Monday, 6. September 2010 19:22
The purpose of this guest book is to connect people and to share memories and stories. Let us and others know how you are linked with this team and its amazing journey. Thanks for visiting!

I have always been a fan of the great Edgerton story. Coach Kruen was a great inspiration to me as i went to school. I was never quite good enough to make one of his varsity teams (trust me I tried), but just the expirence of watching him teach his players and seeing how unique of a man he was, was just a treat in itself. If the rest of these men were even half as special as coach Kruen was to his players and fans, they truely were a very, very special team.

I consider it a privilege to have known Darrel Kruen while he coached and taught at Gaylord, MN.

I will always remember a card I received from him after I was the first survivor in the world of a ruptured basiliar tip artery brain anyuerism. He said that he was upset about losing a game in the regional tournament and then he heard of my injury and quickly realized how fighting for your life was much more important!

It will be a cherished read and am glad that the whole story will finally be told!

I am one of the volleyball coaches at Grantsburg, WI high school...small town, perennial powerhouse with several trips to state tourney. In a discussion with my dad about the state tourney and divisions based on school size, fairness of private schools from big cities competing against public schools from small towns, etc., he told me about the Edgerton, MN basketball team and how amazing that story was. (He mentioned that players stayed at private homes in Bloomington when they were in town for the state tournament. One stayed with him and his family on Colfax Ave.) Really inspiring story. So I went to the school's website and read all about it here. Thanks for taking the time to post all of this. I love a good sports story.

Dennis Allaman is my dad, a 6'7" center for the Bloomington Bears (1962 grad) who went on to play for U of M, but hurt his back and transferred to Augustana, Sioux Falls, SD on basketball scholarship.

I watched Edgerton win the 1960 Championship. Sometime later, I read an article in the Duluth newspaper about the "Deans of Minnesota High School Basketball" (Dean Verdoes and Dean Veenhoff). I wrote Dean's mother a letter and sent her the clipping. She wrote back a very kind letter and invited me to Edgerton to visit. However, I never made it. Before she died, my mother sent me a box containing my old high school varsity athletic letters, track medals, photos and newspaper clippings. Inside I also found a certificate of achievement from our 1960 youth championship hockey team. This certificate was signed by two politicians, brothers, who were eating in the same supper club that our awards banquet was being held. They introduced themselves, autographed our certificates, and told us they hoped our parents would vote for the older brother in the upcoming Wisconsin primary. Their names were John and Robert Kennedy. However, my biggest treasure in this box of old memories was that letter dated January 12, 1965 from Mrs. Harry Verdoes postmarked Edgerton, Minnesota.

Having graduated from Southwestern Chr. in 1959, I attended Calvin College during the tournament time in MN. However, knowing some of the players and loving Edgerton basketball, I was determined to listen to the games. The only way I could listen to WCCO (?) was in my friend's car and we needed to be moving. We put on many miles listening excitedly to our one time competitors. I am still excited for them.

I grew up in Edgerton, amidst tales of 1960 (and, as a Southwest student, hoped that we would eventually have our own rival tale, of course), but moved away immediately after high school.

In 2005, I was in Holland, Michigan, doing some research. In a church basement, some tourists, perhaps in their late 60s, saw me taking notes, and struck up a conversation with me. It came up that we were all Minnesotans--they were from the Twin Cities. Naturally, they asked where in Minnesota I was from; when I responded "Edgerton," there was a momentary pause before one of them exclaimed "Oh! The basketball people!!!" and quickly listed all of the starters. The group then reminisced about the 1960 tournament and related how they sort of felt sorry for Austin, since everyone else (themselves included) was rooting for the Dutchmen that year.

45 years on, and people still remember.

Even though i was just 5 years old then i still remember having uncles and aunts at our house to listen to the games. Then my father Adrian Bouma who owned the meat market with my grand father Sid,great uncle John Schultz, and my uncle Fred all helped slaughter the beef on main street for the BBQ. All the names of the players were written on the sides of beef. The beef came from a bet between one of the Pool boys and a Mr Schmidt.

I remember my dad listening to the radio when Edgerton played Mountain Lake. I graduated from Sioux Valley and we were in District Seven, the same district as Mountain Lake and so we listened with great interest. When the State Tournament started we were able to watch it for the first time on television. I was a sixth grader at the time but the excitement of what Edgerton was accomplishing filled our home. I remember the games with fond memories. As a result the name Edgerton has been forever etched in our minds and hearts.
I have one question, a reference was made to the tournament being on tape, is the tape avaiable? If so where could I purchase one. Thanks for the memories.

What a great page to see after all these years. I'm from Cloquet where we also had great teams in subsequent years. (class of 64')
I still remembered the names of the seven most frequent Egerton players. In fact, it's a trivia question with some of my old Cloquet friends.
I see that Bob Wiarda lived in Willow River at one time. I seem to remember that he did some sports reporting for the Moose Lake Gazette or whatever it was called.
I used to work with a nurse from Edgerton when I lived in Breckenridge Minn. and we used to talk about how exciting Edgerton's team was.
People now days can't possibly realize how great one class basketball was. Classes ruined the Minnesota State Basketball Tournament was but that's just and old iconoclast's opinion.
Whoever is responsible for this site, thanks for bringing back this old memory.

