Skip to main content

Betting on the Ponies!

 NOVEMBER 09, 2021

Kira D. Foltz, horse racing photo, 10 May 2015, Santa Anita Racetrack, California.

Week 42: Sports

In my family, I never really heard much about sporting events or games growing up. Football, basketball, soccer, hockey, or any of those other traditional team activities were not celebrated by any of my close relatives aside from the occasional football game on TV leading up to Thanksgiving dinner. Even then, no one was really paying much attention. It was mostly just background noise.

We also never made it a point to watch the Super Bowl or March Madness. Although, my grandmother, Edna, was a HUGE fan of baseball, specifically the Dodgers! Perhaps she was the only one to inherit the sports gene. Her grandfather, John Alexander Dean, Jr., cared for and raced horses back in West Virginia in the early 1900s!



Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 19 September 1900, p. 2.

Wheeling Daily Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 19 September 1900, p. 8.

Wheeling Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 19 September 1907, p. 10.

Wheeling Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 26 August 1905, p. 7.







Wheeling Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 13 June 1925, p. 2.

Wheeling Intelligencer, Wheeling, West Virginia, 19 Sep 1907, p. 10.

I have also taken a relaxed interest in horse racing over the years, having visited the Santa Anita Racetrack a few times and satisfying my gambling itch. I’d never get involved in that industry or even become a frequent better on horses, but it’s certainly a sport that tickles my fancy a heck of a lot more than playing with a ball.




Comments

Popular Posts

2024 52 Ancestors: Origins - Physical Traits

Ever wonder who you inherited your dashing good looks from, those cute dimples, or how about that thinning hair line and thick love handles?  This week, I'm exploring the origins of physical traits in my family tree. The first one that instantly comes to mind are my eyes. I know exactly who I got the color from versus the shape of them! Many babies' irises can be seen changing colors for their first six months or so. I was told my parents thought for sure I was going to inherit my dad's blue eyes, because they stayed that way even nearing the 2 year mark. However, they ended up turning hazel -- the color of my mom's eyes. (Left) Beatrice (Millhouse) Foltz; (Right) Kira Foltz Now, as for the shape of my eyeballs, I have my dad to thank for that! And I know this, because we have the same football-shaped stigmatism in each of our right eyes. Plus, a lazy eyelid over it, to boot! (Left) Gary Foltz; (Right) Kira Foltz My long lashes definitely came from my maternal side. But...

2025 52 Ancestors: At the Library - First Outing to FamilySearch in Salt Lake City

Every genealogist should eventually make the trek out to SLC to visit the FamilySearch Library (formerly known as the Family History Library). It is open access and free to the public, like a city library, except it is wholly focused on genealogy research materials and managed by the company FamilySearch (founded by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Kira D. Foltz, photo of entrance to FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 2025. One of the genealogy societies I belong to, Ventura County Genealogical Society ( VCGS ), makes an annual pilgrimage to the library on what they have termed the Salt Lake City Safari. I learned about their trip a couple years ago and felt I'd need to tag along when the schedule made sense for me. 2025 was the year! James McAleney, photo of VCGS Safari group at FamilySearch Library, Salt Lake City, UT, Mar 2025. Used with permission. A group of about 35 of us joined together in Utah for a week in March filled with family history resea...

Patient Zero AKA The First Post

  All diseases start somewhere, and the genealogy bug is no exception. I’m Kira Dawn Foltz, and you can think of me as Patient Zero. I’m here to help spread this disorder to the masses (or at least through the branches of my own tree)! And what better way to start the infection, than a history in how I caught the illness. My origin story. The year was 1993. I was 8 years old and in the 4th grade at Calvary Baptist School in Gardena, California, where my father had also attended elementary school (later Calvary Christian Academy, and now home to CrossRoad SouthBay). Mrs. Henken was my teacher. She was also my piano tutor’s wife and a very sweet lady to boot. If only she could have spotted the symptoms back then, who knows in what condition I’d be today! Mrs. Henken assigned us an oral presentation about one of our ancestors. My dad helped me reach out to my Aunt Sandra, the family historian, for information on where we came from. I received a letter from her with a fabulous tale of ...