NEWSLINE STORY
published March - April 2017
Horseshoe Pitching Facts & Folklore
by Bob Dunn, Historian
Past articles have reviewed a number of interesting and unusual older tournaments. This issue’s tournament is interesting from the standpoint that it is still an annual active tournament with the first event dated back to 1929. Yes, the New England Championships has existed for over 85 continuous years and are still going.
NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIPS
The New England Championships is the oldest active tournament in the United States and is an incredible story. The tournament began in 1929 and is still being held on an annual basis. What is very unusual for the tournament’s longevity is that for many years the tournament rotated all around the New England states and had a different host site each year. Now for the last several years the event has been held at 24-court facility in Keene, NH with each shift being run by a different charter. And this is no small event; today it is a very large tournament, requiring extensive effort to direct, coordinate and conduct. Still in 2016, the New England Championships will celebrate its 87th anniversary.
Before beginning review of some of the early New England tournaments there was a tournament uncovered during the research process that fits in here. Although the event was called the Eastern States Horseshoe Championship, it was of the same make up, same region covered, just a different name. The tournament was held in 1927 and is referred to as the fourth such event; so it is possible that the New England Championships actually began in 1924, just under a similar but slightly different title:
BOY OF 15 WINS CHAMPIONSHIP IN HORSESHOE PITCHING TOURNEY
Henry Charvat of Agawam Scores Perfect 450
Defeating Nine Other Seasoned and Veteran Players His Brother is Third
“Once again the adage that “youth will be served” came true when young Henry Charvat, 15 of Agawam, (MA) scored 450 points out of a possible 450 and defeated nine other seasoned and veteran players in the fourth annual Eastern States Barn Yard Golf Tournament played for the championship of the eastern states at the exposition.
In all Charvat won twenty-two 50-point games and in only one game was there any doubt as to the victor. This game was against his brother, Mike, who played two years ago and placed second at that time. This is the first time that Charvat has played in an official tournament.
Henry Charvat is in the eighth grade in junior high at Agawam and helps on his father’s truck farm during vacation and after school.
The runner-up in the tournament was Raymond Peck of Storrs, Connecticut, an electrician employed by the Connecticut Agricultural College. Peck scored 426 points losing only two games. The third high man was Mike Charvat, 22, of Agawam, a student at Northeastern College of Springfield. Mike scored a total of 412 points, losing to his brother by one point and losing three games in all.
Walter Hampton, 61, of Springfield, (MA) a former traveling salesman who never played in an official tournament before, placed fourth, scoring a total of 391 points, losing but four out of nine.”
The first official New England Champion was John Kilbeck in 1929. In fact, he won the first two championships. The 1930 tournament had qualifying round of 100 shoes (28 pitchers entered) and the top twelve men qualified. The finals summary could not be recovered for the 1929 match, but the 1930 Championship was reported in the December 1930 issue of the Horseshoe World:
1930 New England Championships Final Results
Player W L R DR SP Pct.
John Kilbeck Warwick, RI 9 2 321 68 754 42.6%
Roland Lackey Brattleboro, VT 8 3 284 67 652 43.6%
George Clairess Wickford, RI 8 3 288 58 640 45.0%
Alfred Dion, Jr, Phoenix, RI 8 3 274 55 710 38.6%
Charles Becker Newburyport, MA 7 4 277 57 698 40.0%
Arthur Latouille West Springfield, MA 6 5 239 47 666 35.9%
Fremont Whitney Brattleboro, VT 5 6 238 39 706 33.7%
Earl Andrews Harris, RI 4 7 266 39 730 36.4%
Herbert Lackey Brattleboro, VT 4 7 248 44 714 34.7%
Albert Hudson Warwick, RI 3 8 201 32 682 29.5%
Leon Kerry Randolph, VT 2 9 250 47 750 33.3%
Albert Roberge Framingham, MA 2 9 195 31 628 31.0%
The top qualifier was Roland Lackey with 181 points and 54 ringers in his 100 shoes. The next highest qualifier was Albert Roberge with 160 points and 40 ringers, but he didn’t keep that edge during the finals. The champion John Kilbeck, and also the defending champion, was the 11th qualifier, just making the cut for the finals by three points, pitching 31 ringers. Kilbeck was Rhode Island state champion in 1928 and 1930. And the 1930 event held a Junior Division.
