SPRING MA HPA NEWSLETTER 2011
Hello
everyone, it is actually spring and we are gearing up for the 2011 horseshoe
season. So many horseshoes, so little
time! Today it is 60 degrees and sunny
– here we go!
Prez
note:
Spring
is here and I imagine that most leagues are putting the final touches to
getting things going for another season.
Now is the time for recruiting through friends and family as well as
just plain word of mouth. There are many people out there that still do not
know we have an organized horseshoe pitching association.
In
this issue you will find a couple of calendars that we will use to help raise
our balance in the Mass treasury. Extra monies to the state tournaments are one
benefit to this raffle. Each calendar is $5.00. Please cut the bottom portion
(after writing in your name, address, tel. # and e-mail address on it) and
either send in to Leo Michaud or give to a Mass tournament director or officer
during the months of April and May.
Once
your number is drawn you will win the amount on the day of the drawing and your
number will be re-entered to win again.
Please
remember to plan your schedule for all tournaments you wish to enter and enter
early. This will eliminate a possible $5.00 late fee and it surely will help
our tournament directors in setting up.
Good
Luck this coming season with plenty of ringers to all. Ray Bedard
Treasurer
note:
After
12 overall years serving as your treasurer, I will NOT seek re-election in
2011. Because of my duties as Regional
Director for the six New England states in this very busy year of
re-sanctioning all of the courts in the six New England states, my time will be
taken up with that. In addition to
that, Debby is retiring and we hope to travel more – the first trips will be to
all of the courts to check them out!
This
is an opportunity for someone who is interested in contributing a little bit
more to step up and run for the office of Treasurer of the MA HPA. That election takes place at our annual
meeting, held in conjunction with the State tournament in August.
I
encourage all of you to participate in the Calendar Raffle which will help our
Treasury and I wish all of you a great competitive year.
Leo Michaud
Secretary’s
note:
I welcome everyone back and look
forward to seeing them throughout the
spring/summer. Any concerns or ideas, feel free to contact
me at my cell 508-244-8508. Also don’t
be afraid to bring a friend to a tournament or to league. See ya soon, Rick Howe
AWARDS
Most Improved – Congratulations to Shelly Martinez of the Hamilton H.C.
who improved her ringer average by almost 14% between 2009 and 2010. Her High Three at the end of 2010 was
40.55% and she is still going strong, competing in several indoor tournaments
in CT.
Rookie
of the Year is
an “import” from Iowa. Thomas McCrill
averaged 25.52% in six events in his first year here. Excellent! Welcome to
Massachusetts and keep it up, Tom!
New
recruits below from my Africa trip!
May take a while to train them!
Report
from Africa:
Seven
horseshoe pitchers from all over the USA travelled to Africa for a spectacular
trip in the young country of Namibia and in S. Africa. We were there as ambassadors of our sport,
to recruit some new horseshoe pitchers, and to learn their game of
Jukskei. After a tour of Namibia,
where I “met” the fine folks you see above and where we introduced horseshoes
and learned how to throw that “skey”, we went to S. Africa and competed in a
five day Jukskei tournament. It was a
wonderful trip to meet many new friends, some of them very good horseshoe
pitchers, and to gain a new understanding of their game. Jukskei is similar to horseshoes but there
is strategy involved. I hope to put
part of a Jukskei court in at the Loon Pond H.C. courts (if we can fit it in
and if the Park Dept. will let us) and there will be a Jukskei tournament at
the World Horseshoe Tournament this July.
So you may learn more about Jukskei as well. Some of the African players hope to compete in our World
tournament this year – making it more international.
NOTICE:
The
first tournament of the season is in April!
After the initial singles tournament in Coventry, RI, we have the annual
Steve Kruczek Memorial Doubles Tournament at Lakeville on April 30th. Please send your entry to T.D. Ralph
Demoranville ASAP. Generic entry forms
and all of the addresses you need are in the New England newsletter which you
should have received the beginning of April.
Notice
# 2 – Besides
the Calendar Raffle, which is enclosed with this newsletter, there is a 2012
World Tournament Experience raffle going on.
The tickets are also $5.00 or a booklet of 5 for $20.00 and the prize
includes all kinds of perks for enjoying the 2012 World tournament better. A flyer is enclosed with this
newsletter. See or write to Debby
Michaud about this one. IF you win
something and end up not attending, the prizes ARE transferrable so you can
give them or barter with them to a friend!
Notice
# 3
This
year’s World Tournament is July 18- 30 and is in the Bayou in Louisiana. It is at an excellent location and should
be a good one! There will be
computerized scoring on 24 courts this year.
Hope some of you can make it – the deadline to enter is May 19,
2011. Next year, 2012, it will be in
Knoxville, TN – a little closer for us.
York, PA is bidding for the 2013 World Tournament along with St. George,
Utah. I know which bid WE hope will
be successful although it would be nice to have the World Tournament out west
again. Nice country out there!
Notice
# 4
As
mentioned above, 2011 is the year to re-sanction all of the horseshoe court
facilities. A form will be sent to
every club and measurements will be taken.
Some of our courts are getting older and we need to stay on top of
repairs. Now is as good a time as any
to perform those repairs. One club
in New England applied for, and received, an NHPF grant to help renovate their
courts. They have received $1500.00 at
the courts in Lisbon, ME. Any club can
apply for this grant.
Notice
# 5
SADNESS but Kindness
After
the Fall newsletter came out, we learned that 98 yr. old Ed Harrington had
passed away just before the newsletter was sent out. He was sharp until the end – before he passed away he had given
us some horseshoes to give away or sell.
