Around 1900 a racehorse named Charlie B, who trained nearby, frequently swam out to Frontenac Island and back. Perhaps this was part of his training, but he seemed to enjoy it. In my day, it was somewhat of a test for us to swim there, but we were usually accompanied by a boat, which brought us back. I know, we were wimps.

Our local doctor when I was growing up liked to play the horses. When I asked how he could do that, he said that there was a betting parlor in Auburn, the nearest city (population about 35,000), 12 miles away. I said I didn't know there were such places, but he said they were legal at the time. He also said there were "chalk boys" who would earn their money by writing up each horse in a race and their odds on a big blackboard.

I said that although I didn't know about chalk boys, I did remember pin boys. In fact, I'd written a story about a classmate whose father "did him the favor" of getting him a job as pin boy while he was in high school. The historian countered with his experience of taking a phys ed semester of bowling in college

One meeting, half the class would bowl, while the other half would set pins. The next meeting, the roles would be reversed. (Coincidentally, I also took bowling, but with automatic pinsetters, and earned an automatic "A" by bowling a 201. It was quite a while before I next broke 200.)

The horse-race-betting doctor was an avuncular character with a gray mustache – a perfect fit for a small-town. I particularly remember that his waiting room included a large bell jar that incorporated a faux tree whose branches were populated with taxidermied birds. I don't know if this was before the days when old magazines were the main distraction, but I always found the birds fascinating viewing.

However, one year he suddenly had the urge to attend the Kentucky Derby, so he got in his car and drove off, leaving it to his wife to break the news to those in the waiting room!