The city of Arcadia has declared June 2nd as Tim Conway Day. To commemorate the event, Conway’s favorite hangout, Santa Anita Park, dedicated Race #6 to the actor/comedian who passed away May 14th. The race was named, “The Tim Conway-Dorf Half Cup.
Arcadia’s Mayor, April Verlato, presented Tim Conway, Jr. with a proclamation from the city council. Tim thanked the mayor and told her he would forever cherish the document by hanging it in his bedroom – he also told the mayor he plans to carry a copy in his car to get out of any speeding tickets he might happen to get in Arcadia.
Tim, his family and some VIP’s posed with the winner of Race #6, “The Tim Conway-Dorf Half Cup”.
The track’s official trumpeter, Jay Cohen, surprised Tim with a rendition of the Carol Burnett theme. It was a pretty emotional moment for everyone, including Tim – it was pretty cool to hear everyone sing the final few words of the song in unison.
It was clear the impact Tim’s Dad had on everyone. There was a steady stream of people who came up to Tim to regale him with their own stories about Tim’s Dad. And, ever the gracious host, Tim took the time to listen to each person, take selfies and sign autographs.
People began to gather at the entrance of the winner’s circle, hoping to get a moment with Tim…but, Tim surprised everyone by inviting them to be in an official winner’s circle group photo.
There were so many people the photographer had to stage 3 separate photos
Immediately following the presentation of the proclamation and the group photos Tim was whisked away to do a live shot on TVG, the official television network of horse racing.
Tim told the host, Peter Lurie, about the first time his Dad took him to Santa Anita, and the time, while in the 3rd grade, his Dad used horse racing as a way to teach him math.
Tim says he was unprepared for show and tell one day until he found a racing program in his backpack. Tim says he decided to tell the class about how to box exacta’s at the track. Tim was sent to the principal’s office. Tim’s teacher calls Tim Sr. and tells him it was borderline child abuse to take his son to the track and teach him math by showing him how to box an exacta…Tim’s Dad told the teacher, “Listen, let me tell you what child abuse is…if my son has a 3-5 and he doesn’t have it boxed, and it comes in 5-3…that’s child abuse”!
Tim also spoke about his Dad’s funeral, which was held in Beverly Hills. He said that the private service was attended by many of his Dad’s celebrity friends like Bob Newhart and Jay Leno.
Tim says he’s still pretty overwhelmed and humbled by all the outpouring of support. He says he’s about half way through a stack of about 600 cards that were sent to KFI, his home, and even the SAG-AFTRA Union offices.
You can hear my feature from Tim Conway Day here: