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Missouri State Horseshoe Pitching News

Volume 23, Issue 3 An Award-Winning Publication October 2019

Prez Reportby Ron Highley, President MOHPA

Missouri fall temperatures and lower humidity have finally arrived, and everybody I know welcomes those. Harvest would be in full swing if we could get Mother Nature to give us some dry weather and not rain about every 3 days. We are even having a heckuva time getting our Year-End League Tournament in because every time we schedule a Sunday afternoon, it rains. When we finished up our summer league, we had a playoff between the 1st-half and 2nd-half winners. The mother/son team of Paige (Highley) God-dard and Warren Highley took the Grand Prize.

The great state of Texas was the destination for our summer va-cation to the World Tournament. Besides enjoying the hospitality of Wichita Falls and enjoying pitching at a great venue in the Civic Center, we took several day trips. The John F. Kennedy Museum in Dallas was one destination, and locating some of Vic’s ancestors in a cemetery in Burk-Burdette (about 15 miles north of Wichita Falls) was another day trip. Ask Warren about his “sticker” experience in the cemetery. On the way home, we stopped at Oklahoma City National Memorial and Museum of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. At the tournament, Victoria again pitched great in her class, Memo rose to the occasion and made the Cadets Champion-ship, Warren had a tough tournament at his first time back there in the Junior’s Division, and I just plain stunk! But we all look forward to heading back to Monroe, LA, in 2020.

Our 2019 State Tournament was much the same as 2018, with

Quail Ridge again hosting. We had slightly fewer entrants, so this year everybody got to pitch inside. We have some first-time State Champions and a couple of repeat champions; Stan has posted all the results on the MOHPA homepage, so check them out. We did not get an official bid at the Friday Night Business Meeting to host the 2020 State Tournament; there is an article on page 15 of this issue of Shoe Biz concerning that matter.

This year’s State Tournament Business Meeting and Awards Banquet was held Friday evening at the host hotel, the Comfort Inn and Suites. The Awards Banquet was held Saturday evening at the Trigg Banquet Facility, just a short distance from the host hotel. Melanie Zerr was re-elected Vice-President, Mark Miller was elected Secretary/Treasurer (taking over for the retiring Jim Bainter), Scott Raimer was re-elected Zone 2 Director, and Al Mundy was re-elected Zone 3 Director. We had some Officers and appointed positions retire this year, and we thank those of you who have stepped up to fill those spots; it takes ALL of us to keep your Organization going. If you see these folks, thank them for what they do for your horseshoe association.

At the Awards Banquet, we had a great meal, followed by the candlelight memorial. Then the kids arrived from the Junior Party at the host hotel for some special recognition and Junior Awards. With the kids on their way back to the Junior Party, so the “old

See Prez Report, page 10

16th Annual Club/Team Championship Benefitby Donna Bastel

The 16th Annual Club/Team Championship Benefit was once again hosted by the Quail Ridge Club in Wentzville, MO, on Sat-urday, June 1, 2019. Jim Bainter graciously volunteered to be the Tournament Director so I could attend my grandson’s high school graduation in Walpole, MA.

Participation was down this year. We had only 9 teams repre-senting only 6 clubs: 3 from Capitol City HC Jeff City, 2 from Quail Ridge HC in Wentzville, and 1 each from Liberty HC, Lake of the Ozarks HC in Laurie, Lions Park HC in Peculiar, and Library Park HC in Shelbina. 3rd Place went to the Shelbina Club’s Ringers &

Leaners with 25 points, 2nd Place went to the Liberty Club’s Don Harris Posse with 28 points, and the 2019 Club Team Champions, from the Lake of the Ozarks Club, with 29 points, are the Ringer Flingers: Jim Bainter (Captain), George Lawler, Mary and Sam Vogel, Clint Camp, and Lile Harper.

We were happy to present the Club/Team Championship plaque, on behalf of the MOHPA, to Jim Bainter, the new President of the Lake of the Ozarks Horseshoe Club. As you know, this is the only fund-raising event for the MOHPA. Even with fewer entries, we brought in $728. The Lions Park HC in Peculiar has offered to host the 2020 Club/Team Tournament, which will be held June 6. This will be the first time this event will be held on the west side of our state since 2009 when it was held in Independence. Please rally your club members and help to make this the best turnout ever.

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President: Ron Highley 16206 E. 307th St., Harrisonville, MO 64701 816-562-3871 E-mail: mohpaprez@yahoo.comVice President: Melanie Zerr 62 Slow Pitch Lane, Wentzville, MO 63385 636-485-0550 E-mail: melaniezerr22@gmail.com Secretary/Treasurer: Mark Miller 7501 N. Tullis Ave., Kansas City, MO 64158 cell 816-786-1155 E-mail: mohpamark@yahoo.comStatistician: Stan Griggs 5629 Sterling, Raytown, MO 64133 816-313-1814 E-mail: moshoe@turnkeymail.com Regional Director: Donna Bastel 1028 Oak Point Dr., Gravois Mills, MO 65037 573-374-8243, cell 573-378-3447 E-mail: dbastel@lauriekitchen.net

Zone 1 Director: Michael Gillespie 11358 NE County Rd. 14004, Urich, MO 64788 816-678-8323 E-mail: hdpmlg134@hotmail.comZone 2 Director: Scott Raimer 8690 County Rd. 422, Hannibal, MO 63401 cell 573-719-0269 E-mail: gbpfan@rallstech.comZone 3 Director: Alfred Mundy 21126 E. B Highway, Sheldon, MO 64784 417-884-2462 E-mail: amundy48@yahoo.comZone 4 Director: Danny Williams HCR 64 Box 817, Glen Allen, MO 63751 573-238-0047, cell 573-208-3215 E-mail: nipdpeg2@yahoo.comHall of Fame Chairperson: Dee McIntire 3205 NE 66th Terrace, Gladstone, MO 64119 816-452-0254, cell 816-547-4995 E-mail: dinetamcintire@gmail.com

Junior Director: Savanna Johnson 3801 S. Adams Ave., Independence, MO 64055 cell 816-835-7559 E-mail: jsavanna98@gmail.comPublicity Chairperson: Denise Haye 1811 SE Hillside Ct., Oak Grove, MO 64075 cell 816-674-9411 E-mail: DeniseHaye@comcast.netNewsletter Editor: Laura Johnson 3801 S. Adams Ave., Independence, MO 64055 cell 816-682-9386 E-mail: horseshoebiz@gmail.com

Missouri State Officers and Key Personnel

Shoe Biz DeadlinesThe magic number is “9”:January 9May 9October 9

From the Editorby Laura Johnson

Horseshoe pitchers are something else. I continue to be amazed at what it means to be a part of this wonderful group of people. If I were to ask what a horseshoe pitcher is, I would probably get a simple answer like “One who plays a game of horseshoes.” That is definitely true, but is that all? I am here to tell you that is not all. I have witnessed so much more in the past 12 years as a pitcher, and I am shocked each and every time that I witness the compas-sion, the selfless giving, and the true friendships that surround horseshoe pitching. The most recent starts with Hannah Johnson from Liberty, Missouri.

Hannah pitches leagues in Liberty and Independence with her dad, Robert Johnson, and her sister, Sarah. They are horseshoe pitchers, as described above, which is why they, as a family, received the 2014 Appreciation Award based on their commitment to the sport and their dedication to helping league and tournament directors with anything needed between setup and tear-down at horseshoe-related events. Hannah recently had oral surgery to remove six upper front teeth that were badly decayed and causing her pain. She is healing well and has temporary teeth while her bones heal, and she will finally get her implants in about 10 months if all goes well. About a week before her surgery, she was talking about the Fall Leagues in Liberty and stated that she would not be able to pitch in the HOA Thursday Night League because she needs to save her money. The surgery and implants are going to cost her nearly $8000 after insurance. I contacted Gregg Craven in Liberty, and we decided to put out a donation box for Hannah and to send out a note ahead of time to let people know via social media. Immediately, people were praying for Hannah’s healing and asking for an address to send her well wishes. The next day, a donation box was put out at the KS/MO Border War Tournament in Independence, and the generosity was overwhelming. Hannah’s dad, Robert, said “Maybe we can get $200 to help her out.” At the end of the day, he had tears of joy in his eyes as we counted $700 to help with Hannah’s dental bill. Hannah said she almost

Shoe Biz Boostersby Jim Bainter

If you would like to receive Shoe Biz via first-class mail, please send a dona-tion of $10 or more to the MOHPA in

care of our secretary, Mark Miller, 7501 N. Tullis Ave, Kansas City, MO 64158. A Shoe Biz Boosters donation entitles you to a listing and first-class mailing for three issues. Expiration dates are listed below. Some folks continue to send multiple donations, but no listings have been extended past October 2020. Thank you all for your support of our newsletter!

Listing Expires After October 2019 Issue

Elizabeth FurnerLaura Johnson

Rodney MallinckrodtDee McIntireJon McKnightJerry Weller

Vicki Winston

Listing Expires After February 2020 Issue

George ChichuraFred Smith

Listing Expires After October 2020 IssueErnie Ellermann Jr.

Mary Ann Ell

fell on the floor when she received an envelope in the mail with a $1000 gift from a horseshoe pitcher in Kansas. That’s not all; we put the donation box on the table at the Don Harris Arena in Liberty during the week of the Liberty/HOA Summer Leagues Tournament and raised another $800. The love and compassion from my fellow horseshoe pitchers surprised me yet again.

Karl Marx must have been thinking about horseshoe pitchers when he said, “Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping in your life. Everyone else is just passing through.”

[Dear Horseshoe Pitchers, I don’t have the words to tell you much I appreciate your generosity. I consider you part of my family. I thank you for your thoughts, your prayers, and your donations.—Hannah]

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From My Court to Yoursby Jim Bainter, retiring MOHPA Secretary/Treasurer

As many of you know, my second term as your Secretary/Treasurer will be complete by the end of October. When I took the job to replace Vicki Winston, I stated that I would serve only two terms. My obligations are complete. I have been active in the MOHPA for 16 years and will continue to participate, just not at the level of previous years.

Mark Miller was elected as my replacement at the annual membership meeting last month. There is an article by Mark on page 11 of this issue of Shoe Biz that provides a brief resume. As an early announced candidate, Mark has spent several hours learning the job, and he followed me throughout our recent State Championship Tournament. Please give Mark the great support you have given me over the years as he assumes this critical posi-tion in our organization.

More change is coming with the NHPA’s implementation of eShoes. This program will require pitchers to go online to renew their annual membership and to update their personal informa-tion. New members will be required to do the same. Payment of membership dues will be made via credit card or through Pay Pal at the time of renewal. If you do not have Internet access, the Secretary will still process your renewals. However, for the near future you will be able to renew through your club and the state secretary as you have always done. Please be patient as this program evolves. New software will always have bugs, and tweaks are going to be necessary to make it work properly. The program is not yet compatible with HSMaster, and the Secretary may be required to maintain a secondary database to support league and tournament

directors through the end of the year and perhaps longer. It may take another year for additional modules to be developed and implemented.

I would like to thank all the officers and committee chairper-sons throughout the years and especially during the recent State Championship Tournament. Without their contributions and the volunteer support of scorekeepers and judges, this tournament and all the others would not have been successful. Volunteers are the key to success throughout the state and at all of our events. To all the pitchers out there, please consider providing a few hours of your time to help us succeed. It is certainly appreciated.

A final “thank you” goes to the MOHPA pitchers. I appreciate your support over the years. Now, one last plea, get out there and find some new pitchers to replace those we have lost over the past 5 years or so. Without new membership, horseshoes will slowly fade away. We don’t want to lose our great organization.

Come visit me at The Pits Horseshoe Arena this winter when it gets too cold to play outside. That’s it from the Pits.

Financial ReportCheckbook Balance 4/30/19 $15,171.25Income through 10/4/19 $18,024.70Total Cash $33,195.95

NHPA Dues Paid 2,350.00Business Expenses 16,066.71Total Expenses 18,416.71

Checkbook Balance 10/4/19 $14,779.24(includes $1000 to establish new Secretary account)

New Member ListCompiled by Jim BainterWe welcome our new members who have joined the NHPA

and MOHPA for the first time. We hope that you will enjoy your association with us!

Name CityJenny Braun Ste. GenevievePaul Camarata Kansas CityBecky Carter BucknerBill Clark O’FallonBrett Furner ForistellRocky Gray LawsonScott Haxton Lake St. LouisEthan Houchin Kansas CityTristan Houchin Kansas CityDustin Hunter Lake OzarkWayne Maggard Blue SpringsAllen Misner SpringfieldPat Potts SpringfieldJohn Schmidt VersaillesBillie Sullivan IndependenceSean Sullivan Sunrise BeachBill Wainscott MontroseLloyd Wood Liberty

Team World 2019by Mel Bruemmer

Yea! We did it. The MOHPA was represented by seven teams at the Team World Championships; this is a new record for teams from one state, breaking our previous record of six. Missouri Team #1 (Steve Johnson, Melanie Zerr, Ed Griffith, and Gregg Craven) made the playoffs and finished in 4th place. Missouri Team #2 (James Driver, Rich Altis, Mick Gillette, and Gina Baker) had a good tournament, finishing 7th. Mick Gillette was on fire dur-ing the tournament, finishing with 20 wins and only 1 loss. This was the 6th consecutive year that Missouri has had a team in the ladder-round playoffs, so 2020 should be our year to regain the Championship Trophy for Missouri. Your help is needed to make it happen! Let’s go for 7 teams again, maybe 8, in 2020. You will not regret making the trip because this is the most fun you can have with horseshoes in your hands. You will be amazed how well this tournament is run and how nice a place Beloit is to visit. Anyone who is interested in participating should contact Mel Bruemmer at 573-821-6350 or e-mail mlbruem@aol.com. Team World 2020 will be held from May 15 to 17 at Telfer Park in Beloit, Wiscon-sin. Visit www.whpahorseshoes.com/team-world for additional information on the tournament and for complete results for all teams and individuals. Team World is the most fun you can have in Horseshoes!

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Last ShoeLyle Samuelson

November 5, 1933 – June 4, 2019

By Laura Johnson

Lyle Martin Samuelson, 85, of Liberty, Missouri, died June 4, 2019. He was born the last of seven children on November 5, 1933, in Vliets, Kansas, to Martin Clarence and Ada Chris-tine (Bowman) Samuelson. He graduated in 1951 from Frankfort High School. Lyle joined the Air Force in 1954 and flew missions in France, Spain, Greece, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Africa. After 4 years of military service, he returned home and began his 41-year career at Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. It was at Hallmark that he met his future wife, Ina Mae Bailey from Brookfield, Missouri. They married on November 22, 1959, and three children followed. Lyle was an ac-tive member of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Liberty. Lyle is survived by his wife of nearly 60 years, Ina Mae; son James Samu-elson of Kansas City; daughter Angie Samuelson of Liberty; son Jeffrey Samuelson, daughter-in-law Kathi, grandson Nicholas, and granddaughter Claudia of Fort Worth, TX; sister Pauline Fincham of Kansas City; and four generations of nieces and nephews. Lyle is preceded in death by his parents, Martin Samuelson and Ada Samuelson Swanson; sisters Vivian Samuelson, Harriet Scholtz, Adelaide Hooper, and Ione Fasbinder; and brother Fred Samuelson. Lyle was laid to rest at Glenridge Cemetery in Liberty on Saturday, June 15, with military honors.

