BOOK SIGNING IN EDGERTON DECEMBER 5&6, 2008

The book "Edgerton: A Basketball Legend" was released last December in the small southwest community and members of the 1960 Flying Dutchmen team on whom the book focused turned out to celebrate the event. In what might be described as a prelude to the Golden Anniversary of their amazing feat, nine players and the team manager gathered in the J.H. Brovold Gymnasium - home to Flying Dutchmen basketball for more than three decades - they signed books and reminisced with one another and friends who remember the magical season.

The 277-page hardcover book, written by Tom Tomashek and Ken Kielty, is the product of more than two years of interviews, research and writing. The Edgerton signing was the formal tip-off for book sales that are expected to run through 2009 and into the 2009-2010 season when the Minnesota State High School League plans to honor the 1960 Flying Dutchmen.

Hundreds from Edgerton, as well as a significant number of former Edgerton residents and Flying Dutchmen student-athletes from several decades attended the two-day event.

 

 

If the book is a success, that success can significantly be traced to the special weekend and the largest collection of 1960 Flying Dutchmen since the championship season.

 

The event wasn't the magnitude of the Main Street celebration the Monday after the championship game, but it was festive and had the atmosphere of a large family reunion.

 

 

Center stage were 1960 Flying Dutchmen starters Dean Verdoes, Bob Wiarda, Dean Veenhof, Darrell Kreun, and LeRoy Graphenteen, reserves Daryl Stevens, Larry Schoolmeester, Bob Dykstra, and Tom Warren, and team manager Doug Vander Beek. Nine came from the area or within less than a day's drive from Edgerton, with Veenhof, a retired teacher and coach, and his wife, Judy, driving more than 1,400 miles from their home in up-state New York to participate.

"I can't say how many times Judy and I have commented on how thankful we are to have made the trip," said Veenhof several days after returning to his home in Gilbertsville, N.Y. "It was so good to see most of the team members and many friends. Despite having been away from home for almost 45 years it was surprising to me how many people I still recognized and remembered.

"As a result of the Edgerton event, I am looking so forward to the reunions that are being planned for the 50th Anniversary . . . that will be extra special." Unable to attend, but certain to be on hand in 2010 when the Minnesota State High School League honors the team during state tournament week, were coach Rich Olson, already having left for his winter home in Texas, Jim Roos (Missouri), Norm Muilenburg (Oregon), and Darwin Fey (Arizona).

 

"The weekend was fantastic," said Schoolmeester, the legendary team's lone member still living in Edgerton. "It was enjoyable reminiscing with the team members and renewing friendships. I just wish the entire team could have been here for the book signing." The festive occasion lured some of Edgerton's other former Flying Dutchmen starters back to the old gymnasium - among them being Casey DeJong from the late 1940s, Gene Verdoes from the 1950s, and Vernon Schoolmeester from the 1960s - but kudos were reserved for the championship team honored during a Friday night girls basketball game between the town's two high schools, Edgerton Public and Southwest Christian.

The community was visibly appreciative that the team members took time from their busy holiday schedule to return home, never more so than during the halftime ceremony where the 10 special guests received a lengthy standing ovation from both Edgerton Public and SWC supporters. "The ceremony was so respectful," former stellar senior reserve Daryl Stevens said. "It said a great deal about the town of Edgerton . . . it shows their pride. My wife [Pam] says she believes this town has "something special" that other communities don't have."

Verdoes added that what made the occasion particularly special was the organization, explaining that team members needed only show up, sign, and reminisce for two days. "I'm sure that there were many involved, but Marilyn Schoolmeester can't be thanked enough for all of her work."

Marilyn Schoolmeester, wife of Larry Schoolmeester as well as an Edgerton High faculty member, had everything in place when the team arrived and coordinated the two-day activities which she made certain were copiously documented. When commended, she explained that she derived more than a modicum of personal pleasure from the event.

"Having been a part of the 1960 team experience through scrapbooks and old movies that my husband, Larry, has collected, I appreciated the opportunity to actually meet many of the team members and their families," she said."It was a fun and memorable weekend. The community support for the team was very visible that night and throughout the weekend."

 

 

Edgerton residents showed up in force and the book signing was deemed a major success, but sales of "Edgerton: A Basketball Legend" began several hours before the gym doors were unlocked.

Pam Stevens, wife of the team's sixth man scored the first sale in a Clara City restaurant during a quick stop on their drive from the St. Cloud area to Edgerton. Asked where they were headed and eventually explaining the reason for their journey, she was asked if she'd drop a book off on their return home. Not everyone who remembers the 1960 Flying Dutchmen have direct ties to Edgerton. "The book is a great read for anyone who remembers Edgerton basketball," former Flying Dutchman forward Verdoes said. "People who I know who have read the book seem to really enjoy it. I'm always surprised how much some people remember this event."

Word of the book followed Veenhof all the way back to New York State where after his Minnesota visit he received numerous phone calls from old college friends for his days at Augustana College in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. "The brother-in-law of an old college friend had purchased the book and sent it to my friend in Sheboygan, Wisconsin," Veenhof said. "I hadn't heard from him in 40 years and it was so good to catch up. He has informed others [of the book] and they have also called." Kreun, Edgerton's 1960 outside threat, spoke of the memories the book has inspired and the interest it has generated within his family. "I really enjoyed it and was able to recall the games and events as if they happened yesterday," he said.

"My granddaughter read the book from beginning to end in three hours. "I still wonder why it is still a story after nearly 50 years, but I've had comments that they are wondering when it is going to be made into a movie."

Stevens is surprised that it took so long for the Flying Dutchmen's story to be told, but said he is thankful the feat has been chronicled at length. "The tremendous event now won't be lost in history," he said. Some will continue waiting for the movie and perhaps one day "The Flying Dutchmen" or "Dutch Treat" or "Edgerton: A Basketball Legend" will be featured at a theater in their neighborhood. Meanwhile, "Edgerton: A Basketball Legend" has assured the team and the town that the 1960 Flying Dutchmen legend won't be lost in history.