Marion Gunderson Art (and the Farmer's Daughter)

Below is a photo of Rolfe’s 1966-67 girls’ junior high basketball team. I’m including it in preparation of a celebration that will take place in Rolfe on April 16th, 2011.

That celebration involves everything “community” regarding the Rolfe girls’ basketball team qualifying for the 1971 state tournament.

In 1971 when we (the Rolfe girl’s BB team) went to State, many of these ’66-’67 players (in the photo below) made the trip to Des Moines as supportive members of the student body; others made the trip in the following roles: Joyce Baade (starting junior guard), Laurie Brinkman (starting senior forward), Cheryl Rickard (senior manager), Paula Sinek (senior cheerleader), Debbie Zeman (senior cheerleader), Jill Brinkman (senior manager), Karen Brinkman (starting junior forward) and Carol Wiegert (starting junior forward).

1966-67 Rolfe Girls' Junior High Basketball Team. Front row L to R: Joyce Baade, Cynthia Lanning, Barbara Wolverton, Laurie Brinkman, Cheryl Rickard, Paula Sinek, Debbie Zeman, Jill Brinkman. Back row: Linda Lopour, Jann Brinkman, Connie Seward, Judy Delling, Lois Vaske, Cheryl Trimble, Karen Ripperger, Carol Wiegert, Coach Lyle Foster. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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Below is the 1966-67 boys’ junior high 1966-67 team. Both of the teams were coached by Lyle Foster.

1966-67 Rolfe Boys' Junior High Basketball Team. Front row L to R: Robert Wiegert, Bill Shimon, Tom Winkleblack, Mark Feldman, Mike Marine, David Loxterkamp. Back row: Paul Kipfer, Brent Hilton, Jim Jordan, Donald Buck, Bob Allen, Darwin Kuchenreuther, Jay Pomerenke, Coach Lyle Foster. (Click on image to enlarge.)

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In my next post I’ll include photos of more Rolfe junior high basketball teams. For those of you who have no interest in Rolfe girls’ basketball, please bear with me. Before April 16th most of the posts will be about basketball. After the 16th I’ll get back to posting about a variety of topics, including Mother’s watercolors.

On April 12th I will have a post relating to the Chicago Cubs. Something you’ll never find anywhere else!

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

In preparation for the April 16th celebration in Rolfe, I am posting pre-1971 photos that include members of Rolfe’s one-and-only girls’ state tournament basketball team.

When the Rolfe, Iowa, 1971 girls’ basketball team played in the state tournament, we had just one senior teammate. She was Laurie Brinkman. She is pictured below as a member of the 1965-66 Rolfe girls’ junior high basketball team.

On that same’65-’66 junior high team was Jill Brinkman. Like Laurie, in 1971 Jill was a senior. Jill was also one of our team managers when we went to State in 1971.

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Rolfe's 1965-66 junior high girls' basketball team. Front Row L to R: Laurie Brinkman, Barbara Shimon, Nancy Vainreb, Jill Brinkman, Nancy Pedersen, Ruth Rickard. Back Row L to R: Coach Allan Gilbertson, Cheryl Wilson, Becki Wood, Janis Ferguson, Diana Smith, Vicki Trimble, Linda Lopour.* (Click on photo to magnify image.)

In Rolfe we didn’t have AAU or other organized year-round basketball. If I recall correctly, the closest we came to year-round ball was practicing in barns on the farms were many of us lived. Some of our more dedicated 1971 team members (Laurie and her sister, Karen, and maybe others) also attended summer basketball camps. I don’t think I had the work ethic to attend summer camp. Also, the thought of summer camps intimidated me. My fuzzy recollection is that I didn’t have confidence in my stamina or talent to survive what I assumed to be intense summer camps.

After seeing the girls’ picture, I was curious to see the picture of the junior high boys’ team from the same ’65-66 year.

Rolfe's 1965-66 junior high boys' basketball team.L to R: Duane Anderson, LeRoy Mann, Tom Winkleblack, Mark Feldmann, Don Marine, Dennis Ricklefs, Douglas Post, Mike Hood, Mike Pedersen, John Brinkman, David Loxterkamp. Kneeling: Mr. Elder. (Click on photo to magnify image.)

Within the next few days, I’ll include photos of Rolfe’s 1967, 1968 and 1969 junior high girls’ teams. I think I also have a photo of the boys’ team from at least one of those years.

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Both photos are from the 1965-1966 Rolfe school yearbook.

The yearbook lists Mr. Gilbertson’s responsibilities that year as, “Biology, Sr. Math, Geometry, Girls’ Athletics, Sophomore Sponsor.” Mr. (Eugene) Elder’s responsibilities that year were, “Industrial Arts, Eighth Science, Boys’ Athletics, Sophomore Sponsor.”

*The girls’ names in the caption are from the yearbook. They do not reflect any name changes.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

This post is a part of the lead-up to a celebration of the 1971 Rolfe girls’ basketball team’s (and community’s) road to the 1971 state tournament. The agenda for that celebration (on April 16th, 2011) and also a listing of prior posts related to the celebration are included on this blog.

