Fair Hill International would like to congratulate our 2023 Volunteers of the Year, Fran Loftus and Stacey Blyskal! They both have received the Bodgie Read Memorial Trophy, which was named after our longtime friend and fearless leader, Bodgie Read. These two ladies not only are indispensable to planning and facilitating our competition season, but they also have volunteered for the Maryland 5 Star since its inaugural event in 2021. We all can agree that it would be hard to put on our events without their willing smiles and expertise!
Who is that madcap woman careening around in the golf cart putting up roping on XC or delivering lunches to all the volunteers? If you blink, you will miss her! Stacey has 20 places to be and somehow manages to pull it all off! Perhaps we should call her the Energizer Bunny. Her enthusiasm and ability to be everywhere all at once strikes awe in the hearts of many!
As the volunteer coordinator for Fair Hill International since 2020, she directs, assists, organizes and brings water and lunch with a smile and a huge thank you to the many volunteers. All the volunteers will tell you that it is hard to say no to her pleas for help. They return year after year, and with over 200 volunteers accumulating thousands of hours during our season, Stacey makes it a personal objective that everything is done to make their time productive and fun.
Stacey started her volunteering career helping Bodgie Read with dressage and fence judging at horse trials. From those jobs she moved up to the Fall Festival, assisting with grounds decorations and ultimately became the Decorations Chair. While her daughter Allie rode as a child, Stacey was the District Commissioner for Brandywine Hounds Pony Club and became the Vice Regional Supervisor for Eastern PA Region Pony Club. As if Pony Club could not keep her busy enough Stacey found time to volunteer for many swim meets with her son Andrew, who went on to swim with the University of Maryland. Always assisting and helping Stacey has been by the side of her daughter, Allie Sacksen, who was the FHI 2013 winner of the CCI2* (now 3*-L) and has gone on to be a 5* rider, competing in Kentucky. Stacey was a pediatric nurse for 31 years with A.I. DuPont, retiring in 2017 so it is a natural for Grandma Stacey to continue her career of guiding and assisting with her grandchildren. You can often see her at the volunteer tent minding her young charges and bringing them along to deliver the volunteer lunches.
When our Volunteer Coordinator is taking an unusual break from duties, she loves to travel with her husband and friends. From Newfoundland to the wilds of Australia she embraces whatever task is at hand and always with enthusiasm. Stacey currently resides at her Briar Fox Farm in Landenberg, PA, with her husband Jim, 8 horses and their dog, Captain Morgan.