Winterthur’s 41st Point-to-Point was more like “Puddle-to-Puddle.” A steady downpour, combined with winds that buffeted umbrellas and blew off hats, greeted fans when the gates opened at 11:30 a.m. “The wind’s a good sign,” said Communications Manager Mark Nardone, “it’s blowing the rain away.” Alas, that prediction did not come to pass.
However, the rain was no match for the fanatical and faithful. Some women still wore their best hats and some men still sported their snazziest jackets and slacks. Groups of teenage girls in short dresses and cute boots and boys carefully turned out in their best preppy clothes enthusiastically “seized the day.” Pragmatists dressed in rain gear.
Cute dogs anticipating adoption gave doggie kisses to passersby. A strolling mariachi band, Mariachi Rey-Azteca, in a nod to Cinco de Mayo, entertained as guests helped protect their costumes and instruments with umbrellas.
The George A. “Frolic” Weymouth Carriage Parade and the children’s stick races were early, weather-related casualties.
“We’re all kind of stupid, aren’t we?” asked Rob Rossiter of Hockessin, smiling. This was his family’s twenty-sixth Point-to-Point. He shared that his kids were always more excited about Point-to-Point than Christmas. His daughter backed him up. Her laughing two-year-old son, Jamison, seems destined to continue the family tradition.
Point-to-Point is Winterthur’s largest annual fundraiser and benefits the maintenance and preservation of its gardens and estate. This year’s event was dedicated to the late Phyllis Mills Wyeth. Visitors watched a touching tribute to her on the Jumbotron and learned that the philanthropist and horse-lover started Point-to-Point with her cousin Frolic in 1978.
Coming off a season of tailgating at UD are Chad Bumsted, Kevin Joseph, McKenna Friel, Brandon Nitsche and Mike Rutecki.
By 1:00 p.m., the rain had stopped, the skies were clearing, and it seemed like the day would end on a good note. However, by 2:00 p.m., the rain was back again and the temperature had dropped. The races were postponed and then cancelled, making a memorable but muddy, Point-to-Point 2019.
Here’s to sunny skies next year!
About Lora B. Englehart
Lora has a passion for art, gardening, yoga, music and dancing. She continues to research the life of locally born abolitionist and 1998 National Women's Hall of Fame inductee Mary Ann Shadd Cary. She is a dedicated community volunteer, working with the American Association of University Women, Wilmington, DE branch (programs chair), Chadds Ford Historical Society (former board member) and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art. Lora lives in Birmingham Township with her husband Bill and son Brad. Daughter Erika lives in Pittsburgh with husband Bob and baby Wilhelmina. She is a former French, Spanish and ESL teacher, bilingual life insurance underwriter and public relations coordinator for Delaware Art Museum and Brandywine Conservancy & Museum of Art.
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