The 2010 USHWA Night of Champions presentation of the Dan Patch Awards is over, but you can relive all the names and faces that represent the best our sport has to offer right here by viewing the Official Journal online. Just click on the pages you wish to view and read all the bios and well wishes for all the honorees.

P. 1-25         P. 26-50         P. 51-75         P. 76-100         P. 101-125         P. 126-134

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who worked so hard to help us have a successful dinner and journal.

Starting with everyone who sold an ad, especially Jason Settlemoir, Dave Little, Moira Fanning, Randy Manges, Judy Davis-Wilson and Alicia Schwartz, We are now in the process of collecting the ad money so if you sold one please check and see if it's been paid.

Thankfully the bad weather didn't ruin our event and even though some people couldn't make it, we still had nearly 400 people in attendance.

I would like to thank:

Roger Huston and Dave Little for being entertaining and professional and for keeping the night moving.

Ellen Harvey, Ken Weingartner and Kim Rinker for helping with the script.

Heather Moffett and Faust productions for another terrific video.

Rick Smith for another journal masterpiece and Gail Cunard for using whatever method it took to get it to us.

Joe Hartmann who volunteered for the unenviable task of making sure all the presenters were on time.

Kelly Young for tracking down the honorees to put flowers on them and Moira Fanning for coming up with the flower idea.

Moira Fanning and Gail Cunard for donating raffle items.

Alicia and Alan Schwartz and Bob Lieberman for another successful raffle.

Rosa Ferreira, Barbara Wittstruck and Carolyn Atherton who all stepped up in a big way to help us even though they are not members.

Chris Wittstruck who spent the evening wiping fingerprints off the trophies.

And last but not least, Whitney Fields for taking care of the trophies as well as putting together the centerpieces and the flowers that our honorees wore.

I have received many compliments regarding the dinner and we should all be proud of that.

Thanks again,
Debbie Little

Jason Settlemoir, adding another office of authority to his burgeoning collection of important harness racing positions, was named President of the United States Harness Writers Association during this past weekend’s annual meeting of USHWA in Yonkers NY. 

Settlemoir, vice president of racing and simulcasting for New York State tracks Tioga Downs and Vernon Downs and already a Vice President of Harness Tracks of America and a director of the U.S. Trotting Association, succeeds former president Debbie Little of the New York Post, who will now assume the position of Chair of the Board of the writers organization. Settlemoir was quick to praise his predecessor.

“Debbie Little devoted incredible amounts of time and energy to USHWA in order to make sure that it operated as best as it can, and accomplished many good things,” Settlemoir noted. “Debbie and I have talked about the ‘top spot’ in our organization, and I’m sure her counsel will remain valuable as I step up to face the challenges of the USHWA presidency.”

Veteran racing scribe and publicist Steve Wolf of Florida moves up a chair to first vice-president, while Chris Tully of Goshen Historic Track joins the Board as second vice-president. As mentioned, Little will become of the Chair of the USHWA Board. Returning in familiar roles will be Alan Prince as Treasurer; Bill Brown as Executive Secretary; and Jerry Connors as Secretary.

The U.S. Harness Writers Association is a 200+ member association devoted to the communication of the major developments of the sulky game. It elects members of the Hall of Fame and the various year-end awards, both human and equine; it is involved in charitable and educational enterprises; and it annually organizes the annual banquet which honors the best and brightest of the sport, with the dinner last Sunday at Yonkers honoring 2009’s champions.

The New England Harness Writers held there thirty-first awards banquet on Sunday, Sept. 6, 2009, at the Plainridge Racecourse in Plainville Mass. with a very excited crowd watching the affair.

The inductees into the "Hall" were: Townsend Ackerman (deceased), Peter Blood, Gary Piontkowski and Roger Slobody, who all have contributed greatly to harness racing. Peter Blood has also been inducted into the Florida Chapter’s Hall of Fame and the Plainridge "wall of fame".

Click here to see the complete story with pictures.

Fred Segal, president of the Florida Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association, has announced the award winners for the 2009 season. They will be honored at the association’s annual Hall Of Fame Awards Dinner on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at Diamante’s Banquet Center in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Click here to see the complete story with pictures.

As the racing season came to a close in Western New York this past weekend, the Upstate Chapter held its Night of Distinction Awards ceremony to honor all the best performers from the last twelve months. Eleven awards were doled out and due regard was cast upon their recipients.

Click here for a complete recap of the nights proceedings in word and pictures (courtesy of Paul White) and click this link to watch video of each award presentation.

Over 240 people turned out at Kutshers Country Club in Monticello, NY on October 25th when the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the U.S. Harness Writers Association held their 51st  Annual Awards Banquet. Tom Grossman was honored with the Excelsior Award and Billy Parker, Jr. received the organization’s  Lifetime Achievement Award. Ray Schnittker, Kelly Young, Dave Little and Terry Donnelly were also cited and Southbound Trucker was named “Horse of the Year”.

Click here for the entire story with many pictures (compliments of Geri Schwarz)

Here are some views from the inductions at the HOF in Goshen from July 4th.            Photos are courtesy of Barbara Bedell, Times Herald Record, Middletown, NY

Tom K. Crouch, Alan J. Leavitt, and Timothy J. Rooney were the 2009 inductees to the Harness Racing Hall of Fame.

Inductees to the Communicators Hall of Fame were John Berry and Leon Zimmerman, pictured here with emcee Roger Huston.  

Elbridge T. Gerry Jr., President of the Board of Trustees of the Harness Racing Hall of Fame pictured with Pinnacle Award winner Robert A. Tucker.

The family of Immortal honoree Lew D. Williams, the first black American Hall of Famer, accepted the award on his behalf.        

The United States Harness Writers Association is a group of more than 250 members committed to the chronicling of harness racing through the print and electronic media. It was founded in 1947 by New York City area sportswriters who were covering harness racing at Roosevelt Raceway. It remains the only media organization in harness racing with a membership of newspaper, magazine, radio and TV, ad agency, publicists and others involved in racing communications. With more than 250 members, most of them allied to one of 12 regional chapters, the association strives to bring about a closer relationship among the media, racetracks and horsemen to promote a centuries-old American-bred sport.

USHWA members, in annual voting, choose harness racing's most prestigious awards like the Living Hall of Fame and the Horse-of-the-Year. Its Proximity Achievement Award is one of the sports most cherished honors. It also recognizes top divisional winners and leading drivers and trainers at its annual awards dinner, which began in 1948.
 
The association is governed by a member board of directors, which represents the chapters and at large members (those living or working in regions where there is no chapter). Also serving are seven national officers and all past presidents.

USHWA works with the united States Trotting Association in the Horse of the Year balloting. USHWA also presents the John Hervey Awards for excellence in writing and broadcasting. Its members choose Hall of Famers, so the association also works closely with The Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame at Goshen, New York.

Many chapters hold annual awards or recognition dinners to salute the leading horses and drivers in their areas. Some chapters also raise money for local charities.

                                Contact USHWA at ushwa@paonline.com

                     Direct questions or comments to webmaster@ushwa.org