Numerous Special Events, Glamorous Charity Galas
Choose International Polo Club Palm Beach as Venue

International Polo Club Palm Beach, the premier high-goal polo club in the United States, continues the trend as the venue of choice for some of the most glamorous and exciting charity galas of the 2006 equestrian social season.

Continuing a vow to be a setting for international events, the club is hosting a luncheon and polo match to benefit the British Forces Foundation on Saturday, January 28 beginning at noon. CeCe Farris of Palm Beach is the International Honorary Chairman. The event is sponsored by the Palm Beach Fine Art and Antiques Show.

A four-chukker polo match representing teams from the United States and United Kingdom highlights the day’s activities. Guests will enjoy a champagne reception and “lunch by the bite” in the polo stadium prior to the match. Following the match, players and guests will adjourn to the marquee for decadent desserts while enjoying an exclusive preview of the Palm Beach Fine Art and Antiques Show, including antiques, artwork and jewelry, according to Brown.

Benefit tickets for the event are $150 per person and include VIP seats to the polo match. For ticket information, please call (561) 204-5687.

Rock star Mike Rutherford, a founding member of both Genesis and Mike + the Mechanics, is scheduled to play for the British squad. He will be joined by 5-goalers Julian Hipwood and Adrian Wade, as well as patron Mark Cann, president of the British Forces Foundation.

Scheduled to play for the United States will be high-goal patrons John Goodman of Isla Carroll, who also owns International Polo Club, award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones of San Saba and Tim Gannon of Outback Steakhouse.

Jim Davidson, who is Chairman of the Trustees, founded the British Forces Foundation in 1999. HRH The Prince of Wales is the Patron and the Lady Margaret Thatcher is the President. The British Forces Foundation was formed "to promote the Armed Forces through charitable means by supporting the well being and esprit de corps of all serving personnel through quality entertainment." The British Forces Foundation’s aim is to encourage top performers from show business to go around the world to entertain servicemen and women in all three services on operations.

The same weekend, IPC hosts the Bethesda Hospital Luncheon on Sunday, January 29. Call (561) 737-7733, ext. 5600 for tickets and information.

The charity schedule continues in full force in February. Kicking off the month is the YMCA Luncheon honoring Pedro Morrison on Sunday, February 12. Tickets are $125 per person and available by calling (561) 968-9622. An inaugural event for Food for the Poor will also be held at IPC on February 12.

 The charity schedule continues on Saturday, February 18 with the annual Outback 40-Goal Challenge to benefit the Polo Players Support Group as eight of the world’s 10-goalers will play a match.

This is only the second time that International Polo Club has hosted two 40-goal teams and the seventh time that two 40-goal polo teams have played each other in the United States.

Proceeds from the gate, a VIP dinner as well as a silent and live auction benefits the Polo Players Support Group, Inc., a 501(c)(3) which was created to provide financial assistance to seriously injured or ill polo players or grooms. Among the players who have received financial help are Rob Walton, who was an 8-goaler and was injured in 1995 when playing in Malaysia, and Justin Pimsner, who was injured in a truck and trailer accident near Saratoga, New York in late August of 2002.  

Major sponsors include Outback Steakhouse, Bombay Sapphire, Crab Orchard, Carrabba’s, Michelob Ultra, Bud Light Polo, Brown Distributing, Bessemer Trust, Polo Gear, The Tackeria, Lady Walton Cookies and Kendall Jackson wines.

Individual tickets remaining are $10 for general admission bleacher seats, $50 for terrace seats to $100 for a reserved box seat. A limited number of tickets will be available at the gate on the day of the game. The VIP package is available for $2,500, which includes reserved box seats to the game and a table of eight at the post-match dinner sponsored by Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s.

For individual ticket information, call International Polo Club Palm Beach at (561) 204-5687. For VIP package information, call Dave Offen at (516) 528-3821 or (941) 907-3827.

Vinceremos Therapeutic Riding Center will hold its 21st annual “Look to the Stars” benefit auction, dinner and dance at International Polo Club on Friday, February 24 at 6:30 p.m. The event is the major fundraiser for the 501-(c)(3) Loxahatchee-based Vinceremos, which shares the healing power of horses with the disabled. More than 400 guests attended last year’s gala and raised almost $200,000. For tickets and information, please call Vinceremos at (561) 792-9900.

Another big social weekend begins on Saturday, March 4 with the second annual Celebrity Polo Match and Gala to benefit the Buoniconti Fund to Cure Paralysis.

The chairmen are award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones and his wife, Dawn, John Goodman, owner of International Polo Club Palm Beach, Tim Gannon, a partner in Outback Steakhouse, NFL Hall of Fame linebacker Nick Buoniconti, Dr. Barth Green, co-founder of The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis, and Marc Buoniconti, Ambassador for The Miami Project to Cure Paralysis.

The event features a celebrity polo match with Tommy Lee Jones expected to play, a phenomenal silent auction, delectable fusion of sumptuous cuisine and live entertainment to keep guests dancing until dawn! For ticket information, call Stephanie Sayfie Aagaard at (305) 243-4656 or via email at saagaard@miami.edu.

The fabulous weekend continues on Sunday, March 5 with the annual Red Cross Luncheon on Sunday, March 5 prior to the 26-goal Hall of Fame polo match. Bunnie Stevens and Tim Gannon are the Chairmen. Please call (561) 833-7711 for tickets and information.

The fun continues in April, throughout the Stanford U.S. Open Championships, highlighted by the amazing black-tie Polo Ball on Friday, April 14, and the third annual Tailgate Festival on Saturday, April 22. Both events are open to the public. Please call International Polo Club at (561) 204-5687 for tickets and information about the events.

International Polo Club Palm Beach begins its third season of high-goal polo on Sunday, January 15 at 3 p.m. The polo matches are open to the public. General admission for the Sunday games at International Polo Club Palm Beach is $10 for adults. Children under 12 enter for free. Game tickets may be purchased at the gate on the day of the game.

International Polo Club Palm Beach is located at 3667 120th Avenue South, between Pierson Road and Lake Worth Road in Wellington. For information, directions or ticket purchases, please call the club at (561) 204-5687 or visit the website at www.internationalpoloclub.com.