Lebanon High School is a second home for Hank Feldt, and it was time to do a little yard work.
The longtime Greyhounds softball coach, who was honored last week for 50 years of service to the Lebanon School District, was driving a tractor and dragging the infield on the softball diamond on a Tuesday morning prior to a game. It was more than five hours before game time, but for Feldt, it's never too early to get ready.
"I don't really have to be here right now, but this is a good time to work the diamond," Feldt said as he sat in the home dugout at the softball field.
Feldt, who turned 77 on April 13, coached his first game at Lebanon in September 1959 at the junior high.
"I had just graduated from McKendree and I came down here," Feldt said. "For three years I coached baseball and basketball - that's all we had then.
"Harry Walker, who was a cattle buyer at National Stockyards, was on the board of education at that time and when I was a junior, he said 'we want to hire you next year.' I told him I had to think about it and I went through the winter, but every time I would walk out onto the basketball court, there was Harry Walker. Baseball season came and I finally said 'OK, bring me a contract.'
"I thought I could sign a contract (for a year), then I could go wherever I want. That was 50 years ago and I'm still here."
After teaching and coaching at the junior high for three years, Feldt moved to the high school in 1962. In all, he has coached seven sports (both male and female) and served as the only athletics director in the history of the district until his retirement in 1993.
"We used to have tennis a long time ago, but then it went down the tubes," said Feldt, who revived the program in 1968. "It lasted quite a while and we became very successful. I only coached it for a year and half because I had a back injury and I needed an operation, but Steve Crews, who was a business education teacher, took over and he really made a program of it. The bigger schools didn't want to play us, which is kind of the way softball is right now."
Feldt coached boys basketball for 12 years, posting a record of 174-137 and winning three Cahokia Conference championships. He coached baseball for fours year and compiled a 72-33 mark, winning a conference championship in 1965 and a district title in 1966.
He also coached girls basketball, but is perhaps most widely known for coaching cross country and track. He started the cross country program in 1966 and stayed on as head coach for seven years. Besides developing future Olympian Craig Virgin as a two-time state champion, the Greyhounds won the conference and district team championships three times.
In 13 years as head coach of the track team, his squads won the conference and district titles three times, with Virgin adding three more individual state titles. Lebanon had four top-10 finishes at the state meet, including second place in 1977 after the IHSA adopted a two-class system.
"The board of education wanted to hire a new teacher and they brought in Ira Price and the second year he was here, we won a state title," Feldt said. "Ira coached cross country and track here for more than 30 years before retiring last spring, but he's still a volunteer coach. He said 'Hank, I'm not going to do what you're doing,' but here he is doing it."
Virgin organized Feldt's retirement dinner in 1993 and was the emcee for the event.
"I realized he was just retiring from teaching, and 17 years later, he's still coaching," Virgin said. "Some teachers and coaches probably resent him because he puts so much time and energy into his job. He still spends half his day at the school whether he's teaching or not.
"Hank is old-school and he's a little bit salty, but he gives some of the best quotes that a sportswriter has ever been given. You'll never get a dull, boring quote from Hank Feldt.
"He was instrumental in my success and helped me develop as both an athlete and a man. He showed me how to win with class and lose with dignity and he showed me how to be a role model as an athlete."
When Feldt finally did step down from teaching, his commitment to Lebanon remained as strong as ever.
"I was retired from about nine one night until ten the next morning, when a board member called and asked if I would stay on as softball coach," said Feldt, whose current team took a 29-4 record and a No. 1 seed into this week's Class 1A Lebanon Regional. "I started coaching softball in 1989 and I was the athletic director back then. A lot of the parents used to say 'you don't care about the girls - you would hire a monkey to coach them.' That made me mad, so I resigned from coaching boys and started coaching the girls.
"People said 'those girls won't do what you demand,' but they wanted somebody to push them and I guess I did a pretty good job. They say I'm hard-nosed, but I just get into it. I didn't think I would still be coaching at this point because I didn't think I would ever make it this far. I remember I used to think 'it would sure be nice to get old enough to see the year 2000.' I not only saw it, but now it's 10 years later.
"I'm one of the lucky ones. I have nothing physically wrong with me and I'm still able to do everything I want to do."
A 1997 Lebanon graduate, Jenny Dockstader played for Feldt on two state tournament teams. She is now the head coach for the junior high softball team and spent four years as an assistant on the high school team.
"The thing that stands out about Hank is that is he is so hard-working and so devoted to everything he has to do for his job," said Dockstader, who teaches first grade at Lebanon Grade School "He doesn't tolerate anything that's not done the right way.
"He loves his girls dearly and keeps photos of them from every season. He still sends birthday cards to all of his former softball players. He's a wonderful man and he has a huge heart."
Another former Greyhounds player, Amy Baer, graduated in 2003 and was a pitcher for Feldt. She is in her second year as an assistant coach on the high school team.
"Hank is like everyone's grandpa," said Baer, who teaches social studies at the grade school. "He is very genuine and a great role model for his players. He is not afraid to speak his mind and tell it like it is.
"Coaching with him is a lot like playing for him. He is a great influence and I learn from him daily. Hank has contributed so much to the program here, not only with his coaching knowledge but also with everything he does behind the scenes. His dedication to the Lebanon School District is something that should not be forgotten. He has changed the lives of many people throughout his 50 years coaching. I know because I am one of them."
Except for a three-year stint in the Army while he served in the Korean War, Feldt has been a Mascoutah resident throughout his life. After graduating from Mascoutah High in 1951, he worked in construction before joining the military.
Upon discharge from the Army, Feldt enrolled at McKendree University in the same freshman class as longtime Bearcats men's basketball coach Harry Statham.
"Harry came in from Metropolis High School and I was a graduate of Uncle Sam's fraternity," said Feldt, who played baseball and basketball at McKendree.
Throughout the school year, Feldt's car can usually be found in the parking lot at Lebanon. He spends 25 to 30 hours a week at the school, helping athletes in a varsity of sports. He is now the assistant coach on the junior high softball team, where he had a state championship in 2007 and a third-place finish in 2008.
"I have fun and I like the kids I coach," said Feldt, who never married and has no children of his own. "I'll keep doing it as long as I keep having fun - and they keep rehiring me."
