Standing, left to right, are Hills-Beaver Creek High School athletes Brad Haak, Kevin Van Batavia, Chris Reid, Lee Walraven, Jesse Leuthold, Justin Van Maanen and Randy Krull. Haak, Leuthold, Reid, Van Batavia and Darin DeBoer (above) made the 2001 All-Southwest Ridge Conference Football Team. Van Maanen received honorable mention from the league coaches. Krull, Leuthold, Van Maanen and Walraven made the SRC All-Academic Team.

By John Rittenhouse
An outstanding season recently completed by the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team wasn't overlooked by its peers when the 2001 All-Southwest Ridge Conference Football Team was chosen last week.

H-BC-E, which won the conference title with a 7-0 record, led all league teams by drawing six All-SRC selections.

Two more Patriots drew honorable mention from the SRC coaches, and two individuals representing the program picked up other notable awards for their efforts.

Chris Reid, who led the Patriots in rushing and scoring, picked up one of the team's six all-conference selections. The junior also was named the Back of the Year for the conference.

Dan Ellingson, the H-BC-E mentor, was named the league's Coach of the Year.

Joining Reid as selections to the 25-player All-SRC Team for H-BC-E are seniors Kevin Van Batavia, Darin DeBoer and Brad Haak, junior Jesse Leuthold and sophomore Curt Schilling.

Seventeen players drew honorable mention from the league's coaches.

H-BC-E senior Justin Van Maanen and junior Brant Deutsch were on the honorable mention list.

A 44-player SRC All-Academic Team also was announced last week, and the roster included Deutsch, Leuthold, Van Batavia, Van Maanen, seniors Ryan Ranschau Randy Krull and Lee Walraven.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove challenged H-BC-E by having five players named to the All-SRC squad.

Charger seniors Ryan Baker, Dustin Krick and Austin Scarset, and juniors Jeff Cooley and Ryan Paplow made the squad.

Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster and Lincoln HI drew four All-SRC selections each.

Seniors Josh Ihrke, Kyle Knuth, Paul Paplow and Matt Sather graced the list for SV-RL-B. Ihrke was tagged the SRC's Lineman of the Year.

Seniors Josh Eastman, Scott Fogelson and Jack Weber and junior Mark Pedersen made the list from LH.

Lakeview and Edgerton picked up two all-league selections each.

Edgerton seniors John Bleyenberg and Phil Tinklenberg, and Lakeview seniors Taylor Kroger and Brady Rosa graced the list.

Capping the roster are Southwest Star Concept junior Tyler Leopold and Lake Benton senior Greg Stuefen.

W-WG and SV-RL-B led the league by picking up three honorable mention selections each.

W-WG seniors Travis Kottke and Matt Olsen, and junior Chris Monson were so honored, as were SV-RL-B juniors Robby Armstrong, Corey Place and Zac Schmitz.

Lake Benton juniors Tyrel McConnell and Tony Miller, SSC seniors Kyle Galle and Jeremy Updike, Edgerton seniors Scott Brouwer and Jeremy Landhuis, Lakeview senior Jeremy Mead and sophomore Tyler Jeseritz, and LH senior Kyle Scheik round out the honorable mention selecions.

Final SRC standings: H-BC-E 7-0, W-WG 6-1, SV-RL-B 5-2, LH 4-3, Lakeview 3-4, Edgerton 2-5, SSC 1-6, LB 0-6

With the help of sons Halden (left) and Heath, Howard Van Wyhe bagged this eight-point buck hunting near Hills last Tuesday. Van Wyhe has hunted deer in the area for 20 years and is passing the tradition on to his children. Submitted photo.

By Jolene Farley
With another Minnesota deer hunting season closed, some hunters considered this a good year, some considered it just average.

"There were a lot of deer," said hunter Howard Van Wyhe, Hills. "Some years there are a lot of crops in the field or you get bad weather, cold. This year it was really good."

He bagged an eight-point buck near Hills. He usually hunts within four or five miles of Hills, close to the Iowa and South Dakota borders.

Van Wyhe, who has been hunting for 20 years, has an opinion on the length of the deer season in Minnesota.

"I really think Minnesota should give hunters a longer hunting period," he said, adding that if hunters were allowed a longer deer season it would be safer.

Roads are crowded with many hunters trying to shoot a deer in such a short period of time. It would be "less hassle" with a longer season, according to VanWyhe.

He added, "I appreciate people who let us hunt on their land and respect those who don't. It's everybody's right."

Hunter Warren Baker, Steen, hunts each year with the same group of eight people on his land near Steen.

Baker bagged a seven-point buck and a large doe this year. He said deer were "lying along line fences instead of all grouped up" like they do other years when it is colder, so that meant more walking.

Baker doesn't think deer season should be longer, but he does think the season should be split, with two to three weeks between sessions.

"The deer are pretty spooky the first few days (of hunting season)," he said. He thinks splitting the season would allow time for the deer to settle down.

Deer hunting is useful, according to Baker. "It keeps 'em off the roads so the cars don't hit them," he said.

He also said he loves the taste of deer meat. He has his deer processed into deer ribs, sticks and summer sausage. Deer ribs prepared right are "just like spare ribs, really delicious," he said.

"I like to have safety when I hunt," Baker said. "It's so easy to get shot." Baker's No. 1 hunting tip is to know at all times were everyone in your group is located; make sure everyone knows where hunters are hiding.

When asked if he had any hunting stories, Baker couldn't be persuaded to tell them.

Hunter Howard Van Wyhe was more forthcoming. He shared the story of a fellow hunter, Nathan Baker, who failed to shoot a deer this fall.

Fate wasn't on his side, however, until he was driving home the evening after deer season closed and hit a big buck with his truck. Such is the plight of the hunter.

The Tuff Village open house and dedication ceremony was Sunday afternoon. Guests toured some of the apartments and enjoyed refreshments. The event was "a big success" according to officials who estimate more than 350 people attended the celebration. Steen residents Ervin and Myrna Serck pick their favorite delicacies from the buffet.

Gordon Overgaard, 81, Luverne, died Saturday, Nov. 17, 2001, at Luverne Hospice Cottage in Luverne.

Services were Wednesday, Nov. 21, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Revs. Maurice E. Hagen and Dell B. Sanderson officiated. Burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.

Gordon Overgaard was born to Ole and Dora (Braadland) Overgaard on May 11, 1920, in Kanaranzi Township. He was baptized and confirmed in the Lutheran faith. He attended country school in Kanaranzi Township. He was drafted into the U.S. Army and served his country during World War II in the Pacific Theater.

He married Mabel Tofteland on Feb. 18, 1951, at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Luverne. After their marriage the couple farmed by Kanaranzi for more than 40 years. He also sold seed for DeKalb Seed Co. for 30 years. In 1991 the couple moved to Luverne.

Mr. Overgaard was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne; the Norse Glee Club; Rock County ASE Committee, Magnolia Co-op Elevator Board for more than 12 years, Kanaranzi School Board, Luverne Lions Club and Luverne VFW. He was an active bowler. He enjoyed playing cards and having coffee with friends.

Survivors include his wife, Mabel Overgaard, Luverne; five children, Gary (Emily) Overgaard, Glen Overgaard, all of Magnolia, Marcia (Darrel) Johnsrud, Corcoran, Mark (Amy) Overgaard, and Loren Overgaard, all of Luverne; seven grandchildren, April (Andy) Kemper, Jody Leuthold, Rachel, Cory and Kirsten Johnsrud and Matthew and Nicholas Overgaard; a great grandson, Colin Leuthold; and two sisters, Borghild Kvelland, Wheaton, Ill., and Gudrun Hare, Elizabeth, Ill.

Mr. Overgaard was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Oscar and Gunvald Overgaard.

A tree will be planted in memory of Gordon Overgaard by Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital.

Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Theophil "Ted" Kretzschmar, 88, Fairmont, died Monday, Nov. 12, 2001, at Lutheran Retirement Home in Truman.

Memorial services were Sunday, Nov. 18, at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fairmont. The Rev. Roger Abernathy officiated. There was a private family burial at Lakeside Cemetery in Fairmont.

Theophil "Ted" Henry Ferdinand Kretzschmar was born to the Rev. John and Elise (Lange) Kretzschmar on July 15, 1913, in Elk River. He graduated from Chatfield High School in Chatfield and received a degree in pharmacy, Kappa Psi, from the University of Minnesota in 1940.

He married Dorothy Kiebach on May 11, 1944, in Luverne. After their marriage he worked for Keller Drug in Minneapolis until owning and operating Kretzschmar Drug in Fairmont until 1974. In 1998 they moved to Lutheran Manor in Truman.

