Bridal shower
A come-and-go bridal shower for Blair Altman will be from 10 a.m. to noon Saturday, May 20, at the Luverne Fire Hall at 209 E. Lincoln Street in Luverne. Guests are asked to bring a favorite recipe for the bride. Gifts will be opened at 11 a.m.
 
Celebration of Life
In memory of Pat Gail Johnson, a celebration of life will be from 1-5 p.m. on Saturday, May 20, at her daughter’s home, 413 E. 4th Street, Hills.

Monday, May 22: Pizza casserole, green beans, applesauce, garlic bread stick.
Tuesday, May 23: Biscuit with sausage gravy, roasted potatoes, cinnamon apple slices, dessert.
Wednesday, May 24: Orange chicken, brown rice, peaches, romaine salad with dressing, bar.
Thursday, May 25: Sloppy Joe on a bun, potato wedges, vegetarian baked beans, fruit, cookie.
Friday, May 26: Baked fish, cheesy hashbrowns, California Normandy vegetables, pears, gelatin with whipped topping.
LSS Dining offers well-balanced and affordable meals in a community atmosphere.
Call Pam Franken at 283-9846, extension 11 to reserve one day prior, to arrange to pick up a dinner or for home-delivered meals.
Gift certificates are available at the meal site or online at www.lssmn.org/nutrition.

Ellsworth graduate to head state school board association
Kristi (Kruger) Peterson, a 1992 graduate of Ellsworth High School, was recently elected president of the Minnesota School Boards Association.
She was elected to the four-year commitment May 11 at the association’s annual meeting in St. Peter, and will serve as president from 2025-2026 and past president in 2027.
Peterson is currently a member of the Shakopee school board, a position she’s filled since 2019. The past four years, she’s been chairman.
“As a proud graduate of a small Minnesota public school and a current board member from a large metro school district in our state, I am truly honored to be selected as MSBA president-elect,” she said.
“I look forward to representing and working with all school boards in Minnesota.”
She’s served on the MSBA Board of Directors since 2020, representing board members from District 13 (southwest metro suburbs), serving on the student scholarship committee, ad hoc and bylaws committee, MSDLAF+ trustee and executive committee.
Peterson attended Augustana University in Sioux Falls and is currently the marketing manager at EDCO Products in Hopkins.
She and her husband, Sean, have two children.
Peterson is the daughter of Carolyn Kruger, Ellsworth, and the late Daryl Kruger.
MSBA is a statewide nonprofit organization representing 331 Minnesota public school boards.
As the statewide unifying voice for public education, MSBA supports and empowers Minnesota public school boards through advocacy, board development, and policy and legal guidance.

10 years ago (2013)
•Owners, managers and dignitaries gathered Wednesday morning to celebrate the opening of the new Grandstay Hotel & Suites of Luverne, which hosted its first guests Wednesday night.
The 51-room hotel includes an indoor pool, elevator, 12 suites, handicap accessibility, pet-friendly rooms and more.
General Manager Kullen Schroht said the hotel’s philosophy is to be community-friendly.
The indoor pool will be available for a fee to the public for swimming rehabilitation therapy or birthday parties. A community meeting room that holds up to 25 people can be reserved at no charge.
“We want the community to see this place,” Schroht said.
 
25 years ago (1998)
•Luverne sixth-graders Alyssa Radisewitz and Trevor Maine are the winning essay writers in the Minnesota Board on Aging annual sixth-grade essay contest.
Area sixth-graders wrote essays about their grandparents or older friends (older than 60) and were judged based on the feelings portrayed in the essay in addition to originality, organization, grammar and spelling.
Finalists were invited to read their essays at the Senior Dining Center Monday, and the two winning essays will be sent to Minnesota Board on Aging for a chance at the state contest at the State Fair.
 
