One of the traditions that Gary Dietrich inherited when he brought Interlaken Plantation in 1989 was a grand annual dove shoot and barbecue that David and Bill Summers first started in 1972. Carolyn Dietrich and Kathy and Penny Summers were its hostesses. The shoot began as a way to entertain the Summers’ Golden Kernel Pecan Company friends and grew into a one of the state’s major annual social and political gatherings with as many as 350 people in attendance. Dietrich partnered with the Summers to continue the event until at least 2007. In 2001, political leaders included the U.S. Representative Lindsey Graham, S.C. Lieutenant Governor Bob Peeler, and S.C. Senators Joe Wilson and Mark Sanford.
In 2003, Governor Mark Sandford rode his bike down from Columbia to attend the event. Because he worked up a sweat on his ride, the Governor asked to shower inside the house. Carolyn Dietrich still remembers their startled housekeeper running up to her in amazement to announce, “The Governor is in the shower!” In 2007, local cooks James Robinson (still working at Interlaken in 2024) and Primus and Hercules “Bubber” Dunning barbecued the pigs and served eight hundred pounds of pork, white rice, red hash, slaw, dill pickle slices, white bread, and ice tea to hungry guests. To this day, many distinguished visitors recall coming to the Interlaken shoot and barbecue decades ago. Several of the old signs for the dove shoot are tucked away in a corner of one of the farm buildings. The dove shoots and barbecues were a high point in the history of hospitality at Interlaken Plantation.
