by  Dave Loucks

As we move forward into 2005 and a new pitching season, let me first extend best wishes to all of you for good health, happiness and lots of ringers throughout the New Year.

I appreciate the trust you’ve shown by electing me your new NCHPA President. Outgoing president, Gary Keiser did a great job despite the very serious injury he sustained to his foot while on his job. I know you all join me in wishing Gary a full recovery and much success as he enters a new phase of responsibility with his employer.

Wayne George, NCHPA 3^rd VP submitted his resignation due to work and time constraints. I have appointed Bill Harris of Pollock Pines to replace Wayne for the remainder of his term, which has one more year to go. Since Bill has expressed a desire to involve more juniors in our association, I have assigned him the responsibility of NCHPA Junior Promotion. In this capacity, Bill will coordinate junior promotion within the charter and share his success with the NHPA and NCHPA members through this newsletter.

When you review your 2005 tournament schedule, which is included with this newsletter mailing, you might notice that there are about 20 fewer tournaments scheduled than in 2004. It is hoped that fewer events will mean an increase in the average number of tournament entrants for 2005. For whatever reasons, the number of entrants has been declining in recent years. If you are one of the many NCHPA members who seem to stay close to your home club for tournaments, please make a commitment to travel and enter a tournament or two at locations you haven’t before visited. Clubs cannot easily survive on 16 –18 entrants especially when the majority are members of the host club.

Also note on the schedule that the annual meeting and awards banquet are not yet scheduled. This is because we are going to investigate the possibility of finding a location to host, at least the banquet, at an earlier date. We will specifically consider something in conjunction with the NorCal Championships in October where a greater attendance might be realized.

One of the services offered members is a $25.00 subscription to tournament stats. Several years ago there were close to 100 subscribers but the number has dwindled down to about 20. If this service is to continue, I would like to see the subscriber list grow, not decline. Those interested in renewing or becoming a new stat subscriber are requested to mail the annual $25.00 fee to Dave or Cathie Loucks. Together, we will initially be doing the stats and maintaining the records needed to determine the numerous NCHPA awards presented each year. How long we will be providing the subscription service will depend on how well the membership supports it.

TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS TAKE NOTE !!! Your club contact person will no longer be receiving the list of member averages prior to a tournament. It will now be your or someone in your club’s responsibility to access the NHPA Website, go to NatStats, then Northern California and then print out the names and averages to use for your tournament. It is also your responsibility to send tournament results to the NCHPA statistician immediately following your tournament in order to keep averages current. In 2005 you will send, via email or snail mail, all results to P.O. Box 1628, Penn Valley, CA 95946 or nhpadave@yahoo.com

The $2.00 fee per entry is, as usual, to be sent to Gail Sluys, NCHPA Secy./Treasurer.

If any of you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. In the meantime…

Looking Forward

by  Gary Keiser

It was a great experience being your President. I think more members should run for office as you can make a difference, you give something back to the sport and you learn more about horseshoes than you ever will just pitching in tournaments. With over 500 members and only 7 officers, you can always help out especially in a year (2005) when the NCHPA hosts the State Tournament. I know it would be greatly appreciated.

I had additional surgery on my foot in late November and am hoping it will be the last. I hope to be back at work soon and am looking forward to being retrained for a different job with my company.

They will be sending me out of state (PA) for some schooling and throughout the year I will be receiving OSHA training. Unfortunately, most of that will be on weekends, which will definitely curtail my pitching.

Knowing I would be unavailable for a good part of the year, I chose not to run for re-election. I was pleased that Dave accepted the nomination for president at the annual meeting. I know he will do as great a job for the NCHPA as he did for so many years with the entire NHPA membership. Although Mary was somehow convinced to re-run for 4^th VP, she has now resigned that position. She feels as I do, that we would not be able to give 100% to the members due to our situation.

ll of the submitted changes to our bylaws and standing rules were approved. Some were slightly amended for better clarification. The following is a basic outline of minutes of the meeting and the changes made. Please read and retain this copy so you are informed and won’t be surprised during the year.