Lyle began pitching with the Liberty Horseshoe Club in 1988 after answering an ad in the Liberty newspaper. He wasn’t new to pitching horseshoes, just new to organized competition. He had played around with horseshoes with his brother when they were young. They used whatever size or weight horseshoes they could get ahold of at the time; pony, mule, and work-horse horseshoes. They put a couple stakes in the ground (without measuring) and pitched for fun. Between 1991 and 2010, Lyle pitched in eight World Tournaments. He only won one game in 1993 in Spearfish, SD, pitching 24.55%, but that didn’t stop him. He placed 3rd in Pocatello, ID, in 2004 and 2nd in Ardmore, OK, in 2007. His best World Tournament result came in 2009 in Springfield, IL, where he won 9 of 15 games and ended with a ringer percentage of 49%.

Lyle was a great teacher of the sport. Lyle was there for me in 2012 when I was pitching the championship game in the Liberty Summer Leagues Tournament. I started having a low in my ringers and I just couldn’t seem to find them. In desperation, I looked to the

far end of my court and in the crowd, I eyed Lyle. He was standing behind everyone and I felt he was waiting for me to lock in on him. He slowly lifted his straight arm up over his head. I knew he was telling me to get my arm up. From then on, my shoes seemed to fall onto the stake with ease. I won that tournament with Lyle’s help. Just recently, I found myself pitching in the same tournament and I couldn’t help but think of my mentor, Lyle, as I pitched. Now, 7 years later, with tears in my eyes, I can only imagine Lyle standing at the other end of the court with encouragement for me. Lyle will forever be in the hearts and minds of many horseshoe pitchers who he blessed with his simple and sincere nature. As his daughter, Angie, said after his death “He loved the horseshoe club and all of its members. I’m sure he was called up to the ‘A team’ for this week’s heavenly horseshoe tournament.”

Robyn K. HendrixFebruary 14, 1964 – July 4, 2019

By Jeanette Claas

Robyn Hendrix, 55, of Mex-ico, MO, passed away in the early hours of July 4, 2019. She was diagnosed with ad-vanced liver cancer on June 7 and died several weeks later. It was a shock to her family and to her friends in horseshoes.

Robyn was born in Han-nibal and raised on a farm in Middletown with three brothers, Randy, Rick, and Ronnie and one sister, Rita. It was during this time that she developed a love for horses. She was a country girl and spent many hours riding and taking care of them. She belonged to the 4-H Club, where she showed her horses and won many trophies. She gradu-ated from Bowling Green High School in 1982.

Robyn met and knew Bill Hendrix when she was around 16 years old. She didn’t care for Bill at that time, thinking he was too much of the “hippie” type for her. They would meet up again 25 years later when they were both working for the Dawn Foods Company. They both worked there for 19 years. She worked up until June 6, when she received her bad news. They were married in Mexico in 2006 and celebrated their 13th anniversary on June 30.

She was an avid Cardinals fan. In fact, she was buried in her favorite Yadier Molina Cardinal shirt and cap. Bill said he air-conditioned the garage so she could watch and enjoy her favorite ball team there. He made a sign that said, “Robyn’s Nest.”

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She went from shoeing horses to pitching shoes after she met Bill. She joined the MOHPA/NHPA in 2014 and was in her 6th year of membership. She and Bill both joined the Brick City Horseshoe Club in Mexico in 2011. She traveled to many local and state horseshoe tournaments, but mainly to Jefferson City and to the Quail Ridge Club in Wentzville. She and her partner Brady Fox entered the Pop’s Club Tournament in Hannibal in 2018 and took 1st place. They were the only team with a Cadet and a Woman, and they beat out all the others. She also attended the 2018 Team World Event in Beloit, WI. Over the past few years, Robyn had begun collecting her share of trophies and was so very proud of them. If you ever played with her or against her you would be familiar with her favorite saying when she made a double, “BOOYAH!”

At the funeral service, Larry Brown gave the eulogy for Robyn. It was so moving that I thought it should be shared by all the horse-shoe pitchers who wanted to attend but couldn’t. See “Ringing True” on page 13 of this issue of Shoe Biz.

Some of her friends from horseshoes were at the funeral service to pay their final respects. It is hard for us all to say “goodbye” to such an enthusiastic lady when her life was cut so short. Life sometimes doesn’t seem fair. We will all miss the presence of this young lady on the horseshoe scene.

Martin OrfOctober 14, 1933 – August 22, 2019

By Rich Altis

Martin came into this life October 14, 1933, and left us August 22, 2019, at the age of 85. Martin and Ursula dated for 3 years before mar-rying in 1956. Ursula said she was waiting for him to grow up since he was the baby of the family. They had three children: Gerard, Virginia and Nancy. They lived on and farmed the land that Martin’s great grandfather bought approximately 160 years ago. In 1957, they built the home that they shared for the last 63 years. For 25 years, Martin served as a volunteer firefighter for the Wentzville Fire Department and was Captain at Station #2 for 2 years.

Martin enjoyed sports. He played baseball for 19 years (1950 to 1968) in the Hard Road League. The League started in 1921 and got its name from the fact that US Hwy 40, the first concrete “Hard Road” in the county, joined the towns of St. Charles, St. Peters, St. Paul, O’Fallon, and Orchard Farm. As other towns joined, the name was changed to Eastern Missouri Baseball Association—Hard Road League.

In 1970, Martin was asked to join the O’Fallon Horseshoe League. He started in the beginner’s league, but within 2 years he was pitching with the advanced players. From 1980 to 1993, Martin

sponsored a team that took 1st place 5 years in a row. In 1982, he was elected president of the O’Fallon Horseshoe League and held that position until 1993. In 1994, he and Ursula joined the New Melle Horseshoe Club and pitched in the Jack and Jill Mixed League, and Martin also pitched in the Wednesday Night Men’s League. Martin was elected president of the New Melle Horseshoe Club in 2000 and held that position for 8 years; during that time, the club went through many changes, such as becoming the home for NHPA game-related sales. In 2006, the New Melle Horseshoe Club voted to change its name to the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club in preparation for moving the club in 2007 from New Melle to Wentzville, MO, where they took on the responsibility of operating the new NHPA Hall of Fame and pitching complex.

Many people who excelled in softball, baseball, horseshoes, bowling, or dartball in St. Charles County have been inducted into the county’s Amateur Sports Hall of Fame. In 2007, Martin was honored when he was nominated and selected for induction into the St. Charles County Amateur Sports Hall of Fame for his promotion of and dedication to the sport of horseshoe pitching.

In 2010, Martin, Roy Evans, and Joe Buskirk talked me into entering a team in the St. Charles summer league held at Blanchette Park. They were not pitching at Quail Ridge at the time, so this was a good way for us to get back together. This lasted until 2015, when health problems made it impossible to keep pitching as a team.

While pitching in the St. Charles league, I was trying to talk the guys into pitching again in the Quail Ridge Men’s winter league. As I was setting up the 2014/15 Men’s league, I came up short one team. I asked the guys what it would take to get them to play; they talked it over and said, “We want to be on your team.” The Quail Ridge Men’s league teams are drafted each year. We generally have the top 12 pitchers available come in and draft a team. At the draft I informed the team drafters that we were going to be one team short and that meant we would have a ‘bye’ night. When you have your bye, your team will be in charge of the kitchen. Then I mentioned that there was one way to get around that problem this year; I have three players who will play only if they are on my team—Martin, Roy, and Joe—all players who have pitched with us. If you allow this, we have our 12 teams and I will get Mary to do the kitchen. I think Mary doing the Kitchen made it work.

I was lucky enough to get Martin and Roy for the next 3 years. Martin would bring Ursula, and she would keep Mary company in the kitchen and help when she could. At the end of the 2018 Men’s league, Martin told me that was his last year for league play. Age and health problems were taking their toll on him and Ursula. After 27 years in the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association, Martin hung up his horseshoes for the last time.

Martin was a loving husband and father. He was good horseshoe pitcher, a great promoter of the sport, and a great friend and pitch-ing partner. We will miss him.

See Last Shoe, page 8

Moving? Let Us Know!If you move, please send your change of address to our Secretary, Mark Miller, 7501 N. Tullis Ave, Kansas City, MO 64158. Your help in keeping our mailing list current would be appreciated. Thank you!

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Missouri Horseshoe Club News

Capital City Horseshoe Clubby Mel Bruemmer

By the time you read this, the Capital City Horse-shoe Club will have concluded a very busy 2019. We will have hosted 9 tournaments and 3 leagues. We will have had 6 clinics for grade-school and high-school kids, with approximately 250 kids par-ticipating. We have enjoyed the local high schools bringing their gym classes to our Washington Park courts. This year, we established a relationship with the Park Stars, a Jefferson City Parks group made up of Special Olympic athletes. It indeed was a busy outdoor season as we dealt with heavy flooding and a devastating tornado.

The State Tournament brought a State Championship to the club for the 6th consecutive year, as Leon Wolken won the Junior Boys Championship for the 3rd year in a row. Other highlights during the State Championships included Steve Bruemmer, 1st in Class C doubles; Larry Brown, 2nd in Class A doubles; James Driver, 3rd in the Men’s Championship; Mel Bruemmer, 3rd in Class B; Dan Atwood, 1st in 30 ft Men’s Class B; Rebecca Bruem-mer, 3rd in the Junior Girls Championship; and Sadie Wolken, 2nd in the Cadet Championship. The CCHC would like to thank and congratulate the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club for doing a great job hosting the State Tournament.

On a sad note, we lost our club member Bernie Miller. See the “Last Shoe” article on page 8 of this edition of Shoe Biz.

Thanks to everyone who joined us this year on the great courts at Washington Park in Jefferson City. We look forward to seeing you on the indoor courts this winter.

Peculiar Lions Park Horseshoe Clubby Victoria Highley

Our Peculiar Lions Park Horseshoe League mem-bers have had a busy year. We had 9 members attend the World Tournament in Wichita Falls, Texas, including Jim Kinney Sr., Jim Kinney Jr., Ron Highley, Ralph New, Warren Highley (5th in Juniors), George Chichura (4th), Michael Gillespie (4th), Victoria Highley (3rd), and Memo Ramirez (5th in Cadets).

We had eight members pitch at the State Fair, including Ron Highley, Ralph New, Memo Ramirez, Victoria Highley, George Chichura (3rd), Michael Gillespie (3rd), Warren Highley (3rd)...and congratulations to Leroy Leabo, who won his class for the second year in a row!

The State Tournament in Wentzville started off with doubles for four teams made up of our members: Victoria Highley and Rich Altis placed 2nd in the Championship class, John Michaels and Larry Brown placed 2nd in class A, Ralph New and Gaylord Compton took 6th in class A, and Leroy Leabo and Kelcee Tucker landed 4th in class B.

Ten members pitched in singles at the State Tournament: Leroy Leabo, 7th in Men’s E; Ron Highley, 5th in Men’s B; John Michaels,

4th in Men’s C; Victoria Highley, 4th in Women’s Championship; Memo Ramirez, 3rd in Cadet Championship; Ralph New, 3rd in Men’s C; James Kinney Jr., 2nd in Men’s A; Michael Bowman, 2nd in Men’s Championship, Warren Highley, 2nd in Junior Boys Championship…and congrats to Michael Gillespie, who placed 1st in Men’s D.

League Play has finished for the year. We had two sessions, a Spring league starting in May and breaking for the World Tourna-ment, followed by a Fall League starting in August. Placing 1st in the Spring League was the mother/son duo of Paige Goddard & Warren Highley, 2nd went to John Michaels & Lee Miller, and 3rd place went to George Chichura & Russ Clodfelter, who was visiting from Nebraska. Placing 1st in the Fall League were Michael Gillespie & Victoria Highley, 2nd went to John Michaels & Lee Miller, and 3rd went to George Chichura & Memo Ramirez. Notice that the team of John & Lee came in second in both leagues and George came in third, with different partners!

The League Champions from both leagues then battled it out for the bragging rights of Grand Champion. After my grandson and daughter beat up on this old Nanna, Paige Goddard and War-ren Highley will get to hold on to the Grand Champion traveling trophies for a year! As these two teams were pitching, the others were all participating in the “Annual Non-Sanctioned Unofficial Just for Fun Trash Talking Doubles Tournament.” Teams were set by high/low league average, and the team of John Michaels and Cadet Memo Ramirez came out with the win!

Warren Highley, Addison Goddard, and Memo Ramirez played in the Liberty Jr. League this summer. Warren and Addi were on the winning team, but Memo was close behind on the second-place team and had High Average and High Game scratch. An awesome end to your Cadet Career, Memo! Best of luck as you move up to 30-ft Juniors....Love ya, Nana!

To finish out this update, I want to encourage everyone to join us next June as we host the Missouri Club/Team Benefit Tournament at the beautiful outdoor covered pits in Peculiar, Mo! See ya then!

Liberty Horseshoe Clubby Gregg Craven

Time for Shoe Biz again already. Time flies when you are having fun. We had 16 in our 1-week Junior League in July. The 4th place team, with 14.5 wins, included Memo Ramirez (who got his 40% Patch), Sophie Craven, Tristan Houchin (9% Patch), and Nico Balistreri (5% Patch and Rookie of the Year). The 3rd place team, with 18 wins, included Trent Morgan, Lauren and Justin Furner (visiting from Foristell), and Zane Morgan (30% Patch, High game with Handicap, High over Average and Most Improved). The 2nd place team, with 18 wins, included Eli De La Cruz, Brett Furner (5% patch), Annabelle Gray (10% Patch), and Marshall Morgan (Sportsmanship Award chosen by the league). The League Champions, with 21.5 wins, included Audrey Cara-vello, Addisyn Goddard (5% Patch), Warren Highley, and Ethan Houchin (10% Patch). It’s too bad we only get one Sportsmanship

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award—they all deserved it.We just finished our Summer Leagues. Our Monday champions

were Rocky Gray and Gregg Craven, and our Tuesday champions were Brady Craven and Keith Johnson. Most Improved were Lloyd Wood (6 points) and Victor Ferrara (6 points). Sportsmanship awards went to Jessica Wilson and Brady Craven. High Average went to Gregg Craven (104 points), High Game went to Gina Baker (116), High with Handicap went to Brady Craven (142 points), and High over Average went to Angie DiRaimo and Mark Miller. The Adult Rookie of the Year was Rocky Gray. Tom Dersham received his 50% patch. Our Fall Leagues are underway. It’s great to have Darrell Pulliam back after shoulder replacement, and we hope Jim Moore’s shoulder heals up soon so he can get back on the courts.

Quail Ridge Horseshoe Clubby Melanie Zerr

J-Nett Claas has decided to pass the torch for writing the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club news. I hope this update shows the same joy for horseshoes as it did when she wrote it. A huge thank you to J-Nett for all the years of time, energy, and passion dedicated to the sport and the writings in the Shoe Biz!

