PRESS RELEASE FROM MASON-DIXON ATHLETIC CLUB
On behalf of the Mason-Dixon Athletic Club, I send you holiday greetings, a heartfelt “Thank You” and a sincere appeal.
On a cold winter night, Saturday, February 18, 1961, a “world class” indoor track and field competition came to Louisville, Kentucky at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center in the arena known as Freedom Hall. Through the hard planning of four men who organized the Kentuckiana Cinder Club (later renamed the Mason-Dixon Athletic Club), the late A.B. “Happy” Chandler, the Kentucky State Fair Board and an aggressive fund raising campaign by the club to purchase a new track, the Mason-Dixon Games became a “Kentucky Tradition”.
Throughout the past 53 years, the Mason-Dixon Athletic Club is proud of the fact that the Games welcomed middle and high school athletes that participated in the Games and later received scholarship offers many of whom went on to star with their college teams and several who made our Olympic track and field team. And who can forget the competitions between the major college teams and clubs as well as the well known elite athletes and Olympians that participated in the Games.
In 1995, due to the escalating cost of bringing in elite athletes and college teams, the Games committee was faced with the decision to restructure its meet or to discontinue the Games. The MDG Committee decided to continue on with the Games by making it a state indoor championship for middle and high school and later competition events were added for Master and Open athletes which allowed some unattached collegiate athletes to participate and in some instances their performances became a Mason-Dixon Games exhibition event.
Even though the spectator numbers have not been as large as the beginning stages of the Games, I want to sincerely extend my “Thanks” to the athletes, coaches, athletic directors, and most of all the parents for your support of the Mason-Dixon Games.
On August 2, 2013, the MDG Committee met with the President and CEO of the Kentucky State Fair Board, Clifford “Rip” Rippetoe and members of his staff. At this meeting we were informed of their concerns of the condition of the track. Mind you, this is the same wooden track many had competed on since 1961. They felt that the track had become unsafe to continue the Games creating a potential liability issue for them and MDAC. It was suggested that the Games be held at a different location that has an indoor track or postpone the Games until a new track could be purchased. The Fair Board and the MDAC has received a bid from a well known manufacturer of tracks, indoor and outdoor, but there were no state or local funds available to proceed forward.
After further discussion at this meeting between the KEC and the MDAC Games Committee and the recent decision of the University of Kentucky athletic department (after the dedicated assistance of Coach Don Weber) informing the Games committee that their indoor track facility will not be available for use for the 54th Annual Charles M. Ruter Mason-Dixon Games, it has been decided by the MDAC Games Committee that the 54th Annual Charles M. Ruter Mason-Dixon Games will not be held in 2014. It was a hard decision to make for both parties as the Mason-Dixon Games is one of the oldest booked events with the KEC. However, the committee will be working faithfully and diligently to return in 2015. The committee wants to make you aware that this is the not the first time the Mason-Dixon Games or Games committee had to make a decision – ending the 37th Annual Mason-Dixon Games early due to the 1997 flood in Louisville, the snow storm cancelling the 2008 (48th) Games, and the 2011 (51st) Games due a tornado almost cancelling the Friday night competition.
Our (the Mason-Dixon Athletic Club and Games Committee) appeal to you is please stay faithful along with us as we embark towards a new beginning. This is not the end of a “Kentucky Tradition”, but we are striving toward a new era of indoor track and field in Kentucky whether it be middle and high school, collegiate, or professional. We are not only asking for your continued support, but your prayers as well. With those two hand in hand, I’m sure that through God’s will the Mason-Dixon Games will be back stronger than ever. I would like to share an inspirational thought with you – “This setback is just a set up for a comeback”.