PRESS RELEASE 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – January 16, 2014 

DRAFT HORSE CLASSIC COMMERCIAL, CREATED BY LOCAL VIDEOGRAPHER, RECEIVES FIRST PLACE AWARD Commercial and Video Documentation recognized in Fair industry

The Nevada County Fairgrounds received a first place award in the Annual Western Fairs Association’s (WFA) Achievement Awards Program for its Draft Horse Classic television commercial and for the video documentation of the Draft Horse Classic.  The 30-second commercial, as well as the 3-minute video documentation, was created for the Nevada County Fairgrounds by Mike Kerson of Video Mike Productions in Napa. Both the commercial and the video were created to feature the splendor of the Draft Horses and to highlight the Draft Horse Classic, which is held annually in September at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley.

At this year’s WFA Achievement Awards Program, offered to recognize excellence in the industry and to share fair ideas and programs, the Nevada County Fairgrounds competed against more than 25 Fairs with similar attendance numbers within the Western United States and Canada. 

The Western Fairs Association is a non-profit trade association serving the Fair industry throughout the Western United States and Canada. Currently, WFA serves more than 130 of the finest fairs in North America, including 75 member fairs operating under California statute.

“Video Mike” is best known locally as Michael Kerson, co-founder and Executive Director of Vine Village, Inc., a 501( c )(3) non-profit organization serving people with special needs. However, the “other” Mike Kerson is a passionate and prolific independent film-maker. He is a frequent contributor to RFD-TV’s “Rural Heritage” television series, with his historical and equine-themed subjects, ranging from horse-powered hay making in Montana to the popular Bishop Mule Days Celebration in Bishop. CA. He filmed and produced two local history videos for Preservation Napa Valley, and will be returning this fall to film the World Percheron Congress. More about Video Mike Productions is available at www.video-mike.com.

The 2014 Draft Horse Classic, known as the premier Draft Horse Show in the western United States, is September 18 – 21 at the Nevada County Fairgrounds in Grass Valley. The event spotlights a variety of horses, teams, rigs and performances; featuring everything from farm wagons, carriages, and driving competitions to dancing horses and racing mules.  The stars of the show are the horses, and with more than 120 horses stabled on the grounds, the Classic offers a unique chance to observe them in a multitude of settings. For information about the Draft Horse Classic, visit NevadaCountyFair.com.