Kimmy Stockli, 1^st VP report: During 2004 the Shoe Shop was repainted thanks to Don & Windell Stephens and re-roofed thanks to Al Hoelscher. I have several thousand score sheets on hand so call or email me if you need any. I now have a Website for the NCHPA Distributorship, which enables you to go directly to the Website to order any and all supplies you might need to get you through the season. You can go shopping with a cart and pay with a credit card through pay-pal without any additional charges. This is a real breakthrough and I expect it to be a very successful source of income for the NCHPA. I hope everyone that has access to the Internet will at the very least, go online and check it out. http://www.kimmysnchpashoeshop.com .

Other officers have included their reports in their articles so I won’t repeat them here.

Casey Sluys Spoke to the delegates re the World Tournament in Bakersfield this summer. Please remember the SCHPA will need plenty of assistance to make this a great tournament for all of California. If you can offer help in any way, perhaps you could contact Casey at (707) 538-3128 or kcslus@sbcglobal.net. A caravan of people planning on attending the WT will leave from Boston and pick up folks as they travel through each state. As a means of advertising where they are going, each vehicle will display a flag designed to denote exactly that. There is a contest for a design for the flag with the winner receiving a 3-year subscription to Newsline. You can go online or contact Casey directly for information on the contest.

If you have any information you want displayed on the NCHPA Website you must contact Casey or Gail with it before it can be posted.

New Business: It was again suggested that we possibly change our awards banquet to earlier in the day (luncheon) in hopes of increasing the turnout. This was suggested last year and the delegates were asked to get input from their club members and report to Gail. For whatever reason, it didn’t happen so we ask you once again to let us know your feelings/ideas. You can contact any or all officers.

Bob Kincheloe of the Yolo club explained there would be some changes at the Yolo courts. Major, will be a new entrance gate which will have a lock on it. Naturally it will be open for tournaments but if you have an RV and plan on going to a tournament early you might want to check with Bob to make sure the gate is open. The maintenance and ownership of the restrooms will be taken over by the county sometime during the year. Do not count on being able to buy your breakfast or lunch at the Yolo tournaments this year. It will not be available during the regular tournaments. However, there will be plenty of food available at the State, Norcal Championships and the Team Championships.

NHPA Bylaws: Although this was reported in a previous newsletter I will reiterate: Beginning January 1^st, if you will turn 70 during the calendar year and wish to move to a shorter distance, you may do so at the start of the year, regardless of your birthday. Be advised that if you do plan to move up you must re-qualify at the shorter distance and send that information immediately to the statistician (Dave or Cathie Loucks) and make sure you have proof to show the tournament director at your first tournament of the year.

NCHPA Bylaws & Standing Rules: The first item to be voted on was an increase in NCHPA dues from $8.00 to $10.00 per year. This passed and as of 2005 the NHPA & NCHPA dues will be $22.00 per year. This includes $2,000,000.00 of liability insurance. (continued)

Next, the change to the Norcal Championships was also changed to reflect a new format. The new format is as follows:

a. This shall be a 2-day tournament.

b. There shall be 6 divisions offered consisting of: men, senior men, women, senior women, elders and juniors. The E.C. reserves the right to cancel any division based on insufficient entries.

c. All entry fees plus added monies shall be paid out in prize money.

d. Special awards shall be presented to 1^st and 2^nd place in each group.

e. The E.C. shall determine the entry closing date, format, entry fee and any other pertinent details of the tournament.

f. Entry in said tournament is restricted solely to NHPA/NCHPA members who have pitched in a minimum of five (5) NCHPA sanctioned tournaments prior to the eligibility closing date set by the E.C. New NCHPA members joining after August 1^st need only three (3) tournaments.

g. Information regarding this tournament shall be published in the NCHPA tournament schedule, an advance flyer in the newsletter and on the NCHPA Website.

Due to the change in the NorCal Championships, the Senior Tournament has been canceled in its entirety.

The Team Tournament has a few changes: The handicap has been changed from 90% to 80%. In the finals teams winning THREE (3) or more games in a single round will receive the 40 bonus points. (Used to be two (2) or more). Last but certainly not least, due to circumstances of the 2004 tournament, each team will be allowed to name an alternate player who can be activated in case of injury to an original team member.

Brought to the floor due to other discussion was the motion to remove Article 6, Section 5, which requires all clubs to maintain a minimum of 6 sanctioned courts in order to have voting privileges at the annual meeting. The motion was seconded and passed by an overwhelming majority.

Standing Rules: No. 4, which is to pay the chairperson to the NHPA annual meeting a sum of $200.00 was changed to a sum of $100.00. No. 7, which deals with the $2.00 collected for each entry in each tournament was also changed. The $1.00 normally held out for expenses and additional prize money for the State Tournament will now be split. Beginning Jan 1^st $.50 cents of each dollar held will still go toward the State Tournament. The other $.50 will serve the same purpose for our NorCal Championships. It will be used for the expenses of the tournament and remaining funds will be added to the entry fee and be distributed as prize money. Rule No. 9 was changed to reflect that any information regarding tournaments not included in the tournament schedule must be included in a flyer to the contact person for each club via email/snail mail, the newsletter and/or the Website.

Election of Officers: Your new president is Dave Loucks; Kimmy Stockli remains your 2^nd VP; Mary Keiser was to remain your 4^th VP, but has since resigned her position due to her commitment to Gary and will be replaced by someone in the near future. Mary Fig remains your 5^th VP, however she has turned over her Junior Promotion duties to your newly appointed 3^rd VP, Bill Harris.

If anyone would like a copy of the NCHPA 2005/2006 bylaws, please contact Bill Harris by phone or email. He has lots of copies and will gladly send them to you. Every new member receives a copy in their new member packet from Mary Fig and they can also be downloaded Online from the NCHPA Website after Jan 2^nd.

P.S. Almost forgot! Another item that was announced in the meeting was that Jeff Williams was re-instated as a member of the NCHPA. His suspension has been removed and we hope to see him at many tournaments this season and back at the top of his game. As most of us realize, Jeff has an alcohol problem. We, who partake of alcohol, think nothing of offering a beer or drink to our friends. Please think twice about sharing with Jeff. He needs our support in his efforts to quit! Thanks!

The main duties of the club contact person are to receive information from NCHPA Officers, other clubs and other members and to then disburse said information to their own club members. In that same vein, any of their own club information that affects other NCHPA members must be disbursed to all officers, and other clubs via email, telephone, snail mail the newsletter an/or the NCHPA Website.

For those of you that haven’t heard our NCHPA dues have gone up just a little. The amount for dues for the NHPA and the NCHPA in 2005 will be $22.00. You will also have to pay the amount of your club dues directly to your club. Junior dues remain the same at $7.00 plus club dues.

We have a new NCHPA President - one who is VERY or OVER qualified for the position. I know he will work very hard to keep everything going smoothly here in the NCHPA. He is of course Dave Loucks. Congratulations Dave – I look forward to working with you. We will miss Gary and hope for his complete recovery and a return to at least pitching in the near future.

Congratulations to Cathie Loucks and John Sylvester who were the 2004 inductees into the NCHPA Hall of Fame. Cathie has worked very hard for many years on both a state and national level and is currently NCHPA 1^st VP, newsletter editor and schedule director. Gee, I wish we could find a few more jobs for her. She is now our first lady and Dave better be careful ‘cause if she knocks him off she becomes president – hummmm…

John Sylvester has been a member of the horseshoe family for 31 years and has won many tough competitions, including NorCal and State championships. John is very competitive and fun to pitch with. I for one am very proud to have both of these members entered into our Hall of Fame. Well deserved! by Gail Sluys

From the desk of your 4^th VP.

Hi everyone!

I wish to thank my Hall of Fame committee members for their help during the last two years in selecting inductees into the NCHPA Hall of Fame. My committee members are: Bill Brown and Teddy Guillotte of Tri-Valley, Genevieve Lavett of Seaside and Dave Loucks of Gold Country.

Due to being fairly new to the organization, their experience and knowledge was invaluable to me. Thank you so much! The 2004 inductees into the NCHPA Hall of Fame were Cathie Loucks and John Sylvester. Congratulations to them both. I’ll kind of be in the background this coming year but hope to make it to some tournaments. Mary Keiser

From the desk of your 5^th VP.

