.. 
     
    
   
   
    
     fiiilll Acorn 
     
    
   
   
    
     4 
     
    
   
   
    
     Afiefif/lll Mose Years 
     
    
   
   
    
     n 1936. Bil: Acorn started to sell 
     
    

    
     pencils anc race programs at the 
     
    

    
     Charlottetown l)riying Park. In 2003. 
     
     his joh descripton \yas track charter at 
     
     the (2.1).1’. Betneen these two roles. Bill 
     
     l‘illed eight addiiional positions ol‘ part— 
     
     time employment at the (I.l).l’. \\"hat 
     
     made Bill's reccrd astounding was that 
     
     this employmeni at the (,Z.D.P. was con— 
     
     tinuous for (5‘) years! His ll) Llllllt‘l‘k‘l‘ll 
     
     roles reyealed a great deal of the hehind- 
     
     thesscenes history of horse racing at the 
     
     (2.1).1’. lor oyer six decades: hoyyeyer. 
     
     \\'ith the eyolution of computer technolo— 
     
     gy. many of the roles that Bill perl‘ormed 
     
     haye hecome ohsolete and may he a 
     
    
   
   
    
     mystery to many ol' the younger people. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Alter selling pencils and programs lor 
     
     eight years. Bill was promoted to “hang-- 
     
     ing the numhers" at the old judges” stand 
     
     in the infield. These numhers \yould 
     
     show the patrons the times for each quar— 
     
     ter l‘raction oi the race. This was done 
     
     manually during the race hecause in the 
     
     Wills the electronic computer \yasn't 
     
     ayailahle to perl‘orm this l‘unction. Bill's 
     
     third joh at the (I.l).l’. made him assistant 
     
     program director to his hrother. l’rank 
     
     “Duck“ Acorn. From this position he 
     
     moyed hack to the old judges stand and 
     
    
   
   
    
     hecame the ol‘l‘icial patrol judge l‘or the 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     upper turn. \V'e, must rememher that this 
     
     was long hel‘ore the judges moyed to the 
     
     highest leyel of our grandstand: it was 
     
     also long hel‘ore the adyent of Video- 
     
     taped replays to assist judges in making a 
     
     decision. Many of you will rememher 
     
     seeing the judges and the announcer cir— 
     
     cling the old judges stand in the center 
     
     tield as they watched the horses during a 
     
     race at the (3.1).1’. 
     
    
   
   
    
     Bill‘s next joh description kept him in the 
     
     old judges stand as one ol‘ the three ol‘l‘i— 
     
     cial timers. liach l‘raction of each race 
     
     was recorded manually hy three official 
     
     timers to ensure accuracy \\"hen there 
     
     was a dillerence in times. a majority 
     
     ruled. 'l‘oday \ye hayc one official timer. 
     
     l’rom timer. Bill moyed on to he the "run— 
     
     ner” lor the pari—mutuel. For this joh. he 
     
     literally ran with the ollicial ticket pays to 
     
     each ol‘ the pari—mutuel cashiers. In 
     
     those days. the patrons went to separate 
     
     wickets to purchase and cash tickets and 
     
     the runner had to he last so as not to 
     
     keep those with winning tickets \yaiting 
     
     too long. Bill was a "runner" l‘or t\\'o 
     
     years when he moyed on to hecome a 
     
     seller ol tickets at the pari—mutuel. l’rom 
     
     seller he was promoted to one ol the 
     
     chosen three \yho calculated the \yin. 
     
     place. and show oll‘icial pays at the con— 
     
    
   
   
    
     153