PORTSMOUTH — Dick Burdette, author of “The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders” and “The Obrist Murder: A Pocket Full Awry.” will be at the Portsmouth Public Library, which is located at 1220 Gallia Street, Portsmouth, at 2 p.m. January 31.

With this special visit, Burdette will be presenting a talk in regards to the original “Waterloo” book, as well as autographing his 1961 reprint of “The Fabulous Waterloo Wonders,” which has just been released in time to commemorate the 75th anniversary of this fascinating event.

Yes, 75 years ago, the Waterloo Wonders came out of the Lawrence County hills to become one of the most colorful, most exciting, most unforgettable team in the history of Ohio high school basketball.

What they did was nothing less than remarkable. Over two seasons, they won back-to-back state championships and in the process, perhaps as many as 100 games, only a handful of them on their own court.

How they did it was even more amazing. In an era when a virtually unknown team called the Harlem Globetrotters were still playing one-night stands in small town high school gyms and dance halls across the region, the Wonders imitating no one, astonished overflow crowds in the state’s largest arenas with their whirlwind passing, deadeye shooting, lockdown defense and whimsical showmanship.

Left-handed, right-handed, two-handed, behind the back, between the legs, over-handed, underhanded, bowling style, sitting down, lying own without looking – the Wonders passed with such lightning speed, such radar accuracy, fans and opponents alike often did not know where the ball was. And yet, the defining significance of their story lies not in what they did, or how they did it, but when. No work, no money, no hope of any, drought, towering Dust Bowl storms that turned day into night, farm foreclosures, evictions, record heat, punishing cold, stunted crops wilting in the fields – by 1933, America, the Land of Plenty, had become the Land of Nowhere Near Enough. And then, amid all the doom and gloom, along came the Wonders.

Attendance records document the scope of their sudden and starling impact. In 1932, the three-day state tournament in Columbus attracted an all-time high of 13,901 fans. In 1933, the year before the Wonders appeared on the scene, attendance plummeted nearly in half to 7,103.

Two years later, when they won their second state title, it soared to 24,100 and that didn’t include hundreds more who knocked down the Fairgrounds Coliseum doors just to see the Wonders play.

But how many games they won and how many fans they attracted tell only part of the story. Their real impact was much more personal. Every time they stepped onto the court, their impromptu, freewheeling antics, if only for a little while brought excitement, awe, joy and hope to the lives of tens of thousands who saw them play. And yet, for all the attention they received all the headlines they inspired the Wonders never allowed their heads to be turned by their newfound fame or the glaring spotlight under which they performed. Showmen but never showoffs, possessed of a sly, disarming, sometimes self-deprecating sense of humor, they reveled in the ridiculous without attempting to make their opponents look that way. Through it all, they remained themselves, no different than they had been before all the fuss, no different than they would be the rest of their lives, after their glory days were over.

The Wonders on a basketball court were a sight to see, the likes of which Ohio had never seen before. Or ever would – or will – see again. For further information or to reserve a seat, please phone 740-353-5834.