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The next time somebody says, “hey I don’t even play one pocket”, don’t you believe it! Because of such popular demand we held a one-pocket tournament last Saturday at Beezers Fine Billiards in Russellville and Jason McKenzie came ready to play. Weather or not he knows all the one pocket moves or not made little difference to Jason. Nobody told him you could not just run out and if you do that, it doesn’t matter what you leave you’re opponent. All kidding aside, Jason just played jam-up pool all day long to win this title. And he certainly earned it, having to beat the likes of Randy Porter, Roger Kimmel, Bob Reed, Brian Fraser, Justin Harper and Big John James. I guarantee that everyone there wanted this title pretty darn bad so a huge congratulation is in order for Jason McKenzie. Good job!

John James of Flippin Arkansas played his regular day in and day out championship pool to win yet another plaque for his already crowded wall. John has been winning APPA plaques from the very beginning and I think he said this makes 27 for him. Wow, what an accomplishment! We should just name him Mr. Consistency. Congratulations John for a fine second place finish.

Third place went to Justin Harper who is making quiet a name for himself within the APPA and the pool playing circles of Arkansas. I happen to know that Justin wanted this title as much as I did. Well, maybe not quiet as much because I’m not sure if it’s possible to have wanted it more than I did, but Justin played great one-pocket all day to earn a well deserved finish. Congratulations to Justin!

Fourth place plaque went to a young man from the Mt. Home area that was without question as proud as anyone to plaque in this prestigious tournament. Brian Fraser played exceptional one-pocket to capture this spot and he is to be congratulated for his efforts. Good job Brian!

So this wrapped up the 2007/2008 season and it was a fine year. Many players are already looking forward to the 2008/2009 season which will start sometime in August. Keep an eye on the web page for the details as soon as we can get all the information together and work out a schedule. In the meantime, everyone have a great summer and be sure to find time to keep the ole pool stroke fine-tuned. And as always…..

Player of the Year Awards were presented at the Harold Schmidt Invitational on April 19th. It was my distinct pleasure to be able to pass them out. To win one of these awards is an accomplishment that can be looked upon with pride and each recipient received a beautiful plaque than can be cherished from now on. All of the winners are to be congratulated!


1st Place - Wade Warriner	2nd Place - Leonard Smartjesse	3rd Place - Rustin Fuller


1st Place - Steve Farley	2nd Place - Price Kissenger	3rd Place - Taylor Wilson


1st Place - Justin Harper	2nd Place - Jeff Hubbard	3rd Place - Greg Vardaman

Bob Reed, President With His Appreciation Award Plaque

Ron Davidson also presented a Beautiful plaque of appreciation to yours truly from the APPA Board of Directors which has already been displayed in my home and will be looked upon with the utmost appreciation and pride for as long as I play pool! And that, my friends, will be for the rest of my life. Thank you very much.

Bob Reed

We had a great time in Russellville to compete for the most prestigious tournament of the year and I’d like to take this time to thank Bob Schmidt of Jones Brothers Pool Tables for his long time support of the APPA and the contributions that they make each year. The tournament is named after his father, Harold Schmidt, who passed away this past year and it is my hope that this event will help to keep him in our memories for a long time to come. Thanks Bob for all that you do!

Big John James from up around Mt. Home took the prize and 1^st place plaque. John probably has more plaques than anyone in the league but he told me he had never won this one and his pride was obvious to everyone. Congratulations on a great day of pool excellence to John! As always, the victory did not come easy. The second place winner also deserves a tremendous amount of credit for his accomplishments on this day. Brock Thomas from the Little Rock area who is fairly new to the APPA played great all day and won the winners bracket. In fact he was the only one to beat John for the day. But John being the competitor that he is was not to be discouraged as he fought his way back to Brock again and came with a vengeance. The longer Big John played the stronger he got and he was able to beat Brock the two times it took to capture the title. However, a HUGE Congratulation goes out to Brock Thomas for such an outstanding performance!

Ron Allen, being the newest APPA player to be raised to the rank of 10-speed, did not seem to be hampered in the least as he added yet another respectable finish to his already impressive list of accomplishments as he took the third place honors. Congrats again to Ron!

Fourth place went to Jimmy Marshall and I guarantee that Jimmy has about the best attitude about winning as I’ve ever seen. He told me it was his first APPA plaque and he was extremely proud of his finish and that he looked forward to showing his plaque to his grandkids. Now, just how great is that! Well-deserved congratulations to Jimmy!

There were numerous other players that deserve praise as we paid money out to the top 16 players. Check the web site to see the list.

And if you were not there for the players meeting, we did announce one more tournament for this season. A much asked for One Pocket tournament. It will be held at Beezers on May 3^rd with a 12:00 noon start up time. There will be $200 added and 4 plaques up for grabs, so don’t be late. All that is required is that you be an APPA member. Stay tuned for the Player of the Year information coming soon and as always…..


John James - 1st Place	Brock Thomas - 2nd Place

My father, Harold Schmidt, passed away last June. He was involved in pool for all of his life. From the time he was 16 years old, to the last months of his life when he was 92, Harold was a part of the Billiard world. He began as a traveling salesman foe A.E. Schmidt co. in St. Louis selling tables and equipment to poolrooms up and down the Mississippi River. He opened his own retail billiard supply store in New Orleans in his twenties. He rejoined A.E. Schmidt Co. after World War II and ran the company with his brother Arthur from the 1940's to the 1960's.

Harold retired from A.E. Schmidt in the late 1960's, but opened or purchased several billiard rooms and supply stores, including Jones Bros. Pool Tables. In 1987, Harold and wife Gwen moved down to Little Rock to help me (his son Bob) run Jones Bros which had turned into a thriving business, especially since we had relocated in a new building in North little Rock in 1981. Harold had a special relationship with Dave Corriveau from the original Slick Willy's at the old train station. When Dave and Buster Corley joined forces and opened the first Dave and Buster's they looked to Harold and Jones Bros. to supply them with pool tables. There are now over 40 Dave and Busters entertainment complexes around the U.S. with A.E. Schmidt tables in them thanks to Harold.

When Harold was in his 80's, he slowed his work pace. He retired from the sales floor and went back into the cloth room, where he cut all the cloth Jones Bros. used on new tables. He cut cloth into his 91st year, when he would still come down to the store for a couple of hours, 2 or 3 times a week.

Harold loved people and he always enjoyed being around pool players. When asked what he thought was the biggest change in pool during his lifetime, he said it was woman becoming involved in pool. Harold leaves his own legacy to pool in Arkansas. Hundreds of old Schmidt pool tables keep showing up for sale that were purchased from the 1930's to the 1960's. We buy them whenever we can. Harold was responsible for them being here in the first place.

Harold was honored to have the Harold Schmidt Invitational names after him. Now that he is gone, his family is also honored to have this tournament named after him.

A very special award was presented to Terry and Barbara Richardson at the 9 Ball Scotch Doubles tournament this past Saturday. Terry has been an active player in the APPA for a very long time and I can not remember ever having seen him at a tournament without his wife Barbara right there along his side cheering him on. It goes without saying that he would still be playing at every opportunity if it were not for health reasons. Now you can see them at nearly all the APPA tournaments in this area as well as many non-APPA tournaments. They come before the player’s meetings and stay until the final ball has been made. Sometimes they even bring their own chairs to sit for hours on end simply because they love the game and love to just be around pool players. It is rare to see this kind of dedication and support, not just for the APPA, but also for pool playing in general. It is for these reasons that a special recognition award was given to them by the APPA and it was my privilege to be to be the one to present it to them. Their loyalty and continued support is greatly appreciated.

Well folks, we had a really good time this past Saturday at MacDaddy’s Bar and Grill to compete for the most fun tournament of the year. There is just a little added excitement to a game where you don’t have to shoot you own position play. Steve Farley and Scott Robertson had no problem playing shape for each other as they won the day. It didn’t come easy though. It never does. In fact there were no “easy” matches to be found this day. Long time APPA member, Randy Porter, and short time member John Jennings came to play and put in one long hard day to capture the second place plaque and cash. Both teams played exceptional all day while they walked their way through some of the best 9 Ball players in the state. Steve and Scott won the winners bracket while Randy and John fought their way through one tuff match after another. In fact their only losses for the day were to the first place winners. They took Steve and Scott to hill to hill in the first final match and won it. However, at that point Steve and Scott tightened up their belt buckles and proved to be too tuff to beat twice, winning the tournament. It was a great tournament with a lot of excitement, and a lot of fun as always with great sportsmanship to boot. It’s what the APPA is all about. Congratulations to both teams!

Third place went to two very deserving winners, Ronald Runion and Darren Charles. Both of these fine players have worked hard on their game all year and the results are showing more and more each time they play and it is always a pleasure to be in their company. Congratulations to you both.!

Fourth place went to non other than the 1^st and 2^nd place single’s 9 Ball Champions, Ron Allen and Lance Fairchild. Now that is one strong team. They played so good together that Ken Uttley and myself don’t even want to talk about how bad they beat us. Congratulation to them both, yet again. The other 5^th/6^th place finishers, besides Ken and I, were John James and Roger Kimmel.

So, it was another successful APPA event. Great fellowship with the best pool players in Arkansas along with the best action in town. Now, keep your game in dead stroke for the $1000 added and most prestigious tournament of the year, the Harold Schmidt Invitational held at Beezers Fine Billiards in Russellville on April 19^th starting at 11am. I’ll see you there…. and….