NAPPANEE THEATRE
FREE GUY
GET NOTICED! Place your ad here for only
Thurs, Fri., Sat. 7 P.M., Sun. 6 P.M. $5 Admission • Redeem This Ad For A Med. Drink Curbside Popcorn Sat. 4-6 P.M.
$80/Week!!
&DOO 1RZ 7R %RRN <RXU 6SRW Goshen Office 134 S. Main St. (574) 534-2591
Milford Office 206 S. Main St. (574) 658-4111
154 N. Main • 574-773-2685 www.the-papers.com Tuesday, August 10, 2021 Serving Elkhart County and parts of Noble, LaGrange & Marshall Counties Know Your Neighbor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2➤ Speak Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Good Neighbors . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Middlebury Summer Fest. 6-7 Vol. 49 No. 18
Goshen (574) 534-2591
134 S. Main, Goshen, Indiana 46526
)$67 7,0(6 $7 1$33$1(( 5$&(:$< ³ )URP OHIW DUH <REUR ,PSDFW ZLWK 'DYLG 0LOOHU )OLJKW =RQH ZLWK .HYLQ +HOPXWK *9 (PLO\ 5RVH ZLWK -RQL %HHFK\ DQG &\EHUZDYH ZLWK -5 6WXW]PDQ 3KRWR E\ +HDWKHU 6WXW]PDQ 0XOEHUU\ +LOO 3KRWRV
` %\ '$9,' +$=/(',1( 6WDII :ULWHU While 2020 will likely be remembered as a low point for most businesses, devotees of Nappanee Raceway and the unique brand of amateur trottingbred harness racing it supports also see it as a time when their beloved past time caught the attention of others outside their closely knit community. “People wanted to get out and do something,” recalled Vern Hochstetler, raceway treasurer and longtime horseman. Drivers passing by the track, situated just east of Nappanee, 24332 US 6, would stop to see what the fuss was all about, and some returned with their families to enjoy a night out. “We had a good year last year,” Hochstetler noted. There is a lot to like about race nights in Nappanee, such as the $4-$5 entry fee, concessions and the family atmosphere. But the stars are undoubtedly the horses, or “ponies,” as they are often called. Nappanee harness races are sanctioned by the International Trotting and Pacing Association, which currently has around 200 registered horses, roughly 180 of them from Indiana and the rest from the upper Midwest and Canada. The trottingbred horses, officially recognized in the 1970s, is a cross between Welsh, Hackney and Shetland ponies for their tenacity and standardbred for their speed, and they are known for their even
temperament as well as their spirited performances, often pulling driver and harness a half-mile in just over one minute.
refer to the horse’s gait) are owned, trained and often driven by the same person, many of whom have enjoyed the sport for generations and remember the early days of the late ‘50s and ‘60s, when the
)$0,/< 75$',7,21 ³ $ODQ (DUO OHIW KDV EHHQ LQWHUHVWHG DQG LQ YROYHG ZLWK 1DSSDQHH 5DFHZD\ VLQFH WKH HDUO\ V +H LV SLFWXUHG ZLWK KLV IDWKHU ZKR LQWUR GXFHG KLP WR WURWWLQJ DQG SDFLQJ SRQLHV DW D \RXQJ DJH +H LV FXUUHQWO\ RQ WKH UDFHZD\·V ERDUG RI GLUHFWRUV DQG FRQWLQXHV WR WUDLQ DQG UDFH KRUVHV WKHUH 3KRWR SURYLGHG E\ $ODQ (DUO
Standing no more than 51.5 inches at the withers — as per ITPA regulations — they are “the little engine that could,” exclaimed ITPA Director Brandy Veach. “They just go so fast around those tracks … they put on quite a show.” Unlike thoroughbreds or standardbreds, these trotters and pacers (the names
pony stock was more prevalent (today’s horses are three-fourths standardbred) and the tracks more makeshift. Alan Earl, for example, of the Nappanee Raceway board of directors, raced with his father in the mid-1970s when Nappanee Raceway was new. And Steve “Pippy” Pippenger was racing the ponies in the mid-1960s, com-
ing in third in his first race at a previous Nappanee track at the age of 9. Hochstetler recalled riding ponies with his friends in the woods and creeks around Millersburg before convincing his father to get his own racer. Later, Hochstetler’s three boys and one daughter, along with several nieces and nephews, were all involved with the sport. “There would be 16 to 20 of them all back to back,” he recalled of practice runs on his track. “We had some really big memories. If your children are interested in ponies and horses it’s a really good sport to be in.” Nappanee Raceway is notable for its lighting, enabling night races, as well as the high-quality limestone track. While the lighting was installed around 2007, track improvements have come in the last couple years, and Hochstetler sees additional improvements coming in the near future, including lighting for the parking lot and electric hookups for RVs. Recently, raceway enthusiasts unable to make it to Nappanee have found a new way to enjoy the races, on YouTube, where Mike Ganger regularly broadcasts races at New Level Media, drawing viewers from as far as Florida and Bermuda. For more information, visit Nappanee Raceway on Facebook or www.itpa.biz.