The Blessing of Hounds ceremony of the Aiken Hounds held at Memorial Gate in the Hitchcock Woods each Thanksgiving Day is an annual tradition in this horse-sport-minded South Carolina town. As with many hunts across the country and abroad, the ceremony represents the start of the formal season.

This year Aiken Hunt members will celebrate their one hundredth blessing with an expanded liturgy in the Old English tradition to be delivered by Rev. Grant B. Wiseman, Rector at St. Thaddeus Episcopal Church. The ceremony will start at 11:00 am. As always, the public is invited, and with a larger crowd expected this year, attendees are asked to allow more time for parking and walking to Memorial Gate.

The Aiken Hunt Masters are Linda Knox McLean, Larry Byers, and Joey Peace.

Posted November 22, 2013