MEDINA — During a warm and bright Sunday at the Medina County Fairgrounds, Melinda Clutter, dressed in a red T-shirt, jeans and rain boots, did not rest during the horse show.

Clutter took the reins as the group she and her family formed, the Medina Kids Care for Medina County Home Residents, hosted its ninth annual horse show to raise funds for the Medina County Home.

“It’s a labor of love,” Clutter said, just outside the horse ring. Each year, more than 100 riders compete in different categories for prizes.

“We started (the show) when we found out the home was in danger of being closed down,” Clutter said. The Medina County Home is a 60-bed facility that provides home care for the elderly, and the Medina County Board of Commissioners owns and operates it.

Clutter, a York Township resident, comes from a horse-loving family, and has passed her enthusiasm for riding down to her four children — Mackenzie, Mason, Rustee and Randy.

“I’ve showed my whole life,” Clutter said.

She has also been active with the home for years, bringing her children to volunteer their time and visit with the residents.

“The residents were upset and crying — it was horrible,” Clutter said, when they found out the home was in danger of closing.
“The kids said, ‘We have to do something.’ That’s where it was derived from,” she said. “The residents are just like our family.”

Her daughter Rustee, who was competing for the title of Miss Medina at the time, made saving the home her cause.

In November 2001, the Medina County commissioners initially considered closing the county home. After a public outcry, a 0.2-mill levy was put on the May 2002 ballot to fund the home. The levy passed and has since been renewed.

Spurred to action, the Clutter family has continued to host the horse show, raising an average of $2,000 that goes toward the residents’ personal needs and entertainment.

“It’s fun and it’s a beautiful day,” Medina County Home superintendent Lynn Remington said of the horse show.

Remington said the residents have been “spoiled” by Clutter and her children.

“They do so much. Melinda doesn’t quit,” Remington said.

A group of residents from the home sat in lawn chairs and the bleachers, many wearing straw cowboy hats, watching the show.

Clutter’s fundraising efforts provide the residents with tickets for a free meal at the show, and several caretakers from the home also volunteered their time to take the residents to the show, Remington said.

Remington said Medina Kids Care’s efforts helped to sponsor events for the residents throughout the year, including a “Christmas in July” program that brings them gifts from their wish lists, new TVs for the home, and a Memorial Day service.

Other simultaneous fundraisers at the show, including raffle tickets, a bake sale and a stall selling apples and carrots for horses, also helped bring in revenue for the Clutters’ cause.

Clutter said an incredible amount of time goes into organizing the horse show every year, but that the cause is worth it.

“It went really, really, good,” Clutter said of the show, after it was done.

“We had a great turnout. We had so many of the residents there, and that’s what made it so cool.”

Contact Kaitlin Bushinski at (330) 721-4050 or kbushinski@medina-gazette.com.

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