NASC 2005 Player Story/Report & Photos Submitted Nov. 13, 2005 by: Melody Marine of Spokane, Washington: 

On October 29 - November 6, 2005, the 16th Annual NASC shuffleboard championships which was hosted and sponsored by The Shuffleboard Federation (aka John McDermott) and held again at the Sands Regency Hotel/Casino in Reno, Nevada. 

There was top notch competition with this years' events being the most successful in the tournaments history both in attendance and prize $$$.  Dan and I (Melody) were impressed with the attendance from the Pacific Northwest and would like to take this opportunity to give a "shout out" to the Pacific NW players for a job well done, including: 1st in 2 of 4 Singles events; 1st & 2nd in the Div. I 4-Person team; and a 2nd and 3rd in the Pro-Singles with participants placing in various other events paired and teamed up with other regions.

 

The highlight of the event for us was the presentation of the Sol Lipkin award to our much respected friend and fellow shuffler Al Salazar of Phoenix, AZ.  This award, in our opinion, is the most coveted in Shuffleboard and much deserved for Al.  We have known Al for several years.  Dan more than I (Melody) have witnessed his help, participation, promotion and sponsorship for all the major events with nobody ever doing as much as he does with the class, sportsmanship and love of the game that Al Salazar has. Congratulations again to Al & Nancy (she looked so proud and happy for him) for this honor.  There was a great contingency of Arizona players attending this year's tournament and there to celebrate with and honor Al Salazar during his well deserved presentation of the Sol Lipkin Award during the great ceremony.

 

As always, it was terrific to see and visit with Mr. Sol Lipkin.  Hearing him talk in anticipation about the celebration of his100th birthday next year at NASC just makes you smile inside and out.  As always, John's desk staff, Kathy Yingst, Linda Ritter, and Mickey Moy helped to ensure things ran smoothly and efficiently; Steve Hart did his usual bang-up job with sponsor sales; and  Rob Kern (bracket man) & Jack Davis "it's always a pleasure to see you two!"

 

Enclosed are some photos of the award ceremony  and some candid shots taken throughout the week with our PNW player's community/shared cameras (Editor's comment: which are included in above Misc. Player Submitted Photo Album - link to view photos at the top of this page - more photos may be added if/when received from other players who attended this year's tournament and wish to share their photos and/or player's stories with others). 

 

Take care, God Bless all of you!! (Melody Marine)

Editors Comment:  Thanks to Melody & the Pacific NW players for their photos and for the great write-up and to all who have submitted miscellaneous photos to share.  Congrats to Al Salazar for his greatly deserved Sol Lipkin Award.  Also, we congratulate Sol Lipkin on his upcoming 100th Birthday bash in 2006!  For those interested in reading all about Sol Lipkin's 90th Birthday from the July 1996 Issue of RePlay Magazine (page 43 & 44), titled: "Folks Shout "Surprise!" as Sol Hits the Big Nino-O!" , visit the Bowers' Corner website "Media Articles" section by clicking on the following link:  http://www.shuffleboardcorner.com/media.html   

To View this Pacific NW Player Story & Additional Reporting in Adobe PDF booklet format, along with some of the player submitted photos that came in with this story and other players, click the following link:  http://www.tableshuffleboard.org/October_2005_PNW_PlayerStory.pdf