STICKEL, EARL BOLLMAN FIELDHOUSE AND ADJOINING BOLLMAN FIELD IN NEW BEDFORD
EARL STICKEL WAS BORN IN DAVENPORT, IOWA. HE SETTLED IN NEW BEDFORD AREA AFTER WORLD WAR 1. EARL GOT INTO THE OIL BUSINESS AFTER INHERITING BOLLMAN OIL CO. FROM HIS UNCLE FRED C BOLLMAN. EARL STICKEL WAS AN INTERNATIONAL SOFTBALL LEAGUE FAN WHO ATTENDED THE WORLD SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT IN TEXAS IN 1952. MR. STICKEL DECIDED HE WANTED TO DO SOMETHING TO BUILD UP NEW BEDFORD’S SPORTS FACILITIES. IN 1953 MR STICKEL ERECTED A SOFTBALL PARK AT A COST CONSERVATIVELY ESTIMATED AT $40.000.00. IT WAS BUILT IN MEMORY OF C VIVIAN BOLLMAN, SON OF F C BOLLMAN, A COUSIN of EARL’S, WHO DIED FROM FLU EPIDEMIC IN 1918.
MR STICKEL SPONSORED A TEAM OF MANLIUS ALUMNI WHO TRAVELED TO PLAY OTHER TEAMS. ONE DAY STICKEL ASKED THEIR FRIEND HUBERT HEWITT WHY THEY WERE NOT PLAYING MORE GAMES. HE RESPONDED: WE CAN NOT GET INTO THE GYM, THERE IS TOO MUCH GOING ON. SO STICKEL SAID I WILL BUILD ONE AND IT WAS BUILT AND DEDICATED DEC 23, 1955. WITH A COURT IN PLACE, STICKEL FORMED A SEMI-PRO BASKETBALL TEAM CALLED THE BOLLMAN MAROONS; IN PART TO KEEP HIS SOFTBALL PLAYERS IN SHAPE DURING THE WINTER. THEY PLAYED SOME OF THE BEST TEAMS IN THE US BEFORE DISBANDING IN 1961. BOLLMAN FIELDHOUSE WAS BUILT IN 1955 AND THE FIRST BASKETBALL GAME HELD IN THE NEW FIELDHOUSE WAS PLAYED DEC 16, 1955 WHEN MANLIUS BEAT TISKILWA 66-56. EARL STICKEL LET MANLIUS PLAY AT THE FIELDHOUSE FOR A TOKEN FEE; BELIEVED TO BE $1.00.
WHEN EARL STICKEL DIED AUG 14, 1975 IN STOUGHTON, WI., THE HIGH SCHOOL PAID THE BARGAIN RATE OF $50,000.00 FOR THE FIELDHOUSE AND ADJOINING PROPERTY TO SETTLE THE ESTATE. EARL MARRIED CORA SCHUETTS IN ABOUT 1966 WHEN HE WAS 73. HE IS BURIED AT THE SOUTH PLEASANT VIEW CEMETERY IN KEWANEE, IL. CORA MAE SCHUETTS MAY HAVE BEEN MARRIED TO CLAUDE FREEMONT BATES IN 1930. NOT CONFIRMED. THE FIELDHOUSE WAS DEDICATED DEC 23, 1955 WHEN THE HARLEM GLOBETROTTERS WERE THE GUEST TEAM. THE FIELDHOUSE CLOSED FEB 23, 1998 AFTER THE LAST BASKETBALL GAME PLAYED AT THE FIELDHOUSE WAS BUREAU VALLEY VS. ALEDO. BUREAU VALLEY WON 79-60. IT CLOSED WHEN THE NEW BUREAU VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL OPENED IN THE FALL OF 1998. IT WAS AFFECTIONATELY CALLED “BARN” BY THOSE WHO KNEW HER BEST AND SERVED MANLIUS RED DEVILS FOR 42 YEARS. THE MANLIUS HIGH SCHOOL LEASED THE FIELDHOUSE FOR THE BASKETBALL SEASON AND LARGE GATHERINGS SUCH AS COMMENCEMENT. .
Earl Stickel also built a new fieldhouse at the same location. The new Bollman Memorial Fieldhouse was dedicated Dec. 23, 1955, when the Meadowlark Lemon-led Harlem Magicians basketball team performed. The first basketball game played by Manlius Red Devils was Dec 16, 1955, against Tiskilwa.
Manlius Red Devils beat Tiskilwa Indians 66-56. The last game played was Feb 1998 (Bureau Valley defeated Aledo 79-60. The Bollman Fieldhouse closed 42 years after it opened in 1955.
Stickel let Manlius Red Devils play for a token fee believed to be $ 1.00. When Stickel died in 1977 the high school paid a bargain rate of $50,000 for the field house and adjoining property to settle the estate. A new Bureau Valley High School built in Manlius, IL opened fall of 1998. It was a much anticipated 10- million-dollar school complex on the west edge of Manlius, with a state-of-the-art gymnasium. Manlius, along with Buda-Western, Walnut, joined forces, built a new school that opened fall of 1998, and then played basketball in the new gym in Manlius.
Earl Stickel; inherited Bollman Oil Co. and real estate from his Uncle Fred Bollman.
The Bollman Field and Fieldhouse were built and named by Earl C. Stickel in memory of his cousin, C. Vivian Bollman, son of Fred C Bollman, who died from a flu epidemic in 1918.
A basketball team (The Maroons) was formed in 1955 by Stickel and played some of the best teams in the U.S. A. before disbanding in 1961. The Manlius High School then leased the Field house for basketball season and large gatherings such as commencement. The building was valued at $100.000 when it was built. Fred C.
Bollman of Greenville Township gave land for an athletic field. He was a car salesman and had the agency for Ford starting in 1901. .
BOLLMAN OIL CO. BULK OIL Plant Fred C. Bollman, uncle of Earl Stickle, operated a Texaco bulk plant called Bollman Oil Co. They sold tires wholesale and retail at their store in the defunct First State Bank building which was owned by First National Bank on North Maple Ave. at that time. Art Carlson was the bookkeeper, and Siebert Larson, Forrest Kerber, and Harold Caskey delivered bulk oil. They hoped to purchase the old First State Bank building on Main Street on Jan. 17, 1949, and use it for an office; however, the deed did not get transferred properly by The First National Bank President. Therefore, Earl Stickel bought the Old First State Bank building on Main Street in Manlius and moved his offices there.