At Blue Bonnets Racetrack, Montreal (One)
A Sunday at Blue Bonnets racetrack here in Montreal was always fun. Even for someone like myself, with little interest in gambling or betting on the horses, it was fun. A table at the Centaur Restaurant, the breakfast buffet, being with CZ and our friends, Patrick and Linda, watching the races and planning which horse we'd bet on next; studying the race forms, how many races won, how many lost, how much money made for the owner. Then excitement of winning $50.00 and then losing $25.00. Going home ahead. Friends winning $500.00! And just people watching--and being with people that are different from my usual life--watching through my binoculars the horses and then walking around the other areas of the track, taking photographs, more people watching, and being out on a Sunday afternoon when there was nothing else to do and the track only a few miles from where we live, the famous (for us) Blue Bonnets which the government bought and renamed Le Hippodrome de Montreal, and equivocated on its future and considered a future off-island location before closing the place down. Blue Bonnets, an enormous building and usually less than half empty, and eventually a combination of changing demographics and the government running the track has lead to its recent closing. What a piece of real estate they're sitting on! And the fact that most people aren't interested in going to the track anymore, not here in Montreal, not when you have the casino, Loto tickets, and online gambling. Remember when the only lottery was the Irish Sweepstakes? It was a simpler life then. You can't reinvent the complexity of a track culture, you can't reinvent this again when it's gone; we all lose as the diversity of life is reduced. When it's gone, it's gone for good. In just about every way, diversity and complexity make life a lot more interesting.
A Sunday at Blue Bonnets racetrack here in Montreal was always fun. Even for someone like myself, with little interest in gambling or betting on the horses, it was fun. A table at the Centaur Restaurant, the breakfast buffet, being with CZ and our friends, Patrick and Linda, watching the races and planning which horse we'd bet on next; studying the race forms, how many races won, how many lost, how much money made for the owner. Then excitement of winning $50.00 and then losing $25.00. Going home ahead. Friends winning $500.00! And just people watching--and being with people that are different from my usual life--watching through my binoculars the horses and then walking around the other areas of the track, taking photographs, more people watching, and being out on a Sunday afternoon when there was nothing else to do and the track only a few miles from where we live, the famous (for us) Blue Bonnets which the government bought and renamed Le Hippodrome de Montreal, and equivocated on its future and considered a future off-island location before closing the place down. Blue Bonnets, an enormous building and usually less than half empty, and eventually a combination of changing demographics and the government running the track has lead to its recent closing. What a piece of real estate they're sitting on! And the fact that most people aren't interested in going to the track anymore, not here in Montreal, not when you have the casino, Loto tickets, and online gambling. Remember when the only lottery was the Irish Sweepstakes? It was a simpler life then. You can't reinvent the complexity of a track culture, you can't reinvent this again when it's gone; we all lose as the diversity of life is reduced. When it's gone, it's gone for good. In just about every way, diversity and complexity make life a lot more interesting.
1 comment:
Hi, I'm producing a film about a man who frequented the Blue Bonnet back in the 1940's. Although it's only part of his story, the track has a special place in his story. Do you have any other pictures or even video footage of any of the races? Would love to connect - you can reach me at www.lifestreams.org
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