“Tea Time for Mom and Me!”

Children’s Workshop

at The Harness Racing Museum

Saturday, May 12th-from 10:30 a.m. – Noon

Goshen , NY -Your Mom does so many things for you throughout the year, now it’s time to do something special for her. On Saturday, May 12th bring her to tea at the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame.  First we’ll make the snacks for you to serve with tea.  To remember her special day, we will make a carrot basket (that’s a mother horse’s favorite present!) for her door.  Next, it’s off on a scavenger hunt to find Mom a candy treasure. And, to round up this very special time together, you can give your Mom the thrill of a harness racing drive on our 3-D Simulator Ride. The cost is $5.00 per child and one adult (perhaps mom, dad, nana, grumps, auntie or uncle) is invited to accompany the child without charge. Additional adults are $5.00 per person. The program, which is appropriate for children ages 3-11, is very popular and we therefore suggest you call soon (845) 294-6330 for more information and reservations.

 

The Harness Racing Museum has workshops the second Saturday of every month. Children’s birthday parties and school programs are also available throughout the year.  For additional information on these and other special events please visit this website or call the museum’s Education Department at (845) 294-6330). The museum is located at 240 Main Street in Goshen , NY and is open daily from 10:00 am-5:00 pm .

 

 FUNDING RECEIVED FOR CONSERVATION AND EXHIBITION

September 14, 2006

The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame announces the receipt of two important New York State grants that will aid its efforts to preserve and showcase the best of Harness Racing’s glorious past, dynamic present and healthy future.

Work to save the most significant assemblage of harness drivers’ silks in the country takes another leap forward with the recent approval of a $3,177 conservation treatment grant from the Lower Hudson Conference of Historical Agencies & Museums. Dating from the 1890’s to the present, the collection of over 400 jackets and caps includes the colors of every winning driver of The Little Brown Jug (launched in 1946), and every set but two (Marvin Childs 1927 and Flave Nipe 1958) connected with The Hambletonian Stake (first raced in 1926).

The trotting sport, with its roots in Colonial America, was open to anyone, banker or farmer, who could drive a horse.  In most instances, participants owned, trained, and drove their own horses and so a system of color identification developed, and has been maintained, in which drivers select the color and patterns of their own garments.  In this singular way, a driver’s jacket and cap are often indicative of an individual’s personality or professional influences. These garments may be used in one race or a hundred, becoming a part of the driver’s career history.  Histories that will be preserved with the aid of this grant and the commitment of the museum’s numerous members and friends who have chosen to help sponsor the care of individual jackets and caps from the collection.  Many of these unique artifacts can be seen in exhibitions throughout the museum.

The conservation grant program, administered by the Lower Hudson Conference headquartered in Elmsford , NY , is made possible with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts. Current funding will provide for the conservation treatment of 3 early 20th century drivers’ caps by textile conservator Gwen Spicer of Spicer Art Conservation, Delmar , NY . To date grants totaling $8,000 have been received through the Lower Hudson Conference and the Upstate History Alliance and $15,500 through individual sponsorships.

The three caps, once worn by Hall of Fame drivers Doc Parshall, Fred Egan, and Walter Cox, were selected for treatment at this time, because of their deteriorating condition and the significance of each driver’s history to the sport. Hugh M. Parshall, called “Doc” by friends and fans alike, won the Hambletonian Stake twice during his career, in 1934 and 1939.  Fred Egan also won the great trotting event twice, in 1940 and 1949, and saw a third victory as a trainer in 1958.  A frequent rival of Parshall and Egan, Walter Cox set the mark for future sportsmen, training the top four finishers in the 1929 Hambletonian, as well as driving to a first place finish.  It is a feat that has never been equaled. 

The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame is also pleased to announce the approval of a $4,450 grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to help fund a new exhibition initiative “A Drive To Win.” This exciting new exhibit will celebrate the stories of journeyman horsemen, the backbone of this American-born sport, who make up the field of every race but, through circumstance or fate, have never won a premier event. It is a human foible to revere only the winner, whether on Wall Street , Hollywood Boulevard or Race Street, USA . We barely celebrate second place and “looser” is one of the worst epithets one can receive.  The important contributions of the every day horsemen are too often forgotten in the hype and clamor that surrounds the successful efforts of the top drivers and trainers in the sport.

