Luverne sophomore Cassie Pap fields a spike during Monday’s South Section 3AA Volleyball Tournament game against Sleepy Eye in Windom. The Cardinals swept a three-game match from the Indians to record their first post-season victory since 1998. Also pictured for LHS are Tera Boomgaarden (1) and Emily Oksness (2).

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne volleyball team advanced to the quarterfinal round of the South Section 3AA Tournament by sweeping a three-game match from Sleepy Eye during a play-in match in Windom Monday.

Prior to taking on SE, the Cardinals capped an 11-16-1 regular season by dropping a three-game match to Southwest Christian in Edgerton Thursday.

Luverne, 12-16-1 overall, plays No. 2 seed Jackson County Central in sectional play Friday in Windom. The match starts approximately at 7:30 p.m.

Luverne 3,
Sleepy Eye 0
The Cardinals recorded their first post-season victory in four seasons when they swept the Indians in a three-game match played in Windom Monday.

No. 7-seeded Luverne, which had not won a tournament game since 1998, controlled play while outscoring No. 10 SE 45-25 in a play-in contest.

"This is our first playoff win in quite a while," said Cardinal coach Mary Jo Graphenteen. "We’ve never played in the preliminary rounds before, but we needed to win a match like this."

Luverne got off to a good start as Stephanie Morgan recorded a kill and a service point, and Emily Oksness served an ace to give the Cards a 3-0 lead.

The Cards still led by three points (7-4) when they gained some separation with 6-1 surge that made it a 13-5 difference. Brittany Williams served a pair of aces, Morgan had an ace block and a kill and Tera Boomgaarden contributed a kill and an ace tip to the run.

SE closed the margin to six points at 13-7 before Taylor Nelson served a pair of aces to ice a 15-7 win for LHS.

Game 2 was tight early on as Luverne sported a 7-6 edge at one point.

Williams served five consecutive points, including two aces to give the Cards a 12-5 cushion, and Morgan and Nelson capped a 15-8 win by serving two and one points respectively.

An 8-3 run by SE gave the Indians a 10-7 lead in Game 3 before Luverne ended the match by scoring the next eight points.

A pair of service points by Morgan, three kills by Rashel Boeve, a kill and a block by Boomgaarden and another point by Williams made up the rally that clinched a 15-10 win for LHS.

"We picked a good time to have one of our best serving nights of the year," Graphenteen said.

"We served over 90 percent, and it was a good thing, because our receiving and free-ball passing wasn’t very sharp. Against an unpredictable team like SE, which is the hardest type of team to play, its tough to get anything going. We did what we needed to do to get a win, and that’s the only thing that counts in the playoffs."

Morgan was 18 of 18 serving with 12 points, Oksness 16 of 16 with 10 points and four aces, Nelson six of six with four points and two aces and Williams 13 of 16 with three aces and 10 points.

Morgan, Boeve and Boomgaarden led the way at the net with 13, seven and five kills respectively. Williams charted 26 set assists.

SWC 3, Luverne 1
The Cardinals ended the regular season by dropping a three-game match to the E-Gals in Edgerton Thursday.

The two teams previously played meaningful matches at this time of year when they both were members of the same sub-section prior to 1999, but that changed under the state’s new three-class format as both teams compete in separate classes.

Though the importance of the matches the teams play these days has dwindled, fans that attended Thursday’s clash wouldn’t have known it.

"It was a great match," Graphenteen said. "We always bring out the best in SWC, and their coach said they played one of their best matches of the year against us. We didn’t play a great match, but we did play very hard."

SWC controlled Game 1 while coasting to a 15-7 win, and the E-Gals led 10-3 in the second game before Luverne came storming back to gain a 16-15 edge. SWC, however, scored the next two points to clinch an 18-16 win and take a 2-0 lead.

Luverne pulled out a 16-14 win in Game 3 to force a fourth game, but the Cards ran out of gas at that point and dropped a 15-8 decision in the finale.

Morgan, Oksness and Cassie Pap registered 20, 10 and six kills in the match. Nelson served 12 points and three aces, while Oksness was 19 of 21 with 10 points serving.

By Lori Ehde
Wednesday was the day Luverne's Agri-Energy Ethanol Plant was supposed to launch its much-anticipated thermal oxidizer.

It's the $1.5-million solution to the plant's odor problem that has prompted community complaints since it began operating in 1998.

The equipment was ordered in January and arrived for installation in July. It's a major project that required two additions, one for the electrical panel and one to house the boiler.

The oxidizer was scheduled to start operating by late summer, but inspectors required additional equipment that delayed startup.

The Agri-Energy plant shut down Tuesday for usual fall maintenance, so the oxidizer was scheduled to be connected at that time.

