Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association
The Ringer Report Volume 52 Issue 3
October 2017
Most Improved . . . Women's Division: Dawn Brenner, +13.14% Men's Division: Quincy Johnson +12.52%
Elder's Division: Carl Van Note +11.81% Photos by Darrell Harris
Men’s Tom Williams
St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital is our charity of choice. Make your ringers count even more. Pledge forms available on the MHPA website, Ringer Reports and previously printed Ringer Reports.
Inside this Issue
President’s Memo Officers Tournament Photos Tournament Results Dues Increase Woody Cup Results Tournament Director Reports Publicity-Promotions “Another Ringer” Executive/Committee changes St. Jude and HOF Bill Bender Income/Expense Report Editor’s Notes Fall Meeting Minutes Membership Application
Upcoming Tournaments
2 2 3-4 5-6 6 7 7-8 8 8 9 9 10 10 10 11 12
See page 9 and MHPA website for schedule.
Women’s Terry Beagle
The 2017 state tournament is in the books. It was a beautiful weekend and a great tournament. Congratulations to all the state and class champions and award winners. The Seniors tournament started off the great weekend in Jackson with 20 pitchers. A big thanks to the executive committee of Paul Bachelor, John Stephenson, Mark Burns, Roger Higgins, and Michele Burns. And, to Tom Williams, and the Jackson County Horseshoe Club for all their hard work in putting on such a great event. New this year, for the first time, the state tournament had quite a number of sponsors. The money increased the payout amounts and helped defer the expenses for the club, The delicious Banquet Saturday evening was catered by White’s Catering in Jackson. If you missed the dinner this year, make sure you plan to take in this event next year. The food is good and you will never get this quality of food by sneaking out for a fast food break. With lots of great scorekeepers we were able to cover all shifts. Thanks to all the scorekeepers who learned for the first time.
30’ Men’s JD Drake
In response to the requests from our membership regarding the dates of the State Tournament, we are pleased to announce that the State Tournament will be moved from the Labor Day Weekend to the following dates:
Friday, August 24 Saturday, August 25 Sunday, August 26 A tournament format committee is in the process of being formed to develop the tournament format and the schedule for the tournament. If you are interested in being a member of this committee, please contact John Stephenson as soon as possible. The committee will begin meeting soon to have updates ready to share in the December 2017 Ringer Report. Thank you in advance to the Kalamazoo Horseshoe Club for hosting our 2018 State Tournament. Mark your calendars and plan to attend.
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
PRESIDENT’S MEMO Paul Bachelor State Tournament I would like to thank the Jackson Horseshoe Club for hosting this year’s State Championship Tournament. They did an excellent job! There is a huge amount of work to prepare and setup for this tournament, and everything was well taken of. I received many positive comments on how good the courts were, and that it was a good venue for the State Tournament. Hats off to the Jackson Club. One of the most difficult things the MHPA Officers do is set up the classes and seedings for the State Tournament. The lower number of entries the last several years has made this more difficult. We do our best at setting up classes that are competitive, and provide a good pitching experience for all the players. Some classes are smaller than we would like, others have a little larger ringer percent spread than what is optimal, but it is the best we can do. I received a lot of good feedback on this year’s classes, and very few complaints. So we must have done OK. Any additional feedback on the class structure for this year’s tournament would be appreciated. I would like to extend congratulations to all the Class Champions at the State Tournament, and special recognition to our State Champions: Tom Williams, Terry Beagle, JD Drake & Daven Lockwood. MHPA Members Meeting Thanks to all who came to the Saturday evening members meeting. You did an excellent job of discussing the issues and keeping the meeting constructive. Some of the topics had the potential for discussion getting ‘out of hand’ – but you did a great job of keeping the discussion on track, and respectful. Thank you! The outdoor pitching season has come to a close. The indoor pitching season starts in October at the Jackson courts. Plan on pitching often this winter to help make the tournaments competitive. See you on the courts. —Paul paid advertsement
The Ringer Report Official Newsletter of the Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association Michigan Division of the NHPA - Established 1935 Six issues published per year - March, May, June, August, October, December Advertising Rate: $60 for a 1 column x 2 inch ad, 6 issues per year, $10 per issue Dean Schmitz, Editor - (586) 463-7488 - horseshoe48043@gmail.com
Letters to the Editor and news items are encouraged.
MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION Officers
Paul Bachelor, President
(810) 772-8678
6037 Kinyon Road, Brighton, MI 48116-9578
paulbachelor@aol.com
John Stephenson, 1st Vice-President 12389 Crab Apple Ln. Grand Ledge, MI 48837-8952
(517) 980-6122 bigbadjohnstephenson@gmail.com
Mark Burns, 2nd Vice-President 5060 Horstman Road, Williamston, MI 48895
Official Tournament Horseshoes and More! Your number one source for your regulation and official tournament horseshoe needs. For pitching horseshoes or other related products, call us at 269-501-0146 or send an email to sales@luckyshoeproshop.com and we will gladly assist you.
mabearin@umich.edu (734) 847-6429
PO Box 205, Temperance, MI 48182-0205
noscore@bex.net
Doug Bailey, Hall of Fame
(248) 421 9708
9540 Woodside Dr., Clarkston, MI 48383-3166 Constitution/Bylaws: Grievance: Membership: St. Jude: Promotion and Publicity: Playing Format: HOF and Museum:
patanddougbailey@att.net 1st Vice-President 2nd Vice-President Secretary/Treasurer Keith Schafer Quincy Johnson Paul Bachelor TBD
Website, Stats & More MHPA Website/Email www.horseshoemichigan.com
steve@graywolfdesign.com
NHPA Website/Email www.horseshoepitching.com
Michele Burns, MHPA Statistician 5060 Horstman Road, Williamston, MI 48895
info@horseshoepitching.com
(734) 323-9116 mabearin@umich.edu
Keith Schafer, St. Jude Coordinator
(517) 256-8224
832 Hyatt St., Eaton Rapids, MI 48827-1406
michhorseshoectdir@yahoo.com
Dean Schmitz, Ringer Report Editor 799 Chippewa St., Mount Clemens, MI 48043 NHPA Contacts Stuart Sipma, President 2826 Domino Dr., Bismarck, ND 58503-0831
David Sidles, Secretary/Treasurer
(313) 854-6908 QuincyJohnson741@yahoo.com
(586) 463-7488 horseshoe48043@gmail.com (701) 258-5686 Stuart.Simpa@gmail.com
(515) 450-3557
17259 Jefferson St., Omaha, NE 68135
dsidles@cox.net
Roger Higgins, Regional Director
(248) 634-1948
16440 Ridgeview Ct., Holly, MI 48442-8392
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(734) 323-9116
5060 Horstman Road, Williamston, MI 48895 Committee Chairs Bob Wells, Audit & Finance
19075 Mott Ave., Eastpointe, MI 48021
http://www.luckyshoeproshop.com
burnsmo@umich.edu
Michele Burns, Secretary/Treasurer
Quincy Johnson, Publicity/Promotions “The original Lucky Shoe Pro Shop”
(734) 323-9116
higgins.roger@sbcglobal.net
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
Some Photos by Darrell Harris
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
Junior Champion Daven Lockwood
Some Photos by Darrell Harris
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
St. Clair Shores Thursday, August 24, 2017
Lake Orion Sunday, August 13, 2017 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Class A JD Drake Lawrence Hinton Danny Markley Russ Sageman Joe Lewicki Doug Bailey
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 5-0 122 176 69.32 4-1 111 218 50.92 2-3 131 258 50.78 2-3 97 202 48.02 2-3 70 214 32.71 0-5 36 160 22.50
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Class B Mark Burns Quincy Johnson Kerri Alderson Roland Block Ron Price Ralph Klauka
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 5-1 109 244 44.67 4-2 104 282 36.88 3-2 92 236 38.98 2-3 83 234 35.47 1-4 65 216 30.09 1-4 56 200 28.00
Class C W-L Rgrs Sh 1. Clayton Champion 5-1 81 270 2. Bob Blum 5-2 96 348 3. Dennis Soldan 4-2 83 296 4. Nicholas Lockwood 2-3 59 176 5. Frank Quillen 1-4 43 196 6. Jody Ridley 0-5 35 202 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Class D Derrick Gyorkos Ken Kuss Cathy Ardelean Sandy Gates Zach Spanke Dawn Price
R% 30.00 27.59 28.04 33.52 21.94 17.33
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 5-0 47 204 23.04 4-1 57 194 29.38 2-3 41 180 22.78 2-3 18 238 7.56 1-4 28 198 14.14 1-4 15 206 7.28
Manton, Saturday, August 19, 2017 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Class A Carl Nordquist Joseph Lewicki Justin Knowles John Cornwall Sandra Gates
W-L Rgrs Sh 4-0 66 92 3-1 69 128 2-2 69 156 1-3 41 140 0-4 20 120
R% 71.74 53.91 44.23 29.29 16.67
Manton, Sunday, August 20, 2017 1. 2. 3. 4.
Class A Carl Nordquist Joseph Lewicki Donald Mueller John Cornwall
Class B 1. Jerry Houck 2. Sandra Gates
W-L Rgrs Sh 6-0 126 184 4-2 108 202 2-4 69 228 06 57 214
R% 68.48 53.47 30.26 26.64
1. 2. 3. 4.
Class A W-L Rgrs Sh Quincy Johnson 5-1 121 318 John Banks 4-2 100 292 Larry Budziszewski 2-4 92 272 Tom Gombos 1-5 84 270
R% 38.05 34.25 33.82 31.11
1. 2. 3. 4.
Class B W-L Rgrs Sh Frank Giolando 6-0 85 224 Mike Hess 4-2 65 252 Demetrius Knight 2-4 51 258 Richard C. Colbert 0-6 46 238
R% 37.95 25.79 19.77 19.33
1. 2. 3. 4. 5
Class C Ed Sulton Bruno Drozdowicz Gene Alderman Robert Daudlin Darrell Harris
R% 25.77 21.08 20.73 21.35 15.10
1. 2. 3. 4. 5
Class C W-L Rgrs Sh R% Joe Kristoff 3-1 38 198 19.19 Tina Payne 2-2 46 200 23.00 Wayne Friesmuth 2-2 39 190 20.53 Rosemarie Nowacki 2-2 33 200 16.50 Wally Corbeill 1-3 37 208 17.79
W-L Rgrs Sh 4-0 50 194 2-2 43 204 2-2 51 246 1-3 41 192 1-3 29 192
Lansing - St. Jude Saturday, September 26, 2017 1. 2. 3. 4.
Class A JD Drake James Dunlap Tom Williams Ron Jones
1. 2. 3. 4.
Class B W-L Rgrs Sh R% Carl Van Note 4-2 126 242 52.07 Mark Burns 3-3 121 276 43.84 Sheryll Card 3-3 102 242 42.15 Larry Budziszewski 2-4 99 228 43.42
1. 2. 3. 4.
Class C W-L Rgrs Sh R% Roland Block 5-1 91 244 37.30 Clayton Champion 3-3 89 284 31.34 Donald Mueller 2-4 80 266 30.08 Robert Peek 2-4 82 282 29.08
1. 2. 3. 4.
