History of St. Clair Shores Horseshoe Club
In 1991 the St. Clair Shores Recreation Department was awarded a small grant to fund the construction of 12 horseshoe courts with clay lined pits, concrete pitching platforms and walkways, in Kyte Monroe Park at Masonic and Harper. A notice was put in the local paper for anyone interested in being part of building and organizing the new club.
Kim and Nancy Aiken, Mike Kelly, Gretchen Deng and others volunteered to form a committee to complete the project. Help was solicited from the Berkley Horseshoe Club with members Jerry Shene, Marv Falk and Claude Shannahan helping out. The President for the first year was Kim Aiken. Nancy Aiken was the Secretary/Treasurer and Court Manager for the first 7 years. The first pit clay (aka blue clay) came from Lake St. Clair at the end of Eleven Mile Road where dredging of parkland was being done. The courts were constructed with great care, with care given to every detail. Kim recalls the original layout of the courts was made to comply with official horseshoe regulations. It's been rumored these courts are among the best in the State of Michigan. League play was held two nights a week for the first two years.
League play starts on the first week in May. Singles recreation league begins Monday at 6 p.m.; Doubles recreation league begins Tuesday at 6:30 p.m.; Singles sanctioned league begins Thursday at 6 p.m. If a member has pitched in 10 league games, that pitcher is qualified to pitch in club singles league tournaments at season's end.
Pitchers provide their own horseshoes.
A small membership fee is charged to pitch in the leagues. Prizes and trophies are given out at the end of the season.
Sanctioned tournament play began in 2001 and continues with two weekends of scheduled pitching.
Everyone, novice to experienced, is welcome. Horseshoe rules state that elders (70 and over), women, juniors (18 years old or less, for the entire calendar year in which tournaments are played), can pitch as close as 30 feet to each stake. All others pitch at 40 feet. Our leagues have a handicap system similar to bowling, which makes the competition fair and fierce every week.
Over the years, the membership has fluctuated, however, since 2001 there has been a steady membership increase with public awareness of the opportunity to pitch with the SCSHC.
Looking back, Nancy and Kim say a display of outstanding sportsmanship was adopted by all members. Some people grin and think of horseshoes as a backyard game or " barnyard golf." To them I say, bring your horseshoes with you on league nights and start having some real fun.