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FIFTH GENERATION
Louie and Carol, 1996
353. Louis Lorenz KRUMWIEDE was born
1941. His e-mail address is [email protected]. He was employed as a
farmer. Louis continues the Krumwiede farming tradition at "The
Rupert Place," continuous farming of that property by Krumwiede
families now spanning 4 generations, though no member of the Krumwiede
family ever owned so much as one acre of the ground. Louis also farms land
approximately 2 1/2 miles to the northeast of The Rupert Place, on
"the blacktop."
He was married to Carol ECKER (daughter of Edna D ECKER) 1965.
Carol ECKER was born 1943. She was employed as a teacher at
Iroquois West Upper Elementary School, retiring in 1999.
Carol wrote this article for The (Paxton) Record, and it was published on
Wednesday, August 4, 1999.
By Carol Krumwiede
Aug. 4 will be a special day for Buckley Dutchmasters baseball. It was on
that date 50 years ago that the inaugural baseball game was played at the
present ball diamond, recently renamed Scheiwe Field.
That game against Crescent City was played on the new 100,000-watt lighted
field on Thursday, Aug. 4, 1949.
Before a crowd of 1,500 Buckley won 6-2. The game was followed by a
fireworks display.
The building of that diamond was quite a feat for a town of only 450
people. Plans were to have the field ready by the 4th of July, but delays
forced them to wait until August for the inaugural game. (See accompanying
article.)
They played four other night games that year, and for the first time in 17
years were selected as hosts for the final round of the season-ending
tournament.
Buckley put up a spirited argument to get the championship game played at
night under its new lights, but some managers claimed players unaccustomed
to lights would be at a disadvantage. They finally voted to have day games
only. Following a rainout of part of the round-round games, the finals
took place Sunday, Sept.18.
In those days the two semifinal games and the finals were all played on
the same day. Semifinal games were scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Due to a
heavy downpour the start of the first game was delayed until 12:30 p.m.,
and games wore on long enough into the evening, making it necessary to
turn on the new lights for the last three innings of the final game.
Royal defeated Flatville for the tourney championship.
Glen Fletcher, grandfather of Toronto Blue Jays catcher Darren Fletcher,
produced an iron man pitching performance in that he pitched both the
semifinal and final victories.
The Buckley grounds crew headed by Arlie Seymour was credited with doing
an excellent job of getting the well-drained field in top shape.
League commissioners were quoted that it was the biggest and best
tournament in history of a paid attendance of 1,800.
Comments were also made that Buckley's park was the best in the league and
the Buckley hosts did a grand job of running the tournament.
The commissioners must have liked what they saw because in 1950 and in
1951, Buckley was once again chosen as the site for the tournament's final
round. Flatville was the champion in 1950, defeating Loda 12-5.�
The accommodations were improved by the addition of concrete dugouts and a
shower room. It was reported in the Paxton Record by Bud Larson that many
of the 2,500 fans had nothing but compliments about the beautiful park.
As a side note it was also reported 170 pounds of hamburger, 50 dozen
Eskimo pies, 90 cases of pop and 100 cases of beer were consumed.
The 1951 championship once again was won by Flatville.
The biggest disappointment of the tourneys was the Dutchmasters did not
make the finals either year, having been defeated in the semifinals played
earlier in the day. Their day would come in 1952 when, as irony would have
it, the tournament was played in Gifford (Flatville's home field).
The 4-0 tournament victory over Rantoul was the culmination of an
all-everything year for Buckley. The Dutchmasters won the regular season
championship with a 13-1 record, and Virgil Scheiwe, for whom the field
was named this year, had a pitching record of 9-1 and a batting average of
.456. Buckley had always fielded a competitive baseball team, but it was
in :1933, with the arrival of Arlie Seymour, that things really began to
happen.
Seymour's arrival was purely accidental. While traveling, he and his
family became hungry about the time they drove through Buckley. They
couldn't find a restaurant in town, so after some discussion, the Seymours
decided to settle in Buckley and start one.
Shortly after his arrival he went out to the ballfield where a game was in
progress. To his amazement no admission was being charged, and he learned
the players chipped in for balls and bats that were needed Seymour
suggested they charge admission. Next thing he knew he was business
manager for the team, a position he held for 20 years prior to leaving the
area for a job in Texas.
During his tenure, Seymour did everything he could to promote Buckley
Dutchmasters baseball, including admission (25 cents for adults and 15
cents for children), staging horse races to bring extra spectators to ball
games, fireworks, sheep dog herding, races around the bases, parachute
jumps, gate prizes and night baseball.
Night play was accomplished by acquiring lights from the 1933-34 World's
Fair, making Buckley the only amateur team in Illinois with lights. It was
under Seymour's leadership Buckley became a member of the Eastern Illinois
League in 1934, which means the Dutchmasters are in their 65th year of
competition.
The scrapbooks he kept while in Buckley are also the source of most of
this information.
Buckley has long been known for its baseball teams. There are records to
prove there were baseball teams in Buckley as early as 1860.
In 1926, the team acquired the name "Dutchmasters," and the rest
is history.
A statement made in a 1939 newspaper article said that although the
players may change Buckley always had a team that would not give up until
the third out in the final inning.
That remains true some 60 years later. Though many players have come and
gone, and many games have been won and lost, Buckley continues its long
tradition of E.I. baseball at what has to be considered the No. 1 ball
park in the league.
Happy 50th birthday to Scheiwe Field.
Louis Lorenz KRUMWIEDE and Carol ECKER had the following children:
+712
i. Jill KRUMWIEDE.
+713
ii. Barry KRUMWIEDE. |