Last Friday, our beautiful ice maiden was rudely awoken by Jonny Seccombe taking the first ride of the Season, his fiftieth year on the Cresta Run. After a busy and bumpy Opening Day, Enzo and his team greeted us in very smart new waistcoats and courderoy plus twos for the first Prizegiving of the Season, the indefatigable Stephen Bartley presenting his Bear to first time winner Florentin Hitz. He also revealed the oldest Cresta first prize we have recently discovered – a Victorian silver bedroom mirror, presented to Emily Chetwynd who won a race from the Ladies’ Top start the week before the 1889 Grand National.
Chaos then reigned over the weekend with 18 very happy University teams and their friends having fun on and off the Run. St Gallen, spearheaded by the Waltenberg boys, were triumphant for the second time. The British educational establishments now lead everywhere else by one; the score is 16-15 after thirty-one encounters.
Given we now have a kleine pause to spend Christmas day with our families, I thought I’d send you some Christmas cheer. First a big shout out for our latest Shopkeeper Joe Townley who is already taking Noni’s emporium to dizzy new heights – beautiful sweaters, scarves, caps and jackets, and more besides to suit every well-heeled pocket.
Selling well too are the CHF 100 Season Guest badges, the silver version of the Members' gold ones. If your guests do not own one of these badges, please, please, sign them in to enter the Clubhouse. Policing guests will be more rigorous this Season.
The stunning badge celebrates Cresta legend, and inventor of our Firework, the remarkable Ukrainian Sergei Ovsievsky. Further below is an amusing history about Sergei written by our Hon. Archivist Stephen Bartley. I wonder who will be the lucky recipient of the Sergei Ovsievsky whistle during next Monday’s Fairchilds MacCarthy?
We have been giving much thought to maintaining our privacy, whilst at the same time providing St Moritz valuable publicity.
Please adhere to the following simple rules and encourage others to do likewise:
– mobile voice calls should only be made in the Changing Room or outside
– no photographs or videos taken in the Clubhouse should be posted on social media (private WhatsApp excluded)
– please do not take photographs of the actual Prizegiving, Melissa and Riccardo do a magnificent job, and it’s not fair on them if their images are hijacked.
As promised at the AGM, the Secretary has imposed a reduced ceiling of 300. Currently we have 280 signed up. In that 32 were University participants and did not inconvenience Members at all, I have agreed with Martin a 10% margin of latitude. Rest assured, the Tower Team will do their utmost to prioritise Members; it would help enormously if Members refrained from arriving too early and expect to ride during SL time.
Christmas in St. Moritz is truly special, the shops and hotels all beautifully decorated to relieve your wallets and encourage your generosity. .
The ski slopes have better conditions than many Alpine resorts, but most importantly our beloved Cresta Run continues to look sleeker by the day – hard frosts and clear skies are forecast, despite the gentle Christmas Eve sprinkling of snow outside as I write.
Breaking happy Maerky news, please welcome to the world Sienna, born 16th December to Daniela and Fermin. We wish them huge congratulations on their new arrival.
Father Christmas has already visited the Fords, Robertsons and Wrottesleys in Australia. Wherever in the world you are tomorrow, I wish you joy, peace and every happiness with your families.
The whole Clubhouse team cannot wait to welcome you back very soon.
Happy Christmas!
“Sergei Ovsievsky was a National Ukrainian hero. When aged only 16, he joined a cavalry regiment of the White Army in the region of his late father's homeland - Donbas, during the Russian Civil War in 1919-21. There he rode alongside the Cossack Cavalry regiments which supported the Ukrainian Nationalist Army against the invading Red Army of the Bolsheviks. After the National cause was lost, he and his friends rode west, joining an acrobatic Cossack cabaret troupe that performed throughout Europe from 1922-1930.
In Monte Carlo he attracted the attention of a Hollywood producer and bit-part film actor Harry Hays Morgan. As President of the SMTC Harry was recruiting talented performers to ride the Cresta Run in St. Moritz during the winter months. Sergei was a natural rider and won his Colours, became a Life Member, and triumphed in the Morgan Cup in 1939. He was a hot favourite for the Grand National that year but suffered an uncharacteristic fall at Shuttlecock on his first course.
Sergei loved the joyfulness of the South of France fireworks and, to liven up Cresta Prizegivings, he created the famous Cresta Firework. Many thousands of Fireworks later, who would have thought the unique Cresta explosion has reached every corner of the globe.
Not much is known about Sergei’s work during WW2 but when the Cresta re-opened in 1946/7, injuries prevented him from riding horses and tragically, the Cresta. He loved the Club and became a splendid Ambassador like his patron and friend- Harry Hays Morgan. He was a trusted and well-liked instructor/coach/guru and sent Winston Churchill's grandson - Winston jnr, safely down the Run from Stream in 1952. He always played in the Annual Cresta Golf Meetings organised in England by George Bartley and Carl Nater during the 1950s-60s.”
