Enslen Park

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Enslen Park Photos

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Description

Enslen Park is right across Stoddard Ave. from Graceada. Enslen was founded in 1909 and struck me as the serene neighbor of Graceada.

Enslen has ten good horseshoe pits, two ball fields, a sand volleyball court, bathrooms and plenty of shade trees. It did appear that alcohol and jumpy houses were allowed.

Every year at the end of July 'The Heally Cup' Horseshoe Tournament takes place here. This tournament started in San Jose in Steve Heally's backyard in 1996. As it grew bigger it moved to Lake Cunningham Park, then to Almaden Lake Park, and finally to Enslen Park. It moved to Modesto some years ago since Enslen had more horseshoe pits.

To give you an idea of the size of the tournament, in 1997 the tourney had 16 teams and took 12 hours to complete with competition running from 11 am to 10:45 pm. More pits now means that competition only lasts a few hours and so there's more time for barbecuing and beverages. I have to warn you that the winning "cup" is more for drinking from than anything else.

Special thanks to Steve Heally for the history of the tournament.