GEP sponsors fund-raiser for Palace Theatre
In a continuing effort to help save and restore the Palace Theatre, the Green Earth Players will present a 25th Anniversary fund-raiser variety show.
To honor its past 25 years of productions, the local theater troupe is trying to come up with acts from as many as possible of its past shows, using original cast members.
The emphasis will be on the musicals, according to GEP president Fred Manfred.
The show will be presented at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9.
Tickets for the show will be sold at the Carnegie Cultural Center, Luverne, beginning Friday, Jan. 31.
The box office hours are 12:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturdays
34th annual World Championship Pinochle Tournament held
Denis Schnieder, Avoca, Minn. was crowned the 34th annual World Champion Pinochle player, at George McDonald’s annual event.
This year’s runner-up honors went to veteran player Randy Scott, Hardwick.
Sioux Falls resident, Don "Pete" Peterson, took third place honors. Jim Hoh was the "Best Qualifier" for the night with a 289.
Other winners who didn’t make the final three championship table include:
4th: Gary Halvorson
5th: Alvy Boomgaarden
6th: Marv Holte
7th: Terry Finch
The team championship went to Marv Holte, Dick Kettelson and Pete Peterson, with a team score of 83 points.
The dubious distinction of last place this year went to J.R. Scott, Hardwick, with a total of 4 points.
A total of 27 players competed for the various honors.
Sundance film has Luverne connection
One of the films being shown at this year’s Sundance Film Festival had the participation of one of Luverne High School graduates in its making.
The movie’s name is "Detective Fiction," and the Luverne connection is ’71 graduate, Greg Winter.
The film was written, directed, and stars a Minneapolis actor, Patrick Coyle.
Greg Winter served as the Director of Photography on the project.
One hundred, twenty films are accepted for exhibition at Sundance, out of approximately 800 that are submitted.
According to Winter, "Detective Fiction" was placed in the American Spectrum division, which means it is eligible for the Audience Award, and is considered to be in the top 32 films of the 120 accepted.
"Detective Fiction" was expected to have four showings throughout this week.
Ben Vander Kooi, a high school classmate of Winter, attended the film festival with his son, Bill.
Moving day for Tri-State
Friday and Saturday will be moving day for employees of the Tri-State division of the Continental Western Group.
According to Nadine Schoep, the department managers will be the first to move, with the phone computer system moved at noon Friday.
The company will be shut down from then until sometime on Saturday afternoon, when things are expected to be back up and running.
The move affects 110 Tri-State employees who will move from the current Tri-State building, which was built in 1974, to the now expanded building, originally built for Berkley Information Systems, a sister company to Tri-State.
The original Berkley Technology Services (BTS) building was 20,000 square feet, and is now 28,500 with the recent addition.
Of that space, the 30 BTS employees will use 5,000 square feet and Tri-State will occupy the other 23,500.
The city needs to find a new tenant for the former Tri-State building, which it now owns.
Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com