PUBLICITY:
A TEAM EFFORT

THE ATTENDANCE at WSHPA sanctioned tournaments has been excellent this year. Just look at the WSHPA web site and the tournament results. Many new members have joined, and with everyone promoting our sport, membership continues to increase.

Promotion and publicity is a team effort. After sending as many WSHPA members as I have e-mail addresses for a story of Michigan members attending the World Tournament, I received some responses. Dave Loop sent it to the Adrian paper and they printed a short blurb of local pitcher names. So did Dewey Howard with the Lansing paper. I got a call from the sports editor of the Saginaw paper wanting to do an interview with President Ron Kohn. Jason Deegan from the Livingston Community News sent me an e-mail wanting information about pitchers in the Ann Arbor, Brighton and surrounding area. I e-mailed to him Steve Summerlin's phone number and e-mail address so information could be relayed. I received a call from a sports writer from The Grand Rapids Press wanting to interview pitchers. A story was printed in that paper about Jerry Kasteline, Joe Poliski, Harvey Ponstein, and Mike Robinson, who live in that area. The Muskegon Chronicle had a nice story on Larry Murdzia.

At the State Doubles tournament Boyd Stonerock showed me a WT article about him and Lyle Congdon printed in their local community paper. At the Lansing tournament in August Mrs. Reiter, (Red's wife) showed me the August 2nd article in the Jackson Citizen Patriot, written by Ryan Wallace, who had contacted me. It featured 90-year-old Beryl Williams who still pitches in the Jackson County Horseshoe Club league. He is a brother to Oz and uncle to Tom and Bob. Also in the same paper was an article about Jackson area pitchers going to the world tournament. At the same tournament Paul Bachlelor showed me an article in the Livingston Community News section that featured an article on WT bound pitchers Larry and Patty Ingraham and George Tanner.

Bernie Smilovitz of Detroit's TV Channel 4 featured Sandy Gates before she took off for the WT. Sandy did a great job demonstrating pitching in her back yard and talking about horseshoe pitching. Sandy has always promoted horseshoe pitching ever since she gave up bowling for our sport.

I'm sure many others have had contacts from their local papers. If you did, please tell me, as feedback is the only way we can tell if something is happening out there. It doesn't take much effort to pass on the word about horseshoe pitching. With today's economy the way it is, more and more people are looking for entertainment and exercise that won't bankrupt them.

If you have e-mail and you haven't been getting publicity stories from me, send me your e-mail address. E-mail is the best way to contact someone with information.

The information can be copied and sent to your local paper or cable TV bulletin board. They are happy to put items about horseshoe pitching in their papers and on the air.

Proof of that lies with the St. Clair Shores Horseshoe Club. President John Thomachefski called two local community papers and they both sent a photographer to the courts for the July 28 tournament. The Macomb Daily had a pre-tournament notice and afterward printed Saturday and Sunday's results up to third place in every class. Every club should advertise their tournaments and then send the results to the paper. If you do, they probably will print it. If you don't, they certainly won't print it. Send the information to them and then you have done your part and can't be blamed for it not being in the paper. The WSHPA gained two new members during that weekend tournament. One was because of the notice in the Get Up & Go section of the Free Press and getting information from the WSHPA web site.

Mike Ardelean and the Lake Orion Club members run a very successful tournament and league. The courts are filled on many league nights. They are thinking about going to two nights next year. One night would be for a sanctioned league and the other for recreational purposes. Not all horseshoe pitchers want to pitch in sanctioned tournaments or are available to do so. There is a place for all horseshoe pitchers in every club. Much can be learned from recreational bowling. Some like sanctioned play and others like to form their own community league just to have fun.

There is a catch to having everyone join your club. They will soon get hooked on horseshoe pitching and want to pitch in a sanctioned tournament. They will all realize what fun it is. When they become pitching addicts, the state and world tournaments are next.

The July/August issue of the NHPA Horseshoe Pitching Newsline magazine, edited by Paula Summerlin, has an article on what you, the individual, can do to promote horseshoe pitching. Read the article and if you don't subscribe to the magazine, a subscription form is included in the last Ringer Report.

Bob Mullenhour has done it again. A large group of high schoolers completed his youth horseshoe instructional session this summer. He ran five shifts a day with the help of the teacher. They all came to pitch and learn about the sport of horseshoe pitching. Bob provided the instruction and the teacher did the enforcement. Bob has been doing this for many years and is the model for teaching youths about horseshoe pitching. He created a youth league and takes many of the juniors to sanctioned tournaments. We should all try to copy what Bob has been doing.

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
-Theodore Roosevelt

September 2003