The information presented below is divided into three sections (Please take the time to review it thoroughly): a brief overview of the club, the purpose of the club and the expected duties of all club members.  The Erie Horseshoe Club makes an important contribution to our community in providing a great framework for organized horseshoe pitching in Erie County, PA.  We welcome new members at all times and take our role in the community very seriously.  If you are new to organized horseshoes, we hope you will consider joining us.

The Erie Horseshoe Club provides year round horseshoe pitching for people of all ages by maintaining both indoor and outdoor pitching facilities and by hosting indoor and outdoor leagues and tournaments, including the Eastern National Horseshoe Pitching Championships and the Erie County Horseshoe Pitching Championships. Occasionally, the club will host the indoor and/or outdoor PA State Championships. The club maintains three indoor courts located at 535 E. 25^th Street and twenty-four outdoor courts located in Glenwood Park. The club gives out awards to all tournament and league champions.

In addition to leagues and tournaments, the club hosts several social gatherings throughout the year—a fall banquet with County Tournament and summer league awards presentations, a Christmas party with the member of the year awards presentation, and a spring banquet with winter league awards presentations.

Also, the club holds at least three official meetings per year (usually more) to conduct the business of the club, to revise By-Laws as needed, to plan upcoming events and to elect its officers.

In the club’s Constitution and By-Laws, its purpose is stated as follows:

“The purpose of the club shall be to promote the sport of pitching horseshoes by standardizing rules, improving playing conditions, conducting organized tournaments, providing local leagues and to foster fellowship among its members.”

This seems to be pretty simple and straight forward. But, actually, the above statement only represents the framework of the club’s purpose. It leaves much open for interpretation. At different points in club history, those same words have been interpreted to mean very different things. Over the years, the officers of this club have done a great job of interpreting that statement and implementing it. For example, convincing the city to build public horseshoe courts in their parks greatly improved the playing conditions in Erie and has, since then, always provided us with a top quality facility for outdoor pitching. Later, the addition of indoor courts also greatly improved playing conditions and helped the club to be able to offer tournaments and leagues all year round. Eliminating the long winter break in between pitching seasons really helped members to develop much stronger friendships and lasting relationships with each other and gave the club a great amount of cohesiveness that it had lacked. “Improving playing conditions” was interpreted to mean two very different things at two different times and both turned out to be of tremendous benefit to the club.

It is up to the members to constantly review the club’s written purpose and assess what it really means to today’s club. Effective interpretation of the spirit of the words is the key to understanding the purpose of the club. An easy way to summarize the club’s actual purpose would be to say, that, overall, its purpose is to improve the quality of our game of horseshoe pitching. In all decision-making matters of the club, the members’ first concern should always be “Which solution will truly improve the quality of our game?” If all decisions are made on that basis, then we will always be making sound decisions.

Membership in the Erie Horseshoe Club is much more than membership in a softball team, bowling team or a golf league. You are expected to do more than just show up and play. The club exists for reasons beyond that of socialization and recreation of its membership. Over the years, our club has taken on some significant responsibilities and it is expected that the membership consistently perform the tasks necessary to maintain the club’s status and reputation. For example, the club has always been responsible for the general upkeep of the outdoor courts. We work closely with the City of Erie’s Parks and Recreation Department and have always had a great relationship with those people. It is expected that all members will perform those kinds of tasks. When the club added indoor courts, it became the responsibility of the membership to fund and maintain the facility. Also, from time to time, the club performs charitable acts and fund raising events for local charities. These are just a few examples—All members are expected to partake in these kinds of activities and other events as directed by the club officers. Furthermore,…

…It is expected that all members will respect the rights and privileges of all other members of the club.

…It is expected that all members will, without discrimination, treat every other individual member with the utmost level of courtesy and respect, regardless of that member’s actions or beliefs.

…It is expected that all members will actively participate in and thoroughly enjoy the game of horseshoe pitching either as a player, organizer or spectator.

…It is expected that all members will attend and actively participate in meetings, work details and social gatherings of the club membership.

…It is expected that all members will actively participate in fund raising events and acts of good will conducted by the club.

…It is expected that all members will thoroughly review, understand, adhere to and implement the Constitution and By-Laws of the club.

…It is expected that all members, when voting at club meetings, will base their voting decision on what they feel best benefits the club as a whole.

…It is expected that all members, while representing the club in public (especially while attending horseshoe pitching events) will conduct themselves in a professional, honorable and courteous manner.

The expectations listed above are not requirements for membership. Members are free to conduct themselves as they see fit. They are meant to be guidelines for a member to follow on their way to becoming a productive member of the club. However, acting contrary to some of the above suggestions would be violating certain By-Laws of the club and could result in disciplinary action being taken against that member. It is expected that all members take this section of this web site seriously. If a member, in turn, feels that they can’t adhere to at least a majority of the above conditions, then, they should seriously rethink their desire for membership in this club.

Click Here to review the Constitution and By-Laws of the Club.