Ken Burns looks to Luverne for ‘The War’Ken Burns, possibly the most famous documentary filmmaker of our time, is considering including Luverne and its residents in his next project."The War" is expected to be a four-part, documentary film series, made for public television.The eight-hour film will focus on four American cities and small towns, Luverne, Sacramento, Calif., Waterbury, Conn., and Mobile, Ala.According to Meghan Horvath, a project coordinator, "the film will juxtapose and intertwine the experiences of servicemen who fought on the front lines in all theaters of the war with those of their families and neighbors back home.""We will also track the larger military drama as it unfolds, so that we can comprehend the experiences of these ordinary people in a larger social and historical context."Part of making the project a success will depend on you.The production company needs to gather information from your experiences during WWII.They are particularly interested in photographs and home movies of Luverne during the war years.Photographs and home movies taken from that time would be of particular interest to the production company, as well as stories from veterans and those who were alive and lived in Luverne at the time, diaries, letters and interesting statistics about the town or those from the town who went off to war.Although the war years, 1941-45 are of particular interest, in a recent e-mail to the Star Herald, Horvath said they are interested in home movies of Luverne or Rock County from the 1930s through the 1950s.Are you ready for Buffalo Days?The event is only ten days away, but it’s not too late to sign up to participate in the Saturday morning parade and more entries are welcome.This will be the 19th annual Buffalo Days, something that started rather small and now brings nearly 10,000 people to Luverne each year.But to continue making it a success, they need your cooperation.Last year 60 families, businesses and organizations participated in the parade.This year the parade will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 31.If you would like more information on the parade, or other Buffalo Days activities, contact Dave or Lorna at the Luverne Area Chamber of Commerce at 283-4061 or you can e-mail them at luvernechamber@iw.net.State rest stops to stay openMinnesota’s Lt. Governor, who also serves as the head of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, announced last week that all 77 of the state’s rest stops, will remain open through June 2004.Lt. Governor Carol Molnau had earlier proposed closing 44 of the rest stops and redirecting the $2 million annual expense to road construction.Molnau was convinced she should keep the rest areas open, after hearing the opposition from travelers, cities and legislators who were concerned how the cutbacks would affect restaurants, gas stations and other related traveler services.The $2 million in unused winter maintenance funds will be used to keep the rest areas open.Although the funding will settle the problem though 2004, it will still present a long term funding problem for the rest areas.Gov. Pawlenty’s two-year budget plan is still expected to save $2 million from rest area closings.Pawlenty wants to use the $2 million savings to cover the interest of $450 million in highway bonds.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com