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In a previous post is a photo of a Rolfe girls’ basketball team from 1908-09. I assume that team was associated with the then Independent School District of Rolfe.

According to Centennial History, Rolfe, Iowa, 1863-1963, “Rolfe High School offered girls’ basketball from 1910 until 1920, the 1912 team being undefeated. The sport resumed in 1959.” (Photos of the 1959-60 team are below.)

OVERVIEW of ROLFE SCHOOLS PRIOR to 1959

The first public school in Rolfe was established in December, 1881.

In January, 1884 the Independent School District of Rolfe was established. In 1908 or 1910 (depending on if you go by the 1908 photo or the Centennial History) through 1920, the Independent School District of Rolfe had a girls’ basketball team.

The Independent School District of Rolfe was dissolved in 1947 when the Rolfe Consolidated School came into being.

The sport of girls’ basketball resumed in Rolfe in the fall of 1959 while the name of the school district was still Rolfe Consolidated School.

WHAT HAPPENED in 1959?

In the middle of the 1958-1959 school year (the year before girls’ basketball resumed in Rolfe), movement began toward the reorganization merger of the Des Moines Township (DMT) and Rolfe districts.

In January 1959 action was initiated to effect a reorganization merger of the Des Moines Township Consolidated School and the Rolfe Consolidated School; threatened court action held up the reorganization so that it did not go into effect until July 1, 1960.

When the DMT and Rolfe boards met in January of 1959, they made a specific recommendation regarding girls’ basketball. The January 22, 1959, Rolfe Arrow says, “It has been agreed by the joint boards [DMT board and Rolfe board]: to recommend to the board elect that girls basketball be included in the girls physical education program. Also that a schedule of interscholastic games be played.”

According to the Centennial History, the Des Moines Township Consolidated School District “tuitioned its high school students to the Rolfe Consolidated School during the [following] 1959-1960 school year but continued to operate as a kindergarten through grade eight unit.”

In the recent years before this tuitioning of DMT students, Rolfe did not have a girls’ basketball team; however, DM did.

It must have made sense, since DMT already had a girls’ basketball team and was going to tuition high school students to Rolfe for at least one year, that the Rolfe district once again adopt girls’ basketball. (Wouldn’t it have been kind of awkward not to do so, especially since the DMT team had been winning games?) For that one year (1959-1960), the Rolfe girls and the DMT girls, still from two different operational districts, were teammates on one Rolfe Consolidated School interscholastic basketball team.

Pictured is the Rolfe Consolidated School 1959-60 Girls' Basketball First Team, comprised of girls from the D.M.T. and Rolfe districts. L to R: Nancy Bennett - Manager (Sr), Marie Turley (Jr), Rose McIntire (Jr), Judy Helmke (So), Sandra Ives (So), Helen Gunderson (Fr), Georgia Ryen (So), Linda Hughes (Jr), Shirley Bennett (Fr), Mary Jane Truelson (So), Betty Jo Marine (So), Gwen Heathman (So), Carol Jean Bennett (So), Coach Wayne Brown. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

In 1960 the reorganized district (i.e., the DMT district merged with the Rolfe Consolidated School) was named Rolfe Community School District. The 1960-1961 school year was the first year of the reorganized district comprised of Rolfe and former DMT students; it was the first year the just-formed Rolfe Community School District had its own (no longer technically shared by two districts) girls’ basketball team.

The Rolfe Consolidated School 1959-60 Girls' Basketball Second Team. L to R: Pam Jordan (Sr), Judy Truelson (So), Judy Jordan (Jr), Karen Dailey (So), Nancy Bennett (Sr), Gloria Bennett (So), Diane Callon (Fr), Darlene Nielson (sp?) (Fr), Joann Bennett (Fr), Linda Leadley (Fr), Coach Wayne Brown. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

The Rolfe Community School District continued to have its own girls’ basketball team through the 1986-1987 school year. During the next two years (’87-’88 and ’88-’89) Rolfe shared girls’ basketball with the Gilmore City-Bradgate District. During those two years the teams were known as the River Valley Rebels. In 1989-1990, the year of Rolfe’s last graduating class, students from Rolfe shared sports, including girls’ basketball, with Pocahontas students.

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Centennial History, Rolfe, Iowa, 1863-1963, p. 36+

“Items Discussed in Re Proposed School Merger.” Rolfe Arrow 22 Jan. 1959.

The two photos and the players’ names (but not the players’ year in school) were taken from a 1959-60 Rolfe yearbook.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)

In a previous post I included a photo of Rolfe’s 1908-09 girls’ basketball team. Also included is a photo of Rolfe’s 1970-71 team that played in the Iowa girls’ state tournament. On Saturday, April 16th, 2011, the 1971 team and Rolfe community will celebrate their 40-year state tournament anniversary.

The celebration agenda includes something for everyone.

The agenda* for the day includes several sit-back-and-enjoy options open to the public at the RAM Event Center (former Rolfe, Iowa, school building).

