Rural Missouri - May 2020 - 22

Top: 2015 Missouri Men's Division champion Steve Johnson, Jefferson
City, opens with a high-flying shoe at Quail Ridge. Middle: National
Horseshoe Pitchers Foundation Treasurer Gary Buehler shows off a
shoe in the museum of the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association
Hall of Fame at Quail Ridge. The museum preserves the history of
the sport's greatest players, including a few displays on presidential
enthusiasts such as Harry S. Truman. Bottom: Melody Williams pitches
in the Spring Team Handicap Tournament at Wentzville. Melody and her
husband, Danny, opened the Backyard Horseshoe Club in Grassy. The
clubhouse proves a popular space for event rentals when not hosting
bi›monthly horseshoe tournaments.
Missouri also has a strong junior program, according
to Jim Bainter, state secretary/treasurer, and sends
competitors to national and world tournaments. Because
minors cannot win cash, prize money is put into a fund
they can access when they turn 18. Melody and Danny's
son, Martin, now in his 20s, is a state junior champion
and placed fourth in a world junior championship
tournament.	
"He started playing when he was 5 and competed in his
first tournament when he was 9," Melody says.
When the weather warms up, Lake of the Ozarks
pitchers move to outdoor courts in Laurie and other
horseshoe clubs in Missouri. Fourteen outdoor courts
hold Spring Opens and other tournaments throughout
the summer. Out-of-staters get in on the fun, too. The
Lions Park Horseshoe Club in Peculiar holds a Tween the
States Open, and Independence Horseshoe Club members
compete in the Missouri/Kansas Border War Open.
	 While the sport provides fun all year long, there's
something about the clang of a ringer that's right on
the money which evokes the feel of the backyard in
summertime. That's when Danny and Melody open up the
sides of the Backyard Horseshoe Club and turn on the
fans to keep things cool. In 2010, they hosted the Missouri
State Horseshoe Pitching championships, with people
camping on the grounds.
	 Danny remembers the first time he entered a
tournament with his stepbrother at the Cape Girardeau
Eagles Club annual picnic. They won.
	 "Winning first place hooked me on the sport right away,
and I have enjoyed the competition and playing the sport
ever since," he says.
	 It was a sympathetic loan officer at a bank who first
took Danny's request for funds to build a backyard
clubhouse seriously. With the loan and the help of their
daughter, Melody and Danny started building. Other
players still doubted they could do it, Danny says, but they
did. Now their backyard rings summer through winter with
the sound of horseshoes hitting the stake.
	 "We showed them that dreams do come true," Danny
says.
For more information on horseshoe pitching tournaments
and clubs in Missouri, visit the Missouri Horseshoe
Pitching Association at www.mohpa.us or follow their
Facebook group at www.facebook.com/groups/MOHPA.
The National Horseshoe Pitchers Association Hall of Fame
museum is located at 100 Bluestem Way in Wentzville
and is open Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For
more information on NHPA or horseshoe rules visit www.
horseshoepitching.com.
Jackson is a freelance writer from Clinton.
http://www.mohpa.us http://www.facebook.com/groups/MOHPA http://www.horseshoepitching.com
Rural Missouri - May 2020

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