The Zoo Man came to the Rock County Community Library last Friday along with his daughter, Miranda, and his son, Montana. He brought with him many different animals to show to the kids, all not poisonous. The event was part of the Library Kids Wolfin' Down Books at the Library program.

Photo by Katrina Vander Kooi

By Katrina Vander Kooi
A head-on collision four miles south of Luverne on Highway 75 Friday has claimed two lives.

Ralph Edward Kingery, 48, Colorado Springs, Colo., was pronounced dead at the scene. His 1998 four-door Plymouth vehicle was totaled. Mary Theresa Elliott, 41, Colorado Springs, was a passenger in the car.

After the accident at 3:29 p.m. Elliott was brought to Luverne Hospital and then airlifted to Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls, S.D. She died from head and internal injuries on Saturday, June 30. Both the driver and the passenger were wearing seatbelts.

Anthony Reese, 20, Steen, was airlifted from the scene to Avera McKennan Hospital, Sioux Falls, and is listed in critical condition. He drove a 1997 Jeep Cherokee, which was totaled, and he was not wearing a seatbelt.

By Jolene Farley
Northland Precision Machine Inc. and Technical Services Inc. will change the business make-up on Main Street, Hills.

The companies purchased the former American Salvage building from the Economic Development Authority for $2,400 in May and began modifying the building for their businesses. Walls were reinforced, the building was painted and a new overhead door was added.

Don Packard is president of Northland Precision Machine, and John Schwing is president of Technical Services. Both businesses currently operate in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Packard, who attended a two-year tool and die program in Granite Falls, started his business in 1997.
He invented a plastic hitch-pin holder for pins from vehicles like gravity wagons and pickups.

Packard designed the molds needed to manufacture the pin holders and now has another company produce them. The patent for his invention is pending.

Schwing graduated from Granite Falls VoTech with a degree in electronics and robotics/flexible automation. He also graduated from National American University, Sioux Falls, with a degree in applied management.

He started Technical Services in late 1989 where he builds custom controls and automation for area manufacturing companies and the food industry.

Schwing also developed, designed and patented a device used on heavy-duty trucks, the FireOptic brand of bumper guides and lenses.

The two companies suspended bidding on jobs until their move to Hills was complete. Schwing said it will take a couple of weeks to fine-tune the machines they moved, but there are projects they could do now.

The two businesses are separate but complement each other. "Don will be a customer of mine, and I will be a customer of his," Schwing said.

"I started out just doing control work only, but a lot of customers are dependent on building the machines. That's how Don and I hooked up," Schwing said.

Some customers want only troubleshooting or programming. Others want tooling, wiring or pneumatics, according to Schwing.

Packard and Schwing hope to add CNC technology, or computer numerical controlled technology, to their businesses soon. That would enable the companies to manufacture more shapes in both metal and plastic.

"The sky is basically the limit for what you can do with plastic molding," Schwing said.

The need for extra employees depends on the manufacturing bids they are awarded. They usually hire friends looking for extra work who have some technical knowledge.

Although the manufacturing end of both businesses will now be located in Hills, Packard and Schwing plan to keep their offices in their homes in Sioux Falls.

By Jolene Farley
After many active years, 89-year-old Opal Swanson continues to volunteer in the Hills community in many different capacities.

When Opal and her husband, Art, moved into a home across the street from Tuff Memorial Home in 1977, Swanson volunteered at the Tuff Home. "They needed help all the time," said Swanson.

She wrote letters and Christmas cards for the residents, played games, gave manicures, helped on outings and at parties. She was soon appointed chairwoman of the Tuff Home Auxiliary. She also did Meals-on-Wheels for several years until she broke her leg.

Swanson was continually active in Bethlehem Lutheran Church organizations and events. She taught Sunday school, was chairwoman of Bethlehem Lutheran Church Women and served on the Cemetery Association.

She said things are not like they used to be. "The younger people are busy working and with their families."

She volunteered extensively until her husband's health became so poor she had to care for him at home. He passed away in January of this year.

Swanson and her husband have four children Mary Herr, David, and twin boys Steven and Stuart. David and his wife, Nancy, live on the family farm south of Hills. Opal's grandfather wanted the land kept in the family, so the Swansons were persuaded to move from Valley Springs back to Hills.

