The Piedmont Driving Club

Dedicated to the sport and pleasure of carriage driving in the area of
Clarke, Loudoun, Fauquier, and Fairfax Counties of Northern Virginia

~ Founded 1982 ~


Pam Peck - PDC Founding President
at the 1993 PDC Driving Show
Bill Watkins with his wife (past PDC President) Anne Watkins
both Founding Members of PDC
In the summer of 1982 a number of local driving enthusiasts gathered together at the home of Philip and Linda Dodderidge in Bloomfield, western Loudoun County, with the objective of forming a carriage driving club for the Northern Virginia area. The following drivers from Loudoun County, and neighboring Clarke County, were Founding Members at the first meeting:
  • Anne Watkins
  • Bill Watkins
  • Kitty Newman
  • Pam Peck (First PDC President)
  • Linda Dodderidge
  • Philip Dodderidge
  • Ann Dodderidge
  • Sam Davis
  • Nancy Bedford
  • Mickie Presnikoff
  • Lloyd Ross

Founding members (l-r) Sam Davis, Mickie Presnikoff, Kitty Newman
at a 1995 PDC drive picnic

A board of directors was elected, by-laws were discussed and voted upon, and the first picnic drive of the new Piedmont Driving Club was scheduled for the following month at the Dodderidge's farm. That fall another drive was held in Berryville, Clarke County, at Annefield estate -- the childhood home of Bill Watkins. Anne Watkins was elected PDC President in 1986 and served the longest in office, guiding the reins of the PDC with extraordinary devotion for over two decades.

Flora Hillman - Newsletter editor from 1988 to 1997
1997 PDC Driving Show
The membership grew as the interest in carriage driving began to blossom on a national scale. The simple postcard mailing list turned into a one-page newsletter in 1987. In 1988 Flora Hillman became editor, and for the next nine years she produced a multi-page monthly newsletter including writing articles and stories that were subsequently re-published in several national driving magazines and books. Flora was also the Picnic Drive Coordinator for those nine years as well, and organized a full schedule of drives - spring to fall - for the membership to enjoy the most beautiful driving seasons that Virginia had to offer. Inter-club drives were scheduled for members to enjoy the driving territory of other driving clubs, as well as special appearances at steeplechase races, charity events, and local parades.

The first PDC Show was held at Foxcroft School, Middleburg, VA in 1983. It was a one day affair and featured both pleasure driving classes and a marathon. Each year the show grew bigger and more extensive, eventually becoming a two day show with pleasure classes the first day, and dressage and a marathon on the second day. In a short time the PDC Driving Show gained the honored reputation as one of the largest, premier driving shows on the east coast, a title which it still holds today.