Bryn Mawr Hospital's Largest Donor Trots Into Town

Bryn Mawr Hospital’s largest donor is making its annual appearance. 

The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair began Thursday, May 26 and lasts through Sunday, June 5.

Over the years, the Devon Horse Show has donated about $14 million to the hospital, which, adjusted for inflation, is more like $45 million, said Russ Bullitt, executive director of development for the . 

Bryn Mawr Hospital was founded in 1893, and the Devon Horse Show began three years later in 1896, Bullitt said. Bryn Mawr Hospital became the show’s beneficiary in 1919 and has been ever since.

The horse show has about 2,000 volunteers, while the hospital has about 800, he said. While the not-for-profits are two completely separate entities, a high percentage of hospital volunteers volunteer at the Devon Horse Show. 

“I think that goes back to the early 1900s—back in those days, [the horse show] was a very upper class kind of thing,” Bullitt said. “It was a different animal, no pun intended, back then.” 

A number of members of the Bryn Mawr Hospital board volunteered at the Devon Horse Show then, and volunteers of the show decided the hospital would be a nice beneficiary, Bullitt said.

“There’s no requirement to give us anything, but we certainly look forward to it,” he said.

Bullitt said he enjoys the show for a number of reasons.

“I think just the entire feeling of the horse show when you go there, there’s a little bit of something for everybody,” he said. “If you love horses, of course there are some beautiful horses that are there. And the country fair piece of it, they have some very nice things we all wish we could buy, and it’s a great event for kids, too, because of all of the rides.”

The food is great, too, Bullitt added.

“I just think it’s a great event—there’s a lot of history to it, and yet it’s stayed current,” Bullitt said.

For more information about the Devon Horse Show and Country Fair, visit its website.

Follow coverage of the Devon Horse Show on Radnor Patch and Tredyffrin-Easttown Patch.