Class D Becky Sullivan Sandra Gates Owen Mergen John Arnold
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 2-1 23 148 15.54 1. 1-2 21 148 14.19 2. 3. 4.
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 5-1 222 294 75.51 4-2 196 268 73.13 3-3 197 268 73.51 0-6 97 194 50.00
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 6-0 58 290 20.00 4-2 31 280 11.07 1-5 46 286 16.08 1-5 10 260 3.85
Lansing Sunday, September 27, 2017 Class A JD Drake Paul Bachelor Mark Burns Quincy Johnson
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 6-0 148 190 77.89 4-2 118 192 61.46 2-4 101 224 45.09 0-6 53 53 29.78
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
1. 2. 3. 4.
Class B W-L Rgrs Sh R% Roland Block 5-1 98 254 38.58 Donald Mueller 3-3 65 272 23.90 Clayton Champion 3-3 64 280 22.86 Robert Peek 1-5 64 274 23.36
Class C 1. Chad Fleisher 2. Becky Sullivan 3. Jonathon Birdsall
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 4-0 49 182 26.92 1-3 41 188 21.81 1-3 26 182 14.29
Open Seniors - Friday, Sept. 1, 2017 Class A 1. JD Drake 2. James Dunlap 3. Lawrence Hinton
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 4-0 144 196 73.47 2-2 152 226 67.26 0-4 77 170 45.29
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Class B Russ Sageman Carl Van Note Danny Markley Joe Lewicki Judy Curtiss Douglas Bailey
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 4-1 96 148 58.11 3-2 103 170 38.24 2-3 102 174 45.40 2-3 81 174 47.13 2-3 31 134 23.13 2-3 71 208 34.13
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.
Class C Judy Dennis Robert Blum Tom Gombos Clip Connin Dean Schmitz Roger Higgins Sheryll Card
W-L Rgrs Sh R% 5-1 114 260 43.85 4-2 101 292 34.59 3-3 98 232 42.24 3-3 85 262 32.44 3-3 70 218 32.11 2-4 80 236 33.90 1-5 38 204 18.63
1. 2. 3 3. 4. 5.
Class D W-L Rgrs Sh R% Donald Mueller 4-1 72 270 26.67 Gene Alderman 3-2 59 276 21.38 Bob Dale 2-3 69 242 28.51 Ken Kuss 2-3 69 288 24.65 John Stephenson 2-3 71 248 20.97 Cathy Ardelean 2-3 46 260 17.69
State Championships - 9/4/2017 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.
Elder’s JD Drake Ron Jones Russ Sageman Danny Markley Carl Van Note
W-L 8-0 4-4 3-5 3-5 2-6
Rgrs 210 193 174 143 162
Sh 298 362 366 354 352
R% 70.47 53.31 47.54 40.40 46.02
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Men’s Tom Williams James Dunlap Paul Bachelor Mark Burns Boyd Howe Nicholas Lockwood Clip Connin Dennis Soldan
W-L 7-0 6-1 5-2 4-3 3-4 2-5 1-6 0-7
Rgrs 162 149 151 147 135 87 88 63
Sh 244 246 302 338 302 266 298 284
R% 66.39 60.57 50.00 43.49 44.70 32.71 29.53 22.18
1. 2. 3. 4.
Women’s Terry Beagle Judy Curtiss Judy Dennis Lisa Herring
W-L 6-0 3-3 2-4 1-5
Rgrs 141 98 122 110
Sh 220 294 310 284
R% 64.09 33.33 39.35 38.73 5 of 12
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
Michigan Horseshoe Pitching Association Championships - September 2-3, 2016 Jackson Men's 40' Class A Pos Name Entry % 1. Larry Budziszewski 46.99 2. Rick Lyle 47.41 3. John Banks 47.54 4. Boyd Howe 44.41 5. Mark Burns 46.80 6. Douglas Bailey 46.63 Men's 40' Class B Pos Name 1. Quincy Johnson 2. Barry Thompson 3. Dan Brenner 4. Clip Connin 5. Roger Higgins 6. Keith Schafer
W 9 8 6 5 3 0
L 2 3 4 5 7 10
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 412 238 1.40411 232 0.33 349 201 7.02338 198 0.60276 186 4.72167 96 22.98-
Sh 522 486 496 452 442 406
R% 45.59 47.74 40.52 43.81 42.08 23.65
Entry % 38.15 37.78 36.05 38.35 37.01 34.95
W 9 8 7 4 2 0
L 1 2 3 6 8 10
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 404 193 0.89399 179 2.35 340 165 5.32307 161 4.95236 125 10.64234 125 9.95-
Sh 518 446 520 482 474 500
R% 37.26 40.13 31.73 33.40 26.37 25.00
Men's 40' Class C Pos Name Entry % 1. Nicholas Lockwood 32.50 2. Donald Mueller 30.89 3. Dennis Soldan 33.25 4. Demetirus Knight 33.49 5. Martin Quillen 31.13 6. Owen Mergen 30.21
W 10 8 5 5 1 1
L 0 2 5 5 9 9