50 years ago (1973)
•About 200 bicyclists will be participating in the “Blue Mound 100” bike ride to be held here on June 3, according to word received by the Luverne Chamber of Commerce.
The ride will cover 100 miles through Rock County, with the Luverne high school parking lot serving as the starting point for the three circuitous phases of the ride. One will take the riders to Beaver Creek, Hills and return; the second to Kenneth, Hardwick and return, and the third to Steen, east toward Ellsworth, north to Magnolia and then return.
The Chamber of Commerce will provide trophies for the winners in the event. Each participant will receive an arm patch.
 
75 years ago (1948)
•Norma L. Groth, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Groth, of Luverne, is this year’s valedictorian of the Luverne senior class. Salutatorian this year year is Nancy Juhl, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. S. Juhl, while Kenneth Vos, son of Mr. and Mrs. Michael Vos, of Hardwick, is the highest ranking boy of the class. Names of the honor students were made public yesterday by, Harvey G. Eitreim, senior high principal.
Fifteen members of the class were selected for the National Honor Society. Selections are made on the basis of scholarship, leadership and participation in extra curricular activities.
Included in the Honor Society selection were:
Betty J. Brown, Dorothy Dibbern, Faye Gilbertson, Norma Groth, Cherie Hoepner, Jean Juhl, Nancy Juhl, Robert Lindberg, Velma Lensch, Iva Jean McClure, Margaret  Rolph, Delores Schoon, Betsy Schoonover, Betty Jean Soutar and Kenneth Vos.
 
100 years ago (1923)
•The Paul Untiedt store in Kanaranzi was broken into Monday night by burglars who stole a quantity of merchandise valued at from $1200 to $1500. They also ransacked the safe but were rewarded with only about $2 in pennies. The goods stolen included five sacks of sugar, fifteen Ford “’Trade-maker’ tires,” ten dozen shirts, twelve dozen unionalls and overalls, a number of pairs of men’s shoes, five dozen pairs of silk hose, several bolts of cloth, and a quantity of tobacco, cigars and cigarettes.
Entrance to the store was gained by breaking the knob of a side door in the building.

Anita L. Boyenga, age 81, of rural Ellsworth, Minnesota, passed peacefully into the arms of Jesus on Thursday, May 11, 2023, while at home surrounded by her family.
A public visitation was Monday, May 15, from 5 to 8 p.m. at Hartquist Funeral Home in Luverne, Minnesota. A private family service was Tuesday, May 16. Burial will be held in the Stateline Cemetery, rural Ellsworth, Minnesota. To sign an online registry, please visit www.hartquistfuneral.com.
Anita Lucille Boyenga was born March 23, 1942, to Roney and Alma (Griesse) Wiese in Rock Rapids, Iowa. She was baptized and confirmed at the Stateline Presbyterian Church in rural Ellsworth, Minnesota. Anita was raised on the family farm southeast of Luverne. She attended country school through the eighth grade in Ash Creek, Minnesota, and graduated from Luverne High School in 1960. Following graduation, Anita attended the South Dakota Beauty Academy in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
On November 18, 1961, Anita was united in marriage to Ronald Boyenga at the Stateline Presbyterian Church. Their first year of marriage was spent living on Ron’s parents’ farm near Ellsworth. They then rented an acreage two miles down the road which they would later purchase. Anita helped in various aspects of the farming operation in addition to raising five children. She also harvested from a large garden every year, canning and freezing the produce.
Anita was currently a member of the United Christian Church in Rock Rapids after being a lifelong member of Stateline Presbyterian Church until its closing. She was very involved in both churches. Through the years she helped teach Sunday school and Bible School, helped lead youth group, and filled the role of church secretary which included preparing the weekly bulletins.
Anita was gifted at sewing, crocheting, knitting and baking. She was known for her baby gifts of knitted blankets. She also knitted hundreds of sweaters which were donated to charities for children around the world. Anita grew beautiful roses for many years, providing the kitchen table with lovely roses throughout the summer. She was an avid reader and a faithful student of the Bible. She enjoyed a good game of pinochle, traveling, and especially attending her grandchildren’s events and activities. Anita will be remembered for her faithfulness in sending birthday and anniversary cards, her hospitality in hosting family holiday meals, and her generosity.
In her final years, Anita courageously lived out her cancer diagnosis without complaint, continuing to think of others before herself and maintaining a sense of humor.
Left to honor her memory are her husband, Ron; five children, Melinda (Chet) DeJong of Rock Rapids, Wanda (Mike) Jarchow of Luverne, Mike (Angie) Boyenga of Ellsworth, Hugh (Patrick) Boyenga of Sacramento, California, and Nicole (Chris) Maag of Sioux Falls; grandchildren, Maxwell (Gracia), Luke (Madelaine), Emily (Matthew), Amelia, Elise, Griffen, Anja, Katia, Lydia, Carter, Simon, Brynn, and Maesa; two great-grandchildren, Jack and Henry; brother, Loren Wiese of Sioux Falls, and brother-in-law, Mark (Priscilla) Boyenga of Hamilton, Ohio.
She was preceded in death by her parents; brothers, Robert (age 8) and Vernon Wiese; and two sisters-in-law, Annette Wiese and Ruth Wiese.
In lieu of flowers, memorials are preferred to ATLAS of Rock County, Minnesota or ATLAS of Lyon County, Iowa.

