Frick gets republican nomination for 22 Senate District
Alex Frick, Luverne, has secured the nomination of the Republican party for the District 22 Senate seat.

The nominating convention took place Monday, July 8th at the Fulda Legion.

This will be Frick's second foray into politics, having served on the Luverne City Council from January, '99, to January, '01.

Frick and his wife, Sharon, started Manitou Carpets in 1987 in the Manitou Hotel building and later moved it to the former Coast to Coast building next door, where they still operate the business.

On Tuesday, Frick said, "I expect the upcoming campaign to be a big challenge, but I am looking forward to it."

Frick's DFL opponent will be the 16-year veteran of the Minnesota Senate, Jim Vickerman.

Show off your talent at the fair
Do you have a talent you've been wanting to show off? Your big opportunity is here.

The Rock County Fair Board is coordinating the Rock County Amateur Talent Contest.

The event will be staged Thursday, Aug. 1, during the Rock County Free Fair.

Now they need you and your talent!

Those participating will have the chance to win cash and prizes and be eligible to participate in the Minnesota State Fair Amateur Talent contest.

There will be three categories for the talent competition:
Open Age Division: for any age participants.
Teen Division: for ages 13-18
Pre-teen Division: for children ages 12 and younger.

Prizes of $100, $75, and $50 will be awarded to first-, second- and third-place finishers in each division.

The show will take place at the Rock County Fair grandstand beginning at 7 p.m.

A stage, sound system, piano and lighting system are provided by the Fair Board.

Practice time for participants will be set up for the afternoon prior to the event.

The contest is scheduled to last two hours and each act must be no longer than four minutes.

The number of entries will be limited to those who first sign up.

The entry fee is $10 and registration forms can be picked up at Luverne Chamber of Commerce or the Luverne Style Shop.

To receive a registration form by mail, contact Jane Wildung during the day at 283-4691 or 283-4053 during the evening.

According to Wildung, about 30 entries were initially mailed out, and, since then, another 20 have been requested.

Registration forms must be postmarked no later than July 24.

Former residents purchase Jasper Bank
David Smith, president of the Jasper bank, announced that two former residents have purchased the Jasper State Bank.

The bank, which Smith described as having financial difficulties, has been sold to Charles Hey, who has been chairman of the bank's board of directors, and Bill Sexton.

Smith will stay on as the bank's president.

According to Smith, the new ownership will allow the bank to continue having local control and ensure that bank customers will not be affected by the change in ownership.

The ownership change was effective last week.

Former bank co-owner Keith Eitreim will no longer be affiliated with the bank.

According to the Jasper Journal, Smith's father, George "Bud" Smith, bought the bank in the 1970s and owned it for 17 years before it was sold to Dave Smith and Eitreim.

Hey and Sexton are both natives of Jasper. Hey currently lives in Sioux Falls and Sexton resides in Nevada.

Open class juniors receive prizes with their ribbons
Thanks to a contribution from the Luverne Optimists Club, 10 junior divisions in the open class will be awarded cash prizes along with their ribbons this year.

A junior division is defined as age 12 and younger.

If you plan to enter any of the open classes, registration day is Wednesday, July 31, at the Floral Hall.

Registration time is noon to 7:30 p.m.

Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com

Aging women should ditch the halter top and carry smaller purse

The more 30-something I become, the more conscious I am about dressing my age without dating myself.

Too many fashion choices are made for women as they age (nature has a way of ensuring 50-somethings don't wear Spandex), but there are some accessories we can use to our advantage.

For example, a woman too often reveals her age by the purse she carries. Specifically, the size of a woman's purse almost always correlates directly to her age - the older she is the bigger the purse.

Teen-agers tend to get by with a teeny little pouch attached to a long slender strap. At that age, they don't have checking accounts or car keys, so all they typically carry is a tube of lipstick and some cash.

Twenty-somethings, by nature of advancing financial responsibility, graduate to larger, more mature purses to accommodate a checkbook in addition to a set of keys, and, of course, a tube of lipstick.

Thirty-somethings tend to take a big jump in purse sizes as their handbags grow to accommodate husbands and growing families. Even when the kids outgrow diaper bags, they still seem to need Wet Ones, toys and emergency snacks on the go.

Mom's purse is the obvious vehicle for these necessities plus her own growing list of necessities, such as Advil and a first-aid kit for the entire family, in addition, of course, to her tube of lipstick.

