as a dying sport (New York Times, June 5, 2010: "A Beautiful Sport, an Ugly In­dustry")-

breath in, breath out, move on. Think in­stead, family fun. 2. Embrace the corollary that racing of ALL kinds works better: cowboy vs Indian horse races, drop-of-a-hat quarter-horse rac­ing (not pari-mutuel) and two-mile thoroughbred races (bring spectacle and "long" horses back into racing!), Indian tribal relay horse races, women's horse relay racing, mule races, kids pony races (helmet re­quired),

barrel racing, kids foot races, dachshund races, and bicycle races! A Noah's Ark Race? Invent a Western form of steeplechase rac­ing? (Think cavalry charg­ing past a great lawn party.) What else?

3. Invite the Confeder­ated Umatilla Tribes for an Indian Teepee Encamp­ment.

Waitsburg land, after all, was originally included in the 1855 Reservation. It was later taken away ("ceded"). The Tribes must be part of the Homecoming. The Cayuse tribal name for this area was Wiyeléhtpa. 4. Think Rodeo! Just an event or two, NOT an entire rodeo. (By the way, horse racing is a much older Western event than rodeo, going back in this area to the 1830s.) Beyond bar­rel racing, think women in rough stock competition or exhibition, something like an "Inland Empire Cowgirls Bucking Championship." That would garner HUGE regional, if not national, public interest. Remember, in the 1920s women were the stars of rodeo. And they have been pretty much locked out since the Pend­leton

Round-Up of 1929. But there are cowgirl rough stock riders around. Find them. Pioneer.