Swanson reminisces about life before she married. She became a teacher or attended "normal training" as it was called back then.

She taught 24 students in various grades in a country school north of Beaver Creek for five years.
She walked one and one-half miles to the schoolhouse no matter what the weather from the home of a family she stayed with during the week.

Teachers tended their own coal fires, cleaned the schoolhouse and took care of the outdoor toilet. Swanson said there was a lot of preparation needed to teach the different grade levels. She only went home on the weekends, when her parents or Art picked her up. "You were kept busy," said Swanson.

Swanson continues to volunteer for Bethlehem Lutheran Church by delivering prayer booklets and contributes to the community whenever possible.

Dalton Bass (left), Colton Bass, holding his brother, Trenton, Karic Wiertzema, Nick DeHaan, Austin Rauk and Joshua Dudley play at the Hills park Thursday afternoon on the new playground equipment added to the park by the city of Hills. Marilyn Jellema, day-care provider for the boys, watched from a park bench.

Photo by Jolene Farley

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne Redbirds put together a 16-0 scoring run while besting Wilmont 16-1 during an amateur baseball game played in Wilmont Wednesday, June 27.

After surrendering one run in the bottom of the third inning, Luverne pitcher Derek Ohme blanked the home-standing Cardinals over the final four frames.

Luverne, which was shut out offensively for the first three innings, plated 16 runs in the final four innings to turn what was a close game into a rout.

Ohme controlled the game on the mound.

The Redbird hurler blanked Wilmont in six of the game's seven innings. Ohme didn't walk a batter while allowing six hits and recording six strikeouts.

When Wilmont plated the game's first run in the bottom of the third, the Redbirds picked up the pace offensively by scoring one run in the fourth and fifth innings, eight in the sixth and six in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Jeff Sehr doubled in the fourth inning and knotted the score at one when Jon Jarchow chased him home with a single.

Jesse Reisch drew a walk and scored the go-ahead run when Mike Boen doubled in the fifth.

Mike Wenninger, who slapped a team-high four hits in the game, belted a two-run homer to highlight Luverne's eight-run sixth inning.

Reisch doubled home two runs, Ohme doubled home one run, Jarchow and Boen had RBI singles and Brad Walgrave added a sacrifice fly to the sixth-inning uprising, which ended with Luverne sporting a 10-1 advantage.

Billy Schneider's two-run single was the key blow during the six-run seventh inning.

Wenninger, Ohme and Brian Weber all added RBI singles. Another run scored on a passed ball.

Ohme, Boen and Jarchow all had two hits for the 7-4 Redbirds.

Box score AB R H BI
Ohme 4 2 2 2
Boen 4 1 2 2
M.Sehr 0 1 0 0
J.Sehr 4 1 1 0
Schneider 1 1 1 2
Wenninger 4 3 4 3
Eernisse 5 1 1 0
Jarchow 5 1 2 2
Weber 3 1 1 1
Walgrave 4 1 0 1
Reisch 2 3 1 2

By Sara Quam
For the Bowron women, togetherness means more than picnics with potato salad.

LuverneÕs Jeanne Bowron and her four daughters found their version of togetherness in running 26.2 miles together. They are signed up for Grandma's Marathon in Duluth this Saturday.

"It's a unique mother-daughter thing," Jeanne said.

The decision to run a marathon wasn't easy, but Alison put out the idea last Christmas. "She kind of set it as a challenge. She said, 'Let's do something as sisters and mom," Jeanne said.

Alison said, "Running a marathon has always been on my life's To Do list."

Jessica, on the other hand, said, "It took some convincing for me."

Although the girls were in sports, distance running was new to them. And Jeanne took up walking for fitness a couple of years ago but certainly never trekked 26.2 miles at once.

Jeanne said each of them had obstacles in training that they had to overcome. Alison is a medical student doing clinical rotations; Emily has two young children; Jeanne works full time (and is 54 years old); Johnna was a new accountant who had to work through the tax season, and Jessica was a student holding down two jobs while planning a wedding.

The fact that it wasn't a simple undertaking made it special to them.

"It was real camaraderie," Jeanne said, "a lot of e-mailing inspirational messages and support back and forth."

