Harness: Weingartner named USHWA Member of the Year

Ken Weingartner, Media Relations Manager for the United States Trotting Association and a 2019 electee into the Communicators Hall of Fame, has been named Member of the Year of the United States Harness Writers Association (USHWA) by a committee of former winners of the award.

"I can think of no one more deserving than Ken Weingartner to be named USHWAn of the Year," said Kim Rinker, USHWA President. "Ken is reticent to toot his own horn, but has provided help and exposure a thousand times over for countless members of the harness racing community. He truly is a standout member of our organization."

Weingartner first went to the harness races with his father "before I could walk," and upon returning to his native New Jersey after college and early newspaper work, his harness racing stories attracted the attention of the USTA, and Weingartner worked for the organization to the title he holds today. Ken writes feature stories along with previews and reviews of major races, and also is the point man for the weekly Top Ten ranking of star equines.

For USHWA, Weingartner, entering his twentieth year of membership in the organization, serves as the secretary of his New Jersey Chapter. He also serves as the Webmaster of the group's online site (usharnesswriters.com). Ken has been a longtime chairman of the Broadcasters Awards committee, which yearly honors outstanding journalism, and a co-chair of the Clyde Hirt Workshop Committee, which exposes budding communicators to promulgating the sport during Hambletonian Week.

In addition to his election to the Communicators Hall of Fame, Weingartner has been honored with the Allen Finkelson Golden Pen Award for excellence in harness racing publicity, and also by Harness Horsemen International.

Ken Weingartner will be honored at USHWA's Dan Patch Night of Champions Awards Banquet, to be held on Sunday, February 20, 2022 at the Rosen Shingle Creek Resort in Orlando FL. Those wishing to take out a congratulatory ad in the Souvenir Journal should contact Lynne Myers at myerslex@yahoo.com; sponsorship opportunities can be explored with Shawn Wiles at swiles@empireresorts.com. For tickets for the Awards Banquet, contact Judy Davis-Wilson at zoe8874@aol.com; to book rooms at the Rosen Shingle Creek, go to the USHWA website, where in the middle of the first page is a link directly into their reservations computer.