With fall weather and the indoor horseshoe pitching season just beginning, it’s time to reflect on the past summer months out at Quail Ridge Horseshoes Club. June brought the annual MOHPA Team Tournament. Nine teams were entered from around the state, with two from Quail Ridge. The “Ringer Flingers” from Lake of the Ozarks were this year’s winners, finishing with 29 points.

Our Red, White, and Blue Doubles tournament was another success. This tourney is a no-handicap doubles with each person pitching 26 shoes per game. Three classes with 40 pitchers were run. The Class C champions were Gary Roehrig and Richard Irwin Jr., the Class B champions were Jim Howard and Rose Buehler, and the Class A champions were Rich Altis and Mick Gillette, with a finished combined average of 103.9%.

Summer fairs mean horseshoe tournaments. One county fair near Quail Ridge is the Franklin County Fair in Union, MO. The horseshoe tourney for this fair lasts 4 days and has four classes of singles and two classes of doubles. Several of the participants are Quail Ridge members, and others come from around the state to pitch. They are building some new pits and hope to expand the tourney even more next year. Kathy Narup has been the tourna-ment director the past several years and welcomes anyone new to come out and pitch!

Several Quail Ridge members participated in the 2019 World Tournament in Wichita Falls, Texas, and even brought home the money! Brooke Reiser took 2nd in Women’s G; Tom Boyer took 2nd in Elders F1; Pat Herrmann took 2nd in Men J2; Lonnie Nasalroad took 4th in Elders G1; Dave Sullivan took 4th in Senior Men E; and Melanie Zerr advanced to the Women’s Championship class, finishing in 14th place. Next year’s tournament will be held in West Monroe, Louisiana, and we hope that several of our members plan to attend again!

Our summer league—the Golden Triangle League—was directed by Chuck Gleason. Six teams with around 36 players pitched in-doors this summer. Special Thanks to Chuck for all his work running

the league and opening the facility most days during the summer months. Your work does not go unnoticed. Thank you!

The 2019 State Championships were held at Quail Ridge during Labor Day Weekend. Under the direction of Rich and Mary Altis and Tom and Kathy Boyer and with all the work from all the Quail Ridge members, the tournament was a success! All pitchers were able to pitch indoors, which ended up being a blessing with the rain and storms that came through. Congratulations to our class cham-pions and to our State Champions: Stan Griggs, Melanie Zerr, Ron Legrand, Leon Wolken, Madison Gwinn, and Brady Fox. Doubles Championship winners were Ed Griffith (3x in a row!) and Pete Ploss! Thank you again to all our members at Quail Ridge for all the hard work of prepping the courts and facility and volunteering their time over the long weekend to run the event. A HUGE thank you to Rich, Mary, Tom and Kathy for all their work!!

Lastly, after all the hard work of hosting the State Tournament, the club’s annual picnic was moved to September from June to try to increase participation. Awards were given, food was enjoyed, a round-robin mixed-doubles tournament was played, and a fun time was had by all who attended!

The men’s and mixed leagues are underway at Quail Ridge. Check out the tournaments we have scheduled for the winter and sign up! We would love to see you on the courts!

The 2018 Golden Triangle League played at Quail Ridge. First place, with 109 wins, went to the Some Timers (Rich Altis, Gary Beul, Jerry Gillette, Chuck Gleason, Rich Shackelford, Ron Wilmes, and Glenn Young). Second place, with 96 wins, went to Ernie & the Boys (Ernie Brakensiek, Jim Barnes, Jack Barrett, Tom Gary, Buzz McIntyre, Michael Rine, and Bobby Schwent). Third place, with 95 wins, went to the White Hats (Gaylord Compton, Carol Compton, Gary Bailey, Mark Dannegger, and Louise and Harold Duke).

First place in the 2019 Golden Triangle League, with 100½ wins, went to What’s Up (Rich Altis, Rebecca Bruemmer, Chuck Gleason, Bob Gray, Frank Nagle, and Dave Redhage). Second place, with 100 wins, went to Hot R Not (Mick Gillette, Jim Barnes, Ra-chel Bruemmer, Gary Mueller, Mike Thomson, and Ron Wilmes). Third place, with 98 wins, went to the Bunch O Ringers (Melanie Zerr, Harold Duke, Ken Hamilton, Dennis Reidenbach, Brooke Reiser, and Kim Wester).

In the Quail Ridge 2018/19 Mixed League, first place, with 82 wins, went to Mick’s Chicks (Mick Gillette, Brooke Reiser, Casey Turner, and Melanie Zerr). Second place, with 79 wins, went to Right On (Jan Kreienkamp, Rose Buehler, Gary Buehler, and Jim & Carol Howard). Third place, with 71½ wins, went to the Bucks and Does (Bob & Rose Diekamp, Bob Bass, Joan Buchheit, Joe Ghirardi, Kay Jones, and Deborah Steinhoff). Fourth place, with 71 wins, went to the Desperados (Gaylord & Carol Compton, Mary Beeson, David Haskins, and Jill Knobbe), and fifth place went to Tuff E Nuff (Rich Altis, Donna Becher, Chuck Gleason, and Teresa Stocker).

First place in the 2018/19 Men’s league, with 161 wins, went to the St. Paul Outlaws (Jeremy Maher, Bob Gray, Erik Kruep, Mike Molitor, Keith Patton, and Tim Ward). Second place, with 155 wins, went to the Dead Ringers (Mark Dannegger, Jack Barrett, Al Derhake, Don Puder, and Bob Roemerman). Third place, with 153 wins, went to the New Team (Vernon Griesbauer, Mark Fields,

See Club News, page 9

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Raymond Norris BendureNovember 3, 1938 – June 4, 2019

Raymond Norris Ben-dure, age 80, of Kansas City passed away June 4, 2019. Raymond was born on November 3, 1938, in Kansas City, the son of Leo and Helen (Payne) Bendure. He graduated from North Kansas City High School in 1956 and served in the Army. He was married to Linda Foster on November 15, 1958. He retired after 35 years with AT&T.

Survivors include his wife, Linda Bendure of Kansas City; daughters, Daphne (Larry) Miller and Diana (Tim) Porter of Liberty, MO; son, Brad (Sharon) Bendure of Excelsior Springs, MO; grandchildren, Jessica (Chad) Endicott, Taylor Porter, Lane (Brooke) Porter, Joseph Miller, Zachary (Brooke) Bendure, Shelby Bendure, Tina (Tom) Hall, and Jason Miller; great grandchildren, Brody, Beau, Wyatt, Tristen, Tommy, Shyanne, and Cassie. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother, Richard Lee Bendure.

Carol S. (Collins) LongAugust 2, 1943 – January 23, 2019

Carol S. (Collins) Long, passed away Wednesday, January 23, 2019, at age 75, at her home in Webb City with her husband, Bob, and family at her side. Carol was born on August 2, 1943, in Nevada, MO, to Chester and Ruth (Rackley) Col-lins, and obtained her early education in a one-room schoolhouse. She graduated 8th grade from Friendship School in Barton County, MO, and attended Lamar High School, where she was chosen homecoming queen her freshman year. She was a member of the National Honor Society, and upon graduation in 1961, she was offered a scholarship to the University of Missouri, Columbia. Instead, she chose to marry Bob Long, her one true love, on August 4, 1961.

In Carol’s early business career, she worked for Western Elec-tric in Lee Summit, Lawn Boy in Lamar, and at various banks in Carthage and Joplin. Her employment at Leggett & Platt in

Last Shoe, from page 5 Carthage began in 1970 and progressed from Executive Secretary to the President, to Assistant to the Chief Executive, and finally to Staff Vice President. During her tenure at L&P, Carol attended evening classes at Missouri Southern. She retired in 1997 after more than 27 years with L&P.

Carol was a member of the Peace Star Chapter of American Business Women’s Association and served for 25 years in many areas, including President, Secretary, and Ways and Means Chair. She was chosen Woman of the Year of her local chapter and a can-didate for national woman of the year. She was also instrumental in organizing, implementing, and hosting the ABWA’s national conference in Shangri La in 1990.

Carol is survived by her husband of 57 years, Robert M. Long; two sons, Randal Long (Nicky) of New Jersey, Jeff Long of Arizona; eight grandchildren, Reagen Long-Beaverson, Devon Long, Austin Long, Jacob Long, Abby Long, Ethan Long, Sam Long, and Sadie Long; two sisters, LaNita Aldridge and Wanda Holcombe; and sister-in-law, Melva Collins. Carol was preceded in death by her parents and two brothers, Alvin Collins and Jerry Collins.

Stan Griggs remembers, “Carol never pitched horseshoes, but you may remember her from State Tournaments in the past; she was there to support her husband, Bob. She was a very quiet and proper lady, usually in a chair reading a book while he pitched. She was just the sweetest lady you would ever meet.”

Bernard “Bernie” Ray MillerMay 23, 1963 – July 25, 2019

By Mel Bruemmer

Bernard Ray Miller, age 56, of Henley, passed away Thursday, July 25, 2019, at his home. He was born May 23, 1963, a son of Claude Miller and Mary Perkins, and served in the U.S. Army. A man of many talents, he was known to family and friends as a “Jack of All Trades” who was always willing to help anyone.

He is survived by his daughter Harlie Jean Palmer (Craig); twin grandsons born in September; siblings Glenna Golden, Allen Miller, Clifford Miller (Terry), Lawrence Miller, Charles Miller (Susan), Katherine Westermann (John), Richard Miller, Michael Miller, Janie Graves, Claudia Miller, Sheila Roberts (Jeff), Claude Bryant; numerous nieces and nephews; and other extended family. He is preceded in death by his parents; one brother, William Vaught; one sister, Carol McKinney; and sister-in-law, Brenda Miller.

Bernie was a member of the Capital City Horseshoe Club, but he played in several tournaments and leagues. He had a great sense of humor; always ready to have as good a time as possible on the horseshoe courts. He was ready to lend a hand with set up or clean up. He was well liked by everyone at the Club who had the oppor-tunity to get to know him. He had excellent potential as a player, and he will be missed. [No photo of Mr. Miller was available.]

Don’t throw me away!Keep me for future reference. I am full of useful information.

STOP

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Club News, from page 7

Bob Griesbauer, Dave Moynihan, John Wilde, and Ron Wilmes). Fourth place, with 152½ wins, went to Six Pac (Jim Brown, David Becher, Dennis Flake, Tom McKenna, Michael Rine, and Mark Wilkewitz), and fifth place went to The Good Guys (Rich Altis, Pat Herrmann, Lonnie Nasalroad, Mark Neubauer, David Redhage, and Rick Simpson. Thanks to all those who participated.

Shelbina Library Park Horseshoe League 2019by Scott Raimer, Zone 2 Director

Once again, the 2019 Outdoor Summer League in Shelbina had 11 members who pitched in a round-robin format for 10 weeks, so each member had the opportunity to play every other member. Each participant pitched two 50-shoe count all games per night, in a handicapped count-all for singles competition. Despite all the spring and early summer rains that were experienced across Missouri this year, our league had only one night postponed, and we were able to make it up that night. Simply amazing!

Our league Champion for 2019 was Pat Heathman. The Sportsmanship Award winner for the 2019 season, as chosen by our membership, went to Bryan Billingsley. We are very happy to have our members return to pitch with us each year. In 2020, we hope to add to our membership and have more join us for more fun times throwing shoes.

Russell Ebbing (center) presents the 2019 Sportsmanship Citation to Bryan Billingsley (left) at the end-of-year banquet on September 16. Bryan also received his NHPA 10-year Membership patch. Right, Scott Raimer.

Pat Heathman (right) receives the Championship plaque for the 2019 Summer League from League Director Russell Ebbing (left).

Promoting Horseshoesby Denise Haye, MOHPA Publicity Chairperson

I’ve only been pitching competitive horseshoes for 4 years, but I have come to love the sport and the comradery. I’m a military retiree and just this year retired from my second career as a Qual-ity Improvement Project Manager at a major hospital in the KC area. I’m originally from north-central Nebraska but settled here in Missouri after retiring from the Air Force. Besides horseshoes, I love to travel, hike, bike, and ride motorcycles.

I got involved about 5 years ago when I participated in the Kansas City (KC) Corporate Challenge. This month-long chal-lenge is a way for KC companies to promote and support fitness and wellness in many events, including horseshoes. Leroy Leabo (a member of the Independence Horseshoe club) was in my company, and we happened to be chatting one day when he started talking about horseshoes. After conversing for a bit, he “twisted” my arm and finally got me to sign up for the Corporate Challenge. Not too many people in our organization were interested, so we ended up competing in the men and women’s horseshoe event. Before that, my only experience with pitching horseshoes was during family gatherings where we hammered in 2 stakes (distance wasn’t a fac-tor) in the alley and began some family-fun competition and trash talking! I’m sure many of you can relate! I remember Nancy Gunter and Laura Johnson promoting horseshoes at the Challenge. They told me all about the different leagues and opportunities to pitch in tournaments on the weekends. Although interested, I failed to act on my growing interest in the sport. The following year, I pitched again at the Corporate Challenge and that’s when the bug hit me! I contacted the Liberty Horseshoe Club, Gregg Craven invited me up to pitch my 100 shoes to establish an average, and the rest is history. There were many pitchers willing to mentor and help me during my first league experience, and my goal then (and now) was to do my best, try to get better each night and each league, and to always have FUN!

This year, I was asked to take over the position of Publicity Chair as Laura Johnson absorbed the Shoe Biz newsletter responsibility. Of course, I said yes, but had no idea what I was taking over. How do you promote horseshoes? From my previous experiences with Quality Improvement, there’s a saying of: “You can’t expect differ-ent results by doing the same thing.” You must challenge the status quo. Try something different, test the results, and try something different again (if necessary) until you get the results you expect or want. I think we can apply that philosophy to horseshoes as well. I keep hearing concerns that we are losing membership and that horseshoe pitching is a dying sport. Do we need to look at what we are doing? Are people getting “bored” by doing the same things? Do we need to offer different types of venues or tournament com-petition? Horseshoes Pitching Online (HPO) is a fairly new and unique opportunity to get involved. I think it is challenging the status quo! Some of you will like it; others not so much, but that’s okay! What are we trying to achieve? Do we want more people to participate in leagues and tournaments? If so, how do we get them to participate? In my opinion, any opportunity to light a spark is a “win” for the sport. I believe the HPO venue is one that is ac-complishing just that! Hopefully, those pitchers will develop the passion and will want to become involved in the various leagues

See Promoting Horseshoes, page 11

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The Quail Ridge Club was the host for the State Tournament this year. We appreciate the support we received from the horseshoe community. You purchased many of the ads for the program book and by doing so ensured that our club would be in the black when the last shoe was pitched.