And ... once a mom, always a mom. Whether they need them or not, women have a hard time graduating into smaller purses. As a rule, women in their 40s and 50s continue to buy larger and larger purses, because they can't part with all the necessities they've grown accustomed to having with them.

I know a woman who carries a complete mini-pharmacy in her purse for herself or for anyone who might need help. It includes several types of antacids, pain relievers and ointments, in addition to a full line of manicure equipment and polish.

Add all this to her usual tube of lipstick, and suddenly her handbag looks more like luggage.

Our child care provider, Vi Uithoven, is living proof of this trend. At nearly 70, her purse is huge. One day, I informed her someone's diaper bag had been forgotten by the door, but it turned out to be her purse. We laughed, but I made a mental note that yet another woman had proven my theory to be true.

At some point, I suppose, old age will prevent us from physically lifting such heavy baggage, but I for one, am determined not to let my purse reach those proportions.

My current purse is purposely smaller than my last one, and while it took painful adjusting to, I am now able to leave the house with just my wallet, keys and, of course, lipstick, in tow.

The really good news is that big hair is coming back in style. Sporting my 80s-style mop and my little purse, no one will ever know my real age.

Have a happy Independence Day. The forecast calls for halter tops... if you're young enough (and fit enough) to get away with it.

Louis Elmer Bentson, 81, Muskogee, Okla., formerly of the Luverne area, died Sunday, July 7, 2002, at Grace Living Center.

Services were Wednesday, July 10, at Fosters' Ivory Chapel. Burial was in Greenhill Cemetery.
Louis "Louie" Bentson was born to Ole and Josephine (Sunde) Bentson at their farm home in Nobles County, Kenneth. He farmed and dairied near Luverne, Windom and Donnelley until the early 1980s. He moved to Muskogee where he drove semi trucks for Fanelli Brothers Trucking until he retired at age 75.

Survivors include four children and their spouses, Larry (Jan) Bentson, Carol (Ed) Beyer, Lori Ann Bentson and Jeannie (Lindy) Bruns, all of Minnesota; nine grandchildren; three great-grandchildren; two brothers, Vernon Bentson and Arlyn Bentson; five sisters, Lillian Aanenson, Mable Kienitz, Ola Hellwinckel, Luverna Brezicka and Gladys Amburn; all of their spouses and many nieces and nephews. He also leaves his best friend and companion, Juanita Bentson, and her family, stepchildren, Sondra and Ron White and Ronald Warren; three stepgrandchildren; and six stepgreat-grandchildren, all of Haskell, Okla.; and many friends.

Mr. Bentson was preceded in death by his parents, one brother, Alvin, and four sisters, Thelma Bell, Alma Wold, Helen Walsh and Vivian Bentson.

Foster-Petering Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Bernard H. Kurtz, 75, Luverne, died Friday, July 5, 2002, at Luverne Hospice Cottage.
Services were Tuesday, July 9, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Rev. Dell B. Sanderson officiated. Burial was at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne.

Bernard Kurtz was born to William and Anna (Holst) Kurtz on May 19, 1927, in Steen. He attended rural school in Clinton Township and graduated from Luverne High School in 1943. He entered the U.S. Army in 1950 and served his nation during the Korean Conflict.

He married Marlene Kruger on Feb. 28, 1951, at a Lutheran Parsonage in Luverne. He was stationed at Fort Riley, Kan., before going overseas to Korea. He received his honorable discharge from the Army in December 1953.

Mr. Kurtz was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. He was past and current commander of the American Legion in Luverne. He enjoyed playing bingo.

Survivors include his five children and their spouses, Bruce (Joan) Kurtz, Storm Lake, Iowa, Gary (Tami) Kurtz, Mark (Cindy) Kurtz, Brenda (Perry) Stickling and Vickie (Stan) Steensma, all of Luverne; 11 grandchildren, Jake, Nicholas, Veronica Kurtz, Austin, Adam, Ashley Kurtz, Jonathon Kurtz, Miranda, Jermey Stickling, Dakota and Samantha Steensma; his special friend, Marge Smook, Magnolia; two sisters, Dorothy Huiskes, Luverne, and Mildred Robinson, Norfolk, Va.; and many nieces and nephews.

Mr. Kurtz was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Marlene, in 1998, an infant daughter, Paula in 1972, and one sister, Erna Tofteland.

Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements

Sylvia Amanda Erickson, 88, Luverne, formerly of Steen, died Sunday, July 7, 2002, at Luverne Hospice Cottage.

Services were Thursday, July 11, at United Methodist Church in Luverne. Burial was at Eastside Cemetery in Steen.