"I suppose people saw there was no plume coming from the plant when we were shut down and assumed the oxidizer was working," Plant Manager Rick Serie said Wednesday.

But a last-minute inspection Tuesday revealed a section of pipe needs to be replaced in a pressure line, which will delay use of the oxidizer for at least another week.

The plant resumed production Wednesday afternoon, but will have to be briefly shut down next week to install the piece needed to launch the thermal oxidizer.

In the thermal oxidation process, odor is eliminated by venting plant emissions into the oxidizer and destroying them with heat.

The existing 175-foot stack will remain, but the steam plume coming out of the stack will be all but eliminated.

"Cold air condensing hot air makes steam, so there may be a plume in the wintertime, but there won't be any emissions," Serie said.

Agri-Energy started production in 1998. It now employs 29 people full-time with an annual payroll of more than $1 million.

It processes seven million bushels of corn per year and produces more than 20 million gallons of ethanol annually.

By Lori Ehde
Shirley Roos has managed Luverne's home delivered meals program for 30 years, and her co-workers and clients are throwing her a party this afternoon in the Senior Dining Center.

Roos modestly admits a party isn't necessary, but she said sheÕs looking forward to it.

"It'll feel kinda good, I guess," she said. "Actually, I told them they can just forget about the whole thing, too, as far as IÕm concerned."

The open house party will be from 2 to 4 p.m. today.

For Roos, it will be a celebration of friendships.

"I've enjoyed working with the people at Senior Dining and I've enjoyed working with the clients."

Her job requires her to meet with new clients and periodically with existing clients.

"Some of them I've known since I was clerking at Dave's Market (on Main Street) when I was a teenager," she said. "Some I leave after three hours and they're still talking."

For six days a week for 30 years, Roos has played a role in making sure local shut-ins receive warm, nutritious meals.

Home delivered meals is a service of Western Community Action, but Roos' salary is paid by funds from the local Red Arrow drive, which is currently underway in Rock County.

She said her reward isn't the paycheck; it's gratitude expressed by those who receive the meals. "The smiles and warm wishes I received will be a warm and treasured memory this winter," Ann Hollaren wrote this week before she left Luverne for the winter.

"This is what makes my job worthwhile," Roos said of Hollaren's note.

The meals are delivered by volunteers, and it's up to Roos to sign them in, assign them to their routes and get them on their way with carefully packed hot and cold coolers.

The program started in the early 1970s with delivery of seven meals. Today, that program has expanded to serve nearly 30. "I had no idea what I was getting into," Roos said. "At one point we served 59 meals."

It's a program that relies heavily on volunteers who serve for short times, so there are countless opportunities for errors. In a 1995 Star Herald feature story about the program, Roos said she's the first to admit she makes mistakes.

"I used to wake up in the middle of the night and think of things, but now I don't. We still goof. I goof big-time once in awhile," she was quoted as saying in that story.

Now at 73, Roos said she has no regrets for sticking with the job for so long.

"It's either stupidity or dedication - I'm not sure which, but I've enjoyed it."

This week is National School Bus Safety Week and Luverne School District drivers who were available Tuesday morning posed for a photo in the bus garage office after their regular route. Pictured are (front row, from left) District Transportation Director Lon Remme, Tony Scheidt, Mike Jarchow, Joyce Hartz, Gene Cragoe, Duane Klosterbuer, (back) Lyle Matthiesen, Harley Ailts, Johnny Bosch, Mike Kinsinger, Marlys DeVries, Jerry Binford, Keith Brandt, Bill Korth and Delmer DeVries. Regular drivers not pictured include Pauline Ailts, Bonnie Busse-Reu, Tom Fick, Larry Harms, Dale Hartz, Phyllis Mohr and Judy Thone. Substitute drivers not pictured include Stan Arends, Bill Beimers, Dan De Wispelaere, Larry Domagala, Gordon Hansen, Jim Ouverson, Jerry Reu and Art Wulf.

In her Friday Folder newsletter, Elementary School Principal Melody Tenhoff encouraged students and families to thank their drivers this week. "We have a very dedicated staff of bus drivers who have an extremely important job," she wrote in the Oct. 16 edition. "Not only do they have the safety of all the children on their bus to be concerned about, but they are the first and last school person to talk with the students. What a difference a kind word makes."

Photo by Lori Ehde

Work crews finish up a tuck-pointing project on Luverne's historic Manitou Hotel building. Bill Frakes is completely renovating the building, with his own living quarters on the bottom floor and the upper floors being redone for future apartments. The Star Herald has been following Frakes' progress and a feature ont he unique remodeling will be published at a later date.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team will take a three-match losing streak into post-season play after losing its regular-season finale in Slayton Tuesday.

