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5/11/2008 12:37 AM   0 comment(s) on this story E-mail this story to a friend


By BEN BAUGH
Staff writer
He's a native South Carolinian who has served with honor and distinction in a number of fields and has achieved great success in a variety of disciplines.
Marion Smoak is a retired attorney, who also served as an instructor at the United States Military Academy and was the Staff Judge Advocate of the 11th and 82nd Airborne Divisions, the Berlin Command, Germany, and in the International Affairs Division, Dept. of the Army, according to the Council of American Ambassadors. He was later a state senator and would become the deputy, acting and chief of protocol for President Richard Nixon from 1969-1974.
The 92 year-old grew up in Aiken, and has ridden horses since age 6. He attributes his success in life and good health to riding horses. He's still a member and is a former president of the Fairfax Hunt. He has also been a member of the Piedmont Hunt.
"Aiken was an absolutely wonderful town to grow up in," said Smoak. "Nothing shakes you up, and gets your whole body going, like riding horses. As a youngster, I rode horses and ponies on the streets of Aiken. I have great remembrances of those days. What a marvelous place Aiken was."
A fortuitous and propitious set of circumstances would lead to Smoak finding a treasure at an auction house. He would come across the Aiken Cup--1913.
The venerated hardware was presented to Aiken after they vanquished their counterparts from Camden in a polo game during the early part of the 20th century, said Smoak.
"I found the Aiken Cup at Sloan's Auction House in Washington, D.C., and bought it," said Smoak. "I played polo for 10 years during the great years of the 1980s. It was a great part of my life. It's nice for the Aiken Polo Club to reestablish the Aiken Polo Cup as a perpetual trophy."
The Aiken Polo Club's current tournament, the Aiken Cup 8 Goal Invitational, is being presented by the Smoak Family.



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