Mr. Kretzschmar was a member of Mt. Olivet Lutheran Church in Minneapolis and St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Fairmont where he served on several boards of the church and sang in the men's choir. He was a board member of the Lutheran Retirement Home in Truman and past president of Fairmont Exchange Club, past vice president of the AAL Branch #124 for 15 years, longtime member of Lutheran Laymen's League, member of the Conservation Club and other related hunting and fishing organizations and a member of the John Birch Society and Interlaken Golf Club.

Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Kretzschmar, Truman; one son and daughter-in-law, Gene and Janet Kretzschmar, Blaine; one daughter and son-in-law, Barbara and Rodney Dierking, St. Louis, Mo.; five grandsons and one granddaughter, John Kretzschmar, Wheaton, Ill., Mark (Katie) Kretzschmar, Minneapolis, Daniel Kretzschmar, in the Armed Services in Germany, Ellen Kretzschmar, Blaine, and Nathan Dierking and Timothy Dierking, both of St. Louis; one sister, Irma Strieff, Buffalo; sisters-in-law, and a brother-in-law; and many nieces and nephews.

Mr. Kretzschmar was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and three sisters.

Memorials may be given to Martin Luther High School or the Caring Pregnancy Center.

Kramer Family Funeral Home, Welcome, was in charge of arrangements.

Mary Pike, Luverne, attaches holiday trim to the front of Brown Church Antiques Friday afternoon in balmy 70-degree weather. It seemed strange to see city workmen wearing short sleeves while hanging Main Street lamp post decorations, and it was odder still to see lighted Santas and sleighs assemble on front yards with no snow. At this time last year, rural ditches were full of snow, and drifting snow over frozen ice patches made driving conditions treacherous.

Photo by Lori Ehde

Shirley Ford (left) and Louise Vegge decorate a tree Monday with pink lights and roses for their cancer awareness organization. The Carnegie was busy this week with groups and businesses decorating trees for the Festival of Trees that is ongoing through the end of December.

The Carnegie organized more special events through December to generate holiday spirit. The Sandbulte family will perform from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 2; Marcella and Sandra Dowie will perform a harp and cello recital from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9; local recording artist Kristi Holler will perform from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16; Jolene and Jamie Wessels and Kate Vander Kooi will perform from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23; Marya Manfred and Betty Mann will perform Dec. 30 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Hours at the Carnegie, including the Carnegie Gift Gallery, are Tuesday through Friday 1 to 5 p.m., Thursday evenings until 7 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sundays 1 to 4 p.m. For more on the Carnegie, visit www.rockartsrock.com.

Photo by Sara Quam

By John Rittenhouse
An outstanding season recently completed by the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team wasn't overlooked by its peers when the 2001 All-Southwest Ridge Conference Football Team was chosen last week.

H-BC-E, which won the conference title with a 7-0 record, led all league teams by drawing six All-SRC selections.

Two more Patriots drew honorable mention from the SRC coaches, and two individuals representing the program picked up other notable awards for their efforts.

Chris Reid, who led the Patriots in rushing and scoring, picked up one of the team's six all-conference selections. The junior also was named the Back of the Year for the conference.

Dan Ellingson, the H-BC-E mentor, was named the league's Coach of the Year.

Joining Reid as selections to the 25-player All-SRC Team for H-BC-E are seniors Kevin Van Batavia, Darin DeBoer and Brad Haak, junior Jesse Leuthold and sophomore Curt Schilling.

Seventeen players drew honorable mention from the league's coaches.

H-BC-E senior Justin Van Maanen and junior Brant Deutsch were on the honorable mention list.

A 44-player SRC All-Academic Team also was announced last week, and the roster included Deutsch, Leuthold, Van Batavia, Van Maanen, seniors Ryan Ranschau Randy Krull and Lee Walraven.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove challenged H-BC-E by having five players named to the All-SRC squad.

Charger seniors Ryan Baker, Dustin Krick and Austin Scarset, and juniors Jeff Cooley and Ryan Paplow made the squad.

Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster and Lincoln HI drew four All-SRC selections each.

Seniors Josh Ihrke, Kyle Knuth, Paul Paplow and Matt Sather graced the list for SV-RL-B. Ihrke was tagged the SRCÕs Lineman of the Year.

Seniors Josh Eastman, Scott Fogelson and Jack Weber and junior Mark Pedersen made the list from LH.
Lakeview and Edgerton picked up two all-league selections each.

