Dear Editor:
She’s been shut out by a chain fence, watched her family mistreated, endured property damage and been betrayed by the modern members.
It was early summer in 1948 when Helen Ellett, an avid horsewoman had a vision. Many times she had thought about the joy of having a horse club, a club that consisted of great friends that shared horses and the joys of riding in common.
So the dream began. Helen, along with 11 close friends, put a plan together. Helen’s daughter, Connie Alderman, was also one of the Charter Members that helped add to the dream of a Grafton riding club. In addition to riding the local trails from Grafton to Pownal, VT, they also wanted to provide entertainment for the Grafton and neighboring communities. The core values of the club were simple – to enjoy the company of close friends with a shared interest in horses and to be respected by the residents of the community.
Club members worked from dawn to dusk to provide entertaining horse shows that were competitive, heart-stopping and fun for all! The shows started in the Barnhart field, owned by Sherman Barnhart, which soon became the property of Chet and Helen Ellett. Large groups of spectators filled the field to watch the horse shows. It wasn’t long before club members introduced Frontier Days. The show drew a full crowd of spectators all excited about the new annual Frontier Day event.
By 1950 the club became incorporated and the members were anxious to have a club owned meeting place. The wheels of progress began to churn! Once again Helen had a vision. She discussed the vision with her mother Frieda Babcock, and they talked about purchasing property so the club members could have a place to meet and plan community events. Frieda immediately recognized the passion the club members had and supplied them enough money to purchase the Barnhart property. Before long, Frieda helped them make the meeting place real by adding the Quonset hut structure as a club house.
For years the members worked tremendously hard to raise money for an arena to host the immensely popular shows. The popularity of the events was garnering overwhelming spectator turnouts. Riders, horses and spectators could be seen standing three deep around the wooden arena. Another event the club was involved in was parading. The club took great pride in parading with their groomed horses and matching western hats and matching tack. They paraded in Grafton, Berlin, Troy and Lansingburg and became known as a community based family organization that was welcome in every town. In addition to the shows and parades Helen and other members coordinated a ride from the club grounds to Williamstown, MA, where they tied their horses and set up camp to enjoy a few days being outside amongst friends.
For decades the club has had access to the club grounds by way of Helen Ellett’s driveway and for years Helen and Chet, and now family members, have invested thousands to maintain the driveway for the hundreds of vehicles, both members’ and non-members’, that travel on the narrow dirt driveway each month. In addition to the use of the driveway for years club members used her phone, borrowed cookware and other household items. Helen and her family have always tried to help the club in every way possible.
But, as with all dreams there comes a down side. The club continues the over the mountain ride to MA, and for each landowners property they cross along the route they offer the landowner a complimentary BBQ dinner for their family. This has been done for many, many years. Neither Helen nor Chet were ever offered a complimentary dinner. It was as if they never existed in the eyes of the more modern Grafton Trail Riders. The Ellett family works hard with a big expense to maintain the driveway for the hundreds of large trucks, logging equipment weighing upwards of 80,000 lbs., mowing equipment and very large horse/living quarter trailers that venture in. It wasn’t until 2010 that Helen’s son-in-law Dave made a motion to the club to include Helen in the complimentary BBQ dinner. That year Helen was invited, but they choose not to invite her daughter Connie Alderman, also a charter member and landowner. Today, no Grafton residents are officers or trustees of the club, all are from out of town and many out of the county. Club rules and decisions are based on a handful of out-of-towners who have a very different vision for the club. All that remains of local Grafton members is less than four out of the almost 100 members.
Today Helen is 98 years young and can still remember all the history of the Grafton Trail Riders. Helen loved to be chauffeured on the “giddy-up” golf cart to watch the show once or twice a season. Even that has ended due to the club refusing to allow her family to step foot on the grounds to chauffeur Helen. One, maybe two, present day members stop to say hello to Helen, but most have referred to her as “the old lady next door.” Recently the club has brought an end to Helen watching the horse events that she so enjoys as they have moved to prevent her granddaughter Linda and her son-in-law Dave to accompany her to the shows. And without family assistance Helen cannot walk alone. Due to the club having issues with the dumping of trailer holding tanks and for operating a campground against County code they have chosen to be disrespectful and hateful to Helen and her immediate family. They now drive recklessly through her property and consistently ignore our plea to slow down.
In this case, the evolution of a community based riding club has been discouraging for Helen Ellett, the club founder. As a family that grew up with horses in our every day life we are fortunate to share decades of riding and training horses. It is very unfortunate however that our club neighbors show such contempt for the family of Helen Ellett. They need not be so ungrateful but should feel fortunate to know that there was a horsewoman with such a vision, a vision that has provided them with almost a 100 acre dream, Helen’s dream. The “new” club members have been lucky enough to inherit that dream while eliminating her family from her dream.
Linda Laveway
Granddaughter of Helen
Route 2, Grafton