The museum’s unique assemblage of drivers’ colors, collected since the 1950s and dating back to 1900, many newly restored, along with drivers’ licenses (with photos) issued in 1898 donated by John Manzi, Barry M. Ragone DMD and Allen Skolnick, as well as art and biographies never before seen, will illustrate the lives of those who drive the sport of Harness Racing forward. The proposed exhibit is funded through private donations, contributions to the John Manzi Roast, and the New York State Council on the Arts exhibition grant. It will be installed in the museum’s main gallery at The Harness Racing Museum, Goshen , NY in July 2007, after which it is hoped, through sponsorship, it will become a nationwide traveling exhibit.

More information on how to support these two important initiatives can be obtained by calling the museum’s director at (845) 294-6330 or stop by the museum to discover more about the fascinating history of Harness Racing as well as the museum’s educational programming and other services that support the sport.  The museum, located at 240 Main Street in Goshen , NY , is open daily 10 am - 6pm .  Please call (845) 294-6330 for more information or visit our website at www.harnessmuseum.com.

 

2007 LIVING HALL OF FAME INDUCTEES 

AND COMMUNICATORS CORNER HONOREES ANNOUNCED!

 

 

 

HARRISBURG, PA – Wally Hennessey, Phil Langley, and Jim Arthur have been elected to harness racing’s highest honor, membership in the sport’s Living Hall of Fame, in balloting conducted by the U.S. Harness Writers Association which closed on September 6.

 

Elected to the Communicators' Corner at The Harness Racing Museum were Ray Brienza, Marie Hill, Dean Hoffman, and John Manzi.

 

Hennessey, a native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Maritime Canada, has shown himself to be a top horseman at the highest levels of the sport, winning four Breeders Crowns, two Kentucky Futurities, Sweden's Elitlopp the Montreal Trot Mondial, two Gold Cup and Saucers, the Hambletonian Oaks, the W.N. Reynolds, 12 New York Sire Stakes; the list is endless. He has driven such great horses as Cambest, Running Sea, Gum Ball, San Pellegrino, and Armbro Keepsake however, he will forever be associated with the wonderful trotting mare Moni Maker, Harness Horse of the Year in 1998 and 1999, winner of $5.6 million at the races and a newly inducted member of the Harness Racing Living Horse Hall of Fame.

 

Langley followed in the footsteps of his father, a noted Midwest racing official, and established himself as one of the premier racing secretaries in the world on the high-level Chicago circuit. His insight and talents are currently being utilized as the progressive president of the U.S. Trotting Association.

 

Arthur was a well-known trainer and driver from the 50s to the 70s, campaigning horses such as 1975 Horse of the Year Savoir and the free-for-all pacing terror Overcall. He also won the 1961 Hambletonian with Harlan Dean, a year when he topped North America for driving percentage.

 

Brienza has covered harness racing for the Newark Star-Ledger from before The Meadowlands opened in 1976, but his primary achievements have come writing entertainingly and with style about the horses, humans, and races that are the standouts at the world’s leading harness track.

 

Hill, who had her first writing byline at age 11, has covered harness racing for major trade magazines, but she is best known in the sport as a prolific book author, writing about racehorse-stallion star Adios, 2 books on fellow native Canadian Joe O’Brien, the great Delvin Miller, and Single G, “The Horse That Time Forgot.”

 

Hoffman has also authored several books on the sulky sport, including tomes on Hanover Shoe Farm, Castleton Farm, Yankeeland Farms, and the 75th edition of the Hambletonian. Dean was editor of the acclaimed Hoof Beats magazine for over two decades before assuming his present role as Director of Planning and Senior Hoof Beats Editor for the USTA.

 

Manzi, a disciple of the late publicity guru Allen Finkelson, is known as one of the most creative forces in the sport, putting on promotions that few dare try but which come off due to John’s good-natured handling. He also serves as publicist of the Billings Amateur Driving Association.

 

The septet will be formally inducted during the Hall of Fame Weekend in Goshen NY on Sunday, July 1, 2007.