Lakewood Ranch Community Fund kicks off 2025 with polo event

Raymond Dweck, a board member of the Lakewood Ranch Community Foundation, was picking up a polo mallet to swing at the Sarasota Polo Club Jan. 19.

It was something he hadn't done before.

Dweck, a senior portfolio advisor for Northern Trust, and his fellow LWRCF board members should be doing all kinds of new things in 2025. The LWRCF is planning to host or participate in one event every month.

"Our goal is get out there in the community and grow," Dweck said. "We've got our work cut out for us. We want to create a cohesiveness in the community and make people aware (of the foundation and needs of the nonprofits). But we will ... we have a scrappy group."

Photo by Jay Heater

The first event was Polo with the Pros Jan. 19 at the Sarasota Polo Club's pavilion. While the actual polo for the day was cancelled due to a downpour that hit the area right as the match was getting ready to begin, the LWRCF event was cozy inside the pavilion and having a great time enjoying a lunch prepared by Pineapple Kitchen's Mike and Jenny Schenk.

Bob Brosious, a former polo player, was busy teaching polo basics to those who attended the event.

"Basically, I am showing them how to hold and swing the mallet," Brosious said. "Once you start, polo becomes addictive."

Brosious, who is retired, said he welcomed the opportunity to teach at the event because it was a way of giving back to the community. He was asked how hard it was to hit a polo ball with a mallet while riding full speed on a horse.

"It's like a dart hitting the bullseye," he said.

Mark Mulligan, who plays polo at the club, also was talking to those who attended the event about polo basics.

Photo by Jay Heater

"Polo is such a dynamic sport," said Mulligan, whose wife Kate is the LWRCF's executive director. "Nothing is ever the same in polo. The plan is that there is no plan. But if you are prepared, it is not that hard.

"And the adrenaline is off the chart."

While the pros might not think the sport is that hard, Lisa Friedman said she couldn't see herself swinging a polo mallet while on the back of a horse.

"I need to have two hands just to hold on," said Friedman, who is a relationship advisor for Northern Trust.

Photo by Jay Heater

Mark Clark, the president of the LWRCF board, said the nonprofit's first event to kick off 2025 was a success despite the rain. He expects more successful events to follow.

"I think we have the right people and the right team in place," he said. "And I am glad to see the people in the community getting involved."

Northern Trust and Williams-Parker Attorneys at Law were the major sponsors of Polo with the Pros.