By Sara Quam
Rock County Board of Commissioners Tuesday decided to advance the Southwest Regional Development Commission $18,000.

The RDC has said that without the advance against future tax levies, it would dissolve.

The Rock County Board is one of six that have approved the advance. Pipestone voted the measure down, and two others were waiting for results from the rest of the counties.

The motion from Rock County's commissioners came from Wendell Erickson and was seconded by Ken Hoime. Commissioner Jane Wildung attached an amendment to the motion that the RDC would not be able to bond for money that counties would be liable for in case of non-repayment.

"I don't want to be held responsible for something I've never had a vote on. The people in my district don't support this advance of $18,000," Wildung said.

The amended motion then passed with Commissioners Bob Jarchow and Ron Boyenga voting against it.

Jarchow said he still had concerns about communication and management within the group.

Before the vote
The Rock County Board had previously tabled a vote on the advance money twice because of concerns over operations and communications within the RDC.

The county's issues with the RDC largely stem from the organization bleeding its reserves to operate Prairie Expo, which closed in August, and the air of secrecy in which it was done.

Craig Rubis, a Jackson County commissioner who serves on the RDC's Executive Board, said, "We look at it as a so-called loan against our future taxes. This is not a gift; it is cash flow for the Regional Development Commission, not Prairie Expo."

However, the advanced $18,000 from the counties that vote in favor of it will go toward paying short-term Expo debt of $81,000 and operations while it sits empty, as well as lawyer fees.

LuverneÕs Ben Vander Kooi has just signed on as the new legal counsel for the RDC. The RDC is negotiating settlements with 84 vendors that it owes money.

If the money going into the RDC is spent on outstanding bills, Rock County Attorney Don Klosterbuer wondered how staff at the RDC will be able to carry on with its regular operations and projects.

Jay Trusty, RDC director, said that if the organization can get past the Expo, other projects that actually generate money can be handled. Levy money makes up about a quarter of the RDC's budget.

The city of Worthington has its own issues with bonds and about 80 acres of land used for the Expo that the RDC has to handle.

But Rock County's concern is the state bonds of almost $6 million that it may have to pay one-ninth of.

Different state agencies have looked at the bond agreement and offered varying opinions on it.

One says that the counties would have to pay it back, and another says that as long as the building is kept for a public use, nothing will be done.

Rural Rock County resident Walter Kopp has been on the RDC board for less than a year, but he is convinced that it is a trustworthy organization.

"This is important that we have the RDC; there's no question about it. I do think they made a mistake on the Prairie Expo, but I don't think the RDC should pay the price," Kopp said.

Rubis and Trusty said the RDC is doing all it can to reduce costs in the meantime but reminded the county that it supported the efforts of the RDC in developing Prairie Expo.

Rubis said, "I haven't heard a lot of negative votes; a lot of negative comments, but not a lot of negative votes."

He pointed to a resolution of support the county passed in 1994 and 1998. Boyenga clarified that the county meant those as moral support for a project that was explained to be cost-free to the county. He said the board never wanted to be liable for state bond repayments.

What now?
The RDC will continue to operate in its usual functions of grant-writing for various community projects and use the money it has been advanced to pay off debts.

A special committee called the Blue Ribbon Task Force meets Nov. 29 to continue to generate ideas on what to do with the empty Expo building.

"Obviously, what to do with that building is our biggest challenge," Trusty said.

Trusty said he plans to start working on restricting what the Executive Board is allowed to do as far as money decisions for the RDC. It is the group that approved spending reserves on operating Expo in the absence of a director.

The fate of the RDC will probably be revealed within a year. If it dissolves or decides to sell the building, that's when the county will know what its liability is.

Even if the RDC folds, its debts can be levied for years until they are repaid.

Carol and Gerrit Kuipers, Luverne, are current presidents of the Hollyhoppers.

The Hollyhoppers are named for the Hollyhock Ballroom, Hatfield, where they began dancing 50 years ago.

When the Hollyhock Ballroom closed in 1954, the club moved to the American Legion Club in Pipestone, and in 1968, moved again to the Jasper Memorial Hall.

Lessons were given in Brown Elementary School, Pipestone, under the Adult Education program. Eventually the club moved to the Jasper Elementary School for both lessons and dances until the school closed earlier this year.

Since then, the Hollyhoppers have been meeting in Brown School for lessons and to dance every first, third and fifth Saturday night. An average dance night brings roughly three squares, or 12 couples - four per square.

Saturday's dance was accented by traditional square dance attire of long-sleeve western-style shirts on men, skirts filled out by can-cans on women.

Though some Hollyhoppers still dress up for regular meetings, most wear jeans or simple straight skirts, according to club co-presidents Gerrit and Carol Kuipers, Luverne.

"We have fun," Carol said, when asked why she joined the group 13 years ago. "It's good exercise as well as the fellowship of all the dancers. It's a friendly group."

