Ching... clack.
"Nice shoe Joe!"
Twackle clack.
"Ooh good one!"
Clank!
"Four- two"
The quiet sounds of the Franklin Horseshoe Club Monday night league take one back in time to summer family picnics with burgers and dogs on the grill and pitchin' shoes with dad, grandpa and old uncle Joe who didn't much care about sitting around the "bs-ing about nothing!"
This predecessor of the popular Cornhole is seemingly an older dude's fancy these days and is slowly going the way of the dinosaur. But the Franklin group is doing its best to keep the old time backyard game of accuracy and skill alive.
"Ally has always enjoyed being around the older generation and has much respect for her elders. She enjoys the laughs that are shared and the competition of the sport," Judy said. "I am thrilled that Ally is pitching horseshoes as my partner!, I love that she enjoys it as much as I do."
Ally didn't get a chance to pitch with her grandfather, who passed away over a year ago, but she carries on the love of the sport. Bobbi said that she and Ally are happy to show that "hey girls pitch horseshoes too. And, in Ally's case, they pitch darn good."
She said she is proud her daughter wants to pitch with her and the two look forward to Monday nights.
Other versions of the game are played to certain number like 11 or 21 points.
It is generally considered a "gentleman's game" with opponents often complimenting each other and shaking hands (or fist bumping nowadays) at the beginning and end.
"I think it was Cornhole," Sopher said about the declining numbers. This year they have just under 30 members who play on the Miller-Sibley Park courts. Johnson and Sopher would like to see even more participation.