Toll of Time

W. Warren Woolsey, 86 of Clearwater, FL, passed away March 17, 2010. Warren was a member of the Clearwater Horseshoe Club for the past 10 years and won the Florida Elder Men’s State Championship in 2002, 2004, and 2008. Warren was inducted into the FSHPA Hall of Fame in 2009. Warren served the Clearwater Club as Sec/Treasurer for three years. He was a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Clearwater. He moved to Clearwater from Valparaiso, Indiana in 2001 where he was a retired Assistant Vice President of Indiana Federal Bank. Before moving to Valparaiso in 1983, he lived for many years in Decatur, Georgia, where he has served as President of the DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce, Decatur Civitan Club, Fidelity National Bank, and Capital City Bank of Hapeville, Georgia. He was also a former Vice President and Manager of the Decatur Branch of the First National Bank of Atlanta where he was employed for 21 years. He was a champion horseshoe pitcher, participating in tournaments throughout Indiana, Illinois and Florida and was an officer for 10 years of the Whiting Horseshoe Club in Whiting, Indiana. He was an Army veteran of World War II, having served in both the European Theater and in Japan in the Army of Occupation. He graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia with both BBA and Doctor of Law degrees. He was an honor graduate of the Graduate School of Banking at Rutgers University.

Warren loved horseshoe pitching and had many great stories to tell about his horseshoe pitching, his banking and World War II experiences. We are very saddened by Warren’s passing and will miss him very much.

Submitted by Ron Deckard

NHPA Regional Director for Florida

COMMENTS FROM THE THIRD VICE PRESIDENT

Great 50^th Anniversary Florida State Tournament in Melbourne!  We were so fortunate to have Peg Currier and Lois Chipperfield to do the computer entering.  They made a great team.  John Peplinski did an excellent job setting up and organizing the Class Schedules for the State Tournament.  Everyone worked well together from the E.C. to the Melbourne Club Members to the FSHPA members who attended the State Tournament. They all worked together to make our 50^th Anniversary Florida State Tournament a fun place to be.

Also the food was outstanding and the courts looked great.  I learned an appreciation for the runners from personal experience.  The idea of having the 50th Anniversary shirts pre-ordered with the names on them was a terrific idea, and especially nice for the players.  Even the weather was great, except for the small shower on Wednesday, which made us appreciate the beautiful weather that followed.  It was so nice to see everyone and to take the time out to visit, which in our everyday lives is hard to do.  

I would like to congratulate all the Class Champions, State Champions and all the players who received a special award. I know they worked hard all year practicing and going to tournaments, so they would have a chance to win at the State Tournament.

The winner of this year’s Florida Junior Scholarship Award for $1,000.00 went to Austin Hersey. Congratulations Austin! The winners of the $100.00 John Reynolds, Jr. Memorial Horseshoe Scholarship Award were Jr. Girl State Champion, Megan Polski and Jr. Boy State Champion, Justin Maples. Congratulations Megan and Justin!

All the Jr. Scholarship information has been sent to the U.S. Family Foundation, so when Austin, Megan and Justin have graduated from High School they can use the scholarships to further their education.

In closing I would like to wish everyone a safe and fun summer with family and friends and lots of ringers in any tournaments you pitch in this summer. Hope to see you in the fall at one of the many tournaments we have in our Florida World of Horseshoes.

Verdell Woollard (Dell)