Valentine’s Day at Windsor: Polo, Porsches, and $417,000 for Three Nonprofits

There are few better ways to spend a Valentine's Day in Indian River County than at Windsor, and this year's Charity Polo Cup made the case convincingly.

Some 650 guests turned out for an afternoon of high-level polo, an elegant field side luncheon, a Porsche concours featuring more than 40 vehicles, and a tailgate competition that rewarded a spectacular display called "That's Amore" with top honors.

When it was all over, the Windsor Charitable Foundation had raised $417,000 to be shared equally among three local nonprofits doing some of the most meaningful work in the community.

The match itself had an emotional undercurrent. Host Galen Weston named the two competing teams, the Maple Leafs and the Shamrocks, in tribute to his late mother, the Hon. Hilary M. Weston, honoring her Irish and Canadian heritage and her enduring role in shaping Windsor into what it is today. The teams, stacked with international polo talent, played an intense match that ended in an 8-8 tie. Fred Mannix was named Most Valuable Player, with Best Playing Pony honors going to a 9-year-old named Nikki, ridden by Magoo Laprida. A junior match rounded out the afternoon, with Team Jr. USA defeating their Canadian counterparts and Pablito Falabella earning MVP — a next-generation moment that felt very much in the spirit of the day.

The $417,000 will be divided among Childcare Resources of Indian River, which provides early childhood education and support to families who need it most; Crossover Mission, which works with under-resourced youth on mentorship, academics, and athletic development; and the Environmental Learning Center, the 64-acre nature center on the Indian River Lagoon that has been connecting people to the natural world since 1988.