Relay for Life receives American Cancer Society awardThe Rock County Relay for Life recently received an award from the American Cancer Society West, for the highest per capita fund-raiser for counties with populations between 7,000 and 17,000.The local Relay for Life organization received the news as they were preparing for the 2004 event.The 4th annual event will be at the Luverne City Park on June 18-19.Last year, the group raised more than $57,000, with more than 500 team members participating.The money raised locally goes to both cancer research as well as patient services and support in Luverne.If you would like to participate in this year’s event, contact Nancy Kaczrowski at 283-9261 or Glenda Schomacker at 283-8677.County ends spring weight restrictionsWeight restrictions imposed by the Rock County Highway Department earlier this spring have been lifted.County Engineer Mark Sehr lifted the spring load restriction on Monday, April 19th.If you have any questions, you can contact Sehr at 283-5010. "Kids First" plates may help fund Minnesota schoolsWe’ve all seen the environmental license plates the state of Minnesota started issuing a few years ago. Now, Rep. Laura Brod (R-New Prague) is hoping to do the same thing for education.Under Brod’s plan, the plates will have a pro- education message. The revenues generated from the "Kids First" license plates, will benefit local schools.Those purchasing the new plates will be able to identify which district receives the funds and therefore, their money will be kept in their local communities, providing a direct benefit from the locally generated revenue.One stumbling block in Brod’s plan is the rigorous standards the legislature recently set for issuing new license plates.Initially, 10,000 people in Minnesota must intend to purchase the plates to make the program a reality.For more information on the proposed new plates, contact Rep. Laura Brod, at 651-296-4229.A foul ball for a birthday boyNicholas Rittenhouse was pretty happy with the Twins’ tickets he got for his 10th birthday, but he ended up getting a bonus.Nicholas’ dad, John Rittenhouse, sports editor for the Rock County Star Herald and his mother, Astrid, took Nicholas to the Kansas City Royals game last Saturday night.As they watched the game from their seats along the first base line, Kansas City slugger Juan Gonzalez hit a foul ball, which appeared to be coming up short of the Rittenhouse’s seats.But when the ball took a big bounce, John set down his beverage and snatched the ball out of the air from his ninth row seats.So, Nicholas will have more than a ticket stub and memories from his 10th birthday.Freya Manfred to appear as visiting author in Sioux FallsFreya Manfred, Luverne native and daughter of Frederick Manfred, will appear as the second visiting author at Zandbroz Variety in downtown Sioux Falls this Saturday.Manfred will read from her recently published book of poetry "My Only Home."In a recently published article in the Sioux Falls Argus Leader, Manfred described her most recent publication, "My Only Home" as containing two styles: meditative passages that come out of her time spent on Minnesota’s lakes and those she considers more conversational.""My Only Home" is Manfred’s fourth published book. The first three were "Frederick Manfred: A Daughter Remembers", "American Road: A Book of Poems" and "Yellow Squash Woman."Zandbroz Variety is located at 209 S. Phillips in Sioux Falls. Manfred is scheduled to appear at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com
