The Kilkenny Horseshoe Club from the southeast district is located in the rolling hills area of Le Sueur County. The club was founded in 1983 by Leon Pittman and Jake David. Leon held the position of director and Jake was the statistician from 1983 until 2013.

The club held a Walking Doubles tournament in the 1980s and 1990s. Leon ran a junior league during that time period. In 2003 Leon received a director of the year plaque from the NHPA.

Last year Leon and Jake passed down their positions with Becky Melchert taking over as the club director and Bob Waugh as statistician.

The club plays Tuesday nights on five blue clay courts with ten two-person teams. They use the "count all" handicap system. 

MGSHPA President Cathy Ziemann

Spring has arrived! It is getting time to get outdoors and throw some shoes. I am sure clubs are having their spring meetings, scheduling spring cleanings and establishing league schedules. Just a reminder, many hands make light work. Get involved and remember to have fun!

I am sure that Dustin Dahl has been busy issuing sanction #'s for our summer tournaments. If you haven't scheduled your tournament, get in contact with him soon!  The summer weekends fill up fast and you'll want to get your tournament information posted on the MGSHPA Website. A reminder for any member entering tournaments, the schedules are posted on the Website. If you need a schedule mailed to you, you must request one. 

The annual Spring Membership meeting will be held between shifts at the Jim Holland Memorial Open June 13 at the Fridley Horseshoe courts.  

There are 2 offices within the MGSHPA that are up for election, re-election in 2015. They are the West Metro Vice-President (currently held by Robin Constance) and the Secretary-Treasurer-Membership Director (currently held by Bonnie Holland). Candidates for MGSHPA offices must announce their candidacy in writing and received by the President and the Ringer Digest Editor no later than June 1st.

By now I am sure that everyone has heard that the next World Tournament will be held in Topeka, Kansas July 13-25, 2015. To qualify for this tournament you need to have a minimum of four sanctioned events prior to May 15, 2015. The World Tourney entry forms are available on the NHPA website. I will be looking for members to be delegates at this year's tournament. Please let me know if you are interested. 

Hope to see you soon on the courts!

Cathy 

  Construction photo of the new Alex courts in Curtis Felt Memorial Park

It's finally spring and we've been lucky enough to have a few days warm enough to get out on our courts and practice a little. Al and I were both pretty rusty as we spent the winter tossing bean bags instead of horseshoes. The Alexandria League spring meeting was held on April 22nd and we are very excited to start this season on our new courts in Curtis Felt Memorial Park.

We placed the clay in the pits last fall but didn't get the chance to actually use them. It will be so nice to be away from all the downtown traffic. We hope many of you will come and check out our new set up Memorial Weekend when our club hosts the Alexandria Open. If we get enough participants we will run a two day tournament. Last year we ran Classes A and B as non-handicapped, 40 point games. We will sure consider doing that again this year if there is enough interest. Curtis Felt Memorial Park is located on the north side of Alexandria. The park address is 2460 Parkside Rd NE.

We hope you have sent in your entry forms for the World Tournament in Topeka Kansas, we have. We would love to see a huge turnout from MN there.  We plan to take our camper and we have reservations at Shawnee Campground. We have gotten to know many of the Kansas pitchers from a number of years of participating in the Cross Roads Classic Tournament in Belleville, KS.  They are a fun group of people and I am sure they will provide us with a great World Tournament experience.

We look forward to seeing everyone on the courts again soon.