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MINNESOTA HORSESHOE PITCHERS'
Ringer Digest
April/May/June 2024
A Charter of the NHPA
Official Publication of the Minnesota Gopher State Horseshoe Pitchers' Association
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MGSHPA RESOURCES
Explore any of these links
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Helen's Corner
By Helen Hawkinson
Player Profile - Jerry Hokkala
Most of us know who Jerry Hokkala is and has pitched against him a time or two in a very competitive game. Jerry has been pitching horseshoes since 1982 when he was 33 years old. He started out pitching slowpitch softball and then joined the Litchfield HS Club. In fact Jerry still plays slow pitch softball on a men’s team and is the oldest player on the team at 75 years young! That is amazing in itself. His other passion is archery. The same friend that introduced him to horseshoes got him interested in competitive archery. He has competed in State for archery a few times and a couple weeks ago took 1st – Jerry even set a state record for 70+ age state archery record this year! I bet the next level will be competing in Archery pm the national level – soon.
His home courts are still in Litchfield, although he also pitched in Greenfield and Darwin, along with many other tournaments along the way. Jerry pitches with Ted Allens and throws a turn and a quarter. He loved pitching with Eric Grabbers but they no longer make them. Jerry moved from 40 feet to 30 feet when he turned 70.
Jerry competed in 5 world tournaments. The first was in 1987 in Eau Claire, WI, then in 1989 in Spearfish, SD, then back to Eau Claire in 1993, then back to South Dakota and finally in Hibbing, Minnesota. He has been a “Class Champion” 4 times – 1985, 1990, 1991 and 2005 (Classes I, E, C and B). One of his memorable moments was when he made it to Class A at State in 1994 as a 40 footer – and he continued pitching in A Class 9 more times through his carreer. When he moved to 30 feet as an Elder he was in Class A and pitched every year for 5 years never under 60%. Jerry has been named in the NHPA top 100 for Elders since 2019.
I asked Jerry who was most influential in his horseshoe career. He said Jack O’Connor who gave Jerry some advice that he will never forget, and for which he used and uses continuously. Learn to quiet your mind – and learn to “feel” your shoe -- all the way through the delivery onto the stake. And then you will get the ringers!
Jerry pitched horseshoes for the last 40 years and has accomplished everything he set out to do with his head held high. Now he is onto the next Chapter – Archery, or whatever he finds next. Although we will miss him on the courts, we know he is doing what he loves and living his best life.
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Jerry is a state champion in archery | |
Jerry captured the Elder's State Title in 2023 | |
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MGSHPA Webmaster
By Lori York
Time to Plan Your Pitching! - Full Schedule on the Website
Now is the time to check out our 2024 Tournament Schedules on our website! https://www.minnesotahorseshoes.com/2024-tournaments/
As I was working on the page, I was excited to see the variety of opportunities we have available from Memorial Day through Labor Day. You, your family, and your cheering sections could plan some amazing trips throughout Minnesota all summer long. Have you visited Big Ole and the Kensington Runestone in Alexandria? Or the Mine Overlook in Hibbing? Or the SPAM Museum in Austin? Those are all must-sees on my list for this summer. And don’t get me started on the local eats and libations found in each host city! There is so much fun to have with each horseshoe-related adventure.
What are you looking forward to this summer? Hope to see you out there, as a pitcher and a tourist.
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From the Editor
By Jerry LaBrosse
Happy Spring !! Hope you all had a good winter.
I thought it would be good to throw a few date reminders out for you so you don't miss something.
MAY 20th - World Tournament Entry Deadline
I hope you regular WT travelers are planning to make the trip to Kennewick, Wa July 29 thru August 10. This year's WT will be using an inverted schedule, so if you are unsure when you will pitch, contact our Regional Director Josh Olson for advice. The link to the entry form
http://www.horseshoepitching.com/pdfs/WTEntry2024.pdf
JUNE 1st - Deadline for submitting your intention to run for the MGSHPA President position up for election at the 2024 MGSHPA Annual Membership Meeting on Labor Day Weekend. There are currently no candidates for this position.
If you are interested in learning more about the position and it's requirements, contact president Ray Pierce Jr, or your charter VP.
JULY 15th - Deadline for submitting nominations for the Rookie of the Year Award and the Edi Holland Award. Submit your nominations to Joe Mueller joemueller0822@msn.com
If you know anyone who may be interested in becoming part of our horseshoe family, always remember to forward these Digest emails to them as a sample of our sport. Encourage them to do the FAST, FREE, and SECURE sign up for both Ringer Digest and NHPA Newsline.
