September 15 – 17, 2011
Eagles Lodge FOE 3911
Houston, MO
AB Draw (9 Teams)
| 1st Place | Jim Payne & Jim Drewel |
| 2nd Place | Craig Bendickson & Rustin Preheim |
| 3rd Place | Matt Coonts & Bill Barks |
Doubles Division 1 Bring (15 Teams)
| 1st Place | Dee Gibson & Ron Sosovec |
| 2nd Place | Tyler Sparks & Bobby Duer |
| 3rd Place | Craig Bendickson & Scott Manier |
| 4th Place | Angie Paben & Matt Coonts |
Doubles Division 2 Bring (7 Teams)
| 1st Place | Smokey Richards & Gary Swain |
| 2nd Place | Donna Miller & Bill Burks |
| 3rd Place | Rustin Preheim & Brandon Adams |
Singles (19 Players)
| 1st Place | Mark Gray |
| 2nd Place | Matt Coonts |
| 3rd Place | Ron Sosovec |
| 4th Place | Bobby Duer |
| 5th / 6th Place | Doug Paben |
| 5th / 6th Place | Craig Bendickson |
Houston Eagles Lodge is the home the the Hall of Fame tournament. This years recipient was Johnny Wright of Kansas City. After hearing testimonies, he was more than deserving of this honor. The induction happened on September 10th with MSPA president Mark Gray representing his proposed inductee. It was a very emotional induction for them of the Kansas City area, as well as the entire shuffleboard players that was there. We heard alot of stories about Johnny who once owned a bar in Enid Oklahoma, with room enough for one shuffleboard table that had people standing and waiting for one game to finish so the next in line could play. He owned “The Honey Bucket” for two years, then moving into Kansas City in 1988, of course looking for shuffleboard activities, he had to call back to Oklahoma and talk to Ron Blalock to guide him to anyone in Missouri that played Shuffleboard, Ron hooked him up with Woodie Cockrum, which they became very good friends, with Woodie in Cuba and Johnny in Kansas City they together found players in between the two towns. Johnny found several places in Kansas City with each place having there own players at each, teaching them a different game. They were still playing the long foul line, and keep hammer he managed to get them to change the game which I’m sure was NO easy task. But got these people to go to other places in the area to go meet different players and taught them that it wasn’t just a game, but a sport. So not only is he a director, but a promoter, which all adds up to being an AMBASSADOR, & a very great player as well. So again Congratulations Johnny for what you have brought together in this sport we all love. Mark done an outstanding job putting is honoree in the spotlight. We hadn’t had an induction for a few years, and therefore when getting his plaque made & certificate, & the hall of fame booklet well he pretty much had to start from scratch to try to duplicate everything. But he managed to do it with all the RIGHT connections, a GREAT BIG THANK YOU goes to Dave Shewbridge, & Lynda French for all they contributed. pic # 5499 is Mark & Johnny
pic # 5504 is with Johnny standing with the Hall of Famers standing left to right are Rick Pittman Johnny Wright & Charlie Riley sitting is Woodie Cockrum and Missouri’s LEGEND Gene Smith
