Maybe you’ve been downtown Lake Orion on an evening in summertime and heard the clink of metal soon followed by someone joyously shout, ‘Ringer!?
Chances are, you’re down by the 15 lighted courts nestled between Children’s Park and the Orion Art Center, the home pitching grounds of the Lake Orion Horseshoe Club, who celebrates their 50th season this year.
Now, members of the club are making a sales ‘pitch? to those uninitiated in the sport that has been making a comeback in recent years.
The club plays four games a night every Tuesday starting at 7 p.m. The cost is only $40 for the entire 15-week season. That includes a season-ending banquet.
It’s a cheap price for the good times and camaraderie pitching horseshoes inspires, according to the club’s members.
‘People can’t wait until spring to come out and pitch again,? said Budd Wethy, the club’s official historian.
Wethy was born a horseshoe pitch away from the courts. The retired electrician pointed to a scrap of land between the fire department and the art center and said that’s where he was born.
‘There used to be a house there,? he said.
The club got its start in the late 1950s when a group of buddies started heading out to Bunny Run, according to club member Mike Ardelean.
Eventually, the Village of Lake Orion said the club could have the plot of land it now occupies.
The grounds needed a lot of work, but the club hewed the courts out of the mess. Now, Lake Orion boasts some of the finest horseshoe-pitching grounds in southeastern Michigan.
The courts are still owned by the village, but are maintained by the club. While a fence encircles them, anyone who wants to play can do so during regular park hours when the club’s not playing.
Most of the old-timers who started the club are now gone, but keeping up the tradition are 40-50 members who range from teenagers to 80-year-olds, both male and female. Under 18 plays for free.
‘We had three generations pitching here a few years ago,? said Wethy said.
The league uses a handicap system to play, so not all players are pitching from the 40-foot mark between the two stakes. This makes it more competitive and more fun, members said.
Doug Baily, the club’s treasurer, encourages anyone to come out and give it a shot.
‘Everyone’s done it at a picnic. People think they’re not good enough, but that’s not the case,? he said.
Doug first started playing horseshoes with his dad around 1948.
‘I was about six or seven years old when I started pitching with him,? he said.
The club isn’t exclusive to Lake Orion. They get members from all over Oakland County including Troy, Sterling Heights, Oxford, Waterford and Auburn Hills.
The club, a member of the Michigan Horseshoe Pitcher Association, will host its main event on Saturday, June 13, starting at 9:30 a.m.
For more information, go to www.pitchwithus.com/lake_orion.