Sylvia Hoops was born to Louis W. and Margaret (Pieper) Hoops, in Ida Grove, Iowa. She attended country school near Quimby, Iowa, and Quimby High School.

She married Clarence Erickson on June 29, 1940,in Hills. The couple made their home in Steen where Mr. Erickson operated a garage and worked as a mechanic. She was a homemaker. Mr. Erickson died on Feb. 4, 1994. In 1996 she moved to Luverne.

She was a member of United Methodist Church in Luverne. She was a wonderful cook and seamstress. In her spare time she loved to draw and paint.

Survivors include two sons and their spouses, Marlin (Marlene) Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Gordon (Kay) Erickson, Sioux City, Iowa; four granddaughters, Pam (Scott) Peterson, Sioux Falls, Heather (Bruce) Venner, Arvada, Colo., Angela Erickson and Maria Erickson, both of Sioux City; one great-grandson, Jacob Erickson, Sioux City; three sisters, Rose Bride, Washta, Iowa, Opal Claussen, Las Vegas, Nev., and Marvel Prado, Denver, Colo.; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives and friends.

Mrs. Erickson was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Clarence, one brother, Oraman Hoops, and one sister, Margearette Wirt.

A tree will be planted in Mrs. Erickson's name by Luverne Hospice Cottage.

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

By John Rittenhouse
The Fourth of July weekend was unkind to the Luverne Redbirds as the amateur baseball team dropped two of three games.

The Redbirds traveled to Hadley Thursday, where they took a two-run holiday loss. Luverne then beat Windom by five runs in Luverne Sunday before falling by two runs to Butterfield later in the day.

Luverne, 10-7 overall, caps the regular season by hosting Brookings, S.D., tonight and Fairmont Sunday.

Butterfield 5,
Luverne 3
The Redbirds fell behind by five runs early in the game and couldn't catch up during Sunday's finale against Butterfield.

Butterfield scored two runs in the second inning and three in the third while opening a 5-0 lead it would never relinquish.

Luverne scored once in the fourth inning and twice in the fifth to trim the difference to three runs, but the rally stalled at that point.

Mike Wenninger made it a 5-1 game when he belted a homer in the fourth.

Mike Boen and James Fisher slapped RBI singles in the fifth to wrap up the scoring in the fifth.

Terry Eernisse yielded five runs in two and one-third innings to take the pitching loss. Travis Eernisse blanked Butterfield over the final four and two-thirds innings.

Box score AB R H BI
Boen 4 1 1 1
Fisher 3 0 1 1
Ohme 3 0 1 0
Wenninger 2 1 1 1
Te.Eernisse 0 0 0 0
Tr.Eernisse 0 0 0 0
Reisch 3 0 0 0
Irish 3 0 1 0
Winkels 3 1 1 0
Schneider 3 0 0 0
Walgrave 2 0 0 0
Weber 1 0 0 0

Luverne 5, Windom 0
A strong pitching performance by Travis Arends carried the Redbirds to their only win of the week against Windom Sunday in Luverne.

Arends tossed a four-hit shutout over seven innings. Arends fanned nine opposing batters.

Luverne scored one run in the top of the first inning and four in the sixth to make Arends a winner.

Derek Ohme singled and scored on a single by Wenninger to give the Redbirds a 1-0 cushion in the first.

Mike Boen delivered a two-run single and Terry Eernisse singled home another run to highlight Luverne's four-run sixth inning.

Box score AB R H BI
Boen 4 0 2 2
Ohme 4 1 2 0
Schneider 3 0 0 0
Wenninger 4 1 3 1
Arends 1 0 1 0
Schmidt 3 0 0 0
Eernisse 4 1 1 1
Fick 4 1 0 0
Weber 3 1 0 0
Reisch 2 0 0 0

Hadley 3, Luverne 1
The Redbirds spent part of their Fourth of July holiday dropping a two-run decision in Hadley Thursday.

The game was tied at one after three and one-half innings of play, but the hosts scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to gain the margin of victory.

Hadley opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second only to have Luverne tie the game in the top of the third.

Redbird Isaac Schmidt singled and scored on Ohme's single.

Jon Jarchow took the pitching loss.

Box score AB R H BI
Iveland 4 0 1 0
Ohme 4 0 2 1
J.Sehr 4 0 1 0
M.Sehr 3 0 0 0
Te.Eernisse 3 0 1 0
Weber 3 0 0 0
Fick 2 0 0 0
Jarchow 3 0 1 0
Schmidt 2 1 1 0
Arends 1 0 0 0

By John Rittenhouse
A former Luverne High School football player has been chosen to replace Joel Swanson as the program's head coach this fall.

