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EDWARDSVILLE - The Legendary Mustang Sanctuary is presently seeking vendors for its huge Annual Mustangs for Mustangs Flea Market and Craft Fair at the St. Louis Regional Airport in Bethalto from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on June 1.
Each year, the Mustangs for Mustangs event continues to swell in popularity, said Kathy Lewis, co-owner of the sanctuary.
Vendor spaces are $20 per 12 x 12 space. A car cruise will also be going on throughout the day and the Legendary Mustang Horses will also be showcased.
“The flea market has basically gotten bigger each year and it is to promote the Legendary Mustangs and help raise funds for the sanctuary,” Lewis said. “We are seeking vendors right now. Last year we had a big variety of everything.”
Kathy Lewis said preserving the Legendary Mustangs has become her life’s work.
“It is basically our world,” she said. “When we got our first two Mustangs we joined protection organizations for them and found out we were fighting big business and big money. We started saving them one life at a time. We have been doing what we do for 16 years and we are up to 104 we have saved. We just brought in five babies, a three-year-old and two burrows. We are constantly moving horses. Our trivia this past April was the largest we have had and now our next fundraiser is the flea market.”
The sanctuary is owned by Kathy and Shawn Lewis. Kathy and Shawn are the founders and managers of the sanctuary.
Individuals can make private donations at www.legendarymustangssanctuary.org. Cora Miller, a publicist for the sanctuary, said all donations are tax deductible.
“Our goal is to save the historic, nationally treasured wild Mustang horses and burros from extinction and to educate everyone about the legacy and legendary true story of America’s wild Mustang horse,” Miller said
The Legendary Mustang Sanctuary mission objective is to rescue as many wild mustang horses and burros as possible and place each one to a permanent loving home.
"Our goal is to keep America’s historic nationally treasured Mustang horses and burros from becoming extinct on our watch," Miller said. "To help facilitate that goal we have developed our strategy to include public education programs, providing group presentations to schools, socially develop causes and service organizations; we co-host events with government agencies and municipalities as well as offer our facility as an outlet for volunteer work with folks in substance abuse therapeutic recovery programs. We support and help many young people including 4H, Girl Scouts, and Boy Scouts to meet their challenges and achievements."
Miller said they believe a centerpiece to wild Mustang horse and burro survival is public education and demonstration.
"Today, Legendary Mustang Sanctuary is providing two internships for college students majoring in Veterinarian Medicine for large animals and Equine Science programs," Miller said. "The internship programs have provided a means to complete the formal requirements before practicing in the field. Internship requirement completion in these areas is not always easily fulfilled for large animal studies.
"Recently, the Sanctuary included, as part of the educational program opportunities at the high school level, a training competition known nationally as the Extreme Mustang Makeover, produced by the Mustang Heritage Foundation with the support of the Bureau of Land Management’s Wild Horse & Burro Program. The mission of the Mustang Heritage Foundation is to increase the adoption of BLM-housed American Mustangs through innovative gentling competitions and awareness programs.
Flea market applications are being accepted now, so call 618-616-8875 to reserve your space.
The Legendary Mustang Sanctuary is a not-for-profit organization, therefore all vendor fees are considered a donation to the Sanctuary.
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