NEWSLINE STORY

published July-August 2016

President's Message
Communications and Game Related Sales Benefits

by Stu Sipma, NHPA President

Over the past years as your President, the Council has addressed some major changes to the way we conduct business, and share information.

We have added Charter Communications. The idea behind this was to bring closer communications between the Charters and NHPA. Jerry Labrosse is the lead on this. We feel this is an important position to have to keep the communications highway open and to answer questions. We next started Facebook, which is another way of sharing information (social media). Tina Hawkins has the lead on this. We then took a look at what is costing the NHPA money from our General Fund to run our business. It was very noticeable that the Newsline magazine was the biggest one. So with the latest software, we turned Newsline into an electronic version that is shared with every NHPA member who has access to email. This is also made available to anyone who is not a member but interested in horseshoes to view. The reason why I am bringing these items to your attention is that if we don’t make changes on the way we support the NHPA, we are going to have to make some more changes.

The next potential change is Game Related Sales (GRS). I don’t know how many of you buy direct, use Amazon.com to purchase items and it is a way to save money and is a convenience. However, did you know that utilizing options like this does little to nothing for our business of raising revenue to offset cost of doing business and grow our sport?

As many of you are aware, we have a branch of the NHPA called NHPA GAME RELATED SALES.  This organization purchases horseshoes, tools, scoring supplies, cases & bags, garments & a few miscellaneous items for sales to our NHPA distributors, club distributors, retail distributors and at the annual World Tournament. Dee Vadnais-Null & Gary Null are the Directors of NHPA GRS and work very hard (in a volunteer capacity) to keep this merchandise in stock for daily shipping to distributors and customers. The business is currently based in Wentzville, MO, at the Hall of Fame and Museum facility. This is where all the merchandise is warehoused and ships from throughout the year.

It is extremely important that our members purchase their horseshoes and related items from our member distributors and clubs because this helps keep the NHPA organization viable.  We cannot emphasize enough how very important this purchase activity is to the NHPA. This activity is a “service” to the membership and without everyone’s support and purchases the NHPA stands to lose an important aspect of the organization; the ability to supply our membership with high quality tools and merchandise that MEETS THE NHPA SPECIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS.

Unfortunately, in this day of Internet access and all of our suppliers also having websites, the competition is quite intense. Better prices can sometimes be found purchasing from another source or free shipping can be enjoyed; but, this does NOT help to support the organization of which you are a member and the NHPA certainly needs that support from the membership!

If you are a member of a local club, your club can also become a Club Distributor, which will give your club some benefits and help support the NHPA organization. Please contact Dee or Gary at the NHPA GRS office for details.

NHPA GRS Distributors are listed on the NHPA website under “Resources” or you may call the NHPA GRS office at 636-327-5271 for direction to the most convenient distributor or club.  PLEASE BUY FROM YOUR NHPA ORGANIZATION AND HELP SUPPORT THE SPORT WE ALL LOVE!

The 5th Annual HOF Invitational was hosted by the QRHC this past May at the Hall of Fame building located at Wentzville, MO. Jerry Smith once again was the Tournament Director and in talking to Jerry; it sounds like it was a very successful tournament. I want to apologize to the participants and the QRHC for not being able to attend. The NHPA would like to thank all the sponsors who sponsored this event and look forward to another successful tournament next year. 

The 2016 World Horseshoe Tournament will be held July 25 – August 6, 2016 in Montgomery, AL.  The host site, the Multiplex located at the Cramton Bowl is within the city limits and close to downtown Montgomery. David Sidles (W.T. Director) has reported a total of 934 pitchers will be participating over the two weeks.

With the huge success of qualifying and certifying judges for the W.T. last year, Your 1st VP Dan Sanders will once again take the lead on running classes during the W.T. to certify more members to become judges. If you are interested in this please contact Dan Sanders directly or when you arrive in Montgomery, during your registration at the Multiplex, look for the signs. The Council feels this is a step in the right direction to make sure all players get the best experience while competing in this event.

In conclusion, I look forward to visiting with everyone, especially all the new members and 1st time W.T. attendees. I am really looking forward to watching the Junior and Cadet Divisions. If you weren’t able to attend the W.T. feel free to contact me anytime on how we can make this a better sport for everyone to enjoy.

I wish everyone a safe travels to Montgomery.

Stu