Playing Murray County Central in a Red Rock Conference match, H-BC dropped three straight games to the Rebels to finish the regular season with a 10-11-3 record.

H-BC will attempt to end the skid when it opens South Section 3A Tournament play at Luverne High School Friday, Oct. 25.

Third-seeded H-BC plays No. 6 Edgerton in the second match of the night at LHS. The first match begins at 6 p.m.

The Patriots hope to have junior hitter Erin Boeve on the court for the quarterfinal-round tilt against Edgerton.

Boeve sprained her ankle during practice Monday, and was unable to compete in Slayton.

H-BC dropped 15-6, 15-5 and 15-6 games to the Rebels without Boeve, but Patriot coach Curt Doorneweerd thought his charges played well in the match.

"Overall, I was pleased with our performance," he said. "Considering the circumstances of playing a match with a new lineup against a pretty good team, I was pleased with the way things went."

Angie Sjaarda (five kills), Cassi Tilstra (three kills and three blocks), Kelly Mulder (three blocks), Sarah Rozeboom (two kills) and Amanda Olson (one block) played well at the net for H-BC.

Melissa Fagerness (nine of nine), Melinda Sandstede (seven of seven) and Sjaarda (six of six) all had perfect serving matches.

By John Rittenhouse
It wasn't pretty, but the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team completed an undefeated regular season by edging Lakeview 7-6 in Cottonwood Wednesday, Oct. 16.

A partially snow-covered, muddy field set the stage for a low-scoring, turnover-filled game.

The teams turned the ball over a combined 10 times in the contest, but H-BC-E was able to overcome both mistakes and poor field position through the second half to record its second straight 8-0 regular season and wrap up its second straight Southwest Ridge Conference title with a 7-0 mark.

The win proved to be an important one as the Patriots locked up the No. 1 seed for the Section 2 Nine-Man Football Playoffs. The top-seeded team in Section 2 receives a bye in the quarterfinal-round of the playoffs. H-BC-EÕs first playoff action will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts No. 4 Southwest Star Concept, a 28-16 winner over Edgerton Tuesday, for a semifinal-round game in Hills.

When they host their playoff opener, the Patriots will hope for better field conditions than what they played on during the Oct. 16 win over the Lakers. H-BC-E turned the ball over four times in the game, and most of them were the result of a slippery ball.

"The conditions were miserable," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "There was snow on the field, and the middle of the field was completely muddy. The ball was slipping out of everyone's hands."

Lakeview lost the ball six times in the game, and the first turnover proved to be costly.

The Lakers' defense forced the Patriots to punt at the end of their first possession of the game, and Lakeview's return man fumbled the ball. Patriot Zach Wysong recovered the loose ball on the Lakers' 35-yard line, and it set up a scoring drive that was capped by Chris Reid's 21-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Wysong added the all-important extra point to make it a 7-0 game.

The score remained the same until late in the first half when Lakeview's Tyler Laleman scored on a 44-yard touchdown dash with 44 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Lakers tried to run for a two-point conversion, but the Patriot defense stopped the attempt short of the end zone to maintain a 7-6 advantage.

Neither team could produce any second-half points, but Lakeview did come close.

The Lakers were in a first-and-goal situation at the H-BC-E two-yard line, but a fumble in the end zone on third down was recovered by Patriot defender Brian Gacke.

Gacke's big play came midway through the fourth quarter, and it proved to be the best scoring opportunity either team would have in the second half.

"We had terrible field position in the second half," Ellingson said. "The ball was on our end of the field the whole time. Because of the field conditions, our field position and the fact that they were playing our receivers tight, we didn't attempt a pass in the entire second half. We were able to run the ball a little bit, but we didn't want to take the risk of trying to throw it."

Not taking any chances proved to be a wise choice for H-BC-E in this game. With the help of Lakeview's six turnovers (five fumbles and one interception), the Patriot defense blanked the hosts in the final two quarters to preserve the win.

Still, Ellingson said H-BC-E will need to address its shortcomings before a long playoff-run will be possible.

"We had six penalties in the game, and two of them took away first downs from us. We also have to concentrate more on holding onto the ball. We have to do a better job of that, because we will run into poor weather conditions again down the line," he said.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 142 rushing yards, 24 passing yards, 166 total yards, three first downs, six penalties for 33 yards, four turnovers.

Lakeview: 150 rushing yards, 107 passing yards, 257 total yards, five first downs, four penalties for 40 yards, six turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 19-113, Jesse Leuthold 8-24, Curt Schilling 3-3, Wysong 1-2.

Passing: Schilling 2-4 for 24 yards.