Free Ringer Digest Sign Up
Free NHPA Newsline Sign Up
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From the President
By Ray Pierce Jr
Welcome spring and welcome to another season of horseshoes. I enjoyed the mild winter and so did my pocketbook. Hopefully everyone had a nice winter and maybe you had a chance to get out and throw some shoes as there were several tournaments that happened over the winter. I spent most of the winter remodeling my house and I still have more to do but it’s getting there.
We had our spring officers meeting March 20th via zoom and several things were discussed. One of the biggest things was the 3 day state tournament. We will be moving to a Friday through Sunday format on Labor Day Weekend. This would more than likely move our banquet and annual meeting to Saturday. More details will come on this. Just a reminder to our senior women pitching in accordance with the standing rule, it will take at least 4 women to have this class in this year’s state tournament. Josh has been named the state tournament director again this year so I know it will be set up in the best possible manner.
There has been questions and talk about the “pacer” rule the NHPA passed at last years convention. The spirit of the rule is to allow clubs the ability to let non-sanction pitchers pace in leagues and tournaments. It is a way to recruit pitchers and allow them to try our sport before committing to a sanctioned membership. The MGSHPA would like clubs to use a 2 night trial in leagues. The 3rd night of league we would be encouraging pitchers to sanction with the MGSHPA and NHPA. Those that do not sanction would not be eligible to win league championships, would not receive NHPA patches or awards, and would not have their stats reported to eshoe. Sanctioned pitchers would have their stats counted as if they were pitching a pacer. Again, the ultimate goal is to get our pitchers sanctioned. This produces better run leagues that are easier for the secretaries, allows for stats and awards from the NHPA, and mostly helps to preserve horseshoe pitching in our state and nationally.
We have filled our Hall of Fame committee with two at large appointed members. I appointed Janet Larson and Mark Smith. They have accepted and have been voted in by the current Hall of Fame committee. Last year we made a by-law change to add two members to the committee by way of appopintment by the President and accepted by the committee. The committee now consists of the Hall of Fame Director (Joe Mueller) The two Vice Presidents (Rory Pierce and Jeff Washburn) and the two at large appointees (Mark Smith and Janet Larson). Please remember hall of fame nominees are due by May 1st. Please get your nominations in to Joe before then.
The spring membership meeting has been slated for Saturday June 1st in Forest Lake. Please plan on attending the meeting as well as the tournaments Saturday and Sunday.
Lastly, I have decided not to run for reelection this fall for President. With the remodeling and plans to start building our new home at the lake, My wife and I agree our focus needs to shift to that. All interested candidates need to submit their intentions to the Ringer Digest Editor by June 1st. I hope we have a large slate stepping up to fill this important position. It has been my pleasure to serve. I will serve out my term through the annual meeting at State.
Good Luck to all pitchers this year and as always contact me or your VPs with any issues.
Ray Pierce Jr
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Regional Director / Stats Guy
By Josh Olson
Springtime is here, at least it was for a little bit before old man winter came back for a visit. It won’t be long, and we will be throwing shoes out in the back yard and the summer horseshoe season will be underway.
The Winter season was very successful in Becker with the winter tournaments, I want to thank Michelle Foard and Russ Girtz for running the events all winter long here in Minnesota. Without that venue we wouldn’t have an opportunity to pitch in any Tournaments. As I am putting this together, we are a few days away from a non-sanctioned tournament that we will be conducting using Scoreholio, a tablet-based scoring app that was introduced to the horseshoe world last summer. The Tournament will be happening in Becker during Easter weekend. I am very excited to give it a try and I will give a summary of how everything went in the next NHPA Newsline and Ringers Digest so keep an eye out for that.
Some other notable tournaments that are going to be on the horizon this Summer. The Hall of Fame Invitational that goes on at the Quail Ridge Horseshoe Club down in Wentzville Missouri. That will take place May 4th and 5th. I have been lucky enough to make the top 16 Men’s group the last 4 years the tournament has took place. It is a mini–World Tournament, you play 15 games of 40points in 2 days, and you get a chance to play the best of the best all in that weekend.