Keith and Audrey Aanenson, Luverne, have been dancing with the Hollyhoppers for nearly 40 years.

That makes sense, since the national square dance theme is "Square dancing is friendship set to music."

Aanenson said he also likes to dance for the physical exercise. "It's the same as jogging four miles," he said of a typical club meeting. "You're wore out in the end."

More than 100 past and present Hollyhoppers showed up Saturday night at Brown Elementary School gym, Pipestone, to dance.

Frequent Hollyhopper caller Don Nugent, Trent, S.D., called the anniversary dance.
When asked why he enjoyed the pastime, he said, "You can leave your troubles at home and dance your cares away," he said.

He said square dancers always have a good time, despite the absence of alcohol. "Liquor is a big no-no," he said. "You can't square dance if you've been drinking. You can't keep up and it breaks down the square, and that's not fair to the other seven dancers."

Don and Linda Hubbling, Luverne, take a spin Saturday night in Brown Elementary School gym, Pipestone. Don, who recently underwent a lung transplant, hasn't danced since before he became ill several years ago.

By Lori Ehde
When members of the Hollyhoppers Square Dance Club get together for their monthly dance, they whirl and twirl in their own little squares of promenades and do-si-dos.

Some founding Hollyhoppers have been stepping to the cues of callers for 50 years, and a special dance Saturday marked the anniversary occasion.

More than 25 couples from the tri-state area are listed on the Hollyhoppers dance roster, about 10 of whom are from Rock County.

Hollyhopper Keith Aanenson, Luverne, has been with the club for nearly 40 years. What keeps him coming? "The friendship," he said. "People are so friendly."

By Lori Ehde
Employees at Tri-State and Berkley Information Services found out last week how their jobs will be affected by the latest round of corporate layoffs.

W.R. Berkley Corporation, which owns Tri-State and Berkley Information Services in Luverne, announced last month it will discontinue personal insurance services in all of its property casualty insurance companies nationwide.

In the Luverne Tri-State Insurance office, that means more than 20 jobs will be eliminated by the end of next year.

The impact on BIS, however, was more significant. Roughly a third of its employees from offices in Luverne and Sioux Falls will be laid off in the coming year.

The plan is for the remaining Luverne staff to eventually move to the Sioux Falls office to share space with Tri-State employees when they move.

"It's a significant reduction in force," said BIS vice president Joel Christensen. BIS currently employs more than 100 people in Luverne and Sioux Falls, and the layoffs affect both locations equally.

Christensen said BIS is affected by corporate-wide trimming in information services.

"It's driven by a move to more common systems within the entire Berkley Corporation," he said. "Previously we developed a lot of our own products, but now we'll be integrating more vendor, third-party products."

Also, he said they will leverage other information technology resources outside of BIS within W.R. Berkley Corporation.

"The staff that remains here will continue to have a critical role in the new structure," Christensen said.

The staff reduction will occur during 2002, and the move will likely follow sometime in 2003, depending on Tri-State's move. "The idea is to be closer to the customers we support and minimize administrative overhead," Christensen said.

BIS has been leasing its building from the Luverne Economic Development Corporation, and the 10-year lease is due to expire Dec. 31, 2004.

W.R. Berkley Corporation announced two years ago Luverne operations would move to Sioux Falls by the summer of 2001.

Due to the latest corporate reorganizing, that won't happen until 2003.

While the news is hard on affected employees, the community as a whole feels the economic impact of Berkley decisions.

Tri-State currently lists 147 employees on its payroll, including 20 in the Sioux Falls office and more than 20 traveling representatives.

With an annual payroll of $4.8 million (including Sioux Falls employees and field reps) Luverne's economic health would be affected by Tri-State's absence.

Tri-State, now known as "Continental Western Group, Tri-State Region," owns the 33,000-square-foot building in Luverne and paid nearly $47,000 in property taxes this year.

Workers pour cement for the foundation of the Beaver Creek Golf Course clubhouse on Monday. Developers are now selling lifetime memberships to the course with play beginning next year.

Photo by Jolene Farley

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek ended the 2001 volleyball campaign when it couldn't produce an upset during the semifinal round of the South Section 3A Tournament played in Luverne Tuesday.

The fourth-seeded Patriots drew the tough task of taking on No. 1 seed Southwest Christian during the first semifinal-round tilt of the night.

H-BC played well at times, but it couldn't keep the E-Gals from posting a 3-0 win and ending the campaign with a 12-14 record.

H-BC sported 2-0 and 3-2 leads in Game 1 before SWC went on an 11-2 run to open a 13-5 advantage.

The Patriots closed the gap to four points (13-9) with a service point by Sarah Rozeboom and ace serves from Brittney Olson, Tonya Leenderts and LaDonna Sandstede, but the E-Gals scored the next two points to ice a 15-9 victory.

