By John Rittenhouse

The 2000 debut for the Luverne High School volleyball team was successful as the Cardinals registered a 3-0 victory over Fulda Thursday.

By John Rittenhouse

Ten other players joined Dan Serie as flight champions during the Men's Club Tournament played at the Luverne Country Club over the weekend.

Mike Haakenson, Craig Hohn, Dave Iverson, Jerry Wethor, Adam Hansen, Don Cashin, Gary Luft, Bob Kaczrowski, Don Bosshart and Cliff Boom all secured flight titles during the 36-hole event.

Haakenson took top honors in the president's flight, which was formed after the first 18 holes of play in the championship flight Sunday.

The 19 players were entered in the championship flight Saturday, but the nine golfers with the highest rounds after 18 holes of play competed in the president's flight Sunday, which Haakenson won.

Haakenson, Jeff Rollinger and Tracy Birdsey shot 83s on Saturday, which gave them a share of the lead when the president's flight began play on Sunday.

Jerry Stordahl, Joe Dorhout and Scott Olsen were one shot behind the leaders with 84s.

While Dorhout, Rollinger and Birdsey slipped back in the pack during Sunday's first round, Haakenson shot a one-over-par 37 to gain a three-shot lead over Scott Olsen and a four-shot cushion over Stordahl, who carded 39- and 40-stroke efforts respectively.

Haakenson shot a 42 during the second round, that ended with him winning the flight by three strokes with a 162-stroke effort.

With Olsen and Stordahl shooting 45- and 46-stroke tallies during the second round, Dorhout and Birdsey rallied to shoot 39s and place second and third with respective 165- and 167-stroke tallies.

Outstanding play on Sunday gave Hohn the championship in the first flight.

Hohn shot an 86 Saturday, which was good for second place behind Tom Foster and Curt Vander Stoep, who turned in 84s.

Hohn produced a 40 during Sunday's first round to gain a one-stroke lead over Vander Stoep (43) and Nate Golla, who rebounded from an 88 Saturday by shooting a 39 during Sunday's first round.

Randy DeKam, who also shot an 88 Saturday before carding a 42 during Sunday's first round, was four strokes behind Hohn. Foster shot a 46 to fall out of contention.

Hohn ended up shooting a 41 during Sunday's second round to finish the tournament with a 167-stroke total, which was good enough to win the flight by two strokes.

While Vander Stoep slipped to 46 during the second round, DeKam and Golla turned in 39- and 42-stroke tallies to share second place in the flight with 169s.

Iverson was a run-away champion in the second flight.

He shot a 79 Saturday to open a seven-shot lead over Dave Gangestad (86) and an eight-stroke cushion over Fred Vander Kolk (87).

Iverson shot a 41 during Sunday's first round to extend his lead to nine strokes over Gangestad and 10 over Vander Kolk, who both shot 43s.

Iverson shot a 44 during Sunday's second round for a two-day total of 164 strokes and a nine-stroke victory. Gangestad and Vander Kolk, who finished the tournament with 44- and 43-stroke efforts respectively, shared second place in the flight with 173 totals.

Jerry Wethor rallied from a four-stroke deficit on Sunday to win the third flight by three strokes.

Tom Serie shot an 83 Saturday to gain a four-shot lead over Wethor and Jack Bennett, who carded 87s, and a five-shot advantage over Greg Gabrielson (88).

A 45 by Serie to start play Sunday allowed all of his challengers to gain ground. Gabrielsen and Wethor, who shot 41- and 42-stroke rounds, moved within one stroke of Serie. Bennett's 44 placed him three shots off the pace, but a 45 during the second round knocked him out of contention.

Wethor's continued improvement led to a 41 during Sunday's second round and a tournament total of 170 strokes. Another 45 for Serie in the second round gave him second place with a 173. Gabrielsen also shot a 45 during the final round and placed third with a 174 total.

