What's Been Happening 10/03/04

I rendezvoused at Mickey D's this morning and met with the troops for a great get together. There was enough of us to be called the "Dirty Dozen". Amongst the rough riders that attended were, sergeant Russ Prichard riding RED DEVIL, jumpin Joe Hughes riding THE GREAT ONE (BMW K1200LT), dancin Dick Sieple riding RED MAJESTIC, professor Damien Shelton riding THE FLASH (new mount ST1300), whispering Joe Mendoza riding PRANCER, fast Eddie Bowser riding SHOT GUN, lucky Larry Greco riding BLACK BEAUTY, ole country Joel Gyurnek riding PURPLE MOUNTAIN, and guests Tom Sarnowski from chapter D, and my son Vince riding his MAGNA V65 and yours truly riding HUMPTY-DUMPTY.

The place chosen for our fine dining cuisine was the Machine Shed in Rockford, ILL. I took the lead and ole country Joel did his usual fine job as sweeper. Naturally, only the squirrelly back roads will do. The route that I took was hilly, curvy with many twists and turns to add to our riding pleasure. Our ponies were absolutely thrilled for their much needed exercise which they were about to receive. With little or no road kill to encounter, our ponies' hoofs had the best of traction with no slippies. We finally arrived about 85 minutes later and parked our ponies in the shaded corral by the old oak tree. First, we fed our ponies with some mighty fine octane with a 93 boost.

I took the lead, ole country Joel did the sweep, and it's off we go, hi ho, hi ho, and away we go. Yes siree, this type of weather was a motorcyclist's delight, no bugs, no rain, and very little road kill. What more could one ask for? Our route took us north and east into cheese land, heading through many of lower Wisconsin's county back roads. As we progressed, we passed through the small town of Clinton, and traversed our way further north and east, picking up route U.S. 14 and turning our direction southeast towards Walworth. Turning north on county road 'O' and picking up a very small back road that circumvented Lake Delevan and eventually heading for the western edge of Lake Geneva. Our direction took us around the western side of the lake and eventually traveling along the southern edge of Lake Geneva, where the scenery was beautiful. That particular road was like a roller coaster ride with many dipsy-do's, ups and downs, back and forth. Our ponies were absolutely delighted to get this much needed exercise. Eventually our direction took us south and east, homeward bound. We picked up Wisconsin route 120 and eventually hooked up with Illinois route 47 and it was straight south from there to our annual chili cook off rendezvoused. We eventually arrived at Cary and Miss Kitty Levin's house who were hosting the chili cook off. They were absolutely gracious hosts for allowing us to hold our festivities there. All other chapters were invited, D and G were in attendance. Already there at the chili fest was Wayne Aten from chapter D, Fritz and Carol Goins, Christine & Sir Malcolm Irwin and daughter Kirsty, wimpy Lester and Beverly Chapman, Nancy Greco, John & Karen Jalamo from Chapter G, also attended.

Now is the time that everyone has been waiting for, the annual world championship horse shoe pitching contest of the mid-west, presented by AGWA. Yes siree folks, this was for all of the marbles, bragging rights on who would hold the title for yet another year. The teams were chosen, it was team Greco & Scalpone against team Goins & Chapman. Let the games begin. Remember, this was for the championship, a lot was at stake here. Larry & Fritz lined up at one side, Lester & I lined up at the other side. The pitching became undaunted with a swagger that was second to none. After many near misses of both teams pitching back and forth, team Goins & Chapman took a 6-0 lead. Larry yelled to me, "Lets get going, enough of this". We both knuckled down and eventually tied the score at 6 apiece. Forward ho we must go, team Greco & Scalpone surged ahead and took a commanding lead of 9-6, we got hot!! Needless to say we cooled down rapidly and team Goins & Chapman eventually tied us at 9 apiece. Again, lucky Larry was hitting on all 8 cylinders and give us the leads at 10-9, great pitching. By now the crowds were thickening and the tension in the air was so thick one could cut it with a knife. Security had to be called in to keep everything under control, for tensions were tight. Unfortunately, team Goins & Chapman eventually took a 12-10 leads--yuk, how could this be. I stepped up to the plate after wimpy Les shot his two shoes, and took a point away from Les, was he ever crying. He was screaming and yelling and crying like a baby, yelling foul, foul. I was nice enough to hand him his crying towel so his tears would not blur his vision. Les is not the shooter he thinks he is. His shoes were bouncing all over like a rubber balloon. He was wide right, wide left, too long, too short and cried the whole time about how hard the ground was, poor baby!! Nonetheless, Fritz was holding his team together with some great pitching. One the other hand, I was not shooting worth a beans. Larry was the one who held our team together during this entire match. By now, Larry managed to sneak in another point for us and made the score 12-11. Les was totally frustrated. The time for reckoning was now!! Fritz stepped up to the plate and shot two good shoes for two points with a potential 14-11 lead. Not so fast, my man, lucky Larry stepped up to the plate, check the wind direction and velocity, took aim and BINGO, a ringer, thus taking two points away from team Goins & Chapman. Thus, giving us a potential 14-12 lead. Wimpy Les was having a fit and the tears were flowing--too bad....I handed him his crying towel to wipe the tears away. But wait,

my man Larry still had another shoe to shoot. Again, checking the wind direction and velocity, he took aim, lo and behold, he shoots another ringer--BINGO. Game over!! Team Greco & Scalpone claims the mid west AGWA national horse shoe pitching contest once again. Imagine that folks, a double ringer for the win. Yes, the "thrill of victory" for us and the "agony of defeat" for them. How sweet it is!! Wimpy Les continued to have his fit and frustrations, security had to be summoned to subdue him. As Larry tried to console him, he said to him "deal with it for another year". Les hates losing to me -- especially. The crowds were yelling, screaming for a re-match, to no avail, it is "wait til next year", just like the Chicago Cub fans would say.

A great time was had by all, it was fun and entertaining, a match we all look forward to each year. Let me put this in perspective folks, my horse shoe pitching stunk. It is Larry who carried our team. I scored only one point, a very poor showing. Lucky Larry scored the rest. He not only pitched excellent, but he had not one, not two but four ringers and the last two brought us the title. Three cheers for Larry!! Fritz also carried his team, scoring all but four points. Les needs to take lessons, maybe his son-in-law, Cary Levin could teach him a thing or two.