H-BC sported 1-0 and 2-1 leads in Game 2 only to watch SWC move in front 6-2 moments later. The difference still was at four points (8-4) when SWC went on an 8-0 run to clinch a 15-4 win.

Leenderts served a pair of points, Olson delivered an ace serve and another point and Erin Boeve provided an ace tip to give H-BC a 5-0 lead in the third game.

SWC put together a 14-1 run to seemingly take control of the match with a 14-6 advantage, but the Patriots scored the next five points (two ace serves and two service points by Boeve and one ace tip by Jody Rentschler) to make it a 14-11 game.

The E-Gals, however, regrouped to score the next point and prevail 15-11.

Boeve led the Patriots with 12 kills and five ace blocks along with going 11 of 11 at the service line. Leenderts, who was 16-17 serving, led H-BC with 10 digs.

Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth junior tailback Chris Reid grabs a handful of facemask while trying to elude a Fergus Falls Hillcrest Lutheran Academy defender during Saturday's state nine-man tournament football game in Fergus Falls. Reid rushed for 101 yards and one touchdown during a season-ending 30-12 loss.

By John Rittenhouse
Some missed opportunities during the course of Minnesota State Nine-Man Football Tournament game played in Fergus Falls Saturday kept the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth Patriots from playing a game in the Metrodome tomorrow.

Taking on unranked Fergus Falls Hillcrest Lutheran Academy on the Comets' home field, fifth-ranked H-BC-E was unable to advance out of the quarterfinal round.

The surprising Comets were able to continue their turn-around from a 1-4 start to the season by raising their record to 8-4 with a 30-12 victory over the Patriots.

FFHLA advances to tomorrow's semifinals at the Metrodome in Minneapolis, where it will take on 10-1 LeRoy-Ostrander.

H-BC-E ends the season with a 10-1 record.

For the Patriot players and fans, thoughts of what might have been will be on their minds for a while.

H-BC-E had some golden opportunities to put some additional points on the scoreboard, but a pair of drives that produced no points ended inside the FFHLA 10-yard line during the game.

Add a pair of missed tackles during a punt return for a touchdown that seemed to give the Comets the momentum for the rest of the game, and the game could have taken on a very different look.

"We had our chances," said H-BC-E coach Dan Ellingson. "We had a first-and-goal on their four-yard line when the game was still zero to zero, but we couldnÕt punch it in. If we had scored first, who knows what would have happened. We also drove the ball to their four without scoring to start the second half. ThereÕs at least 12 points we could have had, and we missed two tackles during a punt return that could have saved a touchdown. I'm not saying those things would have made the difference, but it would have been a lot tighter ball game."

An indication that things might not go H-BC-E's way came early in the contest.

After punting six plays into the contest, the Patriots received outstanding field position when linebacker Jesse Leuthold recovered a fumble on the Comet 16 two plays into FFHLA's first possession of the game.

Chris Reid turned a fourth-and-seven situation into a first down with a nine-yard run to the Comet four, but the Patriots lost four yards with their next three plays before Reid was tackled for a three-yard loss during a fourth-and-goal play from the eight.

The teams exchanged punts as the first quarter continued, and it was a punt by the Patriots that set up a nine-play, 80-yard drive that ended with Comet quarterback Steve Moline hitting Nick Hansen for a 15-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the first quarter. A Moline-to-Tom Scheid conversion pass made it an 8-0 game.

Hansen's touchdown set the tone for a wild second quarter that featured the Comets outscoring the Patriots 22-6 to take a 30-6 lead at the intermission.

FFHLA caught the first break of the second quarter when a Comet defender recovered a fumble on the Patriot 34 with 10:28 remaining in the first half.

The Comets lost the ball on downs when a fourth-and-four pass from the 28 fell incomplete, but the FFHLA defense forced a punt three plays later that was returned 65 yards for a touchdown by Luke Hansen with 6:41 left in the period. Titus Brue ran in the ensuing two-point conversion to make it a 16-0 game.

"That was a big play in the game," Ellingson said of Hansen's punt return. "When he returned that punt, it took the wind out of our sails."

The Patriots had to punt again three plays into its next possession, which set up a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended with Luke Hansen tossing a four-yard touchdown pass from the wing back position to Julius Stender.

A successful conversion pass from Moline to Brue increased FFHLAÕs lead to 24-0 with 3:01 remaining in the second stanza.

A key play during the scoring-drive was a 40-yard pass completion during a third-and-22 situation.

H-BC-E answered the Comets' third straight touchdown with a six-point one of its own with 1:31 remaining in the first half.

Reid, who carried the ball 24 times for 101 yards in the game, scored on a 42-yard burst. A run for a two-point conversion came up short, leaving the Comets sporting a 24-6 cushion.