By John Rittenhouse

Two Luverne Country Club heavyweights produced one of the most exciting finishes ever to a Men's Club Tournament Sunday.

Dan Serie and Cory Norman, who won a combined four club titles in the 1990s, ended 36 holes of regulation play in the championship flight with identical 152-stroke efforts.

After the sun already had set in the west, Serie ended what turned into a three-hole playoff with a title-clinching par on the LCC's third hole.

The win gave Serie his second Club Tournament championship. He has placed second or third in the event more times than he cares to remember, but this was his first title since he edged Bob Jarchow and Dick Iveland by two strokes to win the 1991 crown.

As much as Serie enjoyed the victory, topping Norman in a playoff was not a perfect script for the champion to follow.

"We're partners in the Thursday Afternoon League," Serie said of Norman, who are good friends on and off the course. "Right before we teed off in the playoff, we both agreed that it's too bad someone will have to lose. If I would have played well and Cory would have won, that would have been great. I'm pretty sure Cory felt the same way."

Unfortunately for Norman, who played his way to club titles in 1995, 1996 and 1998, fate was in Serie's corner late Sunday evening.

Both men had their chances to win the event during the first two playoff holes, but it was Serie who got the job done on the third extra hole.

The playoff started on the LCC's par-4 first hole, and the pressure of the situation may have led to both players recording bogeys.

After good drives, Serie sent his approach shot into the tall grass on the back side of the green, while Norman's second shot was short of the green. After Norman hit a nice chip that came to rest 12 feet under the pin, Serie hit a short chip that barely made it on the top side of the green, leading to a two-putt bogey. When Norman's 12-foot attempt missed the cup by inches, he tapped in for a bogey.

Serie started the second playoff hole (par-five second hole) with an outstanding drive. Norman, on the other hand, miss-hit his tee shot, causing the ball to roll 140 yards off the box, where it came to rest in the rough on the left side of the fairway.

Norman's second shot landed behind a tree on the right side of the fairway, and after Serie drilled a seven-iron shot that came to rest on the right side of the green, Norman opted to chip onto the fairway with his third shot before sticking his fourth effort 12 feet behind the pin.

By Lori Ehde

As last-minute enrollment figures fell into place earlier this month, Luverne Elementary School saw its third-grade class swell to the size where a new section and new teacher might be necessary.

Decisions became critical when the number of third- graders passed the 100 mark, and on Monday, Aug. 14, staff members met to determine a course of action.

"We actually called the majority of third-grade parents, and we found out we were going to have more kids in the four sections than we were comfortable with," said Superintendent Vince Schaefer. "There are only five or six new kids in the third grade, but it was just enough to make it unacceptable."

At the Thursday, Aug. 24, School Board meeting, the board approved hiring Pam Christensen, Luverne, to teach a fifth section of third-graders. According to the one-year contract, her base salary is $27,860.

The decision to add the fifth section was arrived at Monday, Aug. 21, and by Thursday Christensen was offered the position. Schaefer said the last-minute hiring process wasn't ideal, but he said the district was in a catch-22 situation.

"I'm sure to the public, we look like a bunch of stumbling bumblers," he said, "but we had to make sure we had hard numbers to work with, and we'd rather do it late in the season than find out our class sizes are too big, or find out that we'd added the fifth section needlessly."

According to Elementary Principal Melody Tenhoff, numbers don't tell the whole story when determining staffing teachers for students.

"You have to play with the personality of the class," she said, explaining that some classes (not necessarily this one) may have a higher number of demanding or special needs students.

"We had been watching Grades 3 and 4 all summer long," she said. "We shifted a teacher from second grade to fourth grade, because that happened to be a smaller class. We'd been hearing that some families were going to move out of the district, but as it turned out we didn't lose that many in third and fourth grade."

As of Friday, elementary school enrollment was 93 in kindergarten, 90 in first grade, 87 in second grade, 99 in third grade, 105 in fourth grade and 95 in fifth grade.

