Alfas at the Glen

Event Report

"We took the less-traveled routes to Newport, providing
great scenery of the beaches, farms, and wineries"

By Gary Venable
Photos by Paul Gallagher, Deb Donovan, Gene Durso, and Roger Carlson

Glen Farm, that is — the home of the Newport Polo Club, where the AONE Newport Tour and Polo Match ended up on Saturday, July 18th. Attendees included Gene & Judy Durso, Colin Wallace & lady friend, Deb & Dan Donovan, Walter Powers & lady friend, Tom & Liane Brooks, Ken Greene & Millie Archer, Roger Carlson, Frank & Gina Gesuldo, Bob & Joyce Rizzo, and event organizers Gary & Mimi Venable.

Roger brought his 1959 Touring Spider on a flawless 200-mile round trip from Connecticut. Colin and Ken & Millie arrived in their ‘91 Spiders, Walter in his ‘80 Spider, Deb & Dan in their ‘88 Spider, Gene & Judy in their ‘74 Spider, and Tom & Liane in their ‘86 Spider. Frank & Gina and Bob & Joyce both drove 164s over from Long Island, and Mimi & I were in my Duetto.

The rain had ended during the previous night, giving way to early morning fog, and then a beautiful, breezy day emerged, replete with sky-blue-pink clouds. We embarked from the St. Barnabas parking lot at approximately 1:15 pm, traveling south on Route 138 a short distance before we took the less-traveled routes to Newport, providing great scenery of the beaches, farms, and wineries. Next, we turned left onto Bellevue Avenue for the famous Ten Mile Drive portion, which took us past the Newport mansions and for a long stretch on scenic Ocean Drive.

At around 3:10 pm, we arrived at the Polo Grounds and were able to park our cars abutting the slate walls that line the driveway into the grounds, shaded by trees so that no person or Alfa had to sit in the sun. Everyone contributed to the pot luck dinner, which was lined up as food stations, on the walls behind our cars.

The polo field covers ten acres and there were probably close to another five acres available for parking. We got to enjoy the polo match and learn about the sport (and watch the Irish beat the US team 8-4). It was a well-attended, eclectic event. Tally Ho!