Promoting OUR Game, the WSHPA/NHPA Way! AS THE CROWD GATHERED and peered through the fence to watch the Berkley Days Horseshoe Tournament, I wondered how many of these people ever threw a horseshoe in their day? Probably quite a few, or they wouldn't have any interest in someone throwing a curved piece of iron at a metal stake. An opportunity for recruiting new members? I've always thought that every horseshoe club should make up a flyer with pertinent club information, league pitching days, times, club officers, phone numbers of whom to contact, a paragraph about joining or just being a guest for an evening. And, how do we get this information out to the public? Drive by any house for sale these days and you'll find the answer. Posted near the "For Sale" sign is a box with all the information needed for that particular piece of property. The box says TAKE ONE! There are a number of pieces of information that could be displayed in these boxes: (1) Club information flyers, (2) WSHPA flyers, (3) NHPA rules and flyers, (4) Club league statistics, (5) and other horseshoe pitching information that you think people would be interested in. These boxes could be attached to the cyclone fences that surround every horseshoe court. They could be hooked on the fence during league nights, or take a chance and leave one out during the week filled with club information. If anyone steals the box, then I guess leaving it out wasn't such a good idea. In my experience, people come to the courts sometimes just to pitch, but are not involved with a club or league. WHY? Because just like me when I started, I didn't know about any state or national horseshoe organizations, let alone any local club. Make up a flyer and try the box idea! One can't say then that you aren't trying to promote your local club. Ollie Keyes and the Taylor Moose Club opened their new courts this spring. He went all out and purchased new scoreboards from Kevin Smith, the Berkley Club president and TD. Ollie sends an invitation to anyone in that area to stop by and take a look. Bring your shoes and pitch a few. Some Moose Clubs throughout the U.S. have always promoted horseshoe pitching. They have their own local clubs, state, and

national tournaments. The Taylor club has sand in their pits. With Ollie belonging to the WSHPA and a "Keye" force in the club, maybe it won't be long until more pits will be put in and the pit material changed to clay. Let's hope that the WSHPA can get a foot in the door with sanctioned courts in Taylor in the near future. The Fraternal Order of Eagles also has the same set-up for horseshoes as the Moose Clubs. There are some excellent pitchers in the local Mount Clemens Eagles Club. I've always believed that you can't know too many horseshoe pitchers. Get to know these people and start promoting the WSHPA/NHPA. These groups SHOULD NOT be in competition with each other. You will be surprised how many pitchers really are out there that we don't know about, and they don't know about us. In my short three years with the WSHPA/NHPA, I have gathered over 325 names and addresses of horseshoe pitchers just in the Mount Clemens area. I have been adding new names to the list every week since our open house promotion on April 14. With the city sponsoring our indoor club, I don't have to worry about postage when I send out a newsletter or promotional piece; the recreation department pays the postage. There is a time and place for all pitchers and if we could get a cross-over of membership with these other clubs, we would all benefit. After all, I do think the WSHPA/NHPA method of pitching is the best! Paul Wishon is at it again! Paul is one of the best cheerleaders and promoters the game of horseshoe pitching has ever had. During the last week in May, he helped a Berkley school teacher teach the game to about 25 high school students at the Berkley courts. He gave the teacher two videotapes on pitching to show the group before they showed up on the courts on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. He collected pairs of horseshoes from local pitchers so the students could have enough equipment. This is grass roots promotion all the way down to the clay. If other clubs will just contact their local schools, this could become a spring tradition in the schools' physical education departments. Give it a try! The teacher will love it and it will be a refreshing experience for the students during the last dragging month of the school year.