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Ok, all you tossers get ready for another horseshoe tournament at the SPV Lions Club.
Mammoth – To some, a horseshoe tournament is just good, clean fun: a way to wile away the otherwise idle hours with pleasant company, preferably surrounded by bountiful treats, with a cold beverage near to hand.
To others, it is exercise: a creative way to get the indolent interested in moving about their limbs, in hopes of attaining some prize, whether that prize be cash or mere public adulation. And, to still others, it is a serious sport, with exacting rules on how to pitch and deliver.
But, to those who love a good horseshoe tourney best, it is all those and more. It is sport. It is art. The setting of the stakes, the selecting and study of the shoes, the pitch, the delivery, the crowd, and more, come together to create a unique experience out of familiar materials. The correct posture, heft, swing of an “A” player is as important, as amazing, as delicately and instinctively timed as that of the movements of a professional football player or a prima ballerina. They can be just as awe-inspiring to the watcher.
If one were to Google up “The art of the horseshoe tournament”, among other things, one would be likely to find, the National Horseshoe Pitchers Association website, which invites all to “Come Pitch with Us”, and provides information on how to pitch, including finger positioning, pitching grips and different turns, footwork, follow through, and exceptions that prove the rule. Digging a little deeper, no pun intended, one might also find an online article by Jim Atwell, ‘Zen and the Art of Pitching Horseshoes’, which offers valuable and affirmative insights such as, “Flow with the game and let your mind be free” and the somewhat Yoda’esque, “It is not necessary to try, just pitch horseshoes”.
Whatever your reason for enjoying the game, the Saturday, June 18 San Pedro Valley Lions Club Horseshoe Tournament Blind Draw is bound to have something to offer you. Cost for entry is $15 per person, with sign in at 9:30 a.m. and an 11 a.m. start. There will be a Winner’s Purse, 25%, which will pay for 1st through 3rd places. Non-food booths will be for rent at the cost of $20, which includes water and electricity. There will also be food, games, music and fun for the whole family.. For a $2 donation, a 16 oz. draft beer will be available to those in the correct age group.
The location is 115 Main St. in Mammoth. For more information, call Rudy at 520-487-2968, Linda at 520-609-5804, Billy at 520-487-2647 or the Lions Club, from 4 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., at 520-487-2000.
There are news or informational items frequently written by staff or submitted to the Copper Basin News, San Manuel Miner, Superior Sun, Pinal Nugget or Oracle Towne Crier for inclusion in our print or digital products. These items are not credited with an author.
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