The Awards Banquet of 2004 was a gala event, as usual. Unfortunately attendance was down…I guess it’s just getting a little harder for people to party? Those that did attend, all 89 of us, enjoyed visiting, breaking bread and dancing together to the music of Harvey Brown and the Sidewinders. The steak dinner by Lena’s Caterers was great and they deserve a big hand.

This year was a first in that we did not send tickets to the clubs to sell but had them picked up at the door. I didn’t hear any comments, good or bad, but would appreciate hearing what those who attended thought of this change. We thought maybe more people would attend but at the rate we are going, we can rent a phone booth for the event. I was sent raffle money from six clubs and clubs that attended brought theirs with them. I had a roll of 2000 tickets and they were sold out! Thank you all for your support.

Since this is our annual awards banquet, it was rather disappointing to see the large number of people receiving awards not present to accept them. Congratulations to all recipients. Look for a possible change next year as we will not be returning to the Stockton Rod & Gun Club for this event. Happy New Year! by Mary Fig

New Members…….

I hope I haven’t left anyone out, if so I apologize. I believe we had 84 new members for the year, the last ones not mentioned previously being, Allan Hightman for Tri-Valley, Lauren Harden for Forebay Park, Tony Tuscany for Seaside and Ginger Matcham for Fortuna. We already have 6 new members for 2005. They are Jack Parker, Jesse Guel, Eddie Borquez, Mark Thielen and Dennis Andrews, all for the San Jose club. Amazing how many new members San Jose is accumulating when they don’t even have permanent courts. Last but not least is Bob Tuscany, Jr. who has joined the Seaside club and it is hoped will assist his dad. Bob, Sr. is the new Seaside president and has undertaken the job of revitalizing the Seaside club. The 1^st tournament of 2005 is at Seaside on Sat. Feb. 19^th. Please support these new pitchers and the Seaside club by attending their very 1^st tournament!

A big welcome to all the new members of our NCHPA family! Cathie Loucks

News from the Clubs

Wanda Helsby had surgery and with Fred as her nurse has recuperated nicely. Charlie DeRose backed off on entering tournaments this year due to problems with his knees. He didn’t want to start and have to drop out. Bless him, he still enjoys pitching and comes out to practice with some of the friends he’s made over the years.

Our backboards are in need of some repair and our members are doing what they can to keep things looking good with what they have to work with. The city, feeling the crunch, isn’t giving our area the attention it needs.

Happy & Healthy Holidays to all! See you in on the courts in 2005! Mary Fig

The club members have been instrumental in keeping everything inside the fenced court area pristine. They’ve poured concrete, mowed lawns, removed litter and just generally relieved the park maintenance staff of day-to-day work. These club members are the ideal example of a community partnership with local government that makes resources and activities available to the public that would not be possible without their support. We really appreciate their generosity and commitment.

The funds were placed in the Doyle Park Trust Fund to be used where it would do the most good. (Information sent in by Greg Ellison of the Sonoma Club) Thanks for sharing, Greg. This is the kind of impression the NCHPA would like everyone to have regarding our members. (Cathie)

Toll of Time

Jonce, an Oklahoma native, self-made man and owner of his construction company, had a heart 2 sizes larger than average – it just wore out too soon. A generous man, he quietly appraised the situation, then did something about it. Tri-Valley was the recipient of much of his generosity and some of the best shrimp and homemade wine once this man brought his "shoes" to town. Horseshoe pitching was a passion to the extent that his barn had lighted courts. Friends made thru pitching were treasured. He especially enjoyed the green beans at the Awards Banquet – "just like down home". Missed now is that unmistakable amble of his coming across various parks, horseshoes in hand, trademark straw hat cocked over one eye and a hello and handshake for all. Missed by his wife of 49 years, 2 daughters, a son and their families. Missed by all of us yet forever in our memories.

Dick lived in Fallon, NV but during the years he pitched, he traveled extensively to NCHPA tournaments and this happy, friendly person was always a welcome addition.