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 414 198 4.58 396 180 2.57 338 157 3.09 307 152 2.84306 150 2.61224 114 6.36-
Sh 534 538 432 496 526 478
R% 37.08 33.46 36.34 30.65 28.52 23.85
Men's 40' Class D Pos Name 1. Robert Gettys 2. Darrell Harris 3. Chad Fleisher 4. Bob Dale 5. Frank Quillen 6. Ken Kuss 7. Gene Alderman
Entry % 25.8 29.60 27.36 28.92 28.68 28.51 24.71
W 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
L 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 449 184 4.69 434 178 2.95463 195 0.43432 162 6.17407 192 0.53324 130 7.68351 125 5.77-
Sh 602 668 724 712 682 624 660
R% 30.56 26.65 26.93 22.75 28.15 20.83 18.94
Men's 40' Class E Pos Name Entry % 1. George Pollington 14.63 2. Lester King 17.75 3. Joe Kristoff 16.71 4. Kary Christiansen 18.18
W 9 6 5 4
L 3 6 7 8
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 411 124 6.25 320 99 1.25286 105 0.79 298 90 3.23-
Sh 594 600 600 602
R% 20.88 16.50 17.50 14.95
Mixed 30' & 40' Class A Pos Name Entry % 1. Terry Beagle 73.57 2. JD Drake 72.54 3. Tom Williams 76.21 4. James Dunlap 65.24
W 10 9 3 3
L 3 4 9 9
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 487 572 2.07504 582 0.15383 510 8.39368 488 0.35
Sh 800 804 752 744
R% 71.50 72.39 67.82 65.59
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Mixed 30' & 40' Class B Pos Name Entry % 1. Ron Jones 55.10 2. Paul Bachelor 57.95 3. Lawrence Hinton 57.96 4. Eric Soltis 57.21
W 10 7 4 3
L 2 5 8 9
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 476 367 3.90 437 350 4.10352 314 8.28375 335 4.87-
Sh 622 650 632 640
Mixed 30' & 40' Class G Pos Name Entry % 1. Zachary Spanke 12.50 2. Larry Boes 8.93 3. Daven Lockwood 6.39 4. John Arnold 11.02
W 10 9 3 2
L 2 3 9 10
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 325 76 0.08 283 49 0.84195 30 1.37191 23 7.21-
Sh R% 604 12.58 606 8.09 598 5.02 604 3.81
Mixed 30' Class C Pos Name 1. Danny Markley 2. Russ Sageman 3. Carl Van Note 4. Joseph Lewicki 5. Judy Curtiss 6. Mindi Thompson
Entry % 50.34 51.60 52.85 50.61 46.78 46.81
W 8 7 5 5 3 2
L Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 2 367 227 0.123 345 219 1.145 335 223 6.005 317 219 6.467 281 185 7.428 229 179 9.21-
Sh 452 434 476 496 470 476
R% 50.22 50.46 46.85 44.15 39.36 37.61
Mixed 30' Class D Pos Name 1. Judy Dennis 2. Roland Block 3. Lisa Herring 4. Robert Beagle 5. Dean Schmitz 6. Kerri Alderson
Entry % 44.46 37.41 41.53 42.29 42.16 39.66
W 9 7 5 5 2 2
L 1 3 5 5 8 8
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 406 179 1.91 350 180 1.05 336 181 3.50354 171 7.53207 133 9.24295 156 7.02-
Sh 386 468 476 492 404 478
R% 46.37 38.46 38.03 34.76 32.92 32.64
Mixed 30' Class E Pos Name 1. Robert Blum 2. Clayton Champion 3. Bruno Drozdowicz 4. John Stephenson
Entry % 34.65 32.42 29.55 27.24
W 10 7 6 1
L 2 5 6 11
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 478 176 6.08394 136 9.60371 148 4.88233 93 10.98-
Sh 616 596 600 572
R% 28.57 22.82 24.67 16.26
Mixed 30' Class F Pos Name Entry % 1. Tina Payne 25.00 2. Dawn Seese 24.65 3. Cathy Ardelean 21.21 4. Rosemarie Nowacki 20.80
W 10 8 3 3
L 2 4 9 9
Pts. Rgrs OvrAvg 434 152 2.84 361 120 3.60254 94 4.54288 91 5.22-
Sh 546 570 564 584
R% 27.84 21.05 16.67 15.58
R% 59.00 53.85 49.68 52.34
NHPA Dues Increase As reported in the August RR, at the NHPA Convention held in St. George, it was decided to increase dues by $8.00 per year. This means that our total MHPA/ NHPA dues for next year will be $43. The first response is always “Why do they need more money?” National dues have been the same since 2008, and all costs related to running the organization have gone up. If you think about it, $8 is about 65 cents a month, or less than a cup of coffee or of soda per month. Hopefully it will not cause anyone to not come back. Horseshoes is still the least expensive organized sport. Think about the big picture before making a decision not to renew your membership. We need you!