Tenhoff said it's critical to keep class sizes small (about 20 students) in elementary grades - particularly in third grade - because it's a pivotal learning year.

"Third grade has the benchmark tests, not that we run our curriculum around those tests, but they are beginning to do a lot of graduation standards in the third grade, and the curriculum is changing," Tenhoff said.

"You need fewer numbers so teachers can get out to the students more. They need to get a good solid footing with the beginning of graduation standards."

Tenhoff said the tight time frame wasn't comfortable to work in, but she said she's comfortable with the outcome.

"We advertised the position minimally, and word of mouth works very well in a community of this size. If we would have advertised the position and waited a week, workshops would have been done and over with, and that wouldn't have been fair for the new person. We would have liked to have had more time, but sometimes things don't work out that way," she said.

"I'm very pleased we had someone of her [Christensen's] quality waiting for a position. Any of the three we interviewed would have done a fine job, but Pam was a major substitute teacher for the district for two years before she went into day care, and her substitute teaching record was exemplary. She really did a nice job proving her abilities."

In other personnel matters, the board

Hired Louise Thorson as half-time special education EBD instructor at $16,934.

Hired David Siebenahler as varsity girls' hockey coach at $4,042.

Approved Todd Oye as volunteer football coach for varsity and B squad levels.

In other business Thursday, the board

Toured the middle school remodeling project involving the new Independent Living area for special needs instruction.

"The board was quite pleased, because it gave them a nice sampling of what can be done with remodeling a 1950s building," Schaefer said following the meeting. "When you're in that room you don't feel like you're in an old building."

Set the maximum family contribution for activity fees at $150 per family to make extracurricular involvement more affordable for large families with children involved in multiple activities.

Scheduled the annual District Capital Outlay Hearing for the Oct. 26 School Board meeting. At the meeting, the public can provide input on spending projects for the 2001-02 school year.

Reviewed upcoming meetings and events. School will start Tuesday, Sept. 5, the School Board will meet for an informal work session at 5 p.m. Monday, Sept. 11, and the next regular School Board meeting is at 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28.

To the Editor:

It was generous of the Rock County Selection Committee to have selected me as Rock County's Outstanding Senior Citizen for the year 2000.

This award is appreciated and will be a source of inspiration for me for the rest of my life. I hope to continue working with local organizations, especially with the local Hospice and with the Southwest Crisis Center, which deals with domestic abuse.

Thanks to Rock County and to the committee for the recognition of the work done here by these important organizations. They truly, I believe, help improve the quality of life throughout Rock County, a marvelous place to live.

Jeanette Tangeman

Luverne

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne Redbirds passed their first test during the Minnesota State Class C Amateur Baseball Tournament in Fairfax Sunday.
Playing Lake Henry in a single-elimination game during the tournament’s first round, Luverne fell behind early in the contest only to outscore its opponent 12-0 the rest of the way in a 12-1 victory.
The win sends the 23-12 Redbirds into the tournament’s second round of single-elimination play Saturday in Fairfax. Luverne plays Perham at 7 :30 p.m.
A victory would give the Redbirds a berth in the tournament’s championship rounds with seven other teams. The final eight teams compete in double-elimination play.
Luverne would start the championship-round action with a 7:30 p.m. game Sunday in Fairfax if it can knock off Perham Saturday.
Things went well for the Redbirds during Sunday’s tournament opener against Lake Henry.
Lake Henry plated an earned run off Redbird starting pitcher Robert Peterson in the bottom half of the first inning, but the rest of the game belonged to Luverne.
The Redbirds were limited to eight hits in the game, but walks by Lake Henry’s pitchers and a number of fielding errors allowed Luverne to score 12 unanswered runs and win the contest by the 10-run rule after seven innings of play.
Luverne scored twice in the top of the second inning to take the lead for good.
Mike Wenninger reached base on an error and scored the tying run when Petersen doubled. Redbird Corey Nelson was hit by a pitch as the inning progressed and gave Luverne a 2-1 lead when Jesse Reisch singled.
Reisch walked and scored an unearned run in the fifth inning to give the Redbirds a 3-1 cushion, which set up a nine-run rally in the fifth inning that all but ended the game.
Lake Henry was its own worst enemy in the sixth as the home team’s pitchers allowed four walks and hit one batter during the inning. Two errors by Lake Henry also fueled Luverne’s rally.
Wenninger supplied the biggest hit of the eruption when he singled home a pair of runs. Jeff Sehr had an RBI single, and Nelson drew a bases-loaded walk during the frame.
Peterson pitched one-run ball through six innings to pick up the win. Wenninger, who led Luverne with two hits, pitched a scoreless seventh inning for the winners.
Box scoreABRHBI
Ohme3100M.Sehr3110Miller1000J.Sehr5111Irish3100Wenninger4322Peterson2111Moerke1000Nelson2211Reisch3111Eernisse4110

