New officers reelected by Devon Horse Show board

DEVON Less than a month after coming to power through an emergency election, the new president and chairman of the Devon Horse Show were reelected to a full term at the board's annual meeting Friday.

Despite the controversy that followed the hasty Dec. 22 election that removed former president Sarah Coxe Lange, new chairman Wayne Grafton said Friday's meeting was cordial and productive.

In a separate meeting the night before, Coxe Lange was also removed from her position as president of Devon's foundation board. She was replaced by Richard O'Donnell, Devon's former treasurer, who is now president of both boards.

Friday's annual board meeting and election was already scheduled when a group of country fair-affiliated members called the emergency vote in December, prompting questions from the horse show side about the necessity of the snap election. Chairman Henry Lafayette Collins III was also ousted at that meeting.

At the time, the board said in a statement that new leadership was necessary to move the organization forward.

The leadership drama capped a year of unusual upheaval for the century-old Main Line institution and brought to light long-standing fissures between the two factions of the nonprofit: the horse show and the country fair, which together draw thousands annually to the Lancaster Avenue fairgrounds.

Grafton said Tuesday that everyone at the meeting "seemed to have the same goal of moving the show forward for 2015."

- Justine McDaniel