Team World is just around the corner, Minnesota has 5 Teams looking to make the schedule this year for the fun and exciting Team Tournament in Beloit Wisconsin. Wisconsin, Illinois, Ohio, Iowa, Minnesota, Michigan will all have teams coming again this year I imagine. We will also see the return of Washington and even California this year. Those are all the States that I know of that will have teams representing their states this year in the Team World Tournament, there may be more you will have to keep an eye out for the schedule to see the roster of teams. The Dates for Team World are May 17th-19th. Schedule for Team World should be out middle of April so keep an eye out for that when is public.
MN Team #1
Pat Stumpf
AL Larson
Josh Olson
Tom Prokop
MN Team #2
Jeff Washburn
Helen Hawkinson
Jerry Werk
Mark Smith
MN Team #3
Brad Heth
Joe Mueller
Michelle Foard
Janet Roubinek
Russ Girtz
MN Team #4
Janet Larson
Nathan Dehkes
Eric Dehkes
Melisa Dehkes
Andy Olson
MN Team #5
Gary Boots
Patti Oakes
Jerry LaBrosse
Steve Ziegler
Lets Wish them all good luck!
The MGSHPA Summer Tournament Schedule kicks off with the Alexandria Open going on Memorial Weekend in Alexandria. That tournament is guaranteed, just in case of rain it will be moved to Bertha to be played inside the Lions Building. Its always a great weekend of horseshoes, Alexandria area always has something going on in the city that weekend so come on over and enjoy the long holiday weekend by kicking it off with some Horseshoes! The Full MGSHPA Tournament schedule can be found on eShoe or the MGSHPA Website.
The Other notable Tournament that will be in Minnesota will be the Horseshoe Tour down in Austin, MN for the Austin MN Classic. The Horseshoe Tour is kicking off there 2024 Season in Newberry SC, in just a few weeks and the Austin MN Classic will be the 3rd stop for the year just before there break in the schedule. To sign up please visit their website, online registration will become available in May so keep an eye out for that if you’re looking to pitch in that fun and exciting tournament down in Austin, MN.
Don’t forget to sign up for the World Tournament in Kennewick Washington this year, the deadline is May 20th. Once this Digest is out the Last Tournament in Minnesota before the deadline will be in Becker on the 13th of April, so be sure to reach out to Michelle Foard right away if you need another tournament to qualify for Worlds. Good luck and I’ll see you out in Washington!
As I am concluding this article, I do want to send my condolences to the Family and many friends of Henry Greenwaldt who passed away in early February. Henry was a force to be reckoned with on the courts and was one of the nicest guys off the courts as well. I shared the courts with Henry for many years of my life and I will cherish each interaction on and off the courts with him. Rest in Peace Henry!
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Constitution and ByLaws Director
By Sue Pierce
Summer season is upon us! Those of us in the northland are looking forward to our Hibbing League starting in May. Ray & I have been in Arizona since February 1st & we have had a chance to pitch some horseshoes so we are getting “warmed” up! I have one change to the constitution that I will present to the members & I will contact the NHPA bylaws Vice President to see he has received any proposals that I will pass on to the members as I learn of them.
Here is the change that I am proposing to our MGSHPA constitution:
Page 4, ARTICLE VII -Election of Officers
Candidates for MGSHPA office must announce their candidacy in writing or email and received by the President and the Ringer Digest Editor no later than June 1st. Incumbents, however, must announce their candidacy in the same manner by March 1st. (PROPOSE TO ADD THESE TWO LINES): “No nominations will be accepted from the floor. If there are no nominations, the office will be filled by a majority vote of the remaining Executive Board and the person selected shall serve the duration of the term of office.” The officers elected by a majority vote of the regular members present and entitled to vote at the annual meeting …………………….. ( remainder of the Article remains the same).
I present this change to the Constitution. Please read over this article & if anyone has any questions please feel free to call or email me (218-929-2470 or s.pierce14@yahoo.com).
Sue Pierce
On behalf of the CBL Committee
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South Vice President
by Jeff Washburn
Happy Spring to all MGSHPA pitchers, families, and friends. Minnesotans were treated to a very mild winter, and other than the storm we just had, the sounds of horseshoes hitting the stake are not far off. Many clubs have their spring meetings scheduled and league play is right around the corner. Speaking of which, this is a great time to renew your membership if you haven’t already done so. Just go to our MGSHPA website and click on the renew tab and it will take you right to Eshoe. Our MGHSPA leadership team encourages all our members to keep your membership going to help our great sport continue to flourish. A reminder for any pitcher who may be changing category, such as Men to Elder, to please contact our State Secretary/Treasurer Janet Roubinek so she can make that change in Eshoe. You can also print a copy of the registration form and mail this along with your check to Janet Roubinek, whose address can be found on our MGSHPA website.
