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Home-Grown Crew "Spreads The Wealth" at Triple Crown of Polo
 Aiken, SC - Meetings of the Triple Crown of Polo executive committee are like social gatherings among old friends – most of them have known each other for decades.
Janet Morris, the tournament's sales director, was born in Aiken and for almost a decade was the Director of the Aiken Downtown Development Association.
Sitting across from her at most meetings, Steve Hale, a communications committee member, arrived in Aiken in March 1952 – a month after his first birthday.
Although Hale was a few grades ahead, the two have known each other since their days at St. Mary's grammar school.
Operations Director Dacre Stoker has been in Aiken for about two decades. The Canadian native moved to Aiken to open an Orvis outdoor outfitter store on Laurens Street, married a local girl and has stayed here ever since.
In his real life, Stoker volunteers with the Aiken County Sherriff's Office Posse, serves on the Hitchcock Woods Foundation, and is Executive Director of the Aiken County Open Land Trust.
Two of the tournaments other "department heads," Hospitality Director Tina McCarthy and Director of Public Relations Sarah Eakin, moved here in the past decade, have married and make their permanent residences here with their husbands and young sons.
This is the working group that has spent most of the last six months – and more – finding local suppliers to help them manage the huge event.
"We've found almost everything we need right here in Aiken County," explains Stoker.
"All Star Rents of Aiken is doing all our tents and platforms, including those at the 125th Aiken Polo Anniversary Black-Tie Ball at the Green Boundary Club on the 21st," he began. "We've used Howell Printing extensively; we've hired local bakeries, florists and caterers; all of the hotels and restaurants in the area are getting business from our people; we've hired many Sheriff's deputies and made use of the services of Tri-Development Center, USC Aiken, Signworks, Shutterbug, Southern Rentals, Chik-Fil-A, Sweet Cow Creamery, Clay Jacobs and Aiken Complex/Digital Keys International and a whole lot more."
Another local, Jack Wetzel, president of the Green Boundary Club, is working with life-long Aiken resident Bettina Ruckelshaus to insure the Polo Ball will be a spectacular affair. "The theme décor and floral arrangement supplied in part by Cote Designs of Aiken will be sensational," said Wetzel.
"We're all big polo fans," says Hale, who walked to Whitney Field with his brother when they were young boys in the 50s. "So many of the friends I grew up with remain polo fans, even though they follow other sports as well," said Hale. "I'd bet I saw a dozen friends I've known since high school at the first featured match last Sunday."
The group of Janet Morris, Tina McCarthy, Dacre Stoker and Sarah Eakin, who ran the Gold Cup for the past two years, secured the Triple Crown of Polo last year when Eakin invited its President David McLane to tour Aiken.
"We wanted to secure a premier event for Aiken that could position our community as a focus of polo worldwide," said Eakin. "With the City and County helping us, we were able to secure the only polo tournament broadcast worldwide through ESPN. The TCP brings ESPN's prestige to the tournament and our local group provides the infrastructure for this huge polo event for everyone to enjoy."
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