Friday, May 22, 2009

Horseshoe pits come to Keefer Park

Volunteers play key role in Hailey project

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Smoothing the concrete Wednesday afternoon at the newly built Wood River Horseshoe Pitching Association pits at Woodside’s Keefer Park in Hailey are, from left, Jim Vila, Stew Brown and Brent Wood. This morning, Friday, at 8 a.m., they’ll pour the concrete on the other courts at the site. Plans call for the eight courts and 16 pits to be playable for the public by mid-June. Photo by David N. Seelig

Atlantic Aviation aircraft mechanic Brent Wood of Hailey is a horseshoe pitcher who has competed in four world tournaments and National Horseshoe Pitching Association (NHPA) meets in Idaho.

Last year, Wood saw the need for a horseshoe pitching facility in the Wood River Valley and started spinning the wheels to make it happen. He got lots of help, and this week the pits are becoming a reality at Keefer Park in Hailey.

They poured the concrete Wednesday for half of the project, and will pour the remaining concrete today, Friday, so the Woodside-area park can have eight courts and 16 pits with 40-foot runways—all open to the public. Completion date of the project is mid-June.

Wood said, "Anybody will be able to come out in their leisure time, pitch and have fun. It will be a permanent thing. We'll be able to hold sanctioned tournaments because of the way we built it, but it can be used by kids and men's leagues, too."

Pushed by some fellow pitchers in the Pocatello area, Wood saw the opportunity last year to bring sanctioned horseshoe pitching to the south-central part of the state, specifically in Hailey. He had to raise money and go through the proper government channels.

Wood said contributions and private funding approached $3,000 so the project could get off the mark. He credited Sun Valley ski patrolman Stew Brown for doing much of the legwork with Hailey's Parks and Recreation Department.

Brown, Wood and other volunteers such as Jim Vila were out enjoying the sunshine and pouring concrete Wednesday. Excavation for the courts and pits to ensure they would be as level as possible took place three weeks ago. Volunteers built the forms, and Steve Gower's knowledge of concrete leveling was put to good use.

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All in all, it has been a worthwhile community project that the general public can eventually enjoy.

"We're pushing real hard to make it playable by mid-June," Wood said.