1930 Junior New England Championship
Player W L P R DR SP Pct.
Ralph Osborn East Hampton, MA 8 1 181 86 18 232 37.0%
Lynn Glazier Leverett, MA 6 3 168 76 14 244 31.0%
James O’Shea Brockton, MA 5 4 163 65 4 292 22.0%
Owen Curtis North Attleboro, MA 5 4 145 56 10 260 21.5%
Raymond Osborne East Hampton, MA 5 4 152 63 9 240 26.0%
Paul Beausoleil North Attleboro, MA 4 5 168 67 12 274 24.5%
Thomas Shaunnessey North Attleboro, MA 4 5 142 58 6 270 21.5%
Fred Jones North Attleboro, MA 4 5 164 60 7 240 25.0%
Raymond McCoy North Attleboro, MA 2 7 117 40 2 276 11.5%
James Adolfini North Attleboro, MA 2 7 102 33 3 244 13.5%
The third place finisher, James O’Shea, is the only player in the junior class to go on to stardom in the New England Championships. O’Shea was 16 years old in 1930; by 1934, O’Shea was runner-up in the championships, pitching 65.9%. O’Shea won the championship in 1935 and repeated in 1937 (74.5%) and 1938 (74.3%). He also won Massachusetts state championships 1933, 1934, 1935, 1937, 1938, 1940 and 1941. In 1947, O’Shea made the trip all the way to Murray to pitch in the World Tournament. He placed 5th on a 29-6 record, pitching 78.4%.
The listing of champions at the end of this chapter was primarily taken from the New England States website. It does not show Ralph Osborn as junior champion for 1930 and shows O’Shea as a three-time champion. However in Ottie Reno’s Directory of Horseshoe Pitchers, O’Shea stated he was a seven-time New England champion. There may be some truth in that, as the 1948 event summary was found in the October copy of the Horseshoe News written by Pops Woodfield, and states that James O’Shea was the defending champion, which doesn’t match the records on the website and just maybe there were some more tournaments held in the years 1942-1949.
The next champion, in 1931, is a wonderful story as Bernard Herfurth at age 20 won the New England States Championship. Herfurth was champion also in 1933 and 1934. He had one of the more unusual occupations for a horseshoe pitcher; Bernie was a concert pianist and a piano instructor. He also had a very long successful career, which included: Massachusetts state championships in 1973, 1974, 1976 and 1980; Herfurth entered 13 World Tournaments, where he had five top five finishes in the Senior Men’s Championship class; Bernard chaired the Hall of Fame committee for over ten years and was inducted to the National Hall of Fame in 1980 and Herfurth was recipient of the Stokes Memorial Award in 1975.
1933 New England Horseshoe Pitching Championship Final Standing
Player-Hometown W L P R DR SP Pct.
1. B. Herfurth, Northampton, MA 9 2 517 442 127 748 59.0%
2. L. O’Shea, Brockton, MA 7 4 479 338 88 650 52.0%
3. J. Landry, Fall River, MA 6 5 502 352 93 698 50.0%
4. A. Carlson, Concord, MA 6 5 488 369 102 698 53.0%
5. C. Gerrish, Kittery, ME 6 5 488 324 76 662 49.0%
6. H. Savage, Cranston, RI 6 5 472 351 80 740 47.0%
7. J. Hudson, West Warwick, RI 6 5 469 341 80 710 48.0%
8. E. Landry, Fall River, MA 5 6 471 327 78 694 47.0%
9. H. Johnson, Gardner, MA 5 6 461 329 75 752 44.0%
10. P. Heroux, West Warwick, RI 5 6 434 352 83 752 47.0%
11. F. Winn, Springfield, MA 4 7 409 319 75 686 47.0%
12. G. Christopher, Fall River, MA 1 10 393 259 50 656 39.0%
Totals 4,103 8,446 48.6%