I sold two pairs and gave the money to a charity event we held at our
courts, but I still have a new pair of Dead Eyes that he gave us – that pair is
just waiting for some special pitcher.
After
Paul Dumont passed away last year, his son Bill met us and gave us all of his
Horseshoe magazines! We have the
Ringer Digests from the late 60’s and all the Newslines. If anyone is interested in reading some
nice older horseshoe magazines, you are welcome to them. It is fun to peruse them…. We are keeping
them safe for now. Thank you, Bill!
Both
of these men were special people – they were in horseshoes for all of my
horseshoe life (which is a LONG time)!
Also
just got word that “Wild Bill” Progen had passed away in 2008 – his daughter is
making his trophies available for us to take and use. Remember, the older trophies were of high quality and new
pitchers especially would like to have a trophy to remember their first
tournaments. We hope to meet her and to
check out these trophies – let me know if you are interested in obtaining some
of them.
INDOOR
pitching: The Central CT H.C. is
still going strong with leagues every weekday and full tournaments every other weekend. With their computerized scoring for both
leagues and tournaments, it is EASY to pitch there! Don Maine is the Guru there, donating most of his time to make
things run smoothly. For his work, he
will be recognized with an NHPA Achievement Award this year! Congratulations, Don - You deserve it!
In
Taunton, MA, we also had an indoor facility.
It certainly wasn’t up to par with the CCHC but it was a place to pitch
and to get together with our horseshoe friends. We pitched on recycled rubber pieces, packed loosely in bags
with a light carpet over them. This
worked pretty well after some experimentation with other methods. We will NOT go back there but we know we
have enough interest for indoor pitching in our area and are actively looking
for another place for next year. Got
any ideas for places in S.E. MA?
REPORT FROM
MA HPA EX. BOARD MEETING
We are
still running the Point Champion of the Year contest – Larry Kiff seems to have
a handle on this contest but it IS open to anyone! The more tournaments in MA that you enter, the better your
chances.
Also,
the Junior entries in tournaments in our state will stay at $5.00 per
entry. The state HPA will continue to
reimburse the clubs for the difference between the Junior fee and the adult fee
so that award funds will not be compromised.
Booster
donations are always welcome – they will help the state HPA treasury in
supporting all of the tournaments and our Juniors. The current balance in the MA HPA treasury is just $419.57. We are one of the few charters who’s state
HPA supports the tournaments instead of the other way around. Most charters send part of each tournament
entry back to the state but we GIVE
each club some money when they run a tournament. Along with the rising price of gas, many things are getting
more expensive – in Lakeville the Park Department is charging us $10.00 per
member this year, up from $5.00 per member.
So a Booster donation is even more valuable now. Send your Booster donation in with your
membership application or send it directly to Leo Michaud, the treasurer. Thank you!
At the
Ex. Board meeting, the Board members discussed possibly changing the format in
tournaments to make it more interesting or challenging. No decision was reached but tournament
directors are free to hold a tournament with a different format to try
out. Let us know what you think OR
just try out a new idea for how to run a tournament.
This
August, at the annual general State meeting between flights at the State Tournament,
the offices of President and Treasurer are up for election. As noted earlier, Leo Michaud does NOT want
to be treasurer any more so we will need some nominations for that office. President Ray Bedard would like some
competition as well although he is pretty comfortable in that position!
PUBLICITY
Each
club has been responsible for its own publicity for several years. It is important to get news of your clubs
into the local papers. Also, you can
use Facebook to publicize and get the word out. Loon Pond H.C. is on Facebook and it is a fairly active group in
the summer. The NHPA has a Facebook
group that had reached almost 2,000 fans in the first week. Easy, and reaches a LOT of people
quickly! We are always looking for
more players at our clubs and in our tournaments. Invite a friend to pitch with you, hold a charity tournament for
non-sanctioned pitchers, be open to new members after the season starts. Let’s get the membership numbers up to 250
this year for our state!
Enclosed
is a wallet card with our 2011 tournament schedule – carry it with you at all
times as a reference. All the numbers
of the Tournament Directors are listed there.
No need to forget to enter a tournament on time now!
Remember: You can’t stay young forever but you CAN
stay immature for life!
And
let’s not limit our “madness” to March – let’s be fanatics all summer long – at
the horseshoe courts!
Good
luck – Lots of Ringers!
2011
Schedule
The 2011 schedule is set
for Massachusetts:
4/30–Kruczek
Mem.Dbls- Lakeville
5/14 –
Rollie Morin Mem.- Hamilton
5/20
–FridayNt.Challenge- Lakeville
6/11-Lawson
Memorial – Shrewsbury
6/25 –
Brunson Mem. – Lakeville
7/9 –
MA Open – Shrewsbury
7/18-7/30
– World Tourney– Louisiana
8/13 –
MA State Singles- Hamilton
8/20-NE
Warm-Up – Shrewsbury
9/17 –
Bonani Mem. – Hamilton
9/24 –
Tourn.Of Champs– Shrewsbury
10/1 –
MA State Doubles- Lakeville
10/15
– Walking Doubles- Shrewsbury
Officers in the MA HPA
President: Ray Bedard
508-943-5017/(cell)-774-254-0875
e-mail: cnr33@verizon.net
Vice-President: Dave Bliss, Jr.
508-864-3248
e-mail: dbliss57@hotmail.com
Secretary: Rick Howe
508-377-0606/(cell)-508-244-8508
e-mail: rhbd61@netscape.net
Treasurer/Regional Director: Leo Michaud
508-822-9610
e-mail: loonpnd@comcast.net
Recording Secretary: Dianne Lynch
Newsletter Editor/Ass’t
RD:Debby Michaud