Any inspiration H-BC-E gained from Reid's touchdown vanished when FFHLA got the six points back before the half was complete.

The Comets marched 65 yards in seven plays with Moline scoring with 12 seconds left at the end of a five-yard run. Patriot Brad Haak intercepted a pass attempt for the two-point conversion to keep the score at 30-6.

The second half started with FFHLA fumbling on the first play from scrimmage and Haak recovering the loose ball on the Comet 49.

H-BC-E moved the ball to the Comet four, where a fourth-and-three pass fell incomplete.

FFHLA took over on its own four with 8:29 left in the third quarter and advanced the ball to the Patriot 25, where it lost the ball on downs with 1:37 remaining in the stanza.

The Patriots then went on a 75-yard scoring drive that ended with Chris Tiesler scoring from three yards away with 6:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. A pass for a two-point conversion fell incomplete, leaving the score at 30-12.

H-BC-E did get the ball back with 2:37 left to play, but the Patriots lost the ball on downs with 35 seconds remaining.

Ellingson said the Patriots were disappointed with the way things turned out Saturday, but he was proud of what they accomplished throughout the season.

"It was a good season for us. We thought we could do well this year, but I don't think the kids thought we would finish the regular season undefeated. We managed to win our conference, and a section title came along shortly after that. It was a good year," he concluded.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 152 rushing yards, 69 passing yards, 221 total yards, 10 first downs, three penalties for 15 yards, one turnover.

FFHLA: 171 rushing yards, 159 passing yards, 330 total yards, 12 first downs, three penalties for 25 yards, three turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 24-101, Lyle DeBoer 2-3, Leuthold 9-31, Kevin Van Batavia 1-2, Tiesler 2-13, David Top 2-3.

Passing: Top 7-20 for 69 yards.

Receiving: Tiesler 2-15, Darin DeBoer 2-12, Van Batavia 1-24, Leuthold 1-14, Haak 1-4.

Defense: Curt Schilling 18 tackles, Leuthold nine tackles and one fumble recovery, Van Batavia six tackles, Kyle Braun 11 tackles and one sack, Haak five tackles, one interception and one fumble recovery.

Hills-Beaver Creek sophomore Erin Boeve (left) and senior Tonya Leenderts (not pictured)made the 2001 All-Red Rock Conference Volleyball Team. Senior LaDonna Sandstede (right) drew honorable mention.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek's initial season as a member of the Red Rock Conference in volleyball was highlighted by three players drawing post-season honors last week.

Two Patriot athletes were named to the 2001 All-Red Rock Conference Volleyball squad, and another H-BC girl drew honorable mention from the league's coaches.

Senior Tonya Leenderts and sophomore Erin Boeve will go down in history as H-BC's first members of the of the 23-member All-RRC squad.

Both Leenderts and Boeve played the hitter position for H-BC.

LaDonna Sandstede, a senior setter, is one of 14 players to draw honorable mention from the league's coaches.

Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin and Southwest Christian, which shared the RRC team title with 10-1 records, led all schools with five and four All-RRC selections respectively.

Seniors Katie Johansen, Erica Peterson and Ann Bucklin, and sophomores Mikkala Junker and Lindsay Nesmoe represent ML-B-O on the roster.

Seniors Ginnie Vis, Jill Talsma, Nicole Hulstein and Brigett Schelhaas grace the list for SWC.

Westbrook-Walnut Grove, which placed third in the loop, placed juniors Katie Hansen, Katie Swenson and Becky Schultz on the team.

Murray County Central, Fulda and Edgerton had two players each make the all-league team.

MCC senior Missy Halbur and sophomore Cara Counter, Edgerton senior Amber Rieck and junior Amber Poppen, and Fulda senior Jenna Wendorff and Erin Oakland are team members.

Rounding out the All-RRC roster are Sioux Valley-Round Lake Brewster junior Ashley Janssen, Southwest Star Concept senior Allison Hay, Comfrey junior Holli Pederson and Red Rock Central senior Kristin Fox.

Adrian SV-RL-B and W-WG placed two girls each on the honorable mention list.

Adrian senior Andrea Burzlaff and junior Jenna Honermann, SV-RL-B junior Kayla Jueneman and sophomore Kim Doeden, and W-WG senior Anne Doubler and junior Shanell Amundson are so honored.

Other honorable mention selections include SWC senior Christa Kuipers, ML-B-O junior Karissa Haglund, MCC sophomore Shelly Halbur, Edgerton senior Kala Menning, Fulda junior Rachel Gunderman, SSC junior Brianna Liepold and RRC senior Wendy Lyle.

Final league standings: SWC 10-1, ML-B-O 10-1, W-WG 9-2, MCC 8-3, H-BC 6-5, Fulda 6-5, Edgerton 6-5, SV-RL-B 4-7, SSC 3-8, RRC 2-9, Adrian 1-10, Comfrey 1-10