“The Last One Out Of Town Turn Out The Lights” is a nostalgic, inspiring, and untold story of how a soul-crushing school district consolidation changes the fate and fortunes of two rural Maine high schools. The school merger connects a tall, humble, whimsically-talented player to a young, driven, witty coach 20 miles away to ultimately build an unlikely undefeated state championship basketball team in 1975 that “is like this meteor in Dover-Foxcroft that comes through this one season.”

The extraordinary once-in-a-lifetime team captivates a hopeful community, whose spirit is symbolized in one amusing, unforgettable plywood sign on the outskirts of town.

Through a turbulent time in America, this book examines the impact of a high school basketball team on the two rival schools — Monson Academy and Foxcroft Academy — and their townspeople by following the lives of Kevin Nelson and Skip Hanson after Monson Academy closes its doors. That one, controversial decision allows Foxcroft Academy to finally establish a winning basketball tradition and claim its first and only Gold Ball, emblematic of the Maine High School Basketball Championship. Bitter feelings and personal struggles are revealed as are stories of admiration and light-hearted moments such as a player slipping and sliding under a fire truck, a band director being hired from a strip tease club, and a title team showering in lounge chairs.

In a period void of cellphones, laptop computers, social media, and Jake from State Farm, the book weaves unpopular decisions to cut popular players from the team, fights with hated rivals, and a phantom foul that for God’s sake should never have been called that lead to the kind of championship season that all small towns, coaches, players, and fans across the country covet, embrace, and treasure for a lifetime. 

For Monson, it’s about what if.

For Dover-Foxcroft, it’s about time.

For Kevin Nelson and Skip Hanson, it’s about life and legacy.

Dave Albee, a 1972 graduate of Foxcroft Academy voted “Most School Spirited” as a senior in the school yearbook, was an award-winning sportswriter and sports columnist for 35 years at five newspapers in four states from Maine to California.

His big break came while he was an attentive clerk at an A&P grocery store in the small town of Dover-Foxcroft, Maine trying to pay off his college debt. One day in 1973 while working at the A&P, Dave was bagging groceries for the sports editor of the local weekly newspaper, the Piscataquis Observer, when he asked her if she was planning to cover Foxcroft Academy’s big season-opening basketball game at Orono High School that coming Saturday night. When she said “no” and admitted she knew little about basketball, Dave on a whim and on the spot volunteered to cover the game for her. Dave drove to the game, wrote a game story longhand on Sunday, submitted it to the Observer on Monday and on Tuesday received a phone call from its Editor/Publisher offering him a full-time job.

That launched Dave’s long newspaper career which included freelance assignments with USA Today/Gannett News Service and The Sporting News and covering multiple Super Bowls, World Series, NBA and NHL playoff games, World Cup soccer, NCAA football bowl games, and NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tournament games. Dave is an honorary member of the Baseball Writers Association of America, who has voted on player induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame and on selection for college football’s Heisman Trophy.

Despite covering some of the world’s biggest sporting events, teams, and players during the past five decades, it is Foxcroft’s first and only state basketball championship season that Dave covered for his hometown Observer in 1974-75 that served as the inspiration for his first book — “The Last One Out Of Town Turn Out The Lights.” That one season is deeply personal to Dave compared to all the college and professional sports seasons he has experienced. Dave was born and raised in Dover-Foxcroft and competed in football, basketball, and baseball at Foxcroft Academy. The bit of serendipity at the local grocery store provided him the opportunity to witness and now write about the 1975 state championship season.