The tournament committee did a great job getting ready for the tournament. Co-directors Tom and Cathy Boyer secured the host hotel and the banquet center. They contacted Joe Cronin, one of the county officials, to welcome the pitchers to our area. However, that was just a small part of their job. Bobby Schwent oversaw contacting local businesses for ads. Mark Neubauer was in charge of getting and keeping the pitching courts in good playing condition. Mark is the most knowledgeable guy we have when it comes to replacing a broken stake. He can replace a stake within 10 minutes or less by himself (or 10 to 15 minutes with help!). Mark also helped with the transportation of the juniors from the hotel to the banquet center. Andy Foulds and his crew got the outside courts in pitching condition. These courts are not used very much, and grass, weeds, toads, and an occasional snake may take over the courts until such time as we need them. A lot of the committee people pulled double duty. You might have seen Tom Boyer or Mark Neubauer watering the outside courts trying to get them back in good shape. The work that Andy’s committee did to get the outside courts ready might have made them look better, but it turned out that we didn’t need those courts for the tournament. Lonnie Nasalroad served as chairman of the cleanup committee. When his job was finished, the place looked like we had never had 200 people in the building. Rose Diekamp or one of her helpers probably met you as you entered the building and handed you a packet with the program book, a state patch, a pen light, and whatever else was in the packet and told you what time and what courts you would be pitching on. Chuck Gleason took on the 50/50 raffles and kept the place looking good during the tournament. Melanie Zerr’s job was to design a front cover for the program book and to set up and oversee the sale of the shirts. Norm Pierce had, as far as a lot of you are concerned, the most important job: He made sure there was enough beer at the tourna-ment. Norm acquired the permit for the beer and arranged to have a refrigerated trailer on site for the tournament. Gary Buehler’s expertise was setting up the computer scoring and working with Stan. The Kitchen requires more planning and more help than

the other committees. Mary Altis was in charge. Working out the work schedules for the 4 days was no easy job, but Mary and her kitchen helpers put together a workable schedule. Shortly before the tournament, Mary purchased everything that she could find on sale for the tournament, including paper goods, food, candy and drinks.

A lot of people helped make this tournament a success. We want to thank Stan and Stephanie Griggs and the Harris Arena members for their generous donation. Thanks to Glenn Young for the dona-tion of a beautiful grandfather clock. Thanks to Chuck Gleason for his donation of a rod and reel, for which I bought enough tickets to have gotten one myself, and thank you to all the people that donated the many items that were raffled off. These people and the committee chairpersons and their members made this a very enjoyable State Tournament. They made my job as tournament coordinator so easy. I want to thank each one of you and your committee members for doing such an outstanding job.

Another good thing about the tournament is that although it was scheduled to include three classes pitching outside, it was decided, after some discussion, to add another shift so that every-one could play inside. The work of setting up the tents, bleachers, scorekeeping stations, and the temporary fence around the courts was not worth the time for only three classes. This turned out to be the right decision, because Saturday morning it rained and rained.

We had 100 tickets for the Banquet, and the food was delicious and plentiful. The music provided by Ralph and Cheryl New was easy to listen to. In case you were not a fan of the easy laid-back music, you could kind of tune your ear to the wedding music from next door. The candlelight ceremony was heart-breaking. We lost so many great members last year.

Now for the not-so-good stuff about the State Tournament: You would think that most horseshoe pitchers would want to pitch in the State Tournament…You pitch against players with ringer percentages that are close to yours, you pitch in your division; Men, Women, Elders, and Juniors or Cadets. It doesn’t get much better than that. But out of 582 adult members, we had only 77 men, 34 women, and 42 elder pitchers. There is talk of Missouri having a bid for the World Tournament in 2023. If that happens, I hope we are not embarrassed by having one of the largest state charters and the smallest entries in the World Tournament.

Missouri State Tournament 2019by Rich Altis

Prez Report, from page 1

folks” could continue their fun, Stan Griggs emceed the banquet for the 21st time. We had some background music from the wed-ding party in the other half of the Trigg Center, but nobody seemed to mind. Michael Gillespie was repeat Adult Player of the Year, Warren Highley was again named Junior Player of the Year, Randy Grady and Victoria Highley received Appreciation Awards for the work they have done on the beautiful new State Championship Plaques, and Jim Bainter and Elizabeth Furner received the Presi-dential Awards for their contributions to the MOHPA. Sharon Taylor and Ed Pashia (along with a whole passel of his family)

were the new inductees into the MOHPA Hall of Fame. This is a big 4-day tournament; thanks to Rich and Mary Altis, Tom and Cathy Boyer, Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club, and everybody who had a part in making it go so smoothly.

And finally, Kansas brought the Border War Trophy over to In-dependence, and we took it back from them. We had great turnouts from both sides, and like last year, home-court advantage ruled, and after a very close match all day long, Missouri won 59-55.

Check out the fall and winter schedule on page 12 and stay connected with your horseshoe friends. The MOHPA Prez Family will see ya on the indoor courts..

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A great thing about pitching is that anybody, at any age, can do it. Kids, adults, elders, it doesn’t matter, and for several families, pitching together is what makes horseshoes so great. For Madisen Gwinn, pitching with her dad and grandpa, Rick and Alvin Gwinn, is her favorite part of horseshoes. She says they inspire her, and she looks up to them on the courts.

Madisen started pitching in 2013 and was awarded the Junior Rookie of the Year award! She has since worked her way up, and just this year, she become the Missouri Junior Girls’ State Champion! She has pitched in three NHPA World Tournaments, twice as a cadet and once as a junior. This year she made it to the Championship Class after pitching in prelims! Madisen is currently the number one Junior Girl in Missouri, with an average of 23.8%.

Along with horseshoes, she can play the flute and loves art! Madisen is 15 years old, and when she grows up, she wants to help ocean animals. We love seeing our cadets and juniors playing out on the courts, but it’s really special when it becomes a way for families to do something together. I hope that she continues to enjoy the game and improve her pitching in the future.

Junior Spotlight: Madisen Gwinnby Savanna Johnson

There’s No Bizness Like Shoe Biznessby Mark Miller

I will become your next MOHPA Secretary/Treasurer on November 1, 2019, after being elected at the Business Meeting August 31. I would like to introduce myself. I was born and raised in Bourbon, MO (Go Warhawks!) and was exposed to the game of horseshoes growing up in the backyard, where I played with my cousins. I was the next to youngest of nine kids in my family, and my dad was one of 11, so I have lots of cousins, nieces, and nephews.

I met my wife, Jana, at the age of 20 in Bolivar, MO, while at-tending Southwest Baptist, and we married the next summer. We have three great children and four fantastic grandchildren. We have been together for 46 years now, and we really enjoy pitching horse-shoes together. (Unfortunately, she is much better than I am!)

I retired from the Ford Motor Company Assembly Plant in Claycomo in December 2017! In my last 10 years at Ford, I worked in the Quality Department. My responsibilities included gathering and reporting information about defects, errors, and performance on our internal data base and Microsoft programs including Excel and Word. I also served as an administrator of our internal database. I was responsible for giving user authorization, user permissions, training, help desk, and some programming. As part of my position, I would interact with 25 to 50 people daily in various levels of a very diverse workplace. Since I have retired, I am responsible for pitching horseshoes, playing golf, and spending time with my four grandkids (Cole, Haylee, Dylan, and Eliza.) It’s so much more fun!

This is my ninth year of organized horseshoe pitching. I am a member of the Liberty Horseshoe Club and a board member of the Heartland Indoor Horseshoe Arena. I have been very lucky to have pitched with and become friends with many new people, not only in Liberty, but all over the country. I would never have met most of them without the MOHPA and the NHPA. Most of the people I’ve been exposed to are supportive, friendly, and competitive. I have learned that there is more than one way to pitch a horseshoe.

My horseshoe game is very challenging to me. A lot of ups

and downs. But through all these ups and downs, I love the game, and I am so glad that I was asked to try it 9 years ago.

The MOHPA member-ship totals for the past 3 years were 676 for 2017, 658 for 2018, and 647 for 2019. One of my goals in the next 2 years is to reverse this trend with support from all mem-bers of the MOHPA. I have been reading old issues of Shoe Biz and came across an article by Vicky Winston in which she says, “Word of mouth is still a great method to gain new members.” That is how I became a part of horseshoes, and this can be accomplished many ways, through friendships, HPO, the Knights of Columbus, Corporate Challenge, etc. I am sincere in this goal and am pleased to offer my time and talents to continue the success of the MOHPA.

Be sure to check out Eshoe (www.nhpa-eshoe.com). Any pitcher can renew their membership and/or print their own NHPA mem-bership card.

and tournaments. Again, HPO is not for everyone. If not for you, what is it that you would like to see different or new? Your opinions and voice are important.

I believe that it’s everyone’s responsibility to promote the sport. Encourage family, friends, church, and youth groups to get involved. Above all, be good mentors, and have FUN! If you have suggestions on how to promote our sport and improve membership, let’s talk!

See you on the courts. denisehaye@comcast.net816-674-9411

Promoting Horseshoes, from page 9

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2019 MOHPA Tournament ScheduleAs known October 8, 2019 • Visit our web page at www.mohpa.us

Date Sanction # Location Tournament Name Contact E-mail or Cell #

10/31 + 19-19-096 Jefferson City CCHC End of Fall League Tournament M.Bruemmer 573-635-9394 mlbruem@aol.com

11/2 19-19-067 Liberty 19th Annual Holly Marie Memorial S.Griggs 816-313-1814 moshoe@turnkeymail.com

11/2 19-19-036 Wentzville Fall Team Handicap Howard 636-441-7679 horseshoejc@yahoo.com

11/3 + 19-19-099 Glen Allen Time Change Around Open M.Williams 573-208-3201 nipdpeg2@yahoo.com

11/9,10 19-19-015 Sunrise Beach Turkey Stakes Open J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

11/16 19-19-068 Liberty Charles Killgore Memorial Cooper 816-741-0043 ipitch6@hotmail.com

11/16 19-19-037 Wentzville Turkey Trot Tournament R.Hummel 636-978-6117 ralphandjan@yahoo.com

11/16 19-19-038 Wentzville November Future Youth Champions M.Snead 636-299-8702 mcsnead2004@yahoo.com

11/23 19-19-093 Bucyrus Good Luck Gobbler D.McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.com

12/1 + 19-19-100 Glen Allen Holiday Leftovers Open M.Williams 573-208-3201 nipdpeg2@yahoo.com

12/7 19-19-069 Liberty Harvesters Food Network Benefit D.McIntire 816-452-0254 dinetamcintire@gmail.com

12/7 19-19-039 Wentzville Jingle Bell Rock G.Compton 636-456-5388 gcompton1@yahoo.com

12/7 19-19-040 Wentzville December Future Youth Champions M.Snead 636-299-8702 mcsnead2004@yahoo.com

12/14,15 19-19-016 Sunrise Beach Snowball Open J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

12/21 + 19-19-094 Bucyrus Good Luck Santa D.McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.com

2020

1/4 19-20-039 Liberty Don Harris Memorial Open % M.Miller 816-786-1155 mohpamark@yahoo.com

1/11,12 19-20-009 Sunrise Beach Cool Shoe Open J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

1/18 19-20-017 Bucyrus Good Luck Snowman D.McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.com

1/18 19-20-040 Liberty Deep Freeze Open % B.Craven 816-588-4536 bcraven2@kc.rr.com

1/18 19-20-021 Wentzville New Year Ringers Open G.Roehrig 636-359-2762 groehrig24@gmail.com

2/1 19-20-041 Liberty Independence Memorial Open % N.Gunter 816-694-1800 igng2010@hotmail.com

2/8 19-20-022 Wentzville Happy Hearts Open Kreienkamp 636-583-6446 jandy394@hotmail.com

2/8 19-20-023 Wentzville February Future Youth Champions M.Snead 636-299-8702 mcsnead2004@yahoo.com

2/8,9 19-20-010 Sunrise Beach Peg In My Heart Open J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

2/15 19-20-018 Bucyrus Good Luck Sweetie D.McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.com

2/15 19-20-042 Liberty Window of Opportunity @Harris % N.Straughn 816-807-1280 nmstraughn@sbcglobal.net

2/22 19-20-024 Wentzville Spring Team Handicap J.Howard 636-441-7679 horseshoejc@yahoo.com

2/29 19-20-043 Liberty Cancer Action Benefit @ Harris % E.Cooper 816-741-0043 ipitch6@hotmail.com

3/14 19-20-044 Liberty Our Little Angel Memorial @ Harris % C.Bloss 816-377-4154 cbloss93@gmail.co

3/14 19-20-025 Wentzville Shamrock Fling Open N. Pierce 636-357-3081 grandpanor@aol.com

3/14,15 19-20-011 Sunrise Beach Daylight Savings Open J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

3/21 19-20-019 Bucyrus Good Luck St Pat's D.McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.com

3/21 19-20-045 Liberty Down Syndrome Benefit % L.Johnson 816-682-9386 horseshoebiz@gmail.com

4/4 19-20-046 Liberty Juniors Only Tournament % G.Craven 816-419-5631 greggaudra62@twc.com

4/4 19-20-026 Wentzville Don Claas Memorial Benefit J.Claas 636-447-3039 djclaas@sbcglobal.net

4/11 19-20-012 Sunrise Beach Bluebird Open J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

4/18 19-20-020 Bucyrus Good Luck Showers D.McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.com

4/18 19-20-027 Liberty East vs West Challenge G.Craven 816-419-5631 greggaudra62@twc.com

4/25,26 19-20-013 Sunrise Beach LOHC Winter EOL J.Bainter 573-372-3650 mo4dead@charter.net

Issued 10/8/19 by D. Bastel. +Addition, c Change, % If cancelling late, call CELL (Craven 816-419-5631 or 816-588-4536). Some classes may be Ringers-only.NOTE: Enter at least 7 days in advance (much earlier in winter).NHPA Card: State & National dues - Adults $36.00, Juniors $5.00. Order from Mark Miller, 7501 N. Tullis Ave, Kansas City, MO 64158.Attention Tournament Directors: Please check all facts listed pertaining to your tournament(s) and immediately report any errors to the Regional Director so that timely changes can be made.

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Ringing TrueIn memory of Robyn Hendrix, July 9, 2019 by Larry G. Brown

Thank you for asking me to share a few words today. It is my honor and privilege to do so, even though Robyn, Bill, and I (and some of you) only became friends through horseshoe pitching just a few years ago. Robyn was, of course, improving faster than most of us. And I think I can speak for many of us who have been beaten by her a time or two; we wondered how she could have gotten so much better in such a short amount of time, while folks like me, who have been seriously pitching for more than 30 years have not improved that much. Over her lifetime, Robyn went from horseback riding, where throwing a shoe meant something very different than what it means in horseshoe pitching, to serious horseshoe pitching; and you have seen the trophies, plaques, and other awards that she earned in both sports, brought here from Robyn’s Nest. Today, let’s talk horseshoe pitching.

In the Bible, there are many metaphors, symbols, representa-tions of the journey of faith, the relationship to God. They include mountain tops, crossing waters, finding water in the desert, being led through the wilderness, surviving a storm on the sea, follow-ing a shepherd, building a city or a temple, being like branches on a tree, being a tree planted by water, being in the family, feasting on loaves and fishes, sharing bread and wine, and walking streets of gold. Contemporary Christianity, through hymns, poetry, and other inspirational material, has added other images of a journey in faith: walking hand in hand, seeing a stunning sunrise or sunset, beholding the beauty of the earth, walking in a garden, or even like a mountain railroad. But I would suggest that pitching horseshoes provides an equally profound image of the journey of life, and faith in God.