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
Tournament Director & Club Reports Berkley - Mark Lankin - 248-542-3251 mwlankin@sbcglobal.net
Nothing new to report in the status of the Berkley Ice Arena. We had no league this year because of low turnout. Any local pitchers who may want to join us for next year, please let me know. See everyone again soon. —Mark Brighton - Paul Bachelor - 810-772-8678 paulbachelor@aol.com
Our Club season is officially completed. Congratulations to Star Tanner who is the league champion. We continue to pitch on Tuesday evenings in an ‘informal’ format, until the weather stops us. —Paul Hillsdale - Ron DeForest - 517-524-722 ron&grace@hotmail.com
Here is a Little History of our club. Horseshoes started in Hillsdale around 1930 at the Hillsdale County Fair. There has been a Thursday night league as long as can remember. We started the Hillsdale County Horseshoe Club in 2003 and currently have around 25 members. In 2012 with the financial support of Bill and Wanda Tedrick and Bill’s lifelong friend Gary Seevers, the Tedrick Horseshoe Pavilion was built. We have six sand pit courts which were sanctioned in 2013 from the MHPA. We have four MHPA members in our club. We have two MHPA tournaments a year, with poor participation. I will try one more year and see how it goes. I will be unable to attend the scheduling meeting as I will be working to get things ready for the 167th Hillsdale County Fair which opens Sept. 24-30. We want to keep the tradition of playing horseshoes going at the fair. —Ron DeForest Holt/Lansing - Tina Schafer - 517-256-3882 tschafer59@yahoo.com
INDOOR Tournaments at Jackson Saturday, Oct. 21, Lansing Saturday, Oct. 28, Holt Saturday, Nov. 18, Lansing
Vincent, now 87, and has been a member of the Lake Orion Horseshoe Club for 7 years. Bill, in June, attended the National Senior The Lake Orion Horseshoe Club Tuesday Olympics in Birmingham Alabama. Bill won all his matches and took home the night league ended with many of the new players taking home the top trophies. Nate Gold Medal. Congratulations, Bill, true competitor and an ambassador for our club Spielbush took 1st place, Ron Nelson took and this great sport. 2nd place along with the “Most Improved If you are not currently in a club, find Man” from a 31.7% avg. to a 41.7% avg. a one to join; if you are let’s all work a little 31% improvement. George Parsons, our harder to make it successful. veteran player, had a High Game of 100 Russ DuRoss our Lake Orion Horseshoe while capturing also High Game with handicap with a 145. Zach Spanke received Club Statistician for the last 7 years is moving to the Macomb Area and will not a determination award for his ability to be able to play in Lake Orion. We thank start pitching left handed due to an arm him for all his dedication and hard-work. injury. Great job with a great season. He will be missed. Thank you, Russ! I would also like to acknowledge Bill —Ron Price Lake Orion - Doug Bailey - 248-421-9708 patanddougbailey@att.net
Record $1,000 Raised in 2017 Woody Cup Challenge Three teams competed on Sept. 16, for the annual Woody Cup with Lake Orion, the host, coming out as the winner with 27 points, St. Clair Shores 26 and Lincoln Park 17. Established in 2004 as the MHPA league championship tournament and later to include non-sanctioned leagues. The trophy is sponsored by Larry and Juanita Woods. With the Woody Cup Challenge being open to all MHPA Club Leagues, upwards of six clubs have been represented at the annual tournament. Berkley, Lake Orion, Lansing, Lincoln Park/Romulus, St. Clair Shores and Taylor have been participating teams.
2017 TWCC Champions: Left to Right, John Hart, Brian Hart, Dawn Price, Ron Price, Doug Bailey (Captain), Ken Kuss, Cathy Ardelean, Bob Blum, Larry Woods, Front - Left to Right, Krystle Price, George Parsons, Ron Nelson. Not pictured: Bill Vincent Funds raised since the inception of The Woody Cup 2004 - $180 - Friends of Horseshoe Pitching 2005 - $132 - American Red Cross 2006 - $176 - MHPA Junior Fund 2007 - $383 - MHPA Junior Fund 2008 - $315 - MHPA Junior Fund 2009 - $245 - MHPA Junior Fund 2010 - $260 - MHPA Junior Fund 2011 - $215 - MHPA Junior Fund 2012 - $500 - St. Jude 2013 - $520 - St. Jude 2014 - $557 - St. Jude 2015 - $600 - St. Jude 2016 - $700 - St. Jude 2017 - $1,000 - St. Jude
TOTAL - $5,783
Mike Ardelean, deceased, of the Lake Orion Club, Juanita and Larry Woods, and the SCSHC, created The Woody Cup Challenge. Mike created the tournament name. The purpose of this event is to raise money for a charity, to make the public aware of the fun of pitching horseshoes, meeting our friends, making new friends and enjoying the great game of horseshoe pitching. This trophy is presented annually to the Champion to create an awareness of local clubs, MHPA, NHPA, promote youth participation, and encourage membership in organized horseshoe pitching on the local and state level. The Cup is to be displayed promoting club and state horseshoe pitching.
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
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The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
Promotional Committee Memorandum
Tournament Director & Club Reports
Quincy Johnson
For those of you that don't know me, I am Quincy Johnson and I have recently been asked to Chair the new promotional/ membership committee. As of right now, the members of this new committee are Mark Burns, James Dunlap and Zachary Spanke. If you have an interest in participating on this committee, please let me know. The charge of this committee is to recruit new members to the MHPA/NHPA and to develop a promotional strategy to help with the financial side of our organization. The early plans are to further develop the outreach programs that are already in place - redesign and mass distribution of our promotional flyer and a heavily concentrated focus on social media. We will also be talking to nonMHPA horseshoe pitchers to find out the reasons they are not participating with us and try to find a way to bridge those gaps and bring them into the MHPA horseshoe family. To build on the success of the sponsorship program used for this State Tournament, we would like to pursue some corporate sponsors in an effort to bring overall monies into the MHPA, which will be used to benefit each of our local clubs to help their bottom lines and allowing them the ability to focus on their local growth. If you have ideas of businesses or organizations that you think will be willing to be a partner with us, please let us know. Thank you for the opportunity to serve this great organization in this way. I am passionate about horseshoes and the development of a plan to recruit new members and bring back some of our members that are inactive. Horseshoes is a great competition sport but also a great friendship/family building organization. Jackson - Mark Burns - 734-323-9116 burnsmo@umich.edu
