Alvin J. Benoit
May 11, 2009
Breaking News: Mother guilty of children’s slayings
May 14, 2009
Staff Writer
The chain-link fence surrounding 16 cemented pits at Patterson’s Kemper Williams Park serves as a gateway to a whole new world.
It’s hard to miss the sound of metal clanking against metal coming from inside. Or the sound of cheering – or jeering – as horseshoe pitchers attempt to hurl the animal footwear as far as the eye can see.
The players have a different take than most on the sport. It’s far more than recreation.
Since its beginnings around the time of the Revolutionary War, horseshoes has kept families entertained. At cookouts, tailgating parties and summer get-togethers, friendly games arise.
Fans of the sport say it has gained popularity because of the simplicity of the rules. A ringer – when the horseshoe circles the stake – is worth three points. Each horseshoe lobbed within six inches of the stake is worth one point.
The only equipment needed: two horseshoes and a spike.
Patterson’s Bayou Horseshoe Pitchers Association – born in 1997 after the merger of the Atchafalaya Horseshoe Pitchers and the LA 70 Ringers – meet at the park Tuesday nights for competitive, yet friendly games.
Lester Waguespack, 79, a Bayou Vista resident and a charter BHPA member who has been playing horseshoes since 1972, said it’s a chance for him to get out of the house and do something he enjoys.
His only wish: that the organization would grow faster. The roster currently boasts 49, enough for 10 four-person teams.
“Around here at times, it looks like it’ll grow but then at other times it looks like it drops off,” he said.
Waguespack serves as the BHPA’s treasurer. Beyond the addition of the fenced pits, he said the sport has changed little.
“I think the more people play it, the better it will become,” he said. “It’s a sport anyone can play at any age.”
Since its inception, the BHPA has produced its share of champions.
Bayou Vista’s Dudley Michel, 67, a founding LA 70 Ringers tosser, for example, will be inducted into the state Hall of Fame at an upcoming tourney in Welsh.
Michel got his start in the sport playing with friends in his backyard. Since then, he’s won a number of local and state tournaments.
“We’d get together for festivals in places like Raceland, which had horseshoe tournaments,” he said. “A friend of mine and myself used to play quite a bit. Then we started getting a bunch of friends to go. We eventually formed the LA 70 Ringers.”
At last week’s state doubles tournament in Harahan, Kevin Dore, of Patterson, nabbed the Class A first place title, while BHPA President Tim Hayles, of Bayou Vista, and Milton Peace, of Berwick, won first place in Class B.
In all, eight men and women from the league nabbed a top three finish: Dore; Tim Gilmore, of Bayou Vista, Class A second-place winner; Pearce and Hayles; Michel and partner Al Dodson, of Morgan City, who won second place in Class B; and Clay Canty and Burnie Williams, both of Morgan City, third-place Class B winners.
“We have so many talented people out here,” Hayles said. “When you get into competition here and you go head-to-head with a guy who’s been throwing for years, it’s completely different.”
“People take this seriously,” he added. “I’ve been playing since I was 15 and I can honestly tell you, it’s much tougher than one would think.”
Newbies to the game are given handicaps, which can be a major incentive to join the sport.
“There was a woman with a 70 handicap who did not make a point and ended up winning the match,” Hayles said. “That’s the only time I saw that, but it is possible. It’s the only way to be fair to everyone.”
With facilities Waguespack describes as “the best in the state,” the BHPA is able to host the state tournaments, including several planned this year.
Given the choice of hand grenades or horseshoes, St. Mary’s BHPA sides with the latter. And they’ve got the mounting awards and accolades to prove it.
Julie Rock, of Bayou Vista, pitches a horseshoe as her opponent, Clay Canty, keeps a watchful eye on the toss. Rock and Canty are members of the Bayou Horseshoe Pitchers Association, which meets Tuesdays at Kemper Williams Park in Patterson.