Just as in life, there are goals: to get as many ringers as possible, score points, and win the game. But it isn’t all that easy. The horse-shoe is not exactly aerodynamic like a ball, an arrow, a bullet, or a disc. It is a semi-circular piece of metal thrown with turns, flips, and/or twists from 20, 30, or 40 feet, intending to encircle or at least get very, very close to a metal post. It is complex. As in life, the pitch itself involves taking a stance (a position) that is balanced and forward looking; one must take action: swing, have accurate timing, speed, distance, and direction using all those skills at the same time. But as we pitchers know all too well, there are inter-vening circumstances between start and finish. Sometime, quite literally, God only knows what will happen at the peg at the end of the pitch. The shoe can circle around the peg and fly away, it can bounce on or off, it can slide, it can be knocked off by another shoe—it can meet obstacles on the way to its destination (somebody else’s shoe, the wind, a distraction). Just like life, the pitch of a shoe has so many variables that can change its course; just a little off at the beginning and it seems a lot more at the other end. Slight variations can mean much greater consequences. One must learn to trust the journey and have faith in its outcome.

It is like life, and it is like faith. We have short- and long-term goals; new directions mean new duties; things change from here to there. Who could have predicted, even 20 years ago, that Robyn and Bill would be together, and that they would pitch together. Robyn, like all of us, if we stay in the game, accepted the wins and losses, faced the temptation to quit, found it difficult to change old

habits, and had to get stubbornness and independence to work for her, not against her. In horseshoes and life, there are no guarantees, so we can choose to rejoice in the victories and graciously accept defeat, but stay in the game.

And why? Because there are rewards. Organizing individual horseshoe pitchers is a bit like herding cats, yet we all experience the moments when we are finding a common goal, a common en-joyment, and finding friends who are with you whether you win or lose. We do gain some degree of accomplishment, improvement, successful adjustments, and support of the horseshoe pitching family. But it is only when we find that delicate balance of taking it seriously enough to perform well and relaxing enough to accept failure, and just have fun; a drink, a smoke, a laugh, an expletive, and a “boo yah!” We have all heard the very same person, sometimes in the same tournament, say both “I love this game” and “this is a stupid game” or “why am I doing this?” And we all get hooked, so to speak. We love to receive the rewards, and we count the expense of money, time, equipment, and energy and getting along other people all worth it. We learn to have faith and trust in one another.

Many of us know the familiar ring of a horseshoe hitting a peg. We can hear it across the park or the neighborhood or the fair-ground. And we are attracted to that sound. And most of us know the sound of a perfect ringer, when the land is snug and secure against the peg. We are drawn to the shoe that “rings true.”

I want to suggest to you, that Robyn rang true, and we all were drawn to that quality in her. She found the balance of seriousness and relaxation. Although she frequently seemed nervous at the start of a tournament or a game—but you knew when she got into it, when she was on and found her rhythm. We experienced her being the model of rejoicing in wins, but accepting losses—never one to brag too much (except maybe when beating Bill, or one of us she knew well), but just enough. She played like she lived, persistent, even when there were no guarantees. And she modeled, better than many of us, what I call cooperative competition. When we pitch, it is mostly a competition with our own self, yet we do want to win all our games, and in doubles or team matches we want our team to excel. But Robyn knew how to be gracious and sup-portive and how to receive grace and support. She knew, as most of us do, that in the end, horseshoe pitching is about friendship and partnership—that is what really matters. It might be trite to say, “it is not about winning and losing, it is about how you play the game” but this statement about horseshoes rings true. When we are modest and not arrogant in our wins, as Robyn, and when we are gracious, as Robyn, when we lose, and when we support each other in the game, the game of life, that is when we faithfully complete the journey. Robyn may have thrown her last shoe, had her last “booyah” doubles in this life, as we know it; however, she has given us a legacy that still plays on—it rings true. Some may say that angels sit around playing harps; but I have a thought that at some point, one of them will say, “Let’s play some horseshoes. Robyn, you in?”

The NHPA Internet Website is

www.horseshoepitching.comClick on the US map to get to Missouri’s page

14

Sheila LeGrand is not one to sit still for much more than a nano-second. That’s why she was learning to play the wildly popular Pick-leball. That’s also why she broke her wrist. “I knew I shouldn’t run backwards,” she admits, patting her cast. Broken wrist – good news. But more about that later.

Sheila and Ron, her husband of 48 years, operated a communica-tions business in Dexter for 25 years before retiring in 2009. Sheila’s flare for design and eye for making useful items into beautiful, deco-rative items is on display at the boutique she currently operates in Dexter. A born treasure hunter, she tells the story of driving through Dexter neighborhoods looking (and finding) old bicycle wheels that were given new life as seasonal wreaths. Daughters Ronda, of Phoenix, AZ, and Mendy of Dexter, along with five active grandkids, also keep the LeGrands on the go.

Avid horseshoe pitchers, the LeGrands, who have played in tour-naments across the country, were in Phoenix visiting Ronda and her family and pitching in a tournament when Sheila thought she pulled a muscle. Totally understandable for a petite dynamo who pitched almost 500 horseshoes in two days. “I noticed my neck and shoulder hurt. I thought it was just weekend warrior syndrome.”

Still uncomfortable after returning home, Sheila decided to visit Kim Essner, physician assistant at SoutheastHEALTH’s Dexter and Malden, Mo., primary care clinics. “I called, explained that I felt like I really needed to be seen. Luckily, there was an appointment that day. When I got there and Kim examined me, she wanted to do an EKG. I still insisted it was my shoulder, not my heart.”

Sheila’s EKG did not look good, and her blood pressure was high. Essner immediately referred Sheila to SoutheastHEALTH cardiologist Fernando Arzola, MD, who did another blood pressure and EKG and, based on the results, recommended a stress test.”

A few days later, she underwent a stress test at Southeast Health Center of Stoddard County and followed-up with SoutheastHEALTH cardiologist Kenneth Retter, MD, for cardiac catheterization at South-east Hospital. The cardiac catheterization revealed 90% blockage in two left coronary arteries and 90% and 70% blockage in two major branches of the right coronary artery.

Through this continuum of care that reached across specialties and facilities in SoutheastHEALTH’s regional system, the answer

was not what Sheila initially expected. The day after Easter in 2018, Sheila underwent coronary bypass surgery performed by Southeast Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeon George Berberian, MD.

Dr. Berberian, a highly skilled and respected surgeon, explains that women frequently do not experience the well-known heart disease warning signs such as chest pain. “Women often have symp-toms such as upper abdominal pain and nausea. The neck pain that Mrs. LeGrand experienced is a potential sign of an acute coronary syndrome (ACS), as is throat and jaw pain.” He adds that while women have the protection of estrogen in their younger years, once they reach menopause they catch up pretty quickly with men when it comes to a higher incidence of ACS.

After a successful 4-hour surgery performed by Dr. Berberian and his surgery team, Sheila was on the Cardiothoracic Care Unit for 2 days before spending another 3 days on the Hospital’s Surgical Progressive Care Unit. “Surgeries such as this one used to require a 2-week hospital stay,” Dr. Berberian explains. “Now our benchmark is to have patients home within 4 or 5 days.”

Of Dr. Berberian, Sheila says, “He is so very kind. He talked with us as long as I wanted and answered all of our questions. I think the world of him. He is such a skilled surgeon and he’s right there with you, throughout everything.” She shares this snippet, “I like to wear scoop neck tops in the summer, especially when we’re pitching. I asked, really just teasing, if he could cut a little bit lower so my scar would not show. And you know what? He did!”

Dr. Berberian, who also is Medical Director of Cardiac Rehabili-tation, is a strong advocate for cardiac rehab and its benefits. “We stress after the first visit after surgery, which is about 2 weeks, to get on a pathway with cardiac rehab. We’re fortunate to have several cardiac rehab offices for our patients’ convenience. Getting on, and staying on, a cardiac rehab program has many proven, long-lasting benefits for patients.” He notes that many patients continue to come to cardiac rehab and work at their own pace, even after completing the 36-visit program.

Sheila was happy to heed Dr. Berberian’s advice and completed her cardiac rehab at Southeast Health Center of Stoddard County under the watchful eye of Jamie Walls, RN. “Jamie was just wonderful, so thoughtful, and the program helped me so much.” Indeed, it did. After “graduating” from cardiac rehab on a Thursday, Sheila left the following Saturday for a 10-day trip to Ireland. “I trekked all over Ireland with no problems,” she notes.

“I feel great now,” Sheila says. And that brings us back to pickleball and Sheila’s broken wrist. “I asked Dr. Arzola, who I follow-up with now, if I could exercise. He said it would be good for my heart. So a group of church ladies from Sacred Heart here in Dexter bought a net and decided to learn to play. I guess the good news is that, without being diagnosed and treated promptly, pickleball might not have been in my future.”

Sheila says her experience has “made me, as a woman, aware. If you feel different, see about it. I got help before I had a heart attack. I was lucky. Women are always worried about taking care of other people – kids, husband, family, friends. God gave me warning signs because I have more to do in my life. Women need to be aware of symptoms. I owe my life to Kim Essner for recognizing that something was not right. Remember, don’t take your life for granted. You don’t know what tomorrow will bring.”

‘Pitch Perfect’: After Successful Heart Surgery, Dexter Dynamo is Back to Active Lifestyleby Sally Owen (revised from SoutheastHEALTH)

15

2019 MOHPA Hall of Fame InducteesBy Dee McIntire, Hall of Fame Chairperson

Hello, everyone, from your Hall of Fame Committee. We are proud to announce that we have inducted Sharon Taylor in the Promoter category and Ed Pashia in the Player Category. Next time you see either of them, make sure to congratulate them and let them know how deserving they are. Take time to read the biographies below to learn more about each of them.

Sharon Taylor—Promoter CategorySharon is one of those people who doesn’t call attention to her-

self, she just buckles down and does her job. Sharon is one of those people who just steps up and does whatever asked. Sharon has been a member of the NHPA/MOHPA for 27 years. She served as the MOHPA Vice President from 2001 to 2003, Publicity Chairperson from 2006 to 2008, and MOHPA President from 2010 to 2014.

Sharon has won many awards over the years, including MOHPA Player of the Year in 2000, the Presidential Award in 2003 and 2014, and Appreciation Award in 2000 and 2005. Sharon placed 6th in the MOHPA Women’s Championship Class in 2000 and 7th in 2002. In 2000, she and partner Rich Altis placed 4th in the Doubles Championship Class. She first began pitching with the Independence league, and over the years, with the Heart of America league and the Liberty league. She pitched in the Corpo-rate Challenge Horseshoe event for the Federal Reserve for many years. Sharon retired from the Federal Reserve Bank several years ago after working there for 40 years. Sharon and her husband Paul have been married for 63 years.

Sharon pitched in five World Tournaments, from 1997 to 2001. In 2001 she placed 3rd in Women’s Class E at Hibbing, Minnesota. Sharon has also set up booths as needed at various events. Sharon has handled many raffles conducted during State Tournaments and has participated in many skits. Some of you may remember “Vanna Pitts” assisting “Bob Shoebanks” in many of the skits. Well, Vanna Pitts was portrayed by none other than Sharon (for which she never did get that Oscar nomination she so deserved!).

Ed Pashia—Player CategoryEd has pitched in the NHPA/MOHPA since 1998, but he’s actu-

ally been pitching horseshoes for most of his life. Ed has pitched with the Festus Club (now known as the Twin City Club), Quail Ridge Club, and Park Hills. Ed is also a member of the Knights of Columbus and has pitched in their leagues and tournaments for over 30 years. What Ed enjoys most about pitching is helping others improve their pitching and increase their enjoyment of the game. Some of you may not know that Ed also enjoys other things about horseshoes, like making things with them. He is a sought-after craftsman. Some of his creations with horseshoes include picture frames, coat racks, wall hangings, Christmas Trees, and even a sleigh with reindeer.

Ed has been the co-owner of Six Pack Horseshoes since 2013. In addition to producing top-quality horseshoes, he also generously donates shoes to tournaments, clubs, and schools. Ed and Six Pack Horseshoes have supported the NHPA and MOHPA in many ways. Ed also does his part as a promoter and organizer for horseshoes.

Ed’s love for horseshoes comes after God and his family, and if he can manage, he’ll take all three in one day. Ed and his wife Linda live 8 miles from Potosi, MO. They have 7 children, 17

grandchildren, 17 great grandchildren, and 1 great great grand-daughter for a family of 61 strong; that makes a houseful when they all get together!

Ed’s pitching achievements have been awesome. Some, but not all, of his accomplishments are listed below.

2014 30-Ft. Men’s Missouri State Champion3-Time 30-Ft. Men’s Runner-Up2-Time Double’s Missouri State Champion2014 Double’s Runner-Up

State Tournament (Men’s Championship Class)2002 10th place 2-9 49.7%2005 11th place 2-9 51.4%2008 9th place 4-7 49.1%2009 7th place 1-6 53.3%2010 6th place 3-4 56.5%

State Tournament (Senior Men’s Championship Class)2003 4th place 2-3 49.6%

State Tournament (30 Ft. Men’s Championship Class)2013 3rd place 4-3 72.5%2014 Champion 7-0 74.7%2015 2nd place 5-2 73.3%2016 2nd place 5-2 73.8%2017 2nd place 5-2 69.1%2018 3rd place 5-2 65.0%2019 3rd place 5-2 64.5%

State Tournament (Double’s Championship Class)2008 5th place 4-3 47.8%2009 4th place 4-3 53.6%2010 8th place 1-6 50.5%2013 Champion 7-0 75.0%2014 2nd place 5-2 72.7%2015 Champion 7-0 66.7%2016 6th place 3-4 65.2%2017 3rd place 5-2 64.2%2018 6th place 3-4 52.9%2019 5th place 4-3 62.5%

State Tournament Hostby Ron Highley, MOHPA President

The State Business Meeting was held August 30, 2019, at the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club in Wentzville. During the meeting, there were no bids to host the State Tournament in 2020. A mail-in deadline for bids has been set for January 1, 2020, at which time the MOHPA Officers will determine the site for the next State Tour-nament. Mail your bids to Secretary/Treasurer Mark Miller. In the event that no bids are received, the MOHPA Officers are empow-ered to find a site willing to let us use their facilities to hold a State Tournament, and the tournament will be funded from entry fees received. More information about Hosting the State Tournament is listed on the MOHPA homepage under Information and Forms. Questions can be directed to Ron Highley or Mark Miller.

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MOHPA Hall of Fameby Dee McIntire, Hall of Fame Chairperson

New inductees into the Missouri Horseshoe Pitchers Association Hall of Fame were introduced at the State Tournament Banquet August 31, 2019. These inductees were Ed Pashia in the player category and Sharon Taylor in the promoter category. Make sure you congratulate Sharon and Ed next time you see them. Their profiles and pictures are featured on page 15 of this issue of Shoe Biz and can be accessed on the MOHPA webpage under Hall of Fame.