Jackson Summer League information The Jackson Horseshoe Club Tuesday night summer league was a huge success. We had 16 teams with an average of 5-6 pitchers per team. That is 88 horseshoe pitchers. For our games, we pitch four team members at a time, but having additional pitchers on the rosters gives teams a chance to sub in case someone is having a bad game or is not able to attend. However, we are always looking for more pitchers and will gladly start another league on Tuesday nights, if we get enough interest. Congrats to Artemis Custom Cabinets winners of this years' summer league. 8 of 12
Our club was the host for the MHPA State Tournament over the Labor Day weekend. We had 61 pitchers participate in the tournament (60 men/women and 1 junior). I personally would love to see more of our 194 members participate in the State Tournament. Let's find a way to increase that number. If you have suggestions or comments, please let me know. A huge thank-you to the members of the Jackson Horseshoe club for their willingness to help out with the State Tournament (even though they are not members of the MHPA). Also, thank you to the MHPA members that participated in the tournament. We look forward to continuing to improve our tournament and welcome your thoughts and comments. October 7 is the first indoor tournament for the "winter" season. Make plans now to join us in Jackson. Remember, preregistration is required for indoor tournaments and we are limited to 30 pitchers. Call me to hold your spot on the list 734-323-9116. Thank you again, Jackson Horseshoe Club, for allowing me to be your Tournament Director. Thanks! And see you on the Courts! —Mark Burns Lincoln Park - Mark Wolffradt - 313-682-3600 mwmabell09@yahoo.com
Lincoln Park horseshoe club has nominated Derrick Gyorkus as the 2018 tournament director. His new ideas will be greatly appreciated. Please assist him in this new endeavor. —Mark Wolffradt
“Another Ringer” becoming Anthem Song at NHPA Banquets
Kalamazoo - Josh Lull - 269-838-7698 joshlull@gmail.com
Summer went well for Kalamazoo. Will certainly continue the Friday NightSaturday morning tournament combinations. Owen Mergen, Clayton Champion, and other members have helped with the construction of our new shed. Thanks to all the pitchers that attended the tournaments this past summer in Kalamazoo! —Josh Lull Mount Morris - Marty Quillen - 810-252-4534 cliovision@sbcglobal.net
Nothing new to report now.
—Marty
St. Clair Shores - Dean Schmitz - 586-463-7488 horseshoe48043@gmail.com
All courts are filled for our Fall Doubles League, 48 pitchers with a waiting list. Our last sanctioned tournament had 18 participants. Many thanks to Mark Wolffradt who volunteered to keep score for Class A. The tournament couldn’t have run without him. The NHPA should have a patch that can be awarded to people like Mark. Mark keeps our NHPA/MHPA organizations functioning. New Lights New lighting is coming to the courts. Our share of the state-of-art LED lighting has been raised for the Spring project. The final amount coming from the NHPF. Visit the NHPF website. They are the caretakers of the NHPA Hall of Fame, give out grants to improve courts, and for sure, “Keep Horseshoe Pitching Alive”! NHPF Note Dean, Your grant application for $1500 has been approved by the board. I will send out a check for $1500 in the name of The St. Clair Shores Horseshoe Club and get it into Monday's mail. Gary Buehler, Treasurer, NHPF
Roland Block’s new version of his song “Another Ringer” was played at the beginning of the State Tournament banquet. The song is beginning to be a staple at some horseshoe banquets. Larry Brown sang Roland’s song at the Missouri State Tournament. There was a note about it in the Missouri Newsletter “Shoe Biz.” You can purchase a CD copy for $10. The proceeds go to the MHPA Hall of Fame. The original version of “Another Ringer” can be found at https://youtu.be/ XfO634ewMSQ
The only horseshoe pitching related charity needs your tax-deductible donations to support many programs of the sport including the Hall of Fame and Grants to install new or upgrade existing courts. Deadline for grant Applications: March 1st and September 1st . Mail Inquires & contributions to: NHPF 100 Bluestem Way Wentzville, MO 63385 www.nhpf.info
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
The The Ringer Ringer Report Report -- Michigan Michigan Horseshoe Horseshoe Pitchers Pitchers Association Association -- October August 2017 2017
Michele Burns elected new MHPA Secretary-Treasurer Michele Burns was voted in as the new MHPA Sec./Treas. She replaces Roger Higgins after he served over 10 years. Roger will continue to be our RD. The Sec./Treas. is the custodian of all membership records and acts as recording secretary at all meetings, handles the issuance of NHPA cards and membership reporting to the NHPA. She will take care of the MHPA funds and furnish a complete statement to the Michele membership after the close of business on October 1. Michele also holds the position of MHPA statistician which involves sending our stats to the NHPA in a timely manner and having them posted on our website and printed in the Ringer Report. She conducts registration of the doubles and state tournaments and helps in developing the round robin classes during many tournaments. Keith Schafer has stepped down as Chair of the Promotions and Publicity Committee, Keith will continue in the St. Jude position. Quincy Johnson agreed to take on the PR position. See his column on page 8.
St. Jude Keith Schafer
St. Jude Lansing tournament Sixteen people pitched in Saturday’s St. Jude tournament. $239 was raised for St. Jude. In Class A, JD Drake won. In Class B, Carl Van Note prevailed. In Class C, Rollie Block took the prize. In Class D, Becky Sullivan went undefeated to win the class. On Sunday, 11 people turned out for the Lansing tournament. JD Drake prevailed again in A, pitching 5 of his six games over 80%. Rollie Block prevailed in Class B, as the same 4 pitchers as the previous day’s Class C
battled. Chad Fleisher won Class C, going 4-0 and throwing every game over 26% (and under 28%). Jon Birdsall pitched more than 10% over his average in C, and won his first game in a sanctioned tournament. The tournament director thanks JD and Pat Drake for arriving early to help get the set up completed, and others who helped this tournament director run things so smoothly, especially those who stepped up to score-keep. Thanks to everyone who participated in The Woody Cup Challenge. A record $1,000 was raised in this year’s event.