The following article is part of the Diamond Club Member group that began in the January 7, 1943, issue of the Rock County Star Herald. Members of this group consist of persons of age 75 and older.
The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on September 30, 1943.
 
Christian Boisen, Luverne, Owned Luverne’s First “Juke” Box
(Continued from last week.)
Snow was so deep in the streets of Luzerne (Iowa) that it was possible to walk from the center of the street in one place to the top of a two story building.
         Considerable sleet fell too, that year, and Mr. Boisen recalls skating to town three miles distant on the ice sheet that covered the ground.
         At that time, he worked on a farm and earned $30 for the 9-month season. Grain was harvested with a self rake, and to go someplace, a person either walked, or rode in a lumber wagon as buggies had as yet not come into being.
         A “wonderful” development, he relates, was the “march Harvester” on which two men could stand and bind grain by hand. Later, a binder attachment was invented for the machine. A binder using wire instead of twine to tie the bundles didn’t prove successful, because livestock, in eating the straw, often swallowed wire which later caused them to die. First binder to really attract attention was the “Walter A. Wood.” Mr. Boisen recalls that a demonstration he once attended in Iowa attracted 300 persons. Even then, practically every other bundle was loose.
         He remembers also when the spring buggies were first used. People then ran to the window to see them drive by, just as they later watched with interest the coming of the automobile and airplane.
         He stayed at Luzerne until he was old enough to “paddle his own canoe,” he states. He travelled around the state, mostly working on farms. He was in Plymouth county for a while, and recalls that in 1895, farmers in that section raised one of their best crops. Wheat yielded 40 bushels to the acre, but was worth only 35 cents a bushel. He worked on a threshing machine for 75 cents a day.
         “Those were really hard times,” Mr. Boisen states. “I can remember when potatoes sold for five cents a bushel and butter was worth five cents a pound in trade. I also remember one time that a whole carload of potatoes was just dumped because they couldn’t be sold, and the owners couldn’t afford to pay for the use of the railroad car for storage space. I’ve seen them come down the railroad track in groups of 50 or more, all of them out of a job. Many of them were wearing stiff collars, but thy were broke.
         “One thing about it though, prices of what you had to buy were correspondingly low. You could buy the best suit of clothes for $10.
         It was in 1898 that Mr. Boisen set foot in Luverne for the first time, and he has been here ever since. The first thing he noticed was that so many people spoke the Norwegian language. “I’d never heard Norwegian in my life before,” he states, “and I couldn’t figure out what nationality they were.”
         That same year, on Sept. 2, he was married to Anna M. Everett at Jasper.
         He later obtained a job driving a livery for John Cameron, and the next spring he bought a light dray line. He would haul a whole load any place in town for 10 cents. He also made deliveries for Hawes and Son’s department store, making four deliveries daily and furnishing his own team for $10 a month. “I soon found out that there wasn’t any money in that so I sold out,” he says.
         He then obtained a job helping to lay the first sanitary sewer through Main street. His wages were $1.75 per day for a 10-hour day.
         In 1903, he began to paint and do paper hanging, and that has been his business for the past 40 years. The first house he ever worked on was what was then known as the old Stelling house in the northwest part of town. He earned $1.25 per day for his work.
         Here it might be well to explain that Mr. Boisen’s work was done under physical handicap. When he was a young man, he fell from a moving train and lost one foot, and part of his leg. After it healed, he used a peg leg for many years, and with that peg leg, he has walked behind a walking ploy day after day, and has climbed and stood on ladders 50 feet in the air while painting.
         It didn’t even affect his dancing, one of his favorite pastimes as a young man. Even after the accident, he taught dancing in northwestern Iowa, and in Luverne and Hardwick.
         Although he doesn’t work as hard now as he once did, Mr. Boisen is still active, and enjoys life.
         He has two sons, Staff Sergeant Waldo Boisen, of Camp Polk, La., and John Boisen, of Luverne. He also has two grandchildren, Jarvis and Ramona Boisen of Luverne.
         Mr. Boisen was the youngest of a family of eight children, seven of whom were boys. Only he, and a brother, J. F. Boisen, of Keystone, Iowa, are now living. One brother was killed in the Prussian war.
 
         Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 
 

The Luverne Optimist Club sponsored its annual Bike Rodeo Saturday, May 13, in the Blue Mound Ice Arena parking lot in Luverne. They also received prizes from local merchants.

Thirteen Rock County 4-H’ers participated in the annual Communication Contest May 6 at the American Reformed Church in Luverne.
Students competed in public speaking, interpretive reading, creative writing and photojournalism.
Contest goals include developing effective skills in both written and oral communications, poise and self-confidence, practicing the process of inquiry and research, and encouraging creativity and self-expression.
Results are as follows, listed by participant, grade, club, category and ribbon placings:
•Caylix Buchholz, gr. 4, Springdell, interpretive reading, blue, public speaking, purple, creative writing, blue, photojournalism, blue.
•Colton Buchholz, gr. 6, Springdell, photojournalism, blue.
•Coyer Buchholz, gr. 2, Springdell, creative writing, photojournalism, cloverbud.
•Egypt Forrest, gr. 12, County K9s, creative writing (four entries), three blues, purple.
•Noel Henrichs, gr. 3, County K9s, interpretive reading, blue, creating writing, blue, photojournalism (three entries) all blue.
•Bri Kinsinger, gr. 10, Magnolia Juniors, interpretive reading, purple.
•Leeland Maloney, gr. 3, Springdell, interpretive reading, purple.
•Lillian Maloney, gr. 8, Springdell, interpretive reading, purple.
•Norah Maloney, gr. 6, Springdell, interpretive reading, purple.
•Mazzi Moore, gr. 10, Blue Ribbon, interpretive reading, purple, creative writing, purple, photojournalism, blue.
•Penni Moore, gr. 5, creative writing, blue.
•Gabriella Porter, gr. 7, County K9s, interpretive reading, purple, public speaking, blue, creative writing (two entries) purple and blue, photojournalism (three entries) all blue.
•Noelle Snell, gr. 2, Springdell, creative writing (four entries) Cloverbud.

Volunteers with Rock County DFL picked up roadside trash on April 24 as part of their Adopt-a-Highway service project. Pictured are (front, from left) Randy Creeger, Larry Nelson, Lona Klosterbuer, Suanne Ohme, Carol Svingen, Shirley Klosterbuer, Carol Serie, Beryl Haugen, (back) Greg Antoine, Carol McDonald, Rhonna Jarchow, Barb Antoine and Pat Baustian. The group walked miles 13 through 17 of the eastbound lane of Interstate 90, which is the four miles just east of the Highway 75 overpass bridge.