Reta M. Whitten made this hat for her 30th Carolina Cup. No matter what the calendar says, any southern belle or gentleman knows that Spring is not officially “he-ah” until the day of the Carolina Cup in Camden. The ladies turn out in smashing hats accompanied by gentlemen donning seersucker suits or khakis with Polo shirts.

The Cup was March 27 and is a 78–year–old horse racing tradition in Camden. It is probably the biggest lawn party in the south that celebrates the rites of Spring and attracts upwards of 65,000 people. Everyone from the debutante to the dignified to the drunken reveler attends. They come to enjoy and wager on (only in fun) the steeplechase horse racing, but they arrive in their southern fashion finest.

Carlisle Reams has been coming with his wife Dottie and a group of friends for 30 years.

From one of those friends’ motor home Saturday, he said coming to the Cup is definitely a tradition in his world.

Carlisle Reams has been attending the Carolina Cup for 30 years. “This year we’re in a 38–foot motor home, but we’ve been in a 4x8 trailer too,” Reams said with a laugh. “These are the greatest friends and the most beautiful women in the world, and I love it more every year.”

There were about 16 people in Reams’ party. Most had been coming every year for decades. With the brightly colored awnings of the motor home set up over the food table and the chairs on the emerald green grass, the group looked like a scene from “The Great Gatsby.”

One of the group, Mike Shelton, said that not only has he been coming for years with his wife Jean, but now his children and grandchildren come.

“My granddaughter is getting married in April, and she’s here today with her fiancé,” Shelton said. “I hope they continue the tradition for years to come.”

(L–r) Shelby Duensing, Dr. Jim Duensing, Katie Duensing, Chris Strube, and Megan and Josh Salonich hang out at the Carolina Cup. Shelton’s daughter, Shelby Duensing said it was a pleasure to carry on the longstanding tradition.

“We’ve been coming since I was in high school, and it’s great to see my daughter and her fiancé enjoying the day so much. I know they will keep coming and the custom will live on.”

Parking spaces range from the elite box holder and VIP parking near the Paddock Clubhouse to the infield and then College Park. While College Park is the designated parking area for the students consisting largely of frat brats and sorority sisters, the rest of the field is used as a meeting place for mainly families and groups of friends. Walking down the rows, one can clearly see that the time honored South Carolina ritual has, over the years, reached the status of a premier social event.

Amid elaborate tailgate parties that include linen table cloths, fresh flowers in crystal vases, and the family silver, the men and women are a picture of southern chic. As the trumpet sounds to announce the race, everyone crowds the fence to see the magnificent horses as they thunder by. In genteel fashion, the fans usually bet $1 on their pick of each race, but when their horse wins the squeals from the ladies and the hearty hoorays from the men would make an onlooker think the wager was much more.

One Columbia woman decided to have some fun with her hat this year. Reta M. Whitten was wearing a straw hat with an almost life–sized horse’s head (faux, of course) on it surrounded by flowers and in the horse’s mouth was a Heineken beer can.

“It was the only one he wouldn’t spit out,” she chuckled.

Whitten said she always makes her own hats, and this year when she saw the horse head online she thought it would be perfect for the Cup. Her friend since third grade, Joy Hoffman, said the hat was a real attention getter.

“We haven’t walked five feet without someone wanting to take a picture with the hat,” Hoffman said.

Someone in the crowd asked Whitten if she was drinking when she made the hat, she laughed

and said no.

“I drink once a year,” she said. “And only at the Carolina Cup.”

Her friend Hoffman backed Whitten’s story.

“She doesn’t need to drink.” Hoffman said. “Her creative juices are enough for her.”

This was the ladies’ 30th year coming to the Cup, they said. Next year Whitten wanted to add on to the horse head theme.

“I’m going to look for a horse’s behind for next year,” she told people crowding around her for a photo. “I guess Joy and I will have to draw straws to see who wears which hat.”