While that person who should be in the Hall of Fame is on your mind, start writing. The deadline for submission for our next inductees for the player and promoter categories is June 1, 2020. The nomination form is on the next page, or you can access it on the MOHPA website. Nominations can be submitted by e-mail to dinetamcintire@gmail.com or by mail to Dee McIntire, 3205 NE 66th Terrace, Gladstone, MO 64119.

Each nominee must have been an active adult NHPA/MOHPA member for at least 10 years. The categories are listed below with recommended items that should be addressed during the completion of the nomination form. Please remember that nominations received

directly from any nominee will be returned without action.

Player CategoryList pitching records such as high ringer percentage games, longest

consecutive string of ringers, etc.; any important tournament wins, along with tournament averages; any state titles with year and aver-ages pitched; any outstanding World Tournament performances.

Promoter/Organizer CategoryList any tournaments organized and their locations; any out-

standing publicity obtained for our sport; any horseshoe clubs helped to organize; any club, state or national office(s) held; the total years the nominee has worked to promote our sport; any other qualifications worthy of consideration.

Player/Organizer CategorySome persons have achieved a degree of excellence in both catego-

ries and it becomes difficult to place them in just one category. Please list any information pertinent from both of the above categories.

Those who submit nominations are encouraged to use additional pages to describe the activities of the nominee so the selection committee has a complete understanding of the nominee.

MOHPA Hall of Fame CommitteeDee McIntire, Chairman

Sam Carter, Fred Smith, Sharon Taylor, Rich Altis, Al Mundy, Russ Ebbing, Mel Bruemmer

1984 Charter MembersEzra Beard, Jack Claves, Dan Cook, Billy Crick Sr., Frank Crumm,

C. C. Davis, F. L. Ludemann, Tom Meagher, William Pfender, Lawrence Robinson

Inductees1985

Bob BalesJohn ElkinsJack Erwin

Wayne Winston

1986Ray Cavin

Paul LattrayAlfred Smith

1987Earl WinstonVicki Winston

1988James AcockDave Baker

1989H. P. Heidel

1990Charles Killgore

J. A. “Bud” LarsonD. E. “Red” Wommack

1991Oscar Bozich

Wayne Trautwein

1992Louis “Lefty” Steinmann

1993Elwyn Cooper

Woodrow Shephard

1994Charles Picraux

1995Don Harris

1996Sam Carter

1997None

1998Val Eikel

Stan GriggsWayne Henderson

Mel IngramDon Jones

Art Schroeder

1999Joe Faron

Sam FosterKent Armstrong

Alan Francis

2000Harvey Wobbe

2001Carl W. “Cotton” Gutshall

2002Jerry Griggs

Pam Henderson

2003Randy Grady

2004Rich Altis

Rose DiekampTom Ebers

2005Jeanette Claas

2006Kelly Hill

2007Tim Henderson

Ken Pogue

2008Gregg CravenCaryle Gricks

2009Brady Craven

Bob and Donna Bastel

2010Loree Meier

2011Bob DiekampNick DiRaimo

2012Nile Abbott

M. O. Turner

2013Jim Bainter

2014Roy Evans

2015Mick Gillette

Frank & Ruth Hudson

2016Alvin Gwinn

Raymond Plute

2017Russ EbbingRon Frakes

2018Don Claas

Ron Hassler

2019Sharon Taylor

Ed Pashia

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Missouri Horseshoe Pitchers Association Hall Of Fame(Nomination Form)

For use by selection committee of Missouri Horseshoe Pitchers Association Hall of Fame to determine the applicant’s qualification for induction.

(Please print or use typewriter)

Name of Nominee _______________________________ Phone ______________________________________

Address _______________________________________ City ________________________ZIP _____________

Club Affiliations: ____________________________________________________________________________

Date of Birth ___________________________________ Date of Death ________________________________

What do you consider the nominee’s most important achievements in horseshoes?Player:

Organizer:

Promoter:

What recognition has the nominee received for: Playing Ability, Leadership, Administrative, etc?

What services, etc., has the nominee rendered or contributed toward the advancement and/or support of the sport of horseshoes?

In which category do you recommend the nominee be considered?_____Player _____Promoter/Organizer _____Player/Organizer

Submitted by: _______________________________________________________ Date:__________________

Additional narrative may be attached. Please indicate _____Yes if additional pages and number of total pages included _____.

Please refer to MOHPA HOF Standard Operating Procedure regarding HOF nomination and selection procedures before submitting your nomination.

1818

Missouri Tournament ResultsApril 6 to September 7, 2019

6th Annual Down Syndrome Benefit Mixed Open @ Don Harris Arena, April 6, 2019. Director: Laura JohnsonClass A: Gina Baker 4-1 57.5% Stan Griggs 4-1 63.8% Michael Bowman 3-2 56.8%Class B: Jim Kinney Sr. 4-1 56.0% Denise Haye 3-2 52.0% Lynn Elmore 3-2 49.0%Class C: Johnna Bales 5-0 42.5% Audra Craven 2-3 43.5% Dan Hiatt (KS) 2-3 37.3%Class D: Erika Myler 4-1 44.0% Terry Kampe-30’ 3-2 35.0% Michael Gillespie 3-2 35.0%Class E: Leroy Leabo 4-1 26.5% Denise Bloss 3-2 27.0% Clint Sloan 3-2 23.5%Class F: Darrell Plowman-30’ 5-0 31.0% Mark Miller 4-1 19.5% Brady Craven-30’ 3-2 23.5%Class G: Lynn Jackson-30’ 5-0 13.0% Bill Altschul Jr.-30’ 3-2 13.5% Tom Kudrna 2-3 16.5%Class H: George Chichura-30’ 4-1 6.5% Pam Bailey 4-1 5.5% Roy Flatt-30’ 3-2 8.0%Class I: Milee Bloss-CAD 4-1 4.0% June Johnson-CAD 3-2 6.5% Nason Bloss-CAD 3-2 6.0%

April Fools Mixed Open @ Strawberry Shed, April 6-7, 2019. Director: John FiteClass A: Victoria Highley 5-0 61.0% Raymond Bowling-30’ 4-1 49.5% Jim Renfro 3-2 55.0%Class B: Michael Gillespie 5-0 31.9% Oren Harris-30’ 3-2 41.3% Alfred Mundy-30’ 3-2 38.1%Class C: Warren Highley-JB 4-1 38.5% Denver Jennings 3-2 33.5% Tracy Archer 3-2 27.5%Class D: J.R. Smith-30’ 4-1 15.6% Daniel Gavin 4-1 10.0% Glade Greenup-30’ 3-2 17.5%

Window of Opportunity Benefit @ Don Harris Arena, April 13, 2019. Director: Neal StraughnClass A: Gregg Craven-30’ 4-1 69.3% Victoria Highley 3-2 51.1% Larry McAfee 3-2 59.0%Class B: Russ Clodfelter-30’ (NE) 5-0 51.0% Kent Houston 3-2 54.5% Mary Vogel 3-2 50.0%Class C: Audra Craven 5-0 51.5% Lee Miller Jr. 3-2 48.0% Nancy Gunter 3-2 38.0%Class D: Michael Gillespie 4-1 37.5% Glenn Light 4-1 33.5% Denise Bloss 3-2 35.5%Class E: Chara Ingrassia 5-0 39.0% Keith Johnson 3-2 29.0% John Michaels 3-2 21.5%

Class F: Paul Trump-30’ 7-0 32.2% Leroy Leabo 5-2 22.8% Tony Bootka-30’ 4-3 25.6%Class G: Neal Straughn 5-0 31.0% Mark Miller 4-1 21.5% Rick Gwinn 3-2 24.5%Class H: Chuck Stanway 5-2 13.9% Tom Kudrna 5-2 13.9% Bob Guardado 5-2 9.4%

Bluebird Mixed Open @ The Pits, April 13-14, 2019. Director: Jim BainterClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 7-1 66.3% Mary Vogel 6-2 57.8% Kelly Kasper-30’ 4-3 55.7%Class B: Clint Camp-30’ 7-1 48.7% Leon Wolken-JB 6-2 48.7% Bob Outt-30’ 4-3 36.4%Class C: Richard Reina-30’ 4-1 31.5% Sam Godbouldt 3-2 26.5% Sadie Wolken-CAD 3-2 25.5%Class D: James Adkins-30’ 4-2 23.3% Leroy Dooley-30’ 3-3 23.8% J.R. Smith-30’ 3-3 10.4%

April Showers Mixed Open @ Bucyrus, April 20, 2019. Directors: Virgle & Donra McCownClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 7-1 68.5% Kelly Kasper-30’ 6-2 56.2% Paul Davis-30’ 4-3 54.6%Class B: Dan Hobbs-30’ 6-0 53.3% Alfred Mundy-30’ 4-2 39.6% Donra McCown 3-3 31.7%Class C: Ronny Mincks-30’ 5-1 28.8% Bob Outt-30’ 2-4 22.5% Tim Warden-30’ 1-5 18.3%

Jefferson City Spring Mixed Open, April 20, 2019. Director: Steve BruemmerClass A: Steve Johnson 6-1 63.3% Brady Fox-CAD 6-1 81.7% Roger Reeves-30’ 5-2 55.4%Class B: Robyn Hendrix 6-1 31.3% Russell Throckmorton-30’ 6-1 35.8% Oscar Reeves 5-2 42.5%Class C: James Adkins-30’ 6-1 25.8% Sadie Wolken-CAD 5-2 26.3% Charles Maupin 4-3 27.1%Class D: Mindy Atkins 6-1 21.3% Randy Stewart 5-2 12.9% Michael Reynolds 5-2 15.8%

Juniors Only Tournament @ Liberty, April 27, 2019. Director: Gregg CravenClass A: Warren Highley-JB 5-1 30.2% Memo Ramirez-CAD 4-2 28.7% Trent Morgan-CAD 2-4 18.8% Zane Morgan-JB 1-5 15.1%Class B: Milee Bloss-CAD 4-1 4.5% Eli DeLaCruz-JG 3-2 2.5% Annabelle Gray-CAD 3-2 7.0% Dalton Candler-CAD 3-2 6.0% Nason Bloss-CAD 2-3 4.0% Walker Candler-JB 0-5 3.0%

Truman Lake Spring Mixed Open @ Warsaw, April 27, 2019. Director: Debbie HarrisClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 6-0 55.8% Kelly Kasper-30’ 4-2 40.8% Alfred Mundy-30’ 1-5 40.8%Class B: Sam Godbouldt 5-1 26.3% Mark Constance 3-3 22.9% Bob Outt-30’ 3-3 20.8%Class C: James Adkins-30’ 5-0 28.5% Mike Watkins 4-1 24.0% Harlan May-30’ (KS) 3-2 22.0%

Winter End of League Tournament @ The Pits, April 27-28, 2019. Director: Jim BainterChampionship: Chuck Koss-30’ 3-0 33.3% Clint Camp-30’ 2-1 52.7% Mitzi Hughes 1-2 30.0%Class A: Clint Camp-30’ 3-1 49.4% Mary Vogel 2-2 47.7% George Lawler-30’ 1-2 52.7%Class B: Mitzi Hughes 4-1 38.6% Richard Reina-30’ 2-2 38.1% Dale Froling-30” 2-2 35.2%Class C: P. VanEvercooren-30’ 4-1 21.8% Chuck Koss-30’ 2-2 26.1% Elbert Parden 2-2 18.8%Class D: Jason Jackson 3.5-0.5 15.3% Jacob Trusty 2.5-1.5 9.1% Leroy Dooley-30’ 1-2 18.0%

Independence Spring Mixed Open, May 4, 2019. Director: Keith JohnsonClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 5-0 69.7% Michael Bowman 3-2 61.5% Denise Haye 3-2 54.7%Class B: Laura Johnson 4-1 44.0% Bob Beaver-30’ 4-1 40.5% Johnna Bales 3-2 45.5%Class C: Michael Gillespie 6-1 30.0% Bob Bloss Jr. 6-1 30.0% John Michaels 5-2 32.1%Class D: Sandra Couch 6-1 28.3% Tony Bootka-30’ 4-3 25.4% Darrell Plowman-30’ 4-3 24.2%Class E: Lynn Jackson-30’ 6-1 21.7% Kaleb Mullikin-JB 5-2 18.8% Bill Altschul Jr.-30’ 5-2 16.3%Class F: George Chichura-30’ 7-0 10.4% Dennis Bailey-30’ 5-2 8.3% Roy Flatt-30’ 5-2 4.6%

8th Annual Hall of Fame 40’ Invitational @ Quail Ridge, May 4-5, 2019. Director: Joe FaronClass A: Gale Greene (VT) 14-2 69.4% Dan Watson (AL) 13-3 75.2% Gary Bearpaw (OK) 12-3 66.3% Gary Opper (ID) 12-3 65.8% Austin Bailey (IL) 11-4 67.1% Stan Griggs (MO) 11-4 65.5%

19

There Were Twoby Elizabeth Furner

There were two young girls: two cousins, two sisters, two daughters, two granddaughters, and of course two Junior horseshoe pitchers. They rode 2 days (1 day down, 1 day back) and pitched 2 days, all in the town with two words – Wichita Falls.

Eli DelaCruz and Lauren Furner were accompanied by grandpar-ents Russell and Elizabeth Furner, Eli’s parents Gerardo and Sarah DelaCruz, Lauren’s dad Duane Furner, and Lauren’s brothers Justin and Brett Furner to Wichita Falls, Texas, to participate in this summer’s 2019 World Horseshoe Tournament. This was Lauren’s first horseshoe tournament let alone her first World Tournament. This would be Eli’s number four.

Lauren competed as a Cadet, went into the competition as the number 10 seed and finished with a 4.5-4.5 record, half a game out of the number 4 spot. This was Eli’s first year competing as a Junior. She went in as a number 4 seed and came out triumphantly with a 10-0 record and Class Championship honors. This was the second World Tournament Class Championship trophy for young DelaCruz, who earned a similar honor in Utah in 2017.

The World Horseshoe Championships is not just about horse-shoe pitching. These two young ladies traveled by automobile and were thus exposed to some of the beauty of this country’s landscape. This year, they left the green fields of Missouri and went to the arid pastures of Texas. In the past, Eli has ridden through the Rocky Mountains, the Smoky Mountains, and to beaches along the At-lantic. Along with practice and competition, this year’s experiences included meeting Rampage, the longhorn steer, walking in Lucy Park, the swinging bridge, and seeing Wichita Falls, from which the town’s name is derived. A great aside was horseback riding in Holliday, Texas. For some, this was a first-time experience, but for others it was “a long time since.” (By the way, whispering in your horse’s ear does nothing to make it move.) The laughs were many, the swimming pool was refreshing, and the friendships will be everlasting.

I challenge adults to join the youngsters. Join in the competi-tion, the experience, the building of lasting relationships. Most importantly, take this time to build lasting positive memories with the young people around you.

