Sports and Recreation

Sports and Recreation. . Established by Frank E. Funk (1887-1963) in 1914, the Winchester Race Track is the nation's second oldest on-going race track and its fastest one-half mile race track. In the early and middle years of the 20th century, Mill's Lake and Funk's Lake, both located between Winchester and Farmland, served as important gathering places for dances, boat rides, roller and ice skating, swimming and other recreational activities. Goodrich Park was established in 1915, donated by Winchester's Goodrich Family. In 1936, land formerly donated to the town of Winchester by brothers William and Charles Beeson became the Beeson Park Memorial Golf Course to be expanded in the 1980s into a 27 hole course. Harter Park of Union City and Hickory Hills Golf Course of rural Farmland also provide golf enthusiasts with an opportunity to apply their link skills. In 1947, the Winchester Jaycees established the "Pumpkin Festival" to raise funds to combat the then often fatal childhood disease of rheumatic fever. The Fall Festival evolved into the annual "Mardi Gras". Heritage Days in Union City has become an equally important annual festival. Horse legend "Red Sails" (1948-1954), raised on the Herbert T. King farm near Crete, was one of the greatest race horses that the state of Indiana has ever produced. Several county athletes have gone on to play college level and even professional athletics, including Losantville's Claude Berry (1880-1973), a catcher from 1904 to 1915 for the Chicago White Sox, the Philadelphia A's, and the Pittsburgh Rebels. Winchester's Troy Levi Puckett (1889- 1971) pitched two innings in one game for the 1911 Philadelphia Phillies. Union City's Rick Enis (1955 to 2011) starred in the mid-1970s as a running back for the Indiana University Hoosier football team before becoming a professional boxer. Since 1957, the Farmland Conservation Club, Inc. has offered recreational opportunities for fishing, shooting, archery, camping, and dog training. Thousands of Randolph County High School boys and girls have enjoyed "Hoosier Hysteria", with the Winchester Community High School boys' and girls' basketball teams having been runner-up in the IHAAS's Division II Basketball Tournament five times (1999-2000, 2006-2007, 2007-2008, 2017-2018 and 2018-2019). Ansel Toney of Farmland (1887 to 1987) gained a national reputation for his original kites and the nick name "The Kite Man". The Randolph County Airport was founded in 1948. Since 1950 it and the Randolph County Civil Defense have co-hosted the annual Fly-In Breakfast, which attracts more than 100 pilots and aircraft from around the Midwest each June. Beginning in the early 1970s, the Winchester Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival has been held annually, with artists and patrons coming from Hawaii and dozens of other states to share in the enjoyment of Hawaiian music. Since 1981, the YMCA of Randolph County has provided important physical fitness, recreational, community, and child care services.