Editorial

It should come to the surprise of no one that the annual Tournament of Champions, which was held last week in Palgrave, was a wonderful event.

It was made so, in part, by the tremendous efforts of the numerous volunteers who offered their time, energies and talents to the cause. As well, the crowds were out too, and that is essential to any event being a success. In fact, what is the point of holding something like Tournament of Champions if no one shows up.

Luck came into play a bit too, as it would have been very hard to beat the weather for the show.

Of great importance is the charities that are represented and supported by the tournament, including the Children's Wish Foundation, CARD (the Community Association for Riding for the Disabled) and the Kids & Horses Foundation, all of which benefit from funds raised at the show.

And then there were the competitors, who provided much of the entertainment.

Indeed, we were in luck this year, in that we had recently crowned Olympic medalists on hand to make the occasion all the more special. Three of the members of Canada's silver medal show jumping team, King City resident Mac Cone, along with Jill Henselwood and Ian Millar, were on hand to receive the acclaim of the audience. True, it would have been nice if Schomberg's Eric lamaze had been there too. Alas, there are other competitive demands placed on one when he wins a individual gold medal in the Olympics, and they required Lamaze to be in France at the time, competing in the $200,000 Grand Prix of Deauville, in which he finished second, just a quarter of a second off the pace set by the winner, Daniel Deusser of Germany, in the second round.

Despite the absence of Lamaze, it was a moving event, made more so by the appearance of 1968 Olympic gold medalists Jim Elder, Tom Gayford and Jim Day. And then there was the appearance of of Krysta LaPointe, 13, of Sudbury, who was this year's recipient of a horse through the Children's Wish Foundation.

The horse was just one of her wishes. Another was to be photographed with the Olympians.

As they lined up for the picture, Millar, in an act of class that symbolized the whole event, quickly took his silver medal from around his neck and hung it around the neck of this young woman.

It was certainly a moment she will never forget. Indeed, it's hard to believe anyone witnessing it will ever forget it.