“We now have twice the country and twice the membership at one-half the cost,” said Donna Rogers, MFH of the newly merged Loudoun Fairfax Hunt. “It was a no-brainer!” Good sense notwithstanding, the courtship that finally resulted in an official union of the two hunts—Loudoun West and Fairfax—lasted two years.
“We had a long engagement,” agrees Rogers. “We hunted together, we socialized together, and we became happier and happier with each other.”
Compromises were required for the resolution of many questions. Who will hunt the hounds? What will be the name of the hunt? What will be the new hunt’s colors? What days will we hunt?
“The hardest issue was that of the huntsman,” said Rogers. “If we retained either of the existing huntsmen and let the other one go, there would have been great unhappiness on the other side. We decided that the fairest to both memberships would be to start with a clean slate.”
As a result of that difficult decision, British-born Andy Bozdan becomes the first huntsman of the Loudoun Fairfax Hunt. (Click to read an amusing anecdote from Andy’s days as a whipper-in.) Foxhunting Life has already reported on the round-robin of huntsmen changes set off in part by the Loudoun West-Fairfax merger. (Click to read Huntsmen on the Move and New Huntsman at Loudoun.)
The new hunt has eight Masters: Dr. Joe Rogers, Dr. James Gable, Donna Rogers, and David Moyes from Loudoun West and Randy Rouse, Linda Devan, Michael Harper, and Paul Wilson from Fairfax.
Each hunt brings to the table something of value uniquely complementary to the merged entity. Fairfax owns a clubhouse and property in now-congested Reston, Virginia that was given to the hunt by A. Smith Bowman, founder of the Fairfax Hunt. Mr. Bowman at one time owned most of what is now called Reston. The property has great financial value, but no hunting value!
For kennels and stables in hunt-able country, Donna Rogers was able to lease the 110-acre farm next to her own farm with an option to buy. The leased farm, Overbrook, was formerly owned by Anita Graf White, ex-MFH and was built on land granted by Lord Fairfax in the 1730s. Overbrook has kennels which will be expanded for the hounds, stables, three houses, ponds, streams, and fencing. The main house is a 1771 stone dwelling, enlarged by one wing in 1820 and by two modern wings in the 1900s.
“This will be a most magnificent hunt clubhouse!” exclaimed Rogers.
A restored 1800s farmhouse will serve well as the huntsman’s house. The plan is to ultimately purchase Overbrook with the proceeds from a future sale of Fairfax Hunt’s Reston property.
Loudoun Fairfax Hunt was chosen as an appropriate name—Loudoun first—since hounds will be hunting in Loudoun County. The colors of each hunt were combined such that the Fairfax old gold hunt collars will henceforth be trimmed with black piping, the Loudoun West color. The Loudoun Fairfax foxhounds will meet on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
“Certainly more hunts will be faced with loss of hunting country, loss of members, and financial pressures,” said Rogers. “I think our merger can serve as a model for other hunts around the country.”
Posted June 28, 2013