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11/13/2009-Tidball's Enter Hall Of Fame
Langley’s George and Dianne Tidball were inducted into the Jump Canada Hall of Fame in Toronto on Sunday for their work establishing and running Thunderbird Show Park. George received the award from Olympian Ian Millar, one of Canada’s most renowned show jumpers. It was the fourth annual Jump Canada Hall of Fame induction dinner. It was yet another landmark in a long and distinguished career of working with horses, which got started in 1966 when they bought a pony off a First Nations reserve in Penticton for $150. In 1969, they sold their West Vancouver house and moved to acreage in Langley. They lived in a double-wide trailer while their house and training facilities were built. Showing where their priorities were, they built an indoor arena and stables before their house. Entrepreneurship was nothing new to the Tidballs, as George had been involved in the restaurant business for years. He helped bring the McDonald’s chain to Canada in 1967 and founded The Keg Steakhouse and Bar chain. In 1971, he and Dianne built the original Thunderbird Show Park at 200 Street and 88 Avenue, featuring an indoor arena, two stables and two outdoor rings. Keeping in touch with his restaurant roots, George founded the show park on the property that housed one of the original Keg locations, allowing spectators to enjoy steak and fine wine while watching show jumping. Their first show, featuring quarter horses and team roping, was held in 1972, and their first hunter-jumper show was held in 1973. While the park was taking off, so was the family’s riding career. From 1973 to 1981, Dianne personally raised, trained and rode the first Canadian-born American Quarter Horse Association champion, and their daughter Laura won American Horse Shows Association and Maclay medals for her riding. Laura later joined the Canadian team for the 1984 and 1988 Olympics, and George and Dianne’s granddaughter Stephanie carried on the family tradition, winning CET and CEF medals at the Royal Horse Show in 1998. That was a bittersweet year for George and Dianne, though, as it also saw the last hunter-jumper show at the original Thunderbird location, to allow for the development of the property. The land now houses the Colossus theatre complex and Thunderbird Village shopping centre. In 1999, the Tidballs got back into the horse show business rather unexpectedly, due by a plea Dianne made to George. “Dianne whispered to me, ‘We have 30 years of experience. I know if we do it again we can really do it right,’” George said. “In a moment of weakness, I agreed.” They bought a property at 72 Avenue and 248 Street for the new Thunderbird Show Park that year, and began design of the new $5 million facility. Originally, the new park was supposed to have a hunter ring, a jumper ring, two warm-up rings, an indoor ring and stables for 200, but it opened with three hunter rings, three jumper rings, an indoor ring and stables for 600. The first hunter-jumper show was held at the facility in 2000. It’s expanded even more since then, with an extra jumper ring, another indoor ring and stables for 800. George and Dianne Tidball are no longer involved with the day-to-day operations of Thunderbird, but it carries on as a family business. Their daughter Jane now is the president and tournament director of the show park, and granddaughter Stephanie is the marketing manager. Daughter Laura runs a successful hunter/jumper training business, and their son Stephen is a director and a contractor for buildings. Their grandson George is a contractor for buildings and holds team roping and rodeo events, and their granddaughter Laura Jane competes in Grand Prix events. The Tidball connection to horses has remained strong.
9/9/2009-Gateway Indoor Schedule now online
The 2010 Gateway Indoor Schedule has been posted and is available on the Gateway page of our website at http://www.thunderbirdshowpark.com/gateway.asp