Receiving: Tyson Metzger 2-24.

Defense: Schilling 11 tackles and one fumble recovery, Wysong one fumble recovery, Leuthold four tackles and one fumble recovery, Cody Scholten eight tackles and one interception, Brant Deutsch one fumble recovery, Gacke one fumble recovery, Clint Roozenboom two tackles and one sack.

More pheasants, less partridge
According to the Minnesota DNR, the four Southwest Minnesota counties, Rock, Nobles, Murray and Pipestone, have shown an increase of 27 percent in this year's pheasant population over last year, but a decrease of 50 percent in the number of Hungarian Partridge in the area.

Ringneck pheasant numbers increased from 52 to 72 birds observed per 100 miles driven in the DNR's annual roadside survey.

That's the third highest count in the last 10 years, with 1999 and 2000 being higher.

Unfortunately, that increase does not apply specifically to Rock County. Rock County was the only one of the four counties to see a decrease in its roadside count.

According to the DNR, weather conditions were nearly perfect for pheasants this past year.

The winter was warm and mostly snowless, allowing hens to enter into the nesting season in excellent condition.

The nesting season had a cool start but was dry, which is favorable to high pheasant chick survival rates.

The one drawback to the dry summer was earlier and more intensive mowing of roadsides and other odd areas for hay.

Undisturbed grass areas through July are critical to good pheasant production.

Luverne merchants to host second annual trick or treat program
Luverne merchants will host their second annual Halloween treats program this year.

Forty-seven participating Luverne merchants will hand out Halloween treats to kids on Oct. 31, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

A sign in their windows can identify participating merchants.

Parents are asked to bring their children to the participating merchants.

Because of the large number of kids involved, parents are also urged to use caution and cross streets only at designated intersections.

Prairie Smoke Floral now open
Luverne's newest floral shop is now open.

Prairie Smoke Floral is located at 220 E. Main, the original location of Cook's Clothing.

Owners of the new Luverne business are the mother and daughter team of Jamie Tofteland and Julie Hamann.

The new flower shop will be affiliated with Teleflora and is planning a grand opening for Saturday, Nov. 2.

One more week to see the scarecrows
If you havenÕt been up to the Veterans Home to see the scarecrows, it's worth the time.

The sixth Annual Scarecrow Festival was set up the first week of October and will start to come down starting Nov. 1.

A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into this yearÕs display, and it shows.

SHARE starts to prepare for Christmas 2002
Sharing Hearts Are Reaching Everyone (SHARE) is preparing for its annual Christmas collection and disbursements.

SHARE is a community-wide program to provide gifts of food, clothing and toys to Rock County residents during the holiday season.

Until 1985, the Christmas gift program was handled through the Rock County Family Services Agency.

Due to increased need, SHARE was established in 1985 and incorporated in 1988.

All of the board and committee members involved with the group are volunteers.

In 2001, SHARE provided 121 families, consisting of 175 children and 176 adults, with groceries, clothing and toys.

But to make it a successful program, SHARE needs donations from individuals like you, as well as churches, organizations and businesses.

The group gives away groceries, clothing, toys, meals for senior dining and home delivery meals.

This year, the dates for collection will be on Friday, Dec. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and again on Saturday, Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Luverne National Guard Armory.

To receive something from the program, fill out the SHARE request form by Dec. 7.

Distribution will be from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 16.

For more information about the program, phone 283-4310 or 283-2810.

Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com

William Mulder, 85, Ellsworth, died Monday, Oct. 14, 2002, at Park View Manor in Ellsworth.

Services were Saturday, Oct. 19, at Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth. The Rev. Robert Raedeke officiated. Burial was in Grand Prairie Cemetery in Ellsworth.

William Lewis "Bill" Mulder was born to William B. and Ida (Moet) Mulder on Jan. 19, 1917, near Sibley, Iowa. He grew up in Osceola County, near Little Rock, Iowa, before moving to Grand Prairie Township near Ellsworth where he completed his education.

He married Catherine Klooster on Oct. 21, 1941, at Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth. Following their marriage, the couple farmed northeast of Ellsworth before moving to a farm in rural Magnolia in 1958. They retired from farming in 1979 and moved to Ellsworth. Mrs. Mulder died on Dec. 14, 1995. He moved to Park View Manor in Ellsworth in 1997.

Survivors include one son, Leroy (Carol) Mulder, Ellsworth; seven grandchildren, Don, Doug, Dan, Randy, Pam, Missy and Tony; 10 great-grandchildren; and one sister, Anna May Hector, Ellsworth.
Mr. Mulder was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Catherine, and one son, Dallas.

Roste Funeral Home, Rock Rapids, Iowa, was in charge of arrangements.