My goal was to find someone who has been involved in harness racing at the Lebanon Raceway, possibly in the 1960s and 1970s. I know that your Dad has passed, but do you think anybody else might remember a man who “attended horses” there for many years? His name was Cornelius Healy, also known as “Red.” I am a genealogist who is trying to help a man in Ireland. His uncle, Cornelius Healy, emigrated to the U.S. in the 1920s and the family lost touch with him shortly after that. They just want to know what happened to him, did he have a good life, etc. I believe the man who worked at the Lebanon Raceway is the correct man, however, I need to confirm a few things to be sure. His death information, obituary, cemetery records, and funeral records do not give any family-of-origin information. He apparently never married or had a family. Do you know anyone who can help me with this? Many thanks, for any possible leads, and for an entertaining hour with your blog.

The thought of you breathing in the smell of your father and the horse barn after your father passed is haunting.

The horse people, especially, in the town I grew up in kept our smithie busy. I spent many an hour watching the men in his shop working in front of the fires on sweltering summer days. I know intimately the smells of the stable as well. Those two places, always twinned in my mind, are probably only experienced by country folk these days.

(My father loved the track too, but he was betting man. I was often his companion for the afternoon. It’s a little different from the other side of the rail.)