High above downtown, on the roof of their spacious townhome on Park Avenue, Carl and Ginger Henson enjoyed the Aiken Virtual Steeplechase with their 19-year-old daughter, Hyler, on Saturday.
With them was the family’s Maltipoo, Lilly, but Trixie, a Labrador retriever mix, stayed away because she prefers to hang out in other parts of the residence.
“When you’re stuck in the house, you’ve got to break things up and do something that is fun,” said Carl, vice president of marketing and business development for MAU Workforce Solutions. “Otherwise, you will go stir crazy.”
This year’s Aiken Spring Steeplechase, which has attracted crowds of more than 30,000 in the past, was canceled in March because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Seeking an alternative, the Aiken Steeplechase Association teamed up with the Alison South Marketing Group to offer the first-ever Aiken Virtual Steeplechase.
They encouraged people to participate by dressing up in their best spring outfits, holding tailgate-style picnics, or “home-gates,” while social distancing with their families and posting photographs on social media.
The Aiken Center for the Arts donated and distributed 100 stick horse kits.
Some local restaurants offered home-gate takeout and/or delivery specials.
In addition, Virtual Steeplechase participants could enter contests sponsored by Aiken area businesses and win prizes.
The categories were Best in Show for Stick Horse Design, Best of the Home-Gate, Best Bow Tie, Wore it Best Crazy Pants, Most Creative Spring Hat, Drink of the Day and Best Racecourse.
There also was an opportunity to donate to various charitable causes through links posted on aikenvirtualsteeplechase.com.
“The Aiken Steeplechase Association wanted to be a vehicle for positivity while still continuing to bring the community together,” said Jessica Miller, event coordinator for the Steeplechase Association.
Carl and Ginger Henson were disappointed when the Spring Steeplechase was called off, but they responded with enthusiasm when plans for the Virtual Steeplechase were announced in early April.
“We’ve been going to the Spring Steeplechase together since 1997, and we began taking Hyler when she was a baby,” said Ginger, co-owner of Concept HR, a human resources and payroll company. “We only missed one year when we had to take her on a college visit. Typically, there are 50 people in the spaces that we go to (at the Spring Steeplechase), and they are all our friends.”
Hyler, who attends the Savannah College of Art and Design, has been spending time with her parents lately while taking courses remotely during the pandemic.
“When they started thinking about this whole thing, they got so excited about it,” said Hyler of watching her mother and father prepare for the Virtual Steeplechase. "I thought it was funny and was like, ‘How are we going to have virtual horse races?’”
Eventually, however, Hyler decided she wanted to get involved in the festivities, too.
“It’s nice to have a reason to actually get dressed up,” she said. “I’ve been in my pajamas doing school work for most of the time that I’ve been here.”
Hyler’s frock had sunflowers on it.
Carl wore pink pants, a pink bowtie and a blue sport coat with his blue, green, pink and white plaid shirt.
Ginger was dressed like a jockey.
“I put pink duct tape (to create a design) on a shirt that had a hole in it,” she said. “Then I took a cap that I had and put pink duct tape on it.
Ginger also decorated a stick horse she already had with pink duct tape.
For their home-gate, the Hensons had flowers and desserts from The Fresh Market, chicken wings from WingPlace, a charcuterie board from Board In Aiken and chicken salad from What’s Cookin’.
They also had a signature drink, a green concoction that they called the Mad Hatter Martini. Its ingredients included Midori melon liqueur and Malibu rum.
“We just wanted to support the community,” Carl said. “The Aiken Spring Steeplechase has always been a part of our family.”
Carl and Ginger were planning to attend the 2020 edition of the Kentucky Derby, which was scheduled to be held Saturday, but because of the pandemic, the iconic race for 3-year-old thoroughbreds was postponed until Sept. 5.
They probably will wait until another year to experience the Run for the Roses for the first time.
“It is on our bucket list,” Carl said. “But I’m going to be starting a doctoral program in August and that is going to consume my life for a while.”
Late Saturday afternoon, Miller reported that the Virtual Steeplechase had “gone really well” for a first-time event.
“We are extremely thankful to all of our community sponsors and local businesses that sponsored prizes for our contests,” she said. “It’s been exciting and fun to see, throughout the day, people posting and enjoying their home-gates with their stick horses. We’ve had a lot of engagement on social media.”
