A “help wanted” poster led Luverne High School graduate Nathan Boler to a former movie set in Dyersville, Iowa, where he drove actor Kevin Costner around in a golf cart.
From his home in Caledonia, Minnesota, Boler said he and his wife, Dana, were at a water park in Dubuque, Iowa, when they saw the help wanted poster from BaAM Productions.
The company was working with the Major League Baseball Association to host a game where the 1989 movie, “Field of Dreams,” was filmed. They sought ushers, cart drivers, security personnel, parking attendants and people to be on the cleanup crew.
Boler said he and his wife, Dana, submitted resumes, references and completed Zoom interviews before both were hired.
“We thought it would be a cool idea,” he said. “It was Dana’s idea to apply. We were excited to be a part of something new and unique.”
The movie stars Costner as an Iowa farmer who turns his ordinary cornfield into a baseball field where dreams can come true.
Since the filming, the farm has become a destination, and it was chosen in 2020 to host a regulation MLB game to promote pro-baseball.
The event was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic and was rescheduled for Aug. 12, 2021.
The Chicago White Sox play the New York Yankees, two teams Costner’s film character heard his father tell stories about, centered around the players.
Boler worked the golf cart crew to chauffeur VIPs attending the game. Dana was an usher in one area of the bleachers for the 8,000 people (many selected from a ticket lottery) who attended the game.
A larger ballpark was built adjacent to the movie set specifically designed for the MLB-sanctioned game, complete with lights for the evening game.
Boler was notified a day before the game that he would be the chauffeur for Costner.
“That was one of the most exciting things I got to tell my wife,” he said.
At first, she didn’t believe him because he joked about the possibility for more than a month leading up to the ballgame.
Boler drove Costner from his Green Room under the bleachers to interviews at the movie ballfields and on the MLB field. Someone snapped a picture of Boler behind the wheel with Costner beside him.
Boler said the picture captures the drive to centerfield, where he would emerge from the cornfield, reenacting a scene from the movie. They didn’t talk.
“My job was very structured, driving from place to place. Everything was very business-like to make sure he got to the interviews and the cornfield,” Boler said.
Boler was able to watch the last innings of the game after Costner left the ballfield.
“Although we were paid ($12 per hour), we worked more for the experience than the money. In the end, it definitely cost us money to work after paying for lodging and meals,” he said. “The experience made it all worth it, though.”
Boler graduated from LHS in 2006 and is a middle-high school principal at Caledonia Area Public Schools. His parents, Glen and Connie Boler, live in Luverne.