2017 State Tournament PAY OUT All Class Play: (4-Person) 1st $125, 2nd $60 (6-7-Person) 1st $125, 2nd $75, 3rd 40 Championship Round: 1st $250, 2nd $100, 3rd $55
Photo by Darrell Harris
Want to know what horseshoes were pitched at the 2017 World Tournament? Go to: http://www.horseshoepitching.com/ stgeorge17/WTShoes17.pdf
Hall of Fame Members gathered at the 2017 State Tournament in Jackson. LR: Tom Williams, Marty Quillen, John Stephenson, New Inductee Dean Schmitz, Doug Bailey, Peggy Smith, Clay Champion, Judy Dennis, Judy Curtiss, Bob Wells, Danny Markley and Roger Higgins.
2017 Pitching Schedule - Indoor Tournaments @ Jackson Facility Must pre-register with the Tournament Director - Check-in by 9:30 a.m. - Starting time 10:00 a.m.
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
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The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017
EDITOR’S Notes Dean Schmitz
Napoleon "Bill" Bender August 2, 1926 - August 12, 2017 Can you believe it? Napoleon “Bill” Bender MHPA Hall of Fame Induction age 91 of Brown City died Aug. 12, 2017. He was My brother Gary (Carol) from Cleveland, born in Brown City to WI and brother Floyd (Nancy) from Eugene and Marie Bender. Rogersville, MO kept parading in and out Bill married Pamela King during the Labor Day weekend. I should on Oct. 8, 1955. have been suspicious as they have never Bill retired from Brown come to an event to watch, except for Gary City Schools after 27 years who has pitched a few WT’s with me. where he worked as a My son Todd, (Maryanne), and grandkids custodian, maintenance man and bus Tom, Maggie, John and Joe from Eastpointe driver. He was an avid horseshoe pitching and daughter Ann (Jim) and grandkids Ben and Hannah from Midland were all there Those in a position to judge generally too. agree that bowling, golf and horseshoes, I have gained many friends in all of you since three of our most popular accuracy 1998, won a few games, lost a few more. games, are about equally difficult to Being a HOF member comes with honor and master; that regularly throwing seven or great responsibility. I will continue to work and eight ringers out of 10 tries approximates support local, state and national horseshoe carrying a 200 bowling average or pitching and do whatever I can to Keep Horseshoe shooting par golf. Pitching Alive!
enthusiast and was the state Class B2 Champion. He was instrumental in the installation of horseshoe courts at the Brown City Park where he organized many tournaments for many years. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Pamela Bender, 6 children William (Marta Delgado) Bender, Susan Marie Bender, David (Auralie) Bender, Nancy (Jeff Wells) Bender, Tim (Marsie) Bender and Terrance R. Bender, 7 grandchildren and 8 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by 3 brothers, John, August and Eugene, along with a sister, Mary Bender. A graveside service was held August 15, 2017 at Evergreen Cemetery in Brown City. • Hall of Fame Induction 2003 • Joined the NHPA/MHPA in 1977 • Brown City TD 1979-2002 • Built and paid to build BC courts. • Attended many State Tournaments • Won Class B2 in 1987 • Won many Midwest Tournaments • Promoted horseshoes in Brown City • Taught horseshoes in local schools • Pitched the 1-1/4 and 1-3/4 turns
With my son Todd and daughter Ann
With my brothers Gary and Floyd
Displaying with Joe Kristoff Photos by Darrell Harris
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OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
The Ringer Report - Michigan Horseshoe Pitchers Association - October 2017 MHPA Fall Meeting Minutes - September 2, 2017 - 7:00-9:00 p.m. Meeting Location: Indoor Courts, Jackson, MI
Officers in Attendance: Paul Bachelor, Mark Burns, Roger Higgins, John Stephenson Paul Bachelor called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 1. Minutes for the Spring Meeting, read by Roger Higgins. Motion to approve minutes by Dan Markley, Becky Sullivan seconded. Membership approved. 2. Financial Report by Roger Higgins, balance in the Jr. Fund is $2,486.93; checking account balance is $2929.29; Hall of Fame balance is $1,459.95. John Stephenson made a motion to put the financial report on file; Zach Spanke 2nd by Dan Markley. 3. First Vice President, John Stephenson, Two proposals to vote on. 4. Second Vice President, Mark Burns, no grievances at this time. 5. Secretary/Treasurer Report by Roger Higgins: Membership total: 195, 61 30’ men, 28 woman 2 JRB, 104 40’ men. Ron Kohn Paid for a total of 38 members 20 renewed. 6. Hall of Fame Chairperson, Doug Bailey announced that one member was elected to the Hall of Fame. Inductions will be held on Sunday, September 3, 2017. 7. St Jude’s Chairperson, Keith Shaffer, Nothing at this time. 8. Audit and Finance Report read by Bob Wells. Audit was conducted on 6/25/2017, found a $3.00 service charge for each account do to inactivity. He stated that the MHPA checking account was balanced and all receipts where in order. 9. Old business, none. 10. New business:
Proposal 1 - Passed The present section of the constitution: Article VI: Tournaments; Section 5 The scorekeeping fee for all tournaments shall be One Dollar ($1.00) per player per game, including juniors. To be added to this section: Due to circumstances at a tournament, pitchers may be asked to assume scorekeeping duties during their bye in a group game. Those who refuse to keep score will not be allowed to pitch on an open court until their bye is complete, and they also will be responsible for the scorekeeping fees for the replacement scorekeeper. Reason: No pitcher should gain an advantage by refusing to assist with the scorekeeping of a tournament Proposal 2 – Failed Proposed Change to MHPA Constitution and By-Laws - Submitted by: MHPA Playing Format Committee Article VI: Tournaments - Currently Reads Section 11: All MHPA sanctioned tournaments shall be 35 point cancellation. Any game between two pitchers with a 25% or lower ringer percentage shall play to 35 points or 50 shoes, whichever occurs first. In case of a tie game the pitchers shall pitch down and back (four shoes) until a winner is decided. If a class is scheduled to pitch 4 games or less, they will be allowed to pitch to 40 points. The 25% rule would remain the same. Change to Read (Changes are show in italics) Section 11 Pitching Formats. A) All Games for MHPA sanctioned tournaments. Shall be 35 point cancellation, except as noted below: 1) Classes with a ringer percent spread of 10% or greater between the top seeded pitcher and the lowest seeded pitcher will use a handicap system. The handicap system to be used is defined below. 