Edgerton seniors John Bleyenberg and Phil Tinklenberg, and Lakeview seniors Taylor Kroger and Brady Rosa graced the list.

Capping the roster are Southwest Star Concept junior Tyler Leopold and Lake Benton senior Greg Stuefen.

W-WG and SV-RL-B led the league by picking up three honorable mention selections each.

W-WG seniors Travis Kottke and Matt Olsen, and junior Chris Monson were so honored, as were SV-RL-B juniors Robby Armstrong, Corey Place and Zac Schmitz.

Lake Benton juniors Tyrel McConnell and Tony Miller, SSC seniors Kyle Galle and Jeremy Updike, Edgerton seniors Scott Brouwer and Jeremy Landhuis, Lakeview senior Jeremy Mead and sophomore Tyler Jeseritz, and LH senior Kyle Scheik round out the honorable mention selecions.

Final SRC standings: H-BC-E 7-0, W-WG 6-1, SV-RL-B 5-2, LH 4-3, Lakeview 3-4, Edgerton 2-5, SSC 1-6, LB 0-6

By Sara Quam
It might be true that the art of writing a good letter is all but lost in today's world of instant messaging. At Christmastime, though, the greeting card and personal letter take on their old roles, reconnecting family and friends.

National research by Hallmark says 76 percent of Americans participate in the holidays by sending greeting cards. Of the 6 billion cards Americans send each year, cards are sent on Christmas more than any other occasion.

Locally, people have already started buying their cards and are getting ready to write letters and enclose pictures.

Laudon's Gifts and Collectibles in Luverne is the local Hallmark supplier. The store sees much of its busiest days during the Christmas shopping season. People have slowly started to get into the Christmas spirit there, and store managers said the holiday open house had a tremendous turnout two weekends ago.

As far as stuffing those cards with family pictures, local studios are busy filling orders.

Jim Juhl of Myhre Studio, Luverne, said it's not too late to have Christmas portraits taken this time of year.

But it's something people think about almost year round. "Generally, when people get a picture taken, they consider their Christmas cards," Juhl said.

Most of Myhre's customers order about 75 prints and include them with letters or send a photo as their seasonal greeting.

Juhl said that people with children are more likely to send photos to show off their families. When there's not a growing family to update friends with, photos are taken less frequently for Christmas cards.

An atypical Christmas photo is a sports portrait, but Juhl has seen a surge of those recently. He took pictures for hockey players, many of whom ordered prints to send at Christmastime.

Michele Kruse of Portraits by Michele, Adrian, has been getting Christmas card pictures ready since May.

"The big family pictures are by far the most popular, but IÕve done wedding and engagement photos for cards, too," she said.

In the case of not being able to send photos in time for Christmas, some families send them at an alternative time of year.

Getting hands on
Luverne's Sara Oldre has expanded the art of letter writing into creating her own cards. For about five years, sheÕs made greeting cards for many occasions and joined a stamping club to exchange the end results of her efforts.

"I made all my Christmas cards last year, and I'm planning on trying to do that again," she said.

With 2-year-old Knute in tow and a second baby on the way, Oldre finds time to create her cards whenever she can.

"Sometimes it's weeks or months before I get to it, but when I do, I spend a whole day with it," she said.

Oldre layers different materials on her stamped cards - corrugated cardboard, ribbon, paper and potpourri.

She got into the hobby almost accidentally. "I just had a lot of stuff to use and put it together," Oldre said.

What to send?
The first Christmas card in America was introduced in 1875 when German immigrant Louis Prang designed a Killarney rose card with the words "Merry Christmas" on it.

Virginia Smedsrud has been helping families print their letters and cards for about 20 years at the Announcer Press.

She says some customers include a simple note of greeting and others compile a year's summary in photos or tie in the letter to the year's news events.

To put together a Christmas letter, keep a few things in mind. In general, letters should be kept to a readable length in an easy-to-read typeface.

However, handwritten letters convey a certain intimacy that computer-printed ones don't. Handwriting can be copied onto decorative, holiday paper as well as the typed version.

Some say it's fun for letter readers to get specific stories or information rather than exclusively generic greetings. A blend of both works.

Some people find it annoying to read letters that come off as bragging, so it's important to check the phrasing to make sure the letter's tone is appropriate.

Also, letter writers are advised to jot down notes on what they want included in letters before they actually write them.