Sunday, January 13, 2008

Track developer pauses to reflect

April 18, 2006

By PAT LITOWITZ
plitowitz@ncnewsonline.com



On a dreary September day in a rain-soaked field, Carmen Shick shined.

In a memorable show under the Big Top, the Mahoning Township developer outlined his plans for Bedford Downs to the Pennsylvania State Harness Racing Commission. More than 500 people, a majority of them Lawrence County residents, listened to Shick and his supporters tell commission members why "Bedford is best."

At stake for Shick: the state's remaining harness racing license and a slots license. At stake for Lawrence County: jobs and a welcome jolt to the economy.

"It just turned out to be wonderful," Shick said of the 2004 event. "I wish I could put that moment in a bottle and save it.

"It's hard to still, at this time, to put into words the amount of emotion that day."

Anton J. Leppler, executive secretary of the commission, promised a decision would be made by the following March. Shick and county residents continue to wait.

"It's been quite a roller-coaster ride. It's kind of hard to believe all-in-all."

In an interview featured on the New Castle News' Web site, www.ncnewsonline.com, Shick talks about his ongoing battle to claim the coveted license, how discrimination played into the application process and the role faith has played.

Following are highlights from the interview:


Taking over the family business "My mother told me at different times that they could really use my help, and I didn't want to leave Florida. "It basically got to the point where she told me, 'You need to come home. You need to come home now. There's problems. We need your help.' So I packed up and came home."


The legacy of his grandfather, Carmen Ambrosia "The wheels were always spinning for him. He was always thinking about what to do next. He was very driven. "He was very generous. I think that if you talk to a lot of business people in New Castle, a lot of them will tell you that if it were not for my grandfather helping them out, they would have never been able to start in business."


Discrimination leads to rejection "The reasons Bedford Downs and ourselves were rejected were not relevant to us as individuals. The rejection was not based on us, not based on our deeds, our lives, but they were based on the assumption of something that grandpa did 20 years. "That's why, in all fairness, the commission denied us. "What happened with my grandfather was, one, mischaracterized. ... I believed he was conned out of that money, and we made every effort to recover it. I never imagined that type of spin could be placed on that. "In my opinion, it was a form of discrimination. The NAACP came out and basically decried it as discrimination."


Bedford's appeal "I think that the (Commonwealth Court) is aware that it is guilt by inheritance, and it has nothing to do with the applicant before the commission. "Even the harness commission attorney makes the admission that Bedford had the best facility. "Maybe it was a slip of the tongue, but they believe Bedford is the best, too."


What keeps Shick going "Faith. The faith that things will work out, and what been dealt to us wasn't of our own making. Faith drives me. "I've always been the eternal optimist."

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