Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
From 1947 until 1968, the coveted Silver Horseshoe galloped around the region, a symbol of basketball victory.
For 21 years cheer sections screamed for its possession during games between county schools. "Get that horseshoe!" or "Keep that horseshoe!" they would chant.
In-county rivalries would really heat up with the horseshoe on the line.
From the Times-Union archives come notes about the horseshoe in the Loren "Kurly" Longenbaugh files. The late Longenbaugh, former Syracuse High School coach, recalled how the horseshoe idea came about.
Longenbaugh, interviewed when he was 76, said the idea developed from a county teacher meeting. A horseshoe was decided upon as the trophy. Longenbaugh's name was drawn from names in a hat to have the trophy made.
An Atwood farmer supplied the horseshoe and it was taken to Warsaw Plating for coating.
Longenbaugh's wife collected the big, shiny trophy and delivered it to the Syracuse gymnasium in time for the game against Milford that night.
The Milford Trojans won and the Silver Horseshoe began its travels.
It graced every county trophy showcase except Warsaw's for two decades.
Warsaw only played a couple of other county schools during the season and the Tigers would've kept the horseshoe out of circulation for a heck of a long time if they ever got their hands on it.
Despite these precautions, some outstanding teams held the horseshoe for long periods. Milford's undefeated 1947-48 team with a 25-0 record was a notable example.
However, chance and the "luck of the schedule" played a part in the length of time a school could keep the horseshoe.
It was always a moving trophy and was never to stay in one place.
When the school consolidation movement began the horseshoe's status as a roving county trophy lost its meaning when North Webster, Syracuse and Milford became one.
Principals and coaches decided to retire the historic trophy from further competition at the close of the 1967-68 school year.
Akron High School won the trophy for the first time in its history that last year, defeating Pierceton in a regular season contest near the end of the season.
A June 1968 Times-Union photograph shows the resigned faces of Harold Young, retiring Milford Elementary School principal, on the left and Akron High School principal Lyle Edinburn on the right holding the Silver Horseshoe upside down between them.
Young was the Milford High School principal when that team first took the trophy.
Standing between the two educators, accepting the horseshoe on the behalf of the newly established Kosciusko County Historical Society is Claude Stahl, then president of the society.
On Thursday Stahl presented the Silver Horseshoe at the Old Jail Museum, framed along with the June 1968 Times-Union photograph and article.
Stahl said over the last 33 years he tried to present the Silver Horseshoe to the Basketball Hall of Fame in Castleton with little success. Another idea was to display it in the courthouse rotunda.
The trophy decorated the Stahl mantle or hung in his family room in the meantime.
Current president Mary Ettinger said the Historical Society is happy to have the sports trophy available for everyone to see.
Currently on display in the museum's dining room area the prize can be seen Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. or Sunday from 1 to 4 p.m.