Let’s everyone try and encourage a neighbor or friend to consider joining our great sport of horseshoes. For new prospective members who might be interested in joining, the NHPA has a Provisional membership and a trial membership that do not require full payment of dues. It is an easy and inexpensive way to try horseshoes out for one season. Contact me or any officer if you would like more information on this. The many benefits of belonging to the NHPA and our Minnesota association include the ability to pitch in sanctioned tournaments in any state, Eshoe tracking of your ringer percentage, participation in club tournaments and our State Tournament, receiving the Ringer Digest and NHPA Newsline electronic publications to keep in touch with what is happening in our sport, and of course the camaraderie within the sport and the many friends that you will make along the way. The NHPA award patches available to all members include, League Champion, Class Champions, High Game, High Average, High/Over Average, Sportsmanship, and Rookie of the Year; also Most Improved, League Member, and Junior League Member. The NHPA Junior Scholar Award Program recognizes scholastic achievement and appropriate certificates and patches are awarded. High Game averages patches are for 0-5%, 6-9%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50%, 60%, 70%, 80%, 90% and Perfect Games. Along with local club membership and weekly league play, take a look at the MGSHPA website which has a full complement of horseshoe tournaments in 2024. I would encourage all our members to plan your summer pitching schedules to include some of the many fine tournament opportunities across our state. See you on the courts!
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North Vice President
By Rory Pierce
Hello fellow Horseshoe Pitchers A quick word from your North Vice-President
I have seen that there have been some winter tournaments, looks like everyone is enjoying them. Unfortunately I have not been able to attend one with Spearing season and Curling season going on. I am however looking forward to our Horseshoe season to begin. Our Hibbing League will kickoff early May like every year. And the Toby Neuenschwander Open will be held June 29th this year. It will be limited with huge payouts just like the last 2 years. I will be taking signups for this starting in May. Also we recently had an Officers meeting and I believe the Mn state tournament format will be reduced to a 3 day event this year. This being said our banquet will most likely be held on Sat evening. If anyone has suggestions for entertainment or interesting ways to make the banquet more fun and enjoyable, PLEASE contact me or your Vice-President. Also like in previous years I will be contacting each one of the charters in the North region before June 1st to get a report from each of the club presidents or secretaries on numbers and or concerns. Please feel free to contact me at any time with concerns or questions 218-966-5280 or piercerory78@gmail.com I will be happy to assist you in any way that I can. Also as always I task each and every one of you with trying to recruit new members into MGSHPA. Let’s make 2024 horseshoe season one of the greatest of all time. I hope to see you all out there on the courts, be safe and see you all very soon.
Sincerely your North Vice-President
Rory L. Pierce Sr
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Promotion and News Media
By Michelle Foard
Happy Spring Everyone! April is here and spring meetings will be going on. Please feel free to send me your meeting info and I can post on Facebook as well. I know those of us in the cities may play on a few different leagues so posting your info can reach others. Another way to reach out to potential new recruits is those of you on Facebook find your city community page and welcome people to come try out horseshoes and post your league info on the city page. Another thought is post a try-it night. Have some veteran players available for a night and welcome the public to come try horseshoes for a night. Or possibly a youth night. Some ideas to help recruit new people.
Russ Girtz and I have been hosting tournaments all winter and spring. Out last one is April 13th the Tax Time Tournament. I still have a few openings. Text me 1st to confirm. Its been so much fun running these tournaments since last fall. So Russ and I were talking and we are gonna run the Minnesota Doubles tournament Aug 17th in Genola. We will have one session and possibly 2 depending on how many teams enter. So pick your partner and get signed up! We are excited to run this tournament.
Another exciting tournament is The Horseshoe Tour coming to Austin, Mn June 22nd. The host hotel is Cobblestone Inn and Suites. There are a few campgrounds near by, one is Oakwoods Trails Campground. They have horseshoe pits at the camp grounds as well for extra practice. To sign up the info is on eshoe. Any one can pitch. We will have out of town pitchers as well so it should be a fun tournament.