2) Any game between two pitchers with a 25% or lower ringer percent shall play to 35 points or 50 shoes, whichever occurs first. In case of a tie game the pitchers shall pitch down and back (four shoes) until a winner is decided. 3) Classes scheduled to pitch 4 games or less has the option to pitch to 40 points. The 25% Rule will remain the same. Handicap System: 1) Handicapped classes will pitch to a shoe limit. When 5 games or more are scheduled in a handicapped class, games will be pitched to 40 shoes. When 4 games or less are scheduled in a handicapped class, games will be pitched to 50 shoes. The winner of each handicapped game will be determined by total points pitched plus handicap. In case of a tie game the pitchers shall pitch down and back (four shoes) until a winner is decided. 2) Handicaps will be determined as follows: a) The top seeded pitcher will have a handicap of zero. All other pitchers in the class will have a handicap based on the Ringer Percent Difference between them and the top seeded pitcher. b) Handicapping will be set at 75% and will be calculated for each pitcher (other than the top seeded pitcher) using the following formulas: (Top Seed Ringer% - Lower Seed Ringer) x (Number Of Shoes x 3) x (.0075) 1) For 40 shoe games (Top Seed Ringer% - Lower Seed Ringer) x (120) x (.0075) 2) For 50 shoe games (Top Seed Ringer% - Lower Seed Ringer) x (150) x (.0075) c) Handicaps will be whole numbers. Fractional numbers will be rounded up if .5 or greater, and rounded down if less than .5. d) SAMPLE CALCULATION: Assume in a six person class (pitch to 40 shoes) the top seeded pitcher’s Ringer Percent is 53.7%, and a second Pitcher’s Ringer Percent is 48.2%, the handicap for the second pitcher would be: (53.7 - 48.2) x 120 x .0075 = 11.25 This would be rounded down to 11. 3) The use of the handicap system is for the 2018 calendar year pitching schedule (Indoor and outdoor seasons) only. Continued and permanent use of a handicap system must be proposed and voted on at a future MHPA State Tournament meeting. Reason for Change: In many tournaments today, some of the classes have a large disparity in ringer percent between the top seeded pitcher and some of the lower seeded pitchers in the class. This disparity is generally seen in the highest class and / or the lowest class. This puts the lower ringer percent pitchers at a significant disadvantage, with little chance of winning against the higher seeded pitcher(s). This renders these games as noncompetitive. It can be very discouraging for the lower seeded pitchers to be in such a class where they have little probability of competing for 1st place. Some pitchers will not come to a given tournament if they believe they will end up in this situation. Tournament Directors have very few “good options” to resolve this disparity. Use of a handicap system for these classes enable all pitchers to be competitive, not just the higher seeded pitchers. 11.
12. 13. 14. 15.
Memorandum of President: No bids at this time for the 2018 State Tournament; 2018 World Tournament is in Florence, South Carolina. The National raised the membership dues from $17.00 to $25.00. The MHPA will raise the dues from $35.00 to $43.00 the second card from $28.00 to $36.00. Thanks to Debbie Markley for doing the 50-50 raffles. She has done a great job for the MHPA. There was an incident at the State Doubles, $160.00 was taken. A vote was taken and the MHPA gave a check to Lake Orion for $160.00. Publicity Chairperson, Keith Schafer, nothing at this time. Jr. Director, Kevin Smith: Not in attendance. Election of Officers: 1st Vice- President, John Stephenson won by acclamation, Secretary/Treasurer Roger Higgins announced he was not running for reelection, Dean Schmitz nominated Joe Kristoff, John Stephenson nominated Michele Burns for Secretary/Treasurer. Michele won. Motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Zach Spanke and 2nd by Dan Markley. Respectfully submitted, Roger Higgins, Secretary/Treasurer
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION
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MHPA Ringer Report Editor Dean Schmitz 799 Chippewa St. Mount Clemens, MI 48043 http://www.pitchwithus.com/mhpa/
FIRST CLASS
NHPA/MHPA Membership Application Name:__________________________________________________ Last NHPA Card #:________________ Mailing Address:_________________________________________________________________________ City:_____________________________________ Zip Code:_____________ Is this a new address? [ ] Yes Phone: (
) ______________________, Email:_______________________________________________ How do you wish to get the Ringer Report?
(Circle One) Category:
Man 40’
Man 30’
□ website □ standard mail
Woman
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Cadet
Date of Birth: ________/________/________ Mandatory for Juniors and Men Pitching at 30’. (We would appreciate all pitchers providing birth date for statistical purposes.) Make Check Payable to: MHPA Mail to: Roger Higgins, 16440 Ridgeview Ct., Holly, MI 48442-8392 Card Costs: $35.00 Adults $0.00 Juniors
$28.00 for second card in the same household.
$7.00 for a junior wanting to receive the newsletter
$8.00 Ringer Report Subscription only. (Subscription included in full membership.) 12 of 12
OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE MICHIGAN HORSESHOE PITCHERS ASSOCIATION