8th Annual Hall of Fame 30’ Invitational @ Quail Ridge, May 4-5, 2019. Director: Rose DieKampClass A: Maxine Griffith (TN) 15-0 82.2% Marlene Ray (TN) 10-5 76.2% Joan Elmore (TN) 10-5 74.8% James Cooper (TN) 10-5 73.8% Jim Ellison (AL) 10-5 72.2% JD Drake (MI) 10-5 71.0%

Mayflower Mixed Open @ Quail Ridge, May 11, 2019. Director: Rich AltisClass A: Edward Griffith-30’ 6-1 70.2% Rich Altis-30’ 5-2 64.0% Mick Gillette-30’ 5-2 63.3%Class B: Larry Brown-30’ 7-0 51.8% Mike Thomson-30’ 6-1 56.8% Tim Henderson 4-3 49.7%Class C: Rodney Brewster 6-1 46.6% Melody Downey 5-2 38.1% Ralph Thurman 4-3 43.8%Class D: Brooke Reiser 4-1 36.3% Mike Manning-30” 3-2 39.9% Terri Loeffler 3-2 33.6%

Class E: Terry Murray 5-0 34.0% James Adkins-30’ 4-1 26.5% Joe Santel 3-2 25.0%Class F: Paul Spell 5-0 22.0% Rich Shackelford 4-1 24.5% Allen Stark 3-2 25.5%Class G: Scott Klump 4-1 17.0% Daniel Hubbard 4-1 16.0% Pat Herrmann 4-1 8.5%

Festus Mixed Open #6, May 11, 2019. Director: Fred SmetzerClass A: Edward Pashia-30’ 9-0 60.8% Mike Fadler-30’ 8-1 42.9% Mary Ann Yates 7-2 36.3%

Peculiar Spring Mixed Open, May 18, 2019. Director: Paige GoddardClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 5-0 63.3% Russell Clodfelter-30 (NE) 4-1 41.7% Lynn Elmore 2-3 43.3%Class B: Ron Highley 5-1 37.9% John Michaels 3-3 36.3% Warren Highley-JB 2-4 34.6%

Class C: Brady Craven-30’ 4-1 23.8% Leroy Leabo 4-1 15.6% Memo Ramirez-CAD 3-2 23.1%Class D: Justin Skiles-CAD 4-1 12.3% Amanda Fisk 4-1 10.3% George Chichura-30’ 4-1 9.5%

Jefferson City Memorial Mixed Open, May 25, 2019. Director: Steve BruemmerClass A: Jerry Weller-30’ 5-0 64.5% Steve Johnson 4-1 66.5% Roger Reeves-30’ 3-2 53.5%Class B: Steve Steck 4-1 25.5% Mel Bruemmer 3-2 31.0% Sadie Wolken-CAD 2-3 29.0%Class C: Jim Wheeler-30’ 5-0 17.0% Scott Wolken 3-2 16.0% Brian Schroer 2.5-2.5 21.5%

See Tournament Results, page 20

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Birthday Mixed Open @ Glen Allen, May 26, 2019. Directors: Danny & Melody WilliamsClass A: Virgil Schreckenberg 4-1 36.0% Carolyn Schreckenberg 4-1 35.5% Terrie Rose 3-2 41.0%

16th Annual MOHPA Club/Team Benefit Tournament @ Quail Ridge, June 1, 2019. Director: Jim BainterTeams Pts % Lake of Ozarks, Ringer Flingers 29 .559 Liberty, Don Harris Posse 28 .563 Library Park, Ringers & Leaners 25 .516 Capitol City, Ringers 24 .571 Quail Ridge, Rail Splitters 23 .500 Quail Ridge, Melanie’s Team 21 .455 Capitol City, Close Points 21 .441 Capitol City, Six Packs 20 .412 Lions Park, Odd Balls 18 .471

Class A: Brady Fox-CAD 7-0 70.4% Melanie Zerr 6-1 68.9% Rich Altis-30’ 5-2 65.4%Class B: Mary Vogel 6-1 51.4% Tim Henderson 5-2 51.1% Gary Roehrig 4-3 50.7%Class C: Dan Atwood-30’ 6-1 39.6% Ralph Gordon-30’ 4-3 38.9% Rodney Brewster 4-3 37.9%Class D: Lile Harper-30’ 5-2 34.6% Terry Murray 5-2 32.1% Sadie Wolken-CAD 4-3 35.4%Class E: Brady Craven-30’ 6-1 28.3% Bob Hembrock 5-2 29.0% David Day Sr.-30’ 5-2 27.1%Class F: Sam Vogel 6-1 25.4% Bill Bouyea-30’ 5-2 19.6% Daniel Hubbard 4-3 19.2%

Peculiar Memorial Mixed Open, June 8, 2019. Director: Paige GoddardClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 4-1 66.4% Dean Renfro-30’ 3-2 53.5% Victoria Highley 3-2 51.9%Class B: Darrin Sherman 5-0 46.9% Jim Kinney Sr.-30’ 3.2 38.7% Jim Renfro 2-3 36.4%Class C: Alfred Mundy-30’ 5-0 38.7% Jimmy Higginbotham 4-1 44.2% Ron Highley 3-2 32.4%Class D: John Michaels 5-0 35.0% Ralph New 3-2 34.0% Memo Ramirez-CAD 3-2 20.5%Class E: George Chichura-30’ 5-0 11.0% Brady Craven-30’ 4-1 19.0% Bob Mitchell-30’ 2-3 19.5%

Wilbur Hodgson Memorial Mixed Open @ Liberty, June 15, 2019. Director: Brady CravenClass A: Stan Griggs 7-0 70.2% Reymundo Canchola-30’ 5-2 56.2% Ray Plute-30’ 4-3 65.1%Class B: Lynn Elmore 7-0 55.8% Audra Craven 6-1 51.7% Larry Brown-30’ 4-3 39.3%

Class C: Jim Kinney Jr. 7-0 49.2% Ralph New 5-2 34.6% Ron Highley 4-3 40.0%Class D: Mike Crouch 6-1 35.0% Tom Beaver 5-2 34.2% Keith Johnson 4-3 24.2%Class E: Brady Craven-30’ 6-1 28.8% Sandra Couch 5-2 20.0% Rick James 4-3 31.3%Class F: Daulton James 5-0 26.0% Hannah Johnson 3-2 25.0% Tom Lehmann-30’ 3-2 24.0%Class G: Kaleb Mullikin-JB 4-1 17.0% Bill Altschul Jr. 4-1 9.5% Roy Flatt-30’ 4-1 5.5%

Summer Is Here Mixed Open @ Glen Allen, June 16, 2019. Directors: Danny & Melody WilliamsClass A: Carolyn Schreckenberg 7-0 52.1% Kelcee Tucker 6-1 39.2% Wesley Stoverink 5-2 39.2%

Ray Cavin Memorial Mixed Open @ Don Harris Arena, June 29, 2019. Director: Karen GoldizenClass A: Stan Griggs 7-0 75.7% Larry Gearheart-30’ (KS) 6-1 63.8% Ray Plute-30’ 4-3 68.1%Class B: Lynn Elmore 7-0 49.6% Johnna Bales 6-1 42.1% Audra Craven 5-2 44.2%Class C: Daulton James 4-1 26.0% Rick James 3-2 28.4% Memo Ramirez-CAD 3-2 26.8%Class D: Lynn Jackson-30’ 5-1 21.4% Bob Mitchell-30’ 3-3 18.2% Clifford Pierce-30’ 2-4 8.3%

Red, White & Blue Mixed Doubles @ Quail Ridge, June 29, 2019. Director: Melanie ZerrClass A: Rich Altis-30’ 7-1 63.0% Mick Gillette-30’ 40.9% Melanie Zerr 6-2 62.0% Jason Weiler 48.1% John Meyer-30’ (WI) 3-5 60.1% Dobie Gutweiler (WI) 28.4%Class B: Jim Howard-30’ 6-1 51.7% Rose Buehler 31.9% George Altman-30’ 6-1 48.4% Gaylord Compton-30’ 33.0% Jenny Braun 5-2 44.5% Jennifer Gegg 30.8%Class C: Gary Roehrig 6-1 43.4% Richard Irwin Jr. 7.1% Norman Ennis-30’ 6-1 23.6% Mike Manning-30’ 31.3% Charles McIntykre-30’ 5-2 30.2% Ernie Brakensiek-30’ 19.2%

Summer Mixed Open @ Jefferson City, June 29, 2019. Director: Mel BruemmerClass A: James Driver 4-1 56.0% Larry Brown-30’ 4-1 48.0% Steve Johnson 4-1 61.5%Class B: Oscar Reeves 5-1 41.6% Sam Godbouldt 4-1 32.5% Dan Atwood-30’ 4-2 39.8%

Class C: Mel Bruemmer 5-0 39.5% Mark Kiser 4-1 16.0% Steve Steck 3-2 18.5%

Hot Summer Mixed Open @ Glen Allen, June 30, 2019. Director: Danny & Melody WilliamsClass A: Ronald LeGrand-30’ 7-0 65.4% James Hillis-30’ 5-2 50.4% Mike Davault 5-2 37.1%

Jefferson City Mixed Open, July 6, 2019. Director: Steve BruemmerClass A: Jerry Weller-30’ 7-0 62.1% Steve Johnson 6-1 67.1% Oscar Reeves 4.5-2.5 38.3%Class B: Tom Lehmann-30’ 6-1 30.0% Sadie Wolken-CAD 5-2 38.3% Sam Godbouldt 5-2 37.1%Class C: Brian Schroer 7-0 25.0% Randy Stewart 5-2 13.6% Tommy Fox 4-3 14.3%

It’s All About the Girls @ Don Harris Arena, July 13, 2019. Director: Laura JohnsonChampionship Class: Barbara Carson (SC) 2-0 52.4% Gina Baker 1-1 50.0% Susan Fulton (KS) 0-1 47.5% Melanie Zerr 0-1 55.0%Class A: Gina Baker 4-1 53.5% Melanie Zerr 4-1 54.3% Victoria Highley 3-2 51.2%Class B: Susan Fulton (KS) 5-0 52.5% Johnna Bales 4-1 37.5% Nancy Gunter 3-2 41.0%Class C: Jana Miller 5-0 33.2% Sandra Couch 4-1 22.0% Denise Bloss 3-2 26.0%

Last Chance Firecracker Mixed Open @ Glen Allen, July 14, 2019. Directors: Danny & Melody WilliamsClass A: Randy Grady 5-2 51.4% Mike Fadler-30’ 5-2 46.8% James Hillis-30’ 5-2 44.6%

CCHC End of Summer League Tournament, July 16, 2019. Director: Mel BruemmerClass A: Larry Brown-30’ 3-0 52.5% James Driver 2-1 60.8% Sadie Wolken-CAD 1-2 37.5%Class B: Scott Wolken 4-1 19.4% Jerry Weller-30’ 4-1 57.5% Mel Bruemmer 3-2 39.4%

Hot August Mixed Open @ Jefferson City, August 3, 2019. Director: Steve BruemmerClass A: R. Dudenhoeffer-30’ 5-1 39.9% Sadie Wolken-CAD 4-2 41.3% Edward Griffith-30’ 3-2 64.0%Class B: Sam Godbouldt 5-0 37.5% Joe Santel 4-1 27.0% Tom Lehmann-30’ 3-2 18.5%Class C: David Redhage 6-1 21.7% Jesse Dowell-30’ 6-1 21.7% David Sullivan 5-2 24.2%

Tournament Results, from page 19

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2019 World Tournament @ Wichita Falls, Texas, July 22- August 3, 2019.Men’s Championship Class: Stan Griggs 9-6 69.3%Men’s A-1: Stan Griggs 9.5-5.5 66.0%Men’s B-1: Jim Renfro 8-7 44.3% Joie Welker 5.5-9.5 45.7% Charlie Ward 3-12 39.5%Men’s C-1: Jim Kinney Jr. 7-8 37.2% Ron Highley 5.5-9.5 37.7%Men’s D-2: Michael Gillespie 11.5-3.5 33.8%Men’s E-2: Sam Godbouldt 11-4 36.2% Mike Young 9-6 29.7% Ralph New 4-11 27.5%Men’s F-1: Bob Bloss Jr. 8.5-6.5 23.3%Men’s H-2: Allen Stark 5.5-9.5 16.5%Men’s I-1: Scott Raimer 8.5-6.5 13.8%Men’s I-2: Mark Miller 5-10 14.3%Men’s J-2 Pat Hermann 12-4 14.4% Daniel Olson 2-13 11.3%Senior Men’s Championship Class: Virgle McCown 8-3 55.3% Larry McAfee 7-4 58.0%Senior Men’s A: Larry McAfee 10-3 55.2% Virgle McCown 6-7 48.5%Senior Men’s B: Denver Jennings 11-4 37.3%Senior Men’s C: Glenn Light 11.5-3.5 35.7%

Senior Men’s D: Keith Johnson 10-3 24.0%Senior Men’s E: David Sullivan 7-8 19.2%Men’s 30’ Championship Class: Ronald LeGrand 9-6 69.5%Men’s 30’ A-1: Ronald LeGrand 12-3 66.7% Gregg Craven 3-12 55.8%Men’s 30’ B-1: Rey Canchola 8-7 53.0%Men’s 30’ B-2: George Lawler 9-6 51.5% Jim Kinney Sr. 1-14 19.8%Men’s 30’ C-1: Larry Brown 7.5-7.5 42.5%Men’s 30’ D-2: Alfred Mundy 10-5 43.2% Al Constance 3-12 31.2%Men’s 30’ E-2: Bob Beaver 4-9 28.1%Men’s 30’ F-1: Tom Boyer 9.5-3.5 34.4%Men’s 30’ F-2: Bob Outt 4-11 24.2%Men’s 30’ G-1: Lonnie Nasalroad 10-5 34.3% John Setzer 8.5-6.5 25.7%Men’s 30’ G-2: James Adkins 8.5-4.5 30.2% Gary Bailey 8-5 23.5%Men’s 301 H-1: Brady Craven 9-4 29.2% David Day Sr. 7-6 20.8% Ernie Ellermann Jr. 2-11 15.8%Men’s 30’ H-2: Bob Mitchell 5.5-7.5 17.9%Men’s 30’ I-2: George Chichura 9-4 6.9%Women’s Championship Class: Melanie Zerr 5-10 63.17%Women’s A: Melanie Zerr 6-9 65.0%