In May is Team World. Minnesota has 5 teams going this year. I am the 5th person on Team #3 so I plan on recording some games. Hopefully we will have another Alan Francis and Sarah Chaffee rematch. As well as Alan Francis and Drew Becker who gave Alan his only loss last year. As always Team World is super fun! So stay tuned for updates.
| Pot of Gold Tournament Winners | |
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A Class
2nd Josh Olson, 1st Pat Stumpf, 3rd Tom Prokop
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B Class
2nd Marlys Timm, 1st Gary Boots, 3rd Russ Girtz
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C Class
2nd Colin Wanous, 1st Mike Slininger, 3rd Mike Timm
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Cupid's Heart Tournament Winners | |
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A Class
2nd Jerry Werk, 1st Myron Vanderweyst, 3rd Josh Olson
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B Class
2nd Denise Kleven, 1st Jim Aleckson, 3rd Aaron Mead
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C Class
2nd Scott Chalmers, 1st Mike Slininger 3rd Mike Timm
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Snowshoe Open Tournament Winners | |
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A Class
2nd Brad Heth, 1st Lance Van Wyhe, 3rd Jerry Werk
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B Class
2nd Marlys Timm, 1st Jim Aleckson, 3rd Cathy Ziemann
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C Class
2nd Scott Chalmers, 1st Robyn Holien, 3rd Mike Timm
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Scoreholio Horseshoe Tournament
By Michelle Foard
Minnesota's first horseshoe tournament using SCOREHOLIO was held 3/30 in Becker. Josh Olson set this up so we can better understand Scoreholio and hopefully use it in the future. I had a good day on Tik Tok over 3,000 viewers at one point. I had people from all over the World. UAE, Israel, Ukraine, Australia, Peru, New Zealand, Canada, Uzbekistan, Columbia, Mexico, Costa Rica, Papua New Guinea and several others. I know the US is trying to get rid of Tik Tok, but I hope they keep it. You can't gain this attention on FB. Only the people who are in that page can see your live.
There were 14 players, and we played a doubles format with Hi-Lo draw for partners. Throwing 40 point games gave everybody a good taste of the scoreholio scoring sequence. It seems like a very promising tool for our sport.
Al Larson and Colin Wanous took 3rd, Thomas Prokop and Jerry LaBrosse took 2nd and the big winners were Russ Girtz and Gary Boots!
Helen Hawkinson brought along a sack of sandwiches to share and we all had fun pitching and socializing on a sunny Saturday
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1st Place
Russ Girtz & Gary Boots
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2nd Place
Jerry LaBrosse & TomProkop
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3rd Place
Al Larson & Colin Wanous
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Snowbird Pitching in AZ & TX
Minnesota had 2 pitchers in the Valley of the Sun tournament in AZ. Robert Ciaciura took 1st in the and Rob Bjorklund came in 5th place in his division. Congratulations to both! Rob shows off his patches :)
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We also had several players in TX
Bill Danielson, Robin Constance, Marlys Timm, Terry Thomsen, Deb Thomsen, Al Springer all played in the Golden Age Olympics at the Tropic Star club in Pharr, TX. Congrats to all of them.
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From the MGSHPA Secretary
By Janet Roubinek
Happy April.
As of March 25, 2024, there have been 84 renewals for this season. If you are planning to change your divison, you will need to contact me so I can make the corresponding change within eshoes. (This does NOT include moving to Sr Women due to direction from the NHPA.) Moving divisions means that you will not have an established average. Establishing a new average will take 100 shoes verified by a NHPA member.
Junior pitchers can be renewed for free when you contact me at sec.treas@minnesotahorseshoes.com. If you renew through eshoes, there will be a small fee.
If you have a new address, new phone number, or new email address, please contact me so I can update that information. If you’re not sure what is on file, you can contact me, and I will look it up.
Our bank account has approximately $5500; about $550 is marked for additional payouts at the state tournament. The $550 comes from the $1 per person from each sanctioned tournament. The MGSHPA is covering the entry fee for two teams at the World Team tournament in Beliot, WI, for a total of $400.
There is no money set aside for the Junior program at this time; that money comes from $1 per pitcher from sanctioned leagues during the 2024 season. The money is used for the juniors at the state tournament.
The IRS tax form 990N for 2023 has been completed, sent, and accepted.
I hope everyone has a fun 2024 season.
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Junior Promotions Director
By Kelli Pierce
March 19th the city of Hibbing held a community interest fair. The fair consisted of booths and tables representing many organizations and events available for the spring and summer. Hibbing horseshoe club had a table with members of our club available to answer questions and sign up prospective members.
