NEENAH, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The Shattuck Middle School Gym in Neenah has been host to uncountable basketball games since it was opened in 1928, and a special game was played as a farewell to the gym on Friday.
Former players and coaches said their emotional goodbyes to the Ole Jorgenson Gym in Shattuck.
“I grew up here, moved away and now I’m back,” former Neenah basketball player Roger Johnson said. “So, it’s pretty neat.”
Johnson graduated from Neenah High School in 1973. Friday was his first time back at the gym since his senior year. He said it was a special time, with some of his favorite memories from high school.
“1973 our team won the games that put Coach Einerson with 100 wins,” Johnson said. “That was pretty emotional. Two by two sheet cake with a red 100 was in the locker room when we walked in. His parents were there for that game. So, we all had a lot of cake.”
Johnson said he’s been a part of the Neenah basketball family his entire life.
That family also includes 1989 graduates Rich and Kelly Klesmit. They played in the gym in middle school and watched their sons do the same.
“We had school dances here,” Kelly Klesmit said. “So, it’s kind of surreal coming back and here seeing our own kid play in the same gym we both played in.”
Even a former, longtime assistant coach came back to reminisce.
“1969 we lost in the finals to Beloit,” former Neenah basketball coach Rich Paske said. “When we came back, they put us on fire engines and drove us around town. When we came back, it was so packed, people were lined up outside trying to get in. It was just amazing. So, a lot of good memories.”
Paske coached Rich Klesmit and Roger Johnson in their playing days. He said Neenah basketball has meant a lot.
“Everything,” Paske said. “It’s shaped my life. A lot of good friends, a lot of good people. Neenah’s a great town, and it’s just been a great place to coach and work.”
Although many who called the gym home are sad to see it go, they’re excited for the opportunities the future brings.
“It’s a step back in time,” Kelly Klesmit said. “It’s exciting to see new faces in the jerseys. Lot of new friends. But a lot of old friends too.”
“It’s a passing of another generation,” Johnson said. “Next spring, Neenah will open a new high school, and they get to start it all over again.”
The Ole Jorgenson Gym is closing because new high school is being built, and the current Neenah high school will become the new middle school in July.
