Driving down the bumpy streets of Cicero the last thing I expected to see was the majestic building and grounds of Hawthorne Race Course. My fellow CLTV producer Lindsey Nesselbush and I, along with two Executive Producers, Jeimmie Nevalga and Frava Burgess, were invited to watch CLTV anchor/reporter Monica Schneider act as the "celebrity guest announcer" for one of the horse races.
I got a kick out of her being called a celebrity -- which I guess to the average person she is, but to me- her producer, she's just Monica (this must be how Angelina Jolie's assistant feels).
Monica and Rhonda
Upon our arrival we were greeted by Rhonda (Hawthorne's PR rep) and given a brief tour of part of the building and grounds. I loved all the old pictures that lined the walls of the hallways. Hawthorne has been up and running for about 100 years; the photos gave you insight to the race track's history and its effect on the surrounding community.
Part of our tour included an underground area where the horses are taken after they complete their races. It was interesting to see how each horse is examined and rubbed down before it's led into an individual stall.
Along the way, Monica was interviewed by Hawthorne TV announcer Katie. My favorite part, by far, was when she gave a shout-out to us producers...by letting all of the viewers know that we're all single (cue Beyonce's Single Ladies song). Little did Monica know -- that interview was not only being broadcast via the in-house channel at Hawthorne Racing, but it was also being streamed on-line to countries around the world! I have video of the camera-man panning to get a shot of Lindsey, Frava, and Jeimmie standing together. I was lucky enough to not be included in the shot, as I was working on taping my own video of the goings-on and taking pictures for this blog.
We didn't bet on any horses -- though we did pick one during the second race named 'Weed of Wild Flowers' (we went with 'Weedy,' for short). It looked like Weedy was going to pull out a win -- zipping right out of the gate and staying in first place right up until ..the final stretch. That's when our horse apparently got winded and ended the race -in sixth place! Needless to say, we were not happy (Though secretly, I was, because I would have been upset had Weedy won and we didn't bet any dough).
"Weedy" after ..losing
The horses by the way are absolutely beautiful- we didn't actually get to touch any of them -- but here are some pictures of them from afar.
After our horse failed to pull out the win, we went into the announcer's booth -- where Monica began to warm up her chops and learn the ropes of horse race announcing (with the help of official race announcer Peter). It's not as easy as it looks.
I will tell you one thing-- the race announcer has the best view of the track and an incredibly beautiful view of the city. The roof top of Hawthorne would make a great place to host parties or have a small café. (Maybe not the best idea though, for a bunch of people to go tramping all over the roof -- as it did look a little old.)
Monica did an awesome job of calling the race -- which lasted about 90 seconds. I can't remember which horse won, though -- because at that point I was starving and all I could think about was the spectacular buffet we passed on our tour.
This is the video of Monica calling the race:
We did get a chance to go back to the buffet -- our news director told us to try out a Mint Julip -- unfortunately they didn’t serve any. But they do offer a fabulous food spread. Needless to say our energy levels were way down after we finished eating (all that great food!).
For most of us, this was our first time at a horse track. It was a great experience. Everyone was so kind to us and we really learned a lot. If you have some free time this weekend definitely go check out Hawthorne Race Course...especially for the buffet!
Afua S. Owusu
(Uh-fee-yah) (Oh-woo-sue)
News Producer