Our club will be hosting a “Pitch Like a Pro” event on May 19th . The event is open to anyone ages 7 and up. Club members will be teaching beginners the rules and sharing our techniques.
I will be visiting the local schools to distribute flyers in the hopes of recruiting younger members.
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2/9/24 Obit for Henry Greenwaldt
By Janet Larson
Our connection to Henry and horseshoes goes back a generation, to Al’s dad, Don, and Henry enjoying many games on the courts. When I was working my way up through the lower classes, pitching tournaments in the morning sessions, it was easy to tell when certain members of the upper classes arrived. Henry and his brother Norm's entrance was always announced by the eruption of their laughter. Henry was not only a very competitive pitcher, he was a firm believer in having fun while doing so. Henry made pitching ringers look so effortless.
Growing up on the farm, Henry started pitching shoes around the age of nine, but didn’t become involved with league pitching until the early 1980’s. He was a big part in the construction of the current Bertha Horseshoe League building and was the primary maintenance man for their courts for many years.
Henry started competing in tournaments a few years after starting in the league. His deadeye horseshoes began each tournament with a fresh coat of his signature bronze paint. His many tournaments included three World Tournaments in Cedar Rapids IA, Knoxville TN, and Topeka KS. He participated in Team World in Beloit WI several times, including being on MN Team One in 2015. That year Henry and his teammates Sig Armitage, Mark Smith and Ray Volkers finished in the top six. Henry earned a MN Top Ten Pitcher of the Year award in 2014 and again in 2017. He also qualified for the Elders Championship round at State eight times. This is always a tough class to compete in and for Henry it also meant pitching against Sig Armitage most of those years. Henry either entered at, or finished with 60% or better five of those years and had his best finish in 2014 when he was runner up to Sig. Henry also pitched many years as a snowbird in Arizona and Texas.
2019 was the last year that Henry pitched in the MN State Tournament and it was also the year he was inducted into the MN State Horseshoe Hall of Fame. I was honored to make that presentation. Between Covid and health issues Henry was mostly kept away from the courts after that. His last three tournaments were three of his favorites, Josh Olson Classic 2020, Alex Open 2021 and Donnelly 2021. He was still a force to be reckoned with at each of these tournaments, with high games of 68.75%, 60% and 54%. We, along with many others, have so many fond memories of pitching with Henry. We will miss you Henry, your laughter, your stories and the way you made putting those bronze shoes on the stake look so effortless.
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An Open Letter to Tournament & League Directors and Women of the MGSHPA
By Cathy Ziemann
We all agree that we need to do something to keep or increase our membership. I have checked some past minutes of membership and board meetings and found that in 2018 we had 622 members of the MGSHPA and in 2023 that number had dropped to 313, a loss of 309 members. That is a huge loss in membership.
We need to all do what we can to keep the members we have while promoting our sport to recruit new members.
One way we can do this is to embrace the new NHPA Standing Rule for Senior Women in our leagues, local and state tournaments. Sr. Women like Sr. Men or Elders lose muscle mass and strength as they age, and this new standing rule is a long time coming. I know that many people disagree with this, but many sports have changed rules/guidelines over the years to have increased participation and interest, and Horseshoes should be NO different. Just because a senior woman has lost muscle mass or strength, doesn't mean that she is ready to be relegated to the sidelines. These women have often been members for 20, 30, 40 plus years, still have the drive to compete and to the desire to stay active. Sr. Women deserve to be given the same consideration as Elders.
Standing Rule for Senior Women at 65 years old
Senior Women turning sixty-five (65) during the calendar year may pitch from any place on the extended or full-distance platform and shall observe the Twenty foot (20’) foul line.
(What this means is that Sr. Women can stand anywhere from the 30’ line up and not go beyond the 20’ line. Most women will likely move up a couple of steps, but the NHPA didn’t want to add another foul line to the pitching platform, so they came up the compromise to observe the 20’ foul line.)
My ask is two-fold: 1) that every league, every local open-tournament include this division and that we embrace this group of Horseshoe pitchers as we would cadets and elders, and 2) to any Woman who will be turning 65 in 2024 or who are older, enter your league and tournaments as a Sr. Woman.
We all know that we play against opponents in tournaments based on our averages, not the age of our opponent or from where they stand on the pitching platform. Minnesota needs to be the leader in embracing the Sr. Women division including at our State Tournament.
