The Sewickley Hunt Derby Party on May 2 welcomed 144 people — most wearing fashionable hats — at The BarN in Sewickley Heights.
Co-hosted by Bill and Jodie Welge and the Sewickley Hunt Club, guests dined on appetizers and desserts and toasted the evening with, of course, mint juleps.
The annual event began in 2018 and takes place during the Kentucky Derby.
This year’s party raised money for the Sewickley Hounds Foundation, which Brian Daniels and Stephanie DeSimone co-founded in 2024 to provide for the club’s hounds.
There was a hounds race, as well as a giving tree where people could sponsor a hound (donations to the foundation are tax deductible).
“The support I receive from my social chair committee and all the guests who attended made it a wonderful night,” said Michele Miller, social chair for the Sewickley Hunt Club.
“Bill and Jodie were gracious hosts. What a beautiful venue.”
The Sewickley Hunt Club, the oldest drag hunt still in existence in the U.S., which started 104 years ago, continues to carry on this tradition — one of camaraderie, horsemanship and community.
For more than a century, members of the Sewickley Hunt Club have thundered through Sewickley Heights and Sewickley Hills, where riders follow hounds across miles of terrain in search of not a fox, but a scent.
There was a best hat contest for the women and best dressed competition for the men. Guests watched the race on a big screen television, some gathering on the second floor of the barn.
“It takes a lot to put on a party like this,” Daniels said.
“What a wonderful event.”
Details: For more information email sewickleyhunt@comcast.net or sewickleyhuntclub.com