I am a cousin of Dean Veenhof. John and I were married Friday, March 25, 1960, the night Edgerton played Richfield. During the reception our master-of-ceremonies announced the score every ten minutes and more often during the over-time. The wedding guests were cheering whenever Edgerton would be ahead. My grandfather, Nys Den Ouden, was quoted in the Minneapolis paper as saying "the wedding would have been a flop if Edgerton would have lost." We had made plans to go to Denver for our honeymoon but went to Williams Arena to see the final game.

I was in the 6th grade when Edgerton won the State Basketball Championship and had the priviledge to attend the Thursday and Saturday games. It was awesome. I will never forget the unity of the town when the welcome home event was held. As I look back I am very proud of the respect that was shown to the town by having the welcome home event on Monday to keep the tradition of Sunday being for the family. As has been mentioned by others, I still have questions about the team and just had someone ask me if I knew any of them about a year ago. It will never be forgotten. Great job team and thanks for the memories.

Going to the 'cities' with the band was such an exciting time for me. My world was not very big at that time and this really was an adventure. Staying at the U. of Minnesota campus was another high point of the weekend.
Still meeting people when I travel who when told I am from Edgerton, they say, I remember the Cinderella Team. Just happened in a NY taxi a couple of years ago.

The 1960 Edgerton state champion basketball team really put Edgerton on the map. As many others have indicated, when you say you are from Edgerton, people immediately have all kinds of questions about the team, the town, traditions, players, coaches, etc. As a 1949 graduate, I could answer all these questions. I knew the players as elementary kids, saw them practice during a Christmas vacation in 1958 and played sports in college and baseball in Pipestone with coach Kielty. After many frustrating years of nearly winning the district, the 1960 team won the district and more!! Long time Superintendent E.O. Nickerson would have been ecstatic! He wanted a district championship in the worst way. Tom Tomashek's book will be a page-turner for Edgerton folk and all sports fans. Alumni please sign the guestbook. Casey DeJong, class of '49.

I remember many good friends in Edgerton,and it was not easy to leave that way of life.

What I remember about the 1960 basketball team
When we were in 5th & 6th grade we knew we could play the game. When we were in 7th and 8th grade we played against teams in our conference and also Pipestone and Luverne. For those two years we were undefeated and it was our goal to go to the State Tournament. We were fortunate to have a talented class ahead of us and were able to accomplish our goal. Thanks to Ken Kielty for teaching fundementals,academic importance,and being good citizens. Thanks to Coach Olson for refining our skills to give us the edge on other teams, he is a tactical master of the game. We subs played every offense & defense of all of our opponents on the way to the tournament so that the first five was ready. I did not realize what an accomplishment winning the State Tournament was until recently when I watched the tape of the 40th anniversary. It was amazing the receptions we got in all the small towns on our way to Edgerton.

I met Dean Veenhof as a result of a visit to relatives here on Marco Island. It was obvious that he is a leader among men. The story of the 1960 "Cinderella" Team is truly heartwarming. Having been a "Jock" myself, I can appreciate the excitement this article has generated. Congratulations. Tom T.

I'm Darrell Kreun's sister. The student section at Williams Arena was the very top level of the Arena. That's where Carla Veenhof, Carol Verdoes and myself watched the games. From that height, our team looked really small. We would have people (mostly high school girls) come up and ask us if we knew any of the players personally. They couldn't believe that we actually knew them. They wanted to buy the pins that we wore, but we weren't going to sell those. The media frenzy, planning the homecoming, going through piles of newspapers for articles and pictures for a scrapbook and just the excitement of it all is still very memorable. I wish we would have had video cameras back then so we could see the games again. Maybe from a better seat!!!! We didn't have a clue until years later what a legend that basketball tournament and the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen would become. When I tell people where I'm from, they remember the players names and what an exciting tournament that was to watch. I'm glad the story is being published and can't wait to read it.

If it were possible to go back in the past I would choose the week during and after the '60 state tournament. I've heard many stories of the Flying Dutchmen and never tire of them. Truly an amazing piece of basketball history. Austin may have the Spam Museum but we have the 1960 state trophy!

I'm Darrell Kreun's daughter and very excited and happy to know that their story is being told. I am very proud of my dad as a player and a coach. I remember sitting in the gym one day watching him shoot hoops before he started BB practice...I don't think he missed a single shot. There will likely never be a story like this again in Minnesota history. I look forward to the book!

Everytime I hear something about the Edgerton state tournament victory, I am proud to have lived there even for only a short period. I am very proud of the team and my father, Ken Kielty. I can hardly wait for the book.