Sr. Women are vital to our sport.
Thanks,
Cathy Ziemann
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2024 Upsala Winter Horseshoe League
By Janet Larson
Sixteen pitchers and 3 subs met at the indoor courts in Upsala from January through March this winter. Pitching count-all singles, four 40 shoe games each week, we kept all eight courts full on Monday afternoons. We did ten weeks of regular season round-robin play and then finished the season with an afternoon of class play and a Season Championship round. We concluded that afternoon at a local restaurant for burgers, fellowship and awards.
Pat Stumpf led all pitchers in the regular season with 26 wins, 8 losses for a 76.47%
win/loss record, averaging 82 points per game. Myron came in second with 25.5 wins, 13.5 losses for a 65.38% win/loss record, averaging 65.92 points per game. Gary Boots, showing off his rookie 30’ move-up skills, finished in third place with 24 wins, 15 losses for a 61.54% win/loss record and averaging 65.54 points per game. Honorable mention, Jerry Werk averaged 71 points per game. High games, including handicap, belonged to Pat Stumpf at 108pts (which for her was a game at 85% ringers), Ginger O’Brien with 107 points and Gary Boots had a high game of 106 points. High Series went to Janet Larson at 365, Gary Boots at 360 and Roger Lodemeier with 359.
Our Class playoff winners were Gary Boots, who went 3-0 in Class A. In Class B, Annette Grebinoski went into the last round undefeated, going up against Janet Larson who was 1-1. Annette who had a regular season average of 32.93% pitched 52.5% that last game, but came up short against Janet who had her best game of the season at 67.5%. With both of them finishing 2-1, Annette claimed the Class B title having 267 points to Janet’s 258 points. Class C went to Jerry Zyvolosk who won all three games. Al Nicholson was also undefeated in Class D.
The final round robin of the season was the Championship match between these four Class winners. All of them would pitch well over their averages. It came down to the last round, and could have ended in a three way tie. Al ran out of steam the second half of his game with Jerry which left them both at 1-2. On the other court Gary went in 2-0, Annette 1-1 and they were ready to battle. Neither of them ever had more than a four point lead, they had two four deads, and they were tied four times, the last time at 38 shoes. Both averaged 55% in the last 20 shoes. Annette finished with a double and Gary closed with four points. Annette did not even need her six point handicap advantage for the win. However, Gary hung on to the Championship title having an overall 274 points to Annette’s 255 points.
We’d like to thank Myron VanderWeyst who was the leader of this crew of ringers and his wife Linda who assisted him on the stats.
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Playoff Class winners: Gary Boots - Class A, Annette Grebinoski - Class B, Jerry Zyvoloski - Class C, Al Nicholson - Class D. Gary went on to win the league Championship in a final playoff between these four.
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Upsala League: Pat S., Roger L., Ginger O., Gary B., Annette G., Brian W., Al N., Tony O., Jerry Z., Myron V., Jerry W., Dennis W., Butch H., Walt B., Janet L. (Not pictured were Randy Werk and subs Don Claseman, Gary Kirckof and Christy Schilling.) | |
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Publishing Schedule for the MGSHPA Ringer Digest
January-February-March
April-May-June
July-August-September-October
State Tournament Issue
November-December
Send all digest materials to the Jerry LaBrosse Jlabro6186@aol.com
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| MGSHPA BOARD MEMBERS | MGSHPA DIRECTORS | | President
Ray Pierce Jr
pierceray@msn.com | Ringer Digest Editor
Jerry LaBrosse
Jlabro6186@aol.com | | Secretary/Treasurer
Janet Roubinek
Sec.treas@minnesotahorseshoes.com | Statistician
Josh Olson
scrunchy_8@hotmail.com | | NHPA Regional Director
Josh Olson
scrunchy_8@hotmail.com, | Webmaster
Lori York
Webmaster@minnesotahorseshoes.com | | North VicePresident
Rory Pierce
PierceRory78@gmail.com | Nominations Director
Joe Mueller
jmueller0822@msn.com | | South Vice President
Jeff Washburn
Jeff08@comcast.net | Constitution & ByLaws Director
Sue Pierce
s.pierce14@yahoo.com | |
| Promotion/News Media Director
Michelle Foard
lynx3921@aol.com | |
| Junior Promotions Director
Kelli Pierce
Kellipierce6@gmail.com | | | | | |