"BLIND BROOK"

That transaction made some people very wealthy, but its repercussions buffeted our family for decades.

Jul 6

“BLIND BROOK”

A current map of Purchase, N.Y., won’t reveal the 150-acre site known as the Blind Brook Polo Club. The prime Westchester County property was sold in the late 1960s to PepsiCo., Inc. for its world headquarters. That transaction made some people very wealthy, but its repercussions buffeted our family for decades.

Each Memorial Day through summer and early fall, I revisit a magical place from my youth called Blind Brook. Its verdant acres featured long white-washed stables, a historic stone barn and imposing grandstands flanking plush green fields. Here polo, the sport of kings, was once played. Now the property is home to PepsiCo, Inc. But before gleaming corporate edifices were erected, the setting was worthy of an F. Scott Fitzgerald tale.

My father was general manager, promoter and play-by-play announcer. My mother was his not-so-silent partner and muse. We five children were spectators and staff. After Sunday Mass at St. Gregory the Great Church in nearby Harrison, the family would ride to the club in our Ford Country Squire station wagon. My first job was selling polo programs to fans at the Anderson Hill Road entrance. A couple years later, my brothers and I worked the hot dog stand every Sunday afternoon from May through September.

Blind Brook was popular for summer employee outings with major New York metro area firms such as General Foods. There were also charity steeplechase races, international Scottish games, rugby tournaments, carnivals and fairs, even the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. But polo was always the main attraction. Blind Brook held prestigious tournaments for teams from the U.S., Great Britain, South America and Australia. Thousands of tri-state fans regularly attended, including actors, politicians and VIPs.

The polo players were royalty—dashing athletes like George Skakel (Bobby Kennedy’s brother-in-law), William Ylvisaker and Adie Von Gontard. They rode beautiful, sleekly muscled ponies. One team was suitably named the Greenwich Patricians. My favorite player was an exception. Herb Pennel had blue-collar roots and down-home charm. He was a cowboy in riding breeches and a number 3 jersey, signifying the team’s best scorer.

I thought the Sunday polo matches would go on forever. But in 1965, former vice-president Richard M. Nixon, his wife and daughters made a surprise visit. After my parents hosted them on a pleasant afternoon, they later discovered attorney Nixon had been scouting the property for client and friend Don Kendall, CEO of PepsiCo. The polo club’s final season was 1967, and our family never fully recovered. Dad struggled to find satisfying employment across the country, causing financial hardships and searches for elusive answers. During years of relocations and setbacks, our fond memories of Blind Brook endured, emblematic of happier times.

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