Friday, 4. July 2008 17:22
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!

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.

What great memories!! My family had moved from Edgerton to Bloomington in 1957. I remember shooting free throws for Mr. Keilty in the 8th grade and before that, playing driveway basketball many evenings. Two highlights of the championship was the reunion with all the dear friends at church in Bloomington the day after the great victory and - the next fall when the Flying Dutchmen played our Bloomington Bears and beat us badly (fall of 60). My new friends in Bloomington had been saying all the time that the championship was just a fluke and we could beat them any time. It was a great victory!

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 Weierda 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.

It still amazes me as to how many people, throughtout the state, remember the 1960 State Basketball tournament and can recall Coach Olson and the names of many of the players. Recently, at a family gathering, our grandchildren watched the tournament on tape. They referred to it as "olden days". But I corrected them and told them it was "good old days". I think alot of our team success was due to the skills and discipline that Ken instilled in us in our earlier years of playing sports. I want to take this opportunity to thank Ken and Tom for all their effort and hard work in writing their book. Our family is looking forward to its publication.

I grew up worshiping and trying to play like these guys. Mom still has a 3" thick scrapbook of the whole year 59-60. . My Dad scouted Mankato and Mountain Lake for Olsen. I hope someone tells stories of the season in addition to the tourney, like when Olsen yelled at the guys who were behind at half in Beaver Creek, and all of the fans could hear him out in the gym!!!!!

I am Jake Kooiman's daughter and a niece to a then high school senior, Patrica (Kooiman) Wassink. I've heard the stories all my life and love to pass my knowledge along to my generation! Keep the Legend Alive!

LeRoy Graphenteen is my Grandfather. I play Basketball and hope that some day I will be as good as he was and be remembered this many years later. I am very proud of him and love him.

LeRoy Graphenteen is my Grandfather and I love hearing all the old stories about the game and how he got fan mail. It is really impressive that people still remember him. It makes me feel really good.