Horse Pull Coming Back to Hinsdale

Hinsdale American Legion Post 1434 will be bringing back a little bit of Hinsdale’s past on Sunday July 3^rd. The Legion will be hosting the “1^st Annual Don Kent Memorial Horse Pull”. The pull will be held at the Hinsdale American Legion on NYS Route 16, adjacent to the historic Genesee Canal Lock 101. During the past several months a small committee Legion members and Son’s of the American Legion have been following through with former Legionnaire Al Chambers’ dream to bring horse pulling back to Hinsdale. Mr. Chambers, a veteran, former Legion and County Commander and Ischua Town Supervisor died unexpectedly this past April. The horse pull memorializes Don Kent a lifelong resident of Hinsdale. Decades ago Don Kent was the voice of horse pulls in Hinsdale and throughout the Southern Tier.

The horse pull will feature both light weight (up to 3,400 lbs.) and heavy weight classes (over 3,400 lbs.). The pull will offer one of the highest prize payouts in New York State. Spectators should expect to see some of the top pulling teams from throughout northeast including teams from New York State, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Spectators will have an opportunity to participate in a Calcutta auction of the pulling teams to win some cash prizes. In addition to the pulling event, there will be free activities for children including a bounce house, pony rides and a boot round up. There will be food concessions including bison sandwiches from the Maple Ridge Bison Ranch, pulled pork, hotdogs, hamburgers and legal beverages.

The purpose of the event is twofold. The proceeds from the event will be distributed to benefit both the Hinsdale American Legion and the Wounded Warriors’ Leek Hunting and Mountain Preserve. The Leek Preserve offers our disable veterans opportunities to participate in outdoor recreational activities in a completely accessible and supportive environment. There are currently over 2.9 million disabled veterans living in the United States. During the past decade thousands of our servicemen and women have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with physical disabilities that limit the range of activities they can enjoy. For additional information visit www.leekpreserve.org.

Gates will open at 12:00 p.m. and the event will begin promptly at 1:00 p.m. Admission is $8.00 per person or spectators may purchase a $10.00 ticket for admission and the chance to win $800.00 in prizes. Children under 12 are free. For those who have never seen a horse pull, this is certainly an event you won’t want to miss. For additional information contact Jeff Goodyear (716-640-2886), Jeff VanDeCar (716-557-2010) or Rich and Darcy Giberson (716-968-8490).