WELLINGTON, Fla.--A dream came true in Wellington on Sunday night, March 6, when the Show Jumping Hall of Fame staged its first dinner/induction ceremony.
Peter Doubleday It was an amazing night with a packed house of 180 friends, supporters, and inductees.
Cocktail hour was sponsored by the Wheeler family and the attendance of all previous and new inductees was sponsored by Charlie Jacobs and CMJ Sporthorse.
The sit-down dinner commenced with speeches from Hall of Fame President Robert Ridland and Peter Doubleday.
Information on the who, what and why of the Hall of Fame was passed on to our guests and then we all dug into a great meal.
After dinner, the program began with the presentation of new blue blazers (with the Hall of Fame logo emblazoned on the breast pocket) to the inductees in attendance.
Leslie Howard and David Distler then spoke about their induction from last year (held virtually because of the pandemic), which was followed by the formal induction of Sapphire (by McLain Ward), Margie Engle (by Peter Doubleday), Mason Phelps (by Marty Bauman) and Beezie Madden (by John Madden) which rounded out the exciting evening.
ONE OF the goals of the dinner/induction was to allow inductees to talk about their lives in show jumping that led to this honor.
This – and more – was accomplished.
The ceremony and final picture of the inductees all dressed up in their new blazers was covered by press from around the world.
A big thanks goes to all for making this such a magical night!
Plans for a second dinner/induction ceremony are already underway, along with some other projects which include publishing a new updated version of our book, and Hall of Fame cards, just to name a few.
Again, thank you to everyone who helped plan and carry out the dinner; it gave us all a very strong feeling that the Show Jumping Hall of Fame is extremely important to everyone who cares about preserving the history of our sport and honoring its great riders, horses and contributors.
With very best wishes,
Peter G. Doubleday
Chairman of Board of Directors
Show Jumping Hall of Fame
