Pitchers Celebrate Great Greenbelt Season
Mother Nature couldn't have picked a better day to host one of the summer's most enjoyable afternoons on Saturday as the Greenbelt Horseshoe League (GHL) celebrated its season with an end-of-year banquet at the league pits in the Greenbelt.
"This is the crutch of the whole thing - a friendly atmosphere where people from all over get along good," said Albert J. "Zeke" Montroy, league president and captain of Ogdensburg Bowl, the GHL's first place team.
Mr. Montroy and his shoe-pitching cohorts gathered Saturday morning and into the afternoon to exchange trophies, cash prizes and good-natured smack talk over a barbeque spread consisting of burgers, dogs, chilis, salads, and yes, the occassional adult beverage.
Established in 1982 with two pits and four, 4-man teams, according to Mr. Montroy, the GHL has grown. This year's league featured 10, six-man teams and Saturday's barbeque-scene could be found nearly every Thursday evening down at the pits.
"We started with nothing and built it into what you see here," Mr. Montroy said, adding, "From Cornwall, Ontario, to Hogansburg. Canton, Gouverneur, Morristown, Parrishville and Rensselaer Falls. People from all over the place are here from May until Labor Day."
People also come to watch in lawnchairs and root on their favorite pitchers and teams.
It wasn't all friendly on Saturday, however, as a 26-team, single-elimination doubles tournament evolved at the banquet.
Shoes flew across the six pits in the Greenbelt, clanking off the post and evoking good-natured ribbing and catcalls from those involved.
"These young guys come in here and ask me how I shoot all those ringers," said Mr. Montroy, a recent inductee into the New York State Horseshoe Hall of Fame. "I tell most of them that I've been pitching horseshoes since before they were alive. I pitch horseshoes everyday in the pits in my backyard.
"You gotta get up early to beat me," he said.
Members of Ogdensburg Bowl (first place) included Mr. Montroy, Richard Pike, Harland "Bub" Conant and his son, Jimmy Conant, Bob Breen, Greg LeBoeuf, Brent Sealey, and Evert Wells.
Stiles Sand & Gravel (second place) consisted of Ron Stiles, Roger Brothers, Jerry LaPerle, Tom Dawson, Roger James, Peter Beck, and Rick Noble.
Third place went to Nig's Tavern.
