2005 News

Polo Museum's Hall of Fame - The Class of 2005

On Friday, February 18th, 2005 the 16th Annual Museum of Polo and Hall of Fame Awards Dinner Dance was held to honor the new inductees into the Hall of Fame. This dinner broke the previous attendance record of 399 by welcoming 447 guests to a night that had a definite "Oklahoma!" accent to it.

Pat Dix, Fred Fortugno & Jack Oxley

This year’s living honoree John C. "Jack" Oxley from Tulsa, Oklahoma was present to accept his award with characteristic charm and humor. It turns out that he grew up just a few miles away from where the well-known and loved personality, Will Rogers, the posthumous inductee, was raised and first learned to throw his rope.

One of the Horses to Remember, Electric Charge was an Oklahoma-bred horse.

Electric Charge

We were delighted to have all three of Rogers' grandchildren, Bette, Chuck and Kem present to accept the award on his behalf and Red Armour to accept on behalf of Seth Herndon, the last owner of Electric Charge.

Walt Kuhn with Family & Friends

Also honored on this historic evening was Walt "Papa" Kuhn (Philip Iglehart Award), who was seriously ill a few weeks prior and had not been expected to attend so his presence at the dinner had quite a dramatic effect on the crowd.

Another unexpected and most welcomed surprise was the appearance of Nigel Lacey, the son of the great Argentine player Lewis Lacey who made a trip from Down Under to proudly accept the award for Jupiter in the Horses to Remember with a most gracious speech.

Jupiter

The evening was kicked off in grand style with a champagne reception sponsored by Mumm Cordon Rouge followed by hors d'oeuvres and dinner provided by Carrabba's Italian Grill courtesy of Tim Gannon. We wish to extend our heartfelt thanks to the entire Carrabbas crew - they deserve special kudos in appreciation of their entire staff, all of whom volunteer to give up a Friday night and work free of charge as their donation to the Museum in the spirit of community service.

Jack Oxley & Red Armour	Mr. & Mrs. Mario de Mendoza & Mr. & Mrs. Peter Rizzo
Mr. & Mrs. Fred Manix and Mr. & Mrs. Richard Garber	Steve Orthwein & Jack Oxley
Mr. & Mrs. Boone Stribling, Cathy Newman Mary Lotz & Jimmy Newman	Mr. & Mrs. Julian Hipwood & Max Secunda

Special thanks go to Patricia and Julian Hipwood, our committee chairmen. Patricia worked very hard despite having surgery in the middle of it all and still managed to help collect items for the Silent Auction that featured everything from artwork and jewelry to fine wines and cigars. The auction raised $9,300 another record for the Museum. We wish to thank Robert Lipman and Lipman Bros,, Brown Forman for sponsoring the wine and spirits, Anheuser Busch/Brown Distributing for the beer and repeat supporters Marty Cregg and Chase Design for our wonderful exhibits, Alex Pacheco for the photos donated for the exhibits, Melinda Brewer for painting our Horses to Remember portraits and Sandi Goldman/The Chukker Collection for the wonderful directories she so kindly provides each year. Thank you all, we couldn't have done it without you.

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