Mason Lampton, MFHMason Lampton, a long-serving leader of the sport of foxhunting in North America and MFH of the Midland Fox Hounds (GA), has another sporting life. His alternate Field of Dreams to the hunting field is a polo field. The phrase, “If you build it they will come,” must have rattled around in his head for a while before he decided to transform a fallow potato field in Northern Michigan into a first-rate polo field.
This year, having completed its eighth season, Bliss Polo is bringing players and spectators to matches all the way to the northernmost shores of Lake Michigan. Near the Straits of Mackinac. Who would have thought?
Growing up, Lampton played polo in the summer and foxhunted in the winter. That’s what his family did—his father and his uncle, Mason Houghland* before him. Lampton played and hunted though his college years and even while in the Army, stationed at Fort Benning in Georgia. That stint is how he came to hunt with Ben Hardaway at Midland and meet Hardaway’s daughter, Mary Lu, whom he married. They raised their children, Mason and Lucile the some way, and now their grandchildren are following in the family’s hoofprints.
Son Mason didn’t share his dad’s optimism about the chances for polo’s success in Northern Michigan. It would be a major project—finding the right field to prepare, space for paddocks, stables, and the big question: would players haul horses that far north for a summer tournament?
Lampton loved the Bliss area, however, and found his potato fields. After two years of hard work, the first matches were played in the summer of 2010. Now, after eight years, “Bliss Polo has become a local event that has gained a community of support,” reports Emily Meier in the Harbor Light Newspaper.
…and playing for Bliss, number 2, Mason Lampton.
“This year, four teams were here for the duration of the summer playing in matches on Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday each week. The crowd of spectators has grown from the handful of family and friends in the early days to hundreds of people.”
Even young Mason was forced to admit, “The crowds are amazing. There are easily five hundred people showing up for some of these Sunday games. We don’t get crowds like this anywhere else that I’ve played.”
Lampton’s dream has grown into a major summer attraction. At age seventy, Lampton is still playing on the same field with eighteen-year-olds. The organizers want to start offering slow games for children to bring more youngsters into the sport. One of the reasons for the success of polo in the local community and beyond is that the matches constitute true family entertainment, and all generations of the Lampton family participate in some way, whether playing, announcing, or welcoming spectators.
The Lamptons are proud and gratified at the support and enthusiasm for Bliss Polo, ranging from local residents and businesses to the larger sporting world. “It’s now being talked about on a national level,” young Mason told Meier. “All these polo players from all these different places want to come play here.”
The Bliss Store, right near the polo field, and Bliss Polo Club are both on Facebook and keep fans updated with photos and information. Click for the complete Harbor Light article.
Posted September 12, 2018
* Lampton’s uncle, Mason Houghland, is the author of the charming and informative foxhunting classic, Gone Away.