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Weidekamp in 51st Year With Mutuel Department Sept to Repair Churchill Phone Connection in 07 and Remained CHURCHILL DOWNS, Louisville, Ky., May 2. — One broken connection led to another which this year enters its :f if ty-f irst year. The 1907 spring" race meeting at Churchill Downs was in full swing when a broken connection developed in the telephone line between the judges* stand and the pari-mutuel department. To fix the line, the telephone company sent one of its younger technicians, Erwin Andrew Weidekamp. Gene Elrod. head of : ■ ■ — * : 7 — the wagering department!, took one look at the young technician at work,, inquired if he would like a job with the track the following spring. p Weidekamp assented, joined the Churchill Downs staff in 1908. soon, became El-rods chief assistant and since the latters death in 1925 has been director of the pari-mutuel department at the Louisville track. The spring_ that Weidekamp went to • _ wi» »vmv ijiiwwwEjm«Mau w work at Churchill Downs a total of 8,300 was wagered on the Kentucky Derby. This total climbed to the all-time high of .-677.178, which was wagered on the 1955 race. "We felt a little let down in 191G- when yre barely missed 00,000 in wagers on the Derby." recalls Weidekamp. "But this feeling gave way to elation in 1917 when we passed the 00,000 mark for the first time."