Alison said it was nice to have a similar goal. "We've been living in different stages of our lives in different areas. It brought us back together," she said.

They aren't exactly worried about Saturday's marathon - completing it is the main goal.

"We're going into it saying, 'We are going to give it our all and see what happens,'" Jeanne said.

Mostly, they're happy to share the undertaking together.

"It takes them to become adults to come back and do this with their mother," Jeanne said.

Shaping up
More than 9,000 other runners are signed up for Grandma's Marathon. They've trained all winter and spring. "We did a lot of running in the cold," Jeanne said.

They used a training program set up for beginning runners. Things like appropriate water intake and stretching exercises are crucial in a marathon.

The closest the Bowrons have come to running a full marathon was Memorial Day, when they took part in a 20-mile run. Completing that told the women they could handle just six more miles.

Alison said supporting each other over walkie talkies helped. "I was surprised how mental running is," she said. "It seems like when we ran five miles the last one was really hard, and when we ran 20, the 19th was hard."

Jeanne agreed. "It's a real mindset when you know how far you can go and set yourself up for that amount," Jeanne said. "We know that if we stay healthy and injury-free we can do Grandma's."

The 20-mile experience took Jeanne about five and a half hours to walk and her daughters about four hours to run.

Even though it was shorter than the full marathon that they now face, they learned valuable lessons.
Jeanne said, "You try to ignore what hurts and focus on short goals like the water stops or the mile markers."

Alison said, "It will just be neat to say we all crossed the finish line."

By Katrina Vander Kooi
Justin Siebenahler and Pat Baustian were both stationed at Prince Sultan Air Base in Saudi Arabia this spring.

"We are over there as part of the UN sanctions against Saddam Hussein," Baustian said. "There have been 10,000 U.S. troops there since then."

Siebenahler is a member of the Air Force. Baustian is a member of South Dakota Air National Guard. He is the shop supervisor in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Baustian spent 30 days in Saudi Arabia, and Siebenahler spent 98 days there.

The troops are there to keep the "no fly zone" in Iraq in place. "We were in Operation Southern Watch," Baustian said. Their job was maintain the forces that fly over the southern half of Iraq.

"People don't realize that people have been going over there since 1991," Baustian said.

Baustian volunteered to go to Saudi Arabia for 30 days. "But you can volunteer for more or less time," Baustian said. "Every person who volunteers relieves a regular Air Force member from going on active duty." Siebenahler was assigned to go to Saudi Arabia.

To get there, each had to go on a 24-hour plane ride. "Justin was there about one week prior to when I arrived," Baustian said.

Prince Sultan Air Base
The Prince Sultan Air Base is located away from the city and inside the Royal Saudi Airbase for security reasons. "Part of the reason they are there is because of the Khobar Towers bombing," Baustian said. "A group of terrorists blew up a U.S. building and killed 19 U.S. service people."
After that happened, the military moved forces to tents. "Four thousand people lived in a tent city," Baustian said.

New facilities were built two years ago inside the coalition complex. The dorms are two-story and contain a variety off facilities. "The facilities are fabulous," Baustian said. "There are 60 computers with the Internet, a nice library, a gymnasium, a movie theater, and a pool." There was also a place where different types of music were played each night of the week.

French and British troops are also stationed at the base. "I met a lot of new people and made a lot of new friends from around the world," Siebenahler said.

On his days off Siebenahler would relax and go to the pool.

Work
"I worked with the same equipment that I do in South Dakota," Baustian said. He worked a night shift and repaired electronic warfare pods in order to get them ready for the next day's mission. He had one day off while he was there.

Siebenahler's job at Prince Sultan Airbase was part of the security forces, or military police. "Security forces are appreciated," Baustian said. "They have long shifts, and it's a tough job."
Siebenahler's job was to patrol the area and provide security for Operation Southern Watch. His 16-hour shifts were during the day. Siebenahler encountered snakes on duty. "We killed two vipers outside," Siebenahler said. "They hide underneath the gate."

Climate
"When I got there, the temperature was 85 to 90, but when I left, it was 104 to 108," Baustian said. "It was hot and dusty."

The weather in Saudi Arabia was less than pleasant. "We had sandstorms at least once a week," Siebenahler said. "It's a great ball of dust going across the land. The only way I can explain it is like taking a blow dryer and blowing it in your face."

