A Night at the Races

By Ken Bounds

Once again, Ron and Arlene Blum hosted a really fun night at the racetrack.  For the second year in a row, we enjoyed harness racing under the lights at Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero.  After rain earlier in the day, the weather was nice, if a bit chilly, for our event.

By 6:00, participants began arriving, selecting their seats, and studying the program to begin choosing their horses.  At 6:30, a delicious buffet was served - no one left hungry.  The first race went off at 7:15 and you could hear the cheers of excitement as winners came in and the groans of defeat as the not-so-lucky tossed away losing tickets.  The sting of possible loss was offset somewhat as Ron presented each of us a $2 wagering token.  Carolyn and I used ours wisely as we scored a winner on each token - free money!

Everything proceeded on schedule as the betting was lively and the conversation engaging.  The featured race for the Northern Illinois Regional Group was the 5th.  Just before the call to post, our hostess gathered our group together to go down for our group photo in the winner’s circle.  Also, three lucky folks had the thrill of riding in the starter’s car.  That honor went to First Lady Robin Emmering, Ron’s neighbor Audrey, and Joe’s cousin Vince.  We understand they had a great time.  After Maserati Seelster beat CR Artistic by a wide margin, we all gathered for the photo.

There were 11 races on the calendar that night, but most of us ran out of money or out of gas before the last race at 11:11 pm.  As the races counted down, members began saying goodbyes and making their way home; some won a little money, others lost, but everyone had a wonderful time.  Our thanks go out once again to Ron and Arlene Blum for setting up a first class event.

Participants this evening were our hosts Ron & Arlene Blum with their neighbor Audrey Rohlinger, President & First Lady John & Robin Emmering, Ken & Carolyn Bounds, Roger Obecny & Mary Partyka, Tom & Madeleine O’Donnell with daughter Maureen, Dan & Diane Pudelek, John & Este Scheve, Joe & Delice Serritella with Joe’s cousin Vince Serritella, John & Barb Slobodnik and son John, and George & Dawn Zulas.