• 6-on-6 scrimmages at which anyone may observe or participate
• fundraiser meal designed for mingling (Raised funds will stay in Rolfe.)
• evening program regarding 6-on-6 basketball and Rolfe, certain to be entertaining and educational

Most of the 1971 team will be in attendance, including managers and a few cheerleaders. Also attending will be several faculty members from the 1971 era. In addition, the RHS class of ’71 will get together with the rest of us.

Not included in the “official” celebration agenda, but also open to the public is evening entertainment. Beginning at ~9:00 p.m. on April 16th, Al Sroufe (RHS ’75) will provide musical entertainment at Wes’ Place in Rolfe. Wes’ Place is kitty-corner from the funeral home in Rolfe (i.e. across the street to the east of the grocery store).

Contact Information and Updates

If you have questions or comments, feel free to let me know. mariongundersonart@gmail.com

Between now and April 16th I’ll frequently post here about the 1971 team’s road to State. This will include articles, photos, and the radio broadcast from at least one of our games.

We would appreciate your help in spreading the word about this celebration.

This agenda is exactly the same as the agenda in pdf format at the link in the second paragraph. (Click on this page 1 of the agenda to enlarge the text.)

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The blue links in this image won't work by just clicking on them...because this image is a picture. However, if you click on the link in the second paragraph of this blog post, it will bring up a pdf of the same agenda. Clicking on the links there will work. (Click on agenda to enlarge the text.)

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*The detailed agenda at this link is in pdf format and typically is easily printable.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s home page.)

As I write tonight I’m watching the Iowa girls’ high school basketball championship. Ar-We-Va is losing to Martensdale St. Marys by almost 20 points. As subs replace the Ar-We-Va starters in the final seconds of the game, the starters’ disappointment in such a loss is obvious.

Pictured is part of the curtain from Rolfe's former school auditorium. Pictured below are two Rolfe girls' basketball teams...62 years apart.

I can so relate. In 1971 the Rolfe, Iowa, girls’ basketball team (of which I was a part) was the only Rolfe team to ever qualify for the Iowa girls’ basketball state tournament. The team and community were thrilled when the chant of “On to State! On to State!” during the regional final game against Manson became a reality.

In 1971 there was no classification dependent on school enrollment. All sweet-sixteen qualifying teams were seeded with only one eventual champion.

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In the first round of the 6-on-6* 1971 state tournament we lost by 28 points to Mediapolis. I remember being so humbled when, early in the game after Mediapolis made a basket, Mary Schulte hollered to her teammate Barb Wischmeier (whom I was guarding), “We’ve got a little one, Wisch!”

In the first moments immediately following the game we felt pretty dejected losing by so many points, especially with comments like Mary’s. However, to this day people remind us what a top-notch Mediapolis team we played, and how honored we should feel to have earned a berth at the state tournament. How true those words are.

FORTY YEARS LATER

On Saturday, April 16th, 2011, at least nine of our 12-member varsity team will reunite in Rolfe to celebrate our trip to State! Our assistant coach, other faculty, team managers and a sprinkling of JV teammates and cheerleaders from 1971 will celebrate with us. If possible, if you have ties to Rolfe (or even if you don’t) we hope you will join us that day.

We will meet at the former Rolfe school. An open-to-the-community meal will be served there from 4:00 until 6:00 PM. We’ve purposely structured the day so that we not only reunite with the team; we also want to reunite with our hometown community.

Additional festivities are planned for before and after the meal. Within the next couple of weeks I’ll post the details. If, in the meantime you are anxious to know more about the day, feel free to email me. mariongundersonart@gmail.com

For now…

Immediately below is a photo of the 1908 Rolfe girls’ basketball team. The Centennial History of Rolfe, Iowa, 1863-1963 says, “Rolfe High School offered girls’ basketball from 1910 until 1920, the 1912 team being undefeated. The sport was resumed in 1959.” Unless I’m misunderstanding, the photo of the 1908 team and the centennial book information contradict each other.

1908 and 1971: Who is related to whom?

1908

(Click on photo to enlarge.)

There are connections between the young women in these two photos. Ruth Gunderson (above) was my fun great-aunt. Sisters Anna Brinkman Vaughn and Mae Brinkman Caffrey and also Lena Wiegman Vaughn (all pictured above) are related to the two sets of sisters on the 1971 team (below): Laurie and Karen Brinkman and their second cousins, sisters Julie and Jean Brinkman.

1971

Front row L to R: Michele Pomerenke, Joyce Baade, me (Louise Gunderson), Carol Wiegert, Karen Brinkman and Laurie Brinkman. Back: Assistant coach Dennis Duerling, Jean Brinkman, Lynn Robinson, Linda Pedersen, Lynn Neugent, Julie Brinkman, Jeanell Winkleblack, Coach Al Van Houten. (Click on photo to enlarge.)

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Between now and April 16th many of my posts will likely be about girls’ basketball, more specifically Rolfe basketball. I’ve got memorabilia, at least one radio broadcast, and video footage from a few of our games.

Whether from 1971 or another time period, if you have memories about Rolfe and/or girls’ basketball, if you feel so inclined, I hope you’ll share.

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* At the time, all sanctioned Iowa girls’ high school teams were 6-on-6 teams.

(Click here to go to Louise Gunderson Shimon’s blog’s home page.)