|
It is always a challenge to adequately describe the whirlwind of fun, excitement, sense of community and business productivity that I experience on the trips that make up the Presidential Tour. The most recent trip is no exception but I have to say that it was also one of the most pleasant trips I have taken in recent years.
For one thing this trip started with a two and a half-hour drive down one of America’s great highways, Highway 61. Highway 61 spans the entire girth of the United States, from Chicago to New Orleans. It intersects with the old Route 66 in Kirksville, Missouri, only a few miles from the ADA office in Lake St. Louis. Someone once told me that ADA Headquarters is located right were it should be - at the crossroads of America.
The drive from St. Louis to Cape Girardeau is one of variety in both scenery and culture. From the cityscape of St. Louis, the highway traverses the foothills of the Ozark Mountains before entering the flatland of the Mississippi River delta in the region known as the “boot heel” of Missouri. As the roadside scenery changes, you can almost see where the boundaries of the cultural regions of Southeast Missouri begin and end. From the city to the Ozarks and then suddenly into the cotton country of the delta, this stretch of Highway 61 is truly one of the great tours of America.
Of course, I didn’t make the drive just to enjoy the scenery, although that was a pleasant bonus to the trip. My visit to Cape Girardeau had a number of purposes. The first stop on my agenda was the film studio of Jimski Productions. The owner is Jim Szepanski and we were meeting to do the editing and voice over for the 2007 ADA National Championship video which will be available on DVD sometime in October.
Jim is a professional film maker who travels the world making wildlife and sports documentaries. Jim has a special relationship with darts and the ADA. He is an excellent darts player and was the owner of the Southeast Missouri ADA franchise for a decade before selling it to the current owner, Floyd Patterson. Jim was to be my partner for the Presidential Challenge matches that night at the Pour House Pub in Cape Girardeau. So after a long, very productive and interesting afternoon of work on the DVD, we headed for the Pub and an evening of ADA fun and camaraderie.
And what a great time that evening was. With five soft-tip Galaxy II dart machines, Internet access and Anheuser-Busch products on tap; The Pour House Pub is the perfect ADA venue. So it was no wonder that we had a crowd of ADA members and, as is usual at the Presidential Challenges, some folks from the area that had heard about the event and came to watch. They would soon find out that ADA darts is a participation sport, spectators are welcome, but we always try to include everyone in the excitement of our events.
Setting up the Challenge takes less than five minutes. We selected the end darts machine and with a “sponsor table” situated to the right of the machine. The displayed prizes always provide a great incentive to participate in the Challenge. Once again, Anheuser-Busch donated great prizes and Sportcraft/Unicorn provided a dartboard and sets of darts for the raffle drawings.
The Grand Prizes for the evening were really impressive and highly coveted. They were beer coolers that dispensed a can of beer at the touch of button, like a vending machine! Everybody wanted one of those, myself included, but the only way to win was to beat the President and his Partner.
The evening starts off with thanking members and guests for attending then an explanation of what is going to happen and introducing the VIP’s who are present at the event. This helps put everyone, players, guests and spectators alike, at ease. The playing format is one game of 501 Open League format, straight start-double finish, with the double bull activated. Partners are drawn randomly and there is no fee to play. The VIP’s included my partner, Jim Szepanski, already well known to many there as the former owner of the franchise territory, the current franchise owner, Floyd Patterson, and I was pleased to introduce Truman Lemons, owner of Lemons Coin, the company that supplies the dart machines to many ADA venues in southeast Missouri. I also introduced, with a great deal of pride, the ADA players present who were seeking ADA Pro Darter Certification. They included Dave & Tina Ivy, Dani & Buick Tharnish and Steve Walton.
We played 35 games that night. Jim and I winning 31 and losing four. Perhaps the most exciting win came from Dani Tharnish, an aspiring ADA Pro Darter went out on the double one to lead her team to the first Challenge win of the evening. But there were so many excellent dart players there that almost every game had exciting turns and twists.
At the end of the competition these four teams competed in a one-game playoff.
Throughout the evening Floyd tracked the games on an Excel spread sheet program and shared the results with us. After 3 hours of play Jim and I tossed 93 turns each. I had 44 turns with scores over 60 (with one ton-eighty) and Jim (with 3 ton-eighties) having 43 turns with scores over 60. The Points Per Dart results for the night were extremely close – I ended with a 21.3 and Jim with a 21.6. Only 94 points separated us (6010, 6104)! I congratulated him for a great night of darts. He had been the perfect partner, almost as if we were a synchronized set with superb timing and a rhythm of our own. We made the shots that should have been made as well as those that had to be made.
The night stretched well beyond the allotted time for the matches at the request of those participating! At about 10:30 p.m. the room suddenly flooded with students from the local University with the dart machines and bar taking the brunt of the deluge. Of course the sponsor’s table caught the attention of these late arrivals and we ended up tossing them the AB promotional items attendance prizes given out earlier. Needless to say we made a lot of new friends that night and I think Floyd will see a number of them in the American Dart League this fall. Before I knew it, Jim and I were caught up in an informal challenge with a late arrival and his ADA member partner. Needless to say, our departure from the Pour House Pub was delayed until the wee hours of the morning.
The following day was a full day of travel; Floyd arranged meetings with Anheuser-Busch wholesalers. When he purchased the Franchise from Jim we added to his territory. I didn’t appreciate how generous the territorial boundaries were until then we started traveling. One meeting required an hour and a half on the southeast MO highways!
After a very productive day with Floyd, I headed north on Highway 61. Much of the time on Highway 61 is spent driving on form-poured concrete pavement and the result is a constant rhythmic thumping sound as the tires roll across the creases separating sections of concrete. Like a great dart game, this great highway has an unforgettable rhythm of its own and once experienced, beckons a return. Although the next challenge in Cape Girardeau will be carried out not by the ADA President, but by ADA Certified Pro’s Darter, I look forward to the next opportunity I have to travel down Highway 61 again.
|