<p>Paul Joslen pretty clearly strides over the red line every time he steps up to pitch his horseshoes, but nobody in his Wednesday night league at the Johnson County Fairgrounds is ever going to put up a stink about it.</p><p>At 94 years old, Joslen has earned the right to live by his own set of rules.</p><p>Love for the sport is still very much there inside Joslen and his colleagues, some of whom have been throwing shoes on these same courts since the first county fair competition here in 1959.</p><p>Kenny Demaree, now 87, started up a league at the fairgrounds the following year and has been coming back ever since. He recalls the league’s salad days, when there were more than 20 teams of four playing on a dozen courts.</p>[sc:text-divider text-divider-title="Story continues below gallery" ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery<p>"We had to just keep rotating, sometimes pitch twice a week to get the round robin in," Demaree said.</p><p>Over the years, the number of players has slowly dropped off; now, there are five teams using the six courts that remain. With many more alternative activities to choose from these days, it’s become difficult to get young players to come in and become regulars.</p><p>"We try to keep getting more and more teams, but it’s a struggle to get the people interested," league secretary Roger Simms said.</p><p>Two generations ago, when Johnson County was more heavily populated by farmers, horseshoe pitching was one of the most popular leisure pursuits around. Camp Atterbury once housed 18 courts inside of a barn, which was regularly packed with throwers and spectators.</p><p>That building was torn down about a decade ago because of asbestos, and with a lower demand for courts, it hasn’t been replaced, a reflection of the game’s general downward trend.</p><p>Regardless, the players showing up to play every Wednesday — and every day this week during the county fair — are sticking with it for as long as they’re physically able.</p><p>"We’ve got a nice bunch of people, and we’ve got a good place to pitch," Demaree said.</p><p>Horseshoes are scored similarly to cornhole (bean bags), with "ringers" — shoes that completely encircle the stake — counting for three points, and shoes within six inches counting for one. In league play, each member of a four-man team throws three games, each one 25 frames of two shoes apiece.</p><p>Most horseshoe courts now have sand pits, which are lower maintenance, but the ones at the fairgrounds here are still filled with moist brick clay and well maintained by the local players, who also keep the grass cut and edged around the six lanes.</p><p>There’s still a bit of a competitive spirit — league regulars Mary and Bill Sproessig travel to participate in the annual National Horseshoe Pitchers Association World Tournament, which is being held in Texas this summer — but the league is far more laid-back than it was 50 or so years ago, when players actually had to qualify their way into the top class for the county fair tournament.</p><p>Demaree laughs while remembering how heated the battles were just to make it in.</p><p>"There was always some joker that, if he pitched long enough, he could get a good game, and he was just tickled to death to knock somebody out," he said. "And you had to pay 50 cents to qualify back at that time. He’d pay 50 cents, and then he’d pay 50 again, and 50 again and 50 again …"</p><p>This year’s competitions at the fair likely won’t include many entrants outside of the local league members; some competitive pitchers from such places as Jackson County and Marion County still travel to some tournaments around the state. But here in Franklin, the players don’t mind it being smaller and more localized; having a bunch of familiar faces around makes it easier to maintain a relaxed vibe.</p><p>Demaree and Simms are hopeful that a few onlookers this week might get curious and decide to become regulars.</p><p>"We’ve adjusted our rules to fit the people," Demaree said. "It’s more important to have people here pitching than it is to stress a rule, like golf."</p>