All of the facilities were air conditioned, and every person was encouraged to drink a lot of water. "The ground was not just sand," Baustian said. "It was red clayish dirt with sand mixed in."

Security
Baustian and Siebenahler differed in their opinions of security in Saudi Arabia.

"I felt very secure," Baustian said. On the base, there were security levels ranging from alpha, the safest, to delta, the most dangerous.

"When I got there, the threat level was at bravo, one level up from alpha," Baustian said. "When I left, it had moved up to charlie." Baustian said it was because of intelligence.

"I did not feel at all safe there," Siebenahler said. "It is not a country I would like to live in." Siebenahler was there when security measures needed to be increased to the most dangerous level.

Culture tour
Americans were not allowed off the base except for special tours provided by the military. No one could leave the base in uniform, and each destination was well-scouted by security. Siebenahler went on a "cultural tour" that showed him a glimpse of Saudi Arabian life.

"We got to see the chop-chop square. That's where they take care of criminals," Siebenahler said. "There were marble floors and a marble bench where they would chop off their heads or their hands. There was a drain and a hose to wash the blood down."

Siebenahler did not see one of the sentences carried out, because military people are not supposed to witness it.

Females are treated as inferior. Females are required to cover everything but their eyes. "The women had to walk behind the men," Siebenahler said.

Siebenahler also was able to see the country. "It was like a giant landfill," Siebenahler said. "People are either really rich or really poor."

Coming home
"Yes, I'll volunteer again, but I'm not sure when," Baustian said. "I give my wife a lot of credit. If I didn't have her support, we wouldn't be able to do this."

Siebenahler returned home last Saturday, after a five-hour layover in Germany. He now is on leave for rest and recovery in Luverne, and after that, he will go back to Grand Forks, N.D.

Siebenahler is on standby to go back to Saudi Arabia next year.

Health concerns
Many CCQL members also had concerns about the emissions causing health problems.

"It seems like there's more problems than there has been before at respiratory therapy," Dave Knips, who works at the hospital, said.

"We can't go looking for things that we aren't regulated on," Serie said, "but, I want to be extremely proactive. I live here, too, folks."

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency regulates the ethanol plant in three areas: production, volatile air chemicals and particulates.

McGinley said that to have the health department open a health risk assesment file on the plant, it first must be requested.

"It would be better if the citizens and the company would request it together," McGinley said. He suggested to wait until the St. Paul ethanol plant was tested, because then the department would have a form to follow. "They can't decide which test to use right now because ethanol plants are so new," McGinley said.

Differences between the ethanol plants
McGinley also worked with the St. Paul ethanol plant, Gopher State Ethanol. The plant is being taken to court to declare it a public nuisance.

"In St. Paul, the city attorney is prosecuting on noise and thinking about odor," McGinley said.
McGinley pointed out differences between that plant and Luverne's ethanol plant.

He explained that the St. Paul plant also is the only ethanol plant in the country that was converted from a beer-making facility.

"The cooling is even more odorous in St. Paul than the one here," McGinley said. "St. Paul burns at a hotter temperature."

The plant is also located in the middle of a residential area, and noise is a problem.

The health department will test the plant's VOCs as soon as it finds a test to fit ethanol plants.

"There's a lot more that you'll be hearing from that place," McGinley said.

Serie said that the St. Paul ethanol plant and the Luverne ethanol plant are working together by sharing the results of each test to better help the ethanol industry.

Soybean plant
At the meeting, the possibility of a new soybean plant was also discussed. "It's just in the preliminary stages right now," Serie said. "It's brand new technology." Cornerstone Energy looking into the possibility of a soybean plant. They own 70 percent of Agri-Energy.

The plant would crush soybeans in order to extract oil. Hexane is used in the process to extract the oil. Currently there is a test plant in Baton Rouge, La.

The CCQL questioned Serie about the plant producing a smell. "There is no cooking or fermentation," Serie said. "It's a cold crush extraction plant."

McGinley cautioned the idea of the soybean plant. "Everything has some air emissions," McGinley said. "Be very aware of the process. Hexane does have an odor."

The next meeting will be at 7 p.m. Sept. 20 in the community room at the Rock County Community Library.