| Don
Davis from Lansing, Michigan might be best
known as the long time secretary/ treasurer of the Michigan Dynamometer
Assn.
Don served on the Michigan
Dynamometer Board of Directors from 1974 to 1983.
He was reelected in 1984 and has served as secretary/treasurer since then.
He
has been married for 31 years to Carlene. They have three children and two
grandchildren with one more on the way. All three children are
active with draft horses, having shown, raised or with the horsepulling.
Don is a self employed structural steel draftsman. He is now semi retired.
He is also a member of the Belgian Draft Horse Corporation as well as
having been on the board for the Michigan Great Lakes International for 28
years.
Don's father the late Hughey Davis was the co-holder of the
lightweight record for teams weighting under 3000 pounds. The record
was set at Hillsdale County Fair on the load of3700. That next
spring Hughey purchased a spotted fancy harness for himself as a reward
for setting a new record. Don has used that harness ever since. Of
course he has had to make some repairs and changes but he is still winning
the best dressed awards at the pulls and has quite a collection of
trophies his father and himself have won with that beautiful harness.
In 2004 Don participated in 17 pulls with his team. And of course as
always he could be found at all the Michigan Dynamometer pulls along
with his wife Carlene to make sure each contest runs smoothly.
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Carlene Davis was raised in a family that had
registered Belgian Draft Horses and then married into a family that was
involved in draft horse pulling. Therefore she knows her way around the
draft horse industry. She began her career in announcing by doing
commentary of draft horse demonstrations (i.e., hitching, plowing) at the
Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI. In 1986, the late "Doc" Eggleston,
pulling superintendent at the Fowlerville Fair, Fowlerville, MI called her
in need of an announcer. The announcer he had hired was unable to come.
Hence the start of Carlene's announcing draft horse pulling events. In
1986 and 1987 Carlene was employed by the Michigan Dynamometer Association
as an event announcer on a part time basis. In 1988 Carlene was hired as a
full-time announcer and has been doing it ever since. She also has had
the honor of announcing the Draft horse hitch classes at several large draft
horse events, including the North American Belgian Championship, Live Oak
Draft Horse Invitational, Ocala Hitch Show and several county fairs in
Michigan and Indiana.
As well as a career as an event announcer Carlene is also a visiting Home
Health Aide. She has been doing it for 21 years and still counting. She has
worked the last 10 years with the Sparrow Health System in Lansing,
Michigan. She also is the Administrative Treasurer and Coordinator for
the vendors of the Michigan Great Lakes International held in October at the
Michigan State Livestock Pavilion in East Lansing, Michigan. Carlene has
been on the Board of Directors of the show for 26 years. Carlene and
her husband Don have raised a son and two daughters. Their son Doug has
worked for a couple of people that have owned draft horses. Their
daughter Lori and son in law Rodney have a dairy farm and raise and show
Belgians. Their daughter Mary and son in law Tim also raise and show
Belgians and help Mom and dad out as much as they can with dads pulling
team. Carlene enjoys being around the "Gentle Giants" It has always
been a part of her life. She enjoys helping Don work his pulling team even
though she doesn't get much of a chance to drive them at home with her busy
schedule.
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