Monti-Goshen USHWA donates $4k to Harness Museum

Amidst all of the Hall of Fame induction speeches and industry harness racing honors, the Monticello-Goshen Chapter of the United States Harness Writers Association made their annual donation last Sunday (July 3) to the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame.

Museum executive committee chairman Larry DeVan and executive director Janet Terhune were on hand to accept the donation from chapter president Chris Tully.

DeVan noted, “We are all very grateful to the local harness writers for their long-standing support and commitment to the Harness Racing Museum.”

The amount of the donation has increased to $4,000 from last year, thanks in part to the return of the chapter’s annual and well-supported banquet.

Tully said at the induction ceremonies, “It is only through the generosity of our loyal advertisers, patrons and local banquet guests that we can continue to support two of the most important and beloved facilities in all of Standardbred sport.”

In addition to other efforts, a successful banquet and souvenir journal are the primary fundraising mechanism which allows the benevolent organization to make annual donations to both Goshen Historic Track and the Harness Racing Museum & Hall of Fame, two separate and distinct entities that share the same hallowed ground and a mutual purpose of preserving and promoting harness racing.

The practice of raising money and donating funds to Historic Track and the Hall of Fame began in the mid-1970s with Monticello Raceway publicity icon John Manzi and has continued ever since.  In just the last 20 years, the local Monticello-Goshen chapter has donated well over $100,000 to these important industry preservationists.

This year’s Monticello-Goshen USHWA awards banquet will be the chapter’s 63rd annual event and is being held at the Wallkill Golf Club on Sunday, December 11, 2022, where Hall of Famer Wally Hennessey will be the chapter’s primary honoree.

by Chris Tully, for the Monticello-Goshen USHWA