The club has had a good season and secured several new and enthusiastic members, had two clinics for aspiring players, numerous good parties and is currently looking for a winter training facility.
The DPC helped stage with HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM (the largest health care provider in Michigan) a benefit for the HFHS’s Fairlane Medical Center in Dearborn, MI. The match was played on FORD MOTOR COMPANY World Headquarter campus grounds in the heart of the city. The event drew almost 1000 enthusiastic new polo fans.
A VIP Cocktail Reception was also held the evening before in the beautiful new lobby of the Ford Motor Company Rouge Plant Tour for over 300 local dignitaries and sponsors. A Champagne Brunch was held prior to the polo match on Sunday under numerous colorful tents and was enjoyed by 550 participants in spite of unusually hot & humid weather conditions. A live and silent auction with some unique items also drew great interest from the nattily attired crowd.
LINK ENGINEERING sponsored a tem consisting of Dan Mc Guire, Paul Knapp, Paul Wheaton and Peter Cummings versus the HENRY FORD HEALTH SYSTEM team of Christian Tennant, Marciel Torreyes, Gary Eakin and Chester Regula. It was a tough & tight match with several spills and LINK was leading by one goal when torrential winds and rain forced cancellation of the match in the second half. LINK ENGINEERING was declared the winner and beautiful trophies were presented to all the players. Paul Wheaton of LINK was awarded the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER trophy and Merle Jenkin’s thoroughbred mare, MACARENA, played by Peter Cummings was awarded the BEST PLAYING PONY award.
A fabulous perpetual trophy of antique Waterford crystal and silver, donated by Greenstone Jewelers, was presented to Ms. Nancy Schlichting, CEO of HFHS and to Mr. Roy Link, President of Link Engineering. The biggest disappointment seemed to be from the over 250-300 ladies who wore their finest hats for the Lady’s Hat Contest that was cancelled due to the weather! On to next year. Jerry Hutcheson helped HFHS with the event and was the game announcer/commentator. Peter Fewster, Danielle Kuper and Sande Weiler were game officials and most other DPC members & supporters joined in the large & enthusiastic HFHS volunteer effort for the event.
The club will hold (lead by DPC club founder Merle Jenkins) its annual fund-raising match on August 27th for the MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY POLO TEAM. This event has become the single largest fund raiser for the MSU polo program and is always a fun, well attended and happy event. Contact Emmalynn Partlow at (517) 303-1606 for tickets, sponsorship and donation opportunities.