McCoy is the International Pro Rodeo Association’s world champ in the saddle bronc riding the past two years and set an IPRA record while winning the all-around title last January at IFR30 in Oklahoma City.

McCoy, from Tupelo, will be competing Friday night in his specialty event, as well as the bareback bronc riding and bull riding.

Also on hand will be 11-time steer wrestling world champ Dale Yerigan and four-time barrel racing champ Betty Roper.

Both Yerigan and Roper will also be competing on Friday.

In addition to the all-star cast, a big number of local cowboys and cowgirls will be competing here both nights. Included in that group is former world champ Terry Crow.

The rodeo is sponsored by the Miami Area Chamber of Commerce along with Miami Ford and Cheek Auto Mall.

Advance tickets are available at the Miami Area Chamber of Commerce, Miami Ford, Cheek Auto Mall, Buy For Less, Osborn Drugs, The Stables, Bilkes and Reynolds Boot Shop.

Adult tickets purchased in advance are $6 for Friday and $13 for Saturday’s go-round, which also features a concert by Daryle Singletary.

At the gate, adult tickets will be $8 on Friday and $15 on Saturday.

Advance tickets for children (3-12) are $3 for Friday and $11 for Saturday. At the gate they will be $4 and $13.

Thunderbolt Rodeo Productions is again the stock producer.

By John Rittenhouse
Karen Fey has overcome many obstacles during her many appearances at the Luverne Country Club’s Women’s Club Tournament, but Mother Nature offered a different kind of challenge during Saturday’s version of the event.
At about the time the players in the championship flight took the course, a light, annoying rain began falling and continued to dampen the links throughout the entire first round of play and well into the second round of the 18-hole competition.

Kim Grengs is the new Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary School principal, and already she’s feeling at home in the community.
"The people were very friendly and everything seemed very organized," she said about her decision to work in H-BC. "The district was on the cutting edge of curriculum."
She received her degree in administration from Minnesota State University last summer, and Hills is her first administrative job. Formerly she was a fifth-grade teacher in Farmington, a town near Northfield.
"I felt ready for a leadership role," she said of her new degree.
Grengs started in Beaver Creek Tuesday, Aug. 15, and said she’s enjoying her work so far. "It’s been great," Grengs said. "The staff is very helpful and nice."
She plans to keep many of the same programs at Hills, at least for this year. "I feel I can continue the excellence Hills has in teaching. I’m going to keep a lot of what’s going on," Grengs said.
One program she hopes to implement is a program on citizenship, or "a garden of values," as Grengs calls it. "The children would learn lessons in politeness and other qualities that would make them better citizens," Grengs said.
Grengs received her bachelor’s degree in education from Augsburg College, Minneapolis, and her master’s degree in education from St. Mary’s University.
Grengs and her husband, Brent, who teaches in Tea, S.D., have two children, daughter Annie, 4, and son Darby, 2. She and her family live in a rented home in Steen.
Grengs grew up in Richfield, and her hobbies are reading, spending time with her family and being outdoors.