Lo c a l
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Volume 9 • Issue 30 • August 1 – August 7, 2014
I n d e p e n d e n t
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F r e e saratogaTODAYnewspaper.com • (518) 581-2480
Road To The Final Call
Galas Galore!
Legendary Announcer Reflects on Career
Tom Durkin.
Photo by Mark Bolles
by Brian Cremo Saratoga TODAY
SARATOGA SPRINGS— Tom Durkin, the distinguished and prominent voice at the track, is in the midst of his final meet. From the days of finding his passion for the sport of thoroughbred racing as a young teenager in Chicago, to professionally announcing the likes of Holy Bull at the Travers Stakes, Cigar at the Breeders’ Cup and Rachel Alexandra at the Woodward Stakes, Durkin has made a lasting impact in a career that has taken him above and beyond his wildest dreams.
Skidmore’s $100M Science Center
The esteemed Durkin takes a look back at his career as a racecaller and life with the sport in this week’s Q&A. Was there a time you remember telling yourself you wanted a career in horse racing or announcing? I don’t know if I have any moment of epiphany. When I was a kid growing up in Chicago we used to go to the track and I fell in love with the sport at that point. I was totally enamored with the track announcer there. I guy by
the name of Phil Georgeff. I started doing Phil Georgeff imitation and I thought, “You know, I’d like to be Phil Georgeff,” so probably when I was around 13 or 14. You studied theatre at St. Norbert College (Wisconsin). Did that experience help your career? Absolutely, at many levels. Most importantly, getting up in front of people, speaking and performing. Also, I had a great teacher in college named Kelly Collum. He just
Bolshoi:
See Durkin pg. 44
From The Inside
College Raising Funds To Finance New Science Center by Stepanie Hale-Lopez Saratoga TODAY
The interior atrium of the CIS.
SARATOGA SPRINGS — Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs is fundraising for the construction of a $100 million science center at the heart of its campus. The project, known as the Center for Integrated Sciences, is a mixture of new construction and renovation designed to co-locate all nine departments and programs See Skidmore pg. 7
Pages 13-18, and 37
Inside TODAY Blotter 5 Obits 6 Business
10-11
Winner’s Circle
19-23
Your Home
25-32
Entertainment 35-38
Weekend Forecast FRIDAY
8|1 SATURDAY
8|2 See Bolshoi pg. 9
Photo By Deborah Neary
SUNDAY
8|3