Lexington, KY (November 24, 2010) - The United States Dressage Federation (USDF) will present a Lifetime Achievement Award to John ‘Jack’ Kimball and Judith Noone at the Salute Gala & Annual Awards Banquet on December 3, 2010, at the Adequan/USDF National Convention & Symposium in Jacksonville, FL. These two recipients have shown a lifetime of dedication to USDF through volunteering, and developing programs, projects, and committees that have contributed to USDF's mission. They also have a long history of membership in USDF.

The late John “Jack” Kimball, of McIntosh, FL, was an active volunteer with USDF from its beginnings in 1973 until his death in June 1996. Kimball was a founding member of USDF, served on several USDF committees, including Technical Delegates, Symposium Organizing, and Show Management, served as USDF Region 3 Director from 1979-1987, was a well-known American Horse Shows Association (now US Equestrian Federation) “R” dressage judge and technical delegate, and helped a number of USDF Group Member Organizations (GMOs) get off the ground. These included the Florida Dressage Society which is one of USDF’s first charter GMOs for which he served as an official representative at the inaugural USDF meeting.

Judith Noone, of Abington, MA, has given countless hours of her time and expertise to the sport of dressage and to USDF. Noone is known as a champion for youth in dressage as demonstrated by her proposal, in 1978, of a junior/young rider program to her GMO, the New England Dressage Association (NEDA) which resulted in years of collaboration on free weekly youth clinics and Junior/Young Rider dressage camps. Because of her dedication to youth and dressage, USDF founder and inaugural Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame inductee Lowell Boomer asked Noone to helm a USDF Junior/Young Rider program and in 1983, she officially became the chair of the new Junior/Young Rider Program Committee. Under her leadership, the committee went on to develop education grant programs, produce the three-part educational video series Just for Juniors, introduce the Junior/Young Rider Executive Board (not the Youth Programs Advisory Subcommittee), and founded the USDF Youth Regional Team Competitions.

USDF President George Williams said, “These two promoters of dressage were pioneers. They helped to lay the groundwork for where dressage is in this country today. The young people who benefited from Judy's early projects have grown up and are helping another generation of youth. Florida has exploded from that first recognized show Jack help organize. It is easy to forget it wasn't always like it is now. The Lifetime Achievement Awards allow us the opportunity to not only recognize their tireless efforts but also thank them in a very public way for helping build our dressage way of life."

For more information about the USDF Lifetime Achievement Award and the Roemer Foundation/USDF Hall of Fame, visit the USDF Web site at www.usdf.org or contact the USDF office at [email protected].

Founded in 1973, the United States Dressage Federation is a nonprofit membership organization dedicated to education, recognition of achievement, and promotion of dressage. For more information about USDF membership or programs, visit www.usdf.org, e-mail [email protected], or call (859) 971-2277.