2008 Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet

photo by Bob Lieberman
Four Stake Records fell in 2008, recieving recognition for the accomplishments are from left
Andy Card - 2 Colt Pace / Meadow Scooter 1:57.1
John Mattero - 3 Filly Pace / Bet On Betty 1:54.2
Nancy Longobardi - 3 Colt Pace / Artie Bacardi 1:53
Chip Campbell - 3 Filly Trot / RC Biscuit 1:58.3

More photos of the 2008 Annual Meeting

The Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts held the 2008 Annual Meeting and Awards Banquet in an overflowing meeting room at Restaurant 45 on Sunday evening.  Over sixty members and guests attended the meeting which was highlighted by a presentation given by Paul Verrette on the history of Harness Racing in Massachusetts, not to mention comprehensive legislative updates from S.O.M. lobbyist Maryanne Lewis and State Representative Richard Ross.


photo by Bob Lieberman
Board of Directors at the 2008 Annual Meeting, from left; Paul Vacca, President Ed Nowak, Vice President Jim Hardy, Secretary/Treasurer Nancy Longobardi, Frank Dubreuil and Bonnie Rush

The evening began with a social hour as members and guests mingled before President Ed Nowak called the meeting to order.  In Nowak’s comments he touched on the large volume of traffic the new website has produced and that the website has become a valuable tool for all involved in the program.  He assured everyone the site would be kept as current as possible and urged everyone to continue using the site.  Ed then touched on next years race dates and told the membership the board of directors is committed to announcing race dates as early as possible and this would be taken up at their next meeting and dates would be announced shortly.

Next point of interest was the budget amendment filed this past legislative season that would have essentially killed the Standardbred Breeding Program in Massachusetts. Ed thanked the members that actively participated in lobbying their local representatives on the issue, he also thanked recently hired lobbyist Maryanne Lewis for her hard work and Representative Richard Ross for defeating the amendment.  Nowak also stated that he was, "pleased to announce that a new relationship and partnership has been forged with Plainridge Racecourse, the management and staff have gone out of their way to help us implement some of our new ideas. In particular, Paul Verrette and Russ Paige have been very helpful to us and I thank them for their support.”

The membership was introduced to State Representative Richard Ross of the Ninth Norfolk District, a special guest speaker who briefed the membership on his ongoing efforts to keep harness racing uppermost in the minds of lawmakers. Ross vowed to continue to push for slot machines at the racetracks.  Representative Ross mingled with the membership and talked to many attendees during the evening.

The membership also heard from Maryanne Lewis, Esq., a strategy consultant to the Standardbred Owners of Massachusetts, Inc., she gave members an update on the changing times and issues on Beacon Hill and also noted that harness racing is a plus to the state of Massachusetts. She added that she will continue to work for the breeders interests in the Massachusetts legislature.

In other business, Nancy Longobardi and Paul Vacca were reelected to three-year terms.

After dinner, members and guests were treated to a historic presentation by Plainridge race secretary, Paul Verrette.  The presentation was titled, "When Massachusetts was the Hub of Harness Racing." Paul pointed to the Jan. 12, 1896 edition of New York Times, and an article that read, in part, that "Boston is more truly the Hub of the Sulkies, than of the Universe," and that Readville Trotting Park, near Boston, was the site of not only the first sub 2:00 pacing mile, by Star Pointer, on Aug. 24, 1897, but also in 1903 Lou Dillon trotted a mile in 2:00, making her the fastest trotter in the world.

Four Stake Records were set in 2008 and each was given an award to recognize those accomplishments.  The evening culminated with the 2008 Two Year Old and Three Year Old Sire Stake Champion Awards and a membership raffle. The grand prize in the raffle was a new featherweight harness and it was won by Marc Bouthillier.