Women’s B: Gina Baker 8-7 48.8%Women’s C: Victoria Highley 9.5-3.5 55.6% Mary Vogel 9-4 48.1% Denise Haye 8-5 45.6%Women’s D: Laura Johnson 10.5-4.5 47.8% Audra Craven 7.5-7.5 38.0% Donra McCown 2-13 35.2%Women’s E: Nancy Gunter 6.5-8.5 37.8%Women’s F: Jana Miller 3-10 21.2%Women’s G: Brooke Reiser 10-3 40.6%Women’s I: Jessica Wilson 9-4 27.3%Women’s J: Mary Beeson 7-6 17.1% Cathy Boyer 5-8 12.7%Juniors’ A: Leon Wolken 2-7 44.7%Juniors’ C: Warren Highley 4-4 31.9%Juniors’ D: Rebecca Bruemmer 3-6 11.7%Juniors’ E: Eli DeLaCruz 10-1 10.3%Cadets’ Championship Class: Brady Fox 5-2 69.7% Memo Ramirez 3-4 44.3% Sadie Wolken 2-5 50.3%Cadets’ A: Brady Fox 8-2 69.3% Sadie Wolken 4-5 44.2% Memo Ramirez 3-6 36.1%Cadets’ B: Rachel Bruemmer 2-7 10.3%Cadets’ C: Lauren Furner 4.5-4.5 6.4%

See Tournament Results, page 22

City Club/Location Courts Contact Phone E-MailBUCYRUS Good Luck Horseshoe Cts in Virgle/Donra McCown 417-967-2791 ddmccown33@hotmail.comCALIFORNIA* Moniteau County Fair out Kevin Chambers 573-578-4804 kcsuper23@yahoo.comCHILLICOTHE Chillicothe HC out Lynn Jackson 660-646-2861 jackson.rlynn@gmail.comCRANE Strawberry Shed in John Fite 417-325-6428 johnhfite@outlook.comEXCELLO* House of Ringers Larry McAfee 660-775-2475FESTUS (area) Festus HC both Fred Smetzer 636-937-2612 martismetzer@icloud.comFULTON* Veteran's Park out Clay Caswell 573-592-3190 parksandrec@fulton.mo.orgGLEN ALLEN Backyard HC in Danny/Melody Williams 573-238-0047 nipdpeg2@yahoo.comINDEPENDENCE Independence HC out Rick Gwinn 816-665-1106 gwinnrw@gmail.comJEFFERSON CITY Capitol City HC out Steve Bruemmer 636-541-3232 sdrr@att.netKIRKSVILLE* NEMO HC out Tom Lehmann 660-665-8138LAURIE Lake of the Ozarks HC out Donna Bastel 573-374-8243 dbastel@lauriekitchen.netLIBERTY Heart of America HC in Dee McIntire 816-452-0254 dinetamcintire@gmail.comLIBERTY Heartland Indoor HA in Gregg Craven 816-419-5631 gregg_audra@sbcglobal.netLIBERTY Liberty HC both Dee McIntire 816-452-0254 dinetamcintire@gmail.comMARSHALL Saline County HC out Katherine Van Buren 660-886-5225MEXICO* Brick City HC out Rodney Brewster 573-470-9900 rodneybrewster22@yahoo.comMOUNTAIN VIEW Mountain View HC out Dan Hobbs - owner 417-247-5080 ringers3@hotmail.comPECULIAR Lions Park HC out Victoria Highley 816-665-7042 horseshoevic@gmail.comST. CHARLES* Blanchette Park out Jim Riley 636-288-9175 rileyja66@yahoo.comST. CHARLES* First Capitol Women's Lg. out Sally Montgomery 636-947-1391ST. JOSEPH Pony Express HC out Karen Goldizen 816-324-4854 bkgold@stjoewireless.comSHELBINA Shelbina Library Park HC out Russ Ebbing 660-651-4080 rebbing@centurytel.netSPRINGFIELD Doling Park HC out Ed Eliason 417-299-2908 eeli488227@aol.comSUNRISE BEACH The Pits/Lake Ozark HC in Jim Bainter 816-918-6789 jbainter@charter.netWARSAW Truman Lake HPC out Debbie Harris 956-536-6558 crwnkid@aol.comWENTZVILLE Golden Triangle League both Rich Altis 636-541-4705 richaltis@juno.comWENTZVILLE Quail Ridge HC both Bobby Schwent 573-883-6665 hootie992002@yahoo.com* These locations do not offer any sanctioned activities as known at the above date.Courts: “In” refers to indoor courts and “Out” refers to outdoor courts.

Missouri Horseshoe Pitching LocationsVisit our web page @ www.mohpa.us

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Tournament Results, from page 21Missouri State Fair Mixed Open @ Sedalia, August 10-11, 2019. Director: Jim Kinney Jr.Class A: Brady Fox-CAD 7-1 61.0% Jerry Weller-30’ 7-2 53.8% Melanie Zerr 6-2 56.8%Class B: Bobby Schwent 5-1 40.3% Dan Atwood-30’ 4-2 37.1% Alfred Mundy-30’ 2-3 37.6%Class C: Sadie Wolken-CAD 5-1 37.8% Keith Peck-30’ 5-2 31.8% Mel Bruemmer 4-2 31.8%Class D: Eileen Reeves 6-1 35.8% Brooke Reiser 5-2 35.0% Warren Highley-JB 5-2 30.4%Class E: Leroy Leabo 6-1 21.8% Tom Lehmann-30’ 5-2 27.1% Michael Gillespie 4-3 21.1%Class F: Tim Warden-30’ 6-1 18.9% Bob Mitchell-30’ 5-2 18.9% Dennis Bales 4-3 17.9%Class G: Jesse Dowell-30’ 7-0 24.6% Bill Altschul Jr-30’ 6-1 15.0% Brian Koss 5-2 20.0%Class H: Pat Heathman 7-0 16.7% Teresa Koss 5-2 10.4% George Chichura-30’ 5-2 8.8%Class I: Shaun Durham 7-1 15.8% Roy Flatt-30’ 6-2 8.5% Steve Bruemmer 5-2 15.5%

Tween the States Mixed Open @ Peculiar, August 17, 2019. Director: Page GoddardClass A: Ray Plute 5-0 65.7% Victoria Highley 4-1 45.0% Darrin Sherman 2-3 44.8%Class B: Ralph New 5-0 40.4% Memo Ramirez-CAD 4-1 36.4% Warren Highley-JB 3-2 33.5%Class C: Brady Craven-30’ 6-0 23.8% Mark Miller 3-3 13.4% Keith Johnson 2-4 19.4%Class D: George Chichura-30’ 6-0 7.8% Robert Johnson-30’ 3-3 9.3% Terry Highley-30’ 3-3 8.1%

State Warm-Up Mixed Open @ Independence, August 24, 2019. Director: Keith JohnsonClass A: Ray Plute-30’ 6-1 65.8% Audra Craven 5-2 57.0% Victoria Highley 5-2 51.3%Class B: Savanna Johnson 4-1 45.0% Laura Johnson 4-1 44.5% Lee Miller Jr. 3-2 43.0%Class C: Michael Gillespie 5-0 33.5% John Michaels 4-1 27.5% Warren Highley-JB 3-2 28.0%Class D: Dennis Bales 5-0 22.5% Madisen Gwinn 3-2 16.5% Bill Altschul Jr-30’ 3-2 16.5%Class E: Rocky Gray 5-0 9.5% Dennis Bailey 3-2 9.0% Robert Johnson-30’ 3-2 8.0%

Missouri State Doubles Championship @ Wentzville, August 30, 2019. Directors: MOHPA OfficersDoubles’ Championship: Edward Griffith-30’ 6-1 70.6% Pete Ploss 46.4% Rich Altis-30’ 5-2 67.2% Victoria Highley 52.2% Ronald LeGrand-30’ 4-3 72.2% Tim Henderson 43.2%Doubles’ A: Tom Boyer-30’ 6-1 42.5% Bobby Schwent 33.0% Larry Brown-30’ 5-2 43.9% John Michaels 26.5% Jeremy Maher 4-3 38.3% Tom Ray-30’ 30.1%Doubles’ B: Dan Peterson-30’ 7-1 45.1% Joe Santel 21.4% Terrie Rose 6-2 35.3% Bob Bloss Jr. 20.1% Ernie Brakensiek-30’ 4-3 29.6% Gary Kuehn-30’ 22.4%Doubles’ C: Steve Bruemmer 7-1 14.0% Randy Senciboy 13.2% Danny Gladden 6-2 17.1% Mike Weissler 11.4% Joey Griffith 5-2 23.5% Mark Kiser 14.3%

Missouri State Singles Championship @ Wentzville, August 31 – September 2, 2019. Directors: MOHPA OfficersMen’s Championship: Stan Griggs 11-0 69.8% Michael Bowman 8-3 61.2% James Driver 8-3 58.1%Men’s A: Jason Weiler 6-1 57.0% Jim Kinney Jr. 5-2 49.6% Jeremy Maher 4-3 48.3%Men’s B: Jimmy Higginbotham 4-1 44.0% David Schneider 3-2 44.8% Mel Bruemmer 3-2 38.4%Men’s C: Mike Young 6-1 34.6% Mike Davault 5-2 39.2% Ralph New 5-2 36.7%Men’s D: Michael Gillespie 6-1 31.1% Joe Santel 5-2 32.5% Mark Wilkewitz 4-3 28.6%Men’s E: Brandon Riley 6-1 28.6% Bo Oligschlaeger 4-3 29.6% Keith Johnson 4-3 23.2%Men’s H: Mike Weissler 6-1 13.5% John Harrelson 5-2 11.5% Pat Heathman 5-2 11.3%Men’s I: Randy Stewart 7-0 11.7% Jim Riney 6-1 3.3% Pierce Warren 4-3 7.5%Women’s Championship: Melanie Zerr 7-0 71.5% Lachelle Cook 6-1 65.6% Gina Baker 4-3 58.5%Women’s A: Laura Johnson 7-1 49.6% Mary Ann Yates 6-2 42.4% Audra Craven 4-3 50.8%

Women’s B: Savanna Johnson 5-0 47.2% Donna Becher 3-2 37.2% Brooke Reiser 3-2 36.6%Women’s C: Terrie Rose 5-1 41.7% Becky Jackson 4-2 30.7% Kelcee Tucker 3-2 35.6%Women’s D: Melody Williams 5-0 28.8% Mary Beeson 3-2 23.6% Megan Riley 3-2 20.8%30’ Men’s Championship: Ronald LeGrand 7-0 76.2% Edward Griffith 6-1 73.7% Edward Pashia 5-2 64.5%30’ Men’s A: Dan Hobbs 5-0 60.0% George Lawler 4-1 60.0% Kelly Kasper 3-2 57.2%30’ Men’s B: Dan Atwood 5-1 45.3% Mike Fadler 4-2 50.3% Gaylord Compton 3-2 37.2%30’ Men’s C: Ralph Throckmorton 7-0 37.9% Charles McIntyre 5-2 38.5% Tom Boyer 5-2 32.8%30’ Men’s D: Dan Peterson 7-0 40.4% Gary Bailey 5-2 29.6% Lonnie Nasalroad 4-3 36.7%30’ Men’s E: Tom Lehmann 7-0 31.8% Tim Warden 5-2 22.5% Gary Kuehn 5-2 19.3%Jr. Boys’ Championship: Leon Wolken 4-1 44.1% Warren Highley 3-2 38.3% Dominic Skirvin 0-4 6.8%Jr. Girls’ Championship: Madisen Gwinn 4-0 25.3% Eli DeLaCruz 2-2 8.6% Rebecca Bruemmer 0-4 7.7%Cadets’ Championship: Brady Fox 6-0 79.6% Sadie Wolken 4-2 42.7% Memo Ramirez 2-4 43.3% Rachel Bruemmer 0-6 13.6%Cadets’ A: Cameron Gary 6-1 5.6% Daniel Skirvin 5-2 8.2% Trevor Skirvin 5-2 5.4% Macy Zerr 4-3 6.1% Carter Gary 4-3 3.8% Chloe Skirvin 2-5 2.8% Caiden Gary 2-5 2.2%

Summer End of League Tournament @ Laurie, September 7, 2019. Director: Donna BastelClass Championship: Sean Sullivan 1-1 5.0% George Lawler-30’ 1-1 57.5% Chuck Koss-30’ 1-1 17.5%Class A: George Lawler-30’ 3-0 60.7% Lile Harper-30’ 2-2 24.5% Jim Bainter-30’ 0-3 24.7%Class B: Chuck Koss-30’ 4-1 29.0% Leroy Dooley-30’ 3.5-1.5 17.0% Sam Vogel 3.5-1.5 15.0%Class C: Sean Sullivan 2-1 8.7% John Schmidt 2-1 7.3% Jason Jackson 1-2 10.0%

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2020 Membership ApplicationMissouri Horseshoe Pitchers Association

The NHPA card is a combined membership in your state and national horseshoe pitching associations. This card entitles you to participate in NHPA-sanctioned play throughout the United States and much of Canada, wherever you meet the entry requirements for the event. You must pay your dues through the state charter where you maintain legal residence as determined by voting, tax, and/or drivers license laws. Dues are based on the calendar year. New members may pay next year’s dues after October 1 of the current year and will be eligible to participate in sanctioned events the final 3 months of the current year, as well as all of the next year.

As a member of the Missouri Charter, you will receive Shoe Biz three times a year free of charge. This will keep you informed of events within our state. Our statistician will be recording your pitching stats from all sanctioned events and will be forwarding these stats to the NHPA stats headquarters, called NatStats. These stats are updated weekly and can be accessed through either the NHPA or the MOHPA websites. To make all of this possible, your NHPA card will have six digits followed by two decimals. Missouri is region 19, followed by four digits, which are your number. The two decimals represent the calendar year. The decimal and color of the NHPA card change each year. Your number will remain with you as long as you reside in Missouri and continue to maintain your membership. If you ever lose your NHPA card, the charter secretary will issue you a duplicate card free of charge. You need only notify him.

Please fill in all information on the form below that applies to you and mail the application and total amount of dues to the MOHPA Secretary/Treasurer (address below). Please make checks payable to: MOHPA.

Mark Miller Adult Dues Juniors and Cadets Provisional DuesMOHPA Sec/Treas. 25.00 national 5.00 national 10.00 national7501 N. Tullis Ave. 11.00 state 0.00 state 0.00 stateKansas City, MO 64158 $36.00 Total Dues $5.00 Total Dues $10.00 Total Dues816-786-1155E-mail: mohpamark@yahoo.com

(Cut along dashed line and return this portion with dues. Make additional copies if more than one form is needed.)

Name: ________________________________________________________Phone: ______________________

Street address or PO Box: _________________________________________Date of Birth: ________________

City: _________________________________ ZIP:_________E-mail address: __________________________

If renewing, enter NHPA#: _________Approx. years in NHPA: _________New members, mark here: ______

Club affiliation if any: ________________________________________________________________________

Check one of the following: Adult  Junior  CadetCheck one of the following:  Male  Female  ProvisionalCheck one of the following:  40’ Pitcher  Less than 40’ pitcherT-shirt size (for new pitchers):        

Mr. Mark Miller7501 N. Tullis Ave.Kansas City, MO 64158

Missouri State Horseshoe Pitching News

An Award-Winning Publication

Congratulations to the 2019 State Champions!

Leon WolkenJunior Boys’

State Champion

Stan Griggs Men’s State Champion Melanie Zerr

Women’s State Champion

Ronald LeGrand 30’ Men’s State Champion

Ed Griffith & Pete Ploss Doubles’ State Champions

MadisenGwinnJunior Girls’

State Champion

BradyFox

Cadets’ State Champion