During a recent meeting, School Board members approved Todd OyeÕs contract for the head football coaching position.

Oye, a 1990 LHS graduate, will accept the post and will take over the program starting next month.

"History is kind of repeating itself," Oye said from his home Sunday. "My senior year of high school was the first year Swanny became the head coach. Now heÕs going, and I'll be head coach for my first year. ItÕs kind of neat."

Considering his past playing and coaching experience, Oye is the logical choice to take over for Swanson, who accepted a teaching and coaching position at North Branch High School after serving as the head LHS coach for the past 13 years.

When Oye was a varsity player at LHS, he received the opportunity to play under two successful coaches who helped make the program competitive.

As a junior in 1988, Oye played for the last Cardinal team to be led by then head coach Bob Osterday. He played the same positions as Jim Remme, one of Southwest Minnesota's top players who enjoyed an outstanding college career at South Dakota State University, so OyeÕs playing time was limited as a junior.

That changed in 1989 when he was a senior member of Swanson's first team.

Oye was a starting member of Luverne's offensive and defensive lines that season, earning all-conference, all-area and all-state honorable mention honors for his performance in the trenches.

The son of rural Hardwick's Bruce and Marilyn Oye continued to play football at two different colleges after high school.

Oye attended the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton in 1990 and 1991, starting as an offensive lineman in all of the games the Wildcats played during his two years at the school.

After graduating from NDSCS in 1992, Oye attended Southwest State University in Marshall. He was a starter on the offensive line in all of the games the Mustangs played in 1992 and 1993.

Oye graduated from SSU in the spring of 1994 and returned to Wahpeton, where he coached the NDSCS offensive lineman that fall.

In 1995, Oye served as the freshman coach at Rochester Mayo High School before moving to Rochester Century the next year, where he served as the varsity football program's offensive assistant coach for three seasons.

Oye returned to Luverne with his wife, Carrie, for the 2000-01 school year. The Oyes have two daughters. Madilyn is four and Jocilyn is 2. Todd has instructed seventh-grade geography while working as a defensive coach for the Luverne football program's sophomore team for two years.

"When I was in Rochester, I really wanted to come back to Luverne and coach with Swanny," Oye said. "It definitely was one of my goals to become head coach some day, but I'm surprised it happened so fast. I thought I would work under Swanny for 10 years or so and take over whenever he wanted to get out of it."

Unlike Swanson, who will be surrounded by strangers when he begins his North Branch coaching job, Oye will have the benefit of working with a familiar coaching staff.

Terry Althoff will remain as the program's defensive coordinator, a position he manned when Oye was a player.

Being in the program the last two years gave Oye the opportunity to work with Al Brinkman and Mike Wenninger, who have been LHS program assistants longer than Oye has. Wenninger will work with the quarterbacks and defensive backs. Brinkman will work with the running backs.

Like Swanson, Oye will work with the offensive and defensive linemen. He also will be calling the offensive plays.

Cardinal fans can expect some changes in LuverneÕs on-field strategies this fall, while other things will remain the same.

"I'm pretty excited about this," Oye said. "We'll be doing some things noticeably different than we have in the past, but weÕll also be running a lot of the offensive and defensive sets we have been. There is a lot of pride in the football program here, and we hope to keep that going."

By John Rittenhouse
A man who has closely followed the Luverne High School boys' and girls' tennis programs will get an inside look at the sport starting this fall.

Greg Antoine, a teacher in the Luverne School District since 1984, has been named the new head coach of both tennis programs.

Antoine takes over for a good friend and golfing buddy, Dave Svingen, who retired as a teacher-coach in June.

Svingen, a 34-year district employee, was head coach of the boys' tennis team for the last 33 seasons and was the only coach of the girls' program, which started in 1974.

In recent years, Antoine became one of the program's biggest backers. He and his wife, Barb, who works as a management assistant for the Luverne School District, have had three of their children compete under Svingen.

Dan, now a sophomore at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, advanced to the state tournament as a doubles player during his senior season.

Becky will be a senior member of the girls' team this fall, and Dusty, a sophomore, will play for his Dad next spring.

Growing up nearly right across the street from the high school tennis courts created an interest in the Antoine children. Being a tennis dad, and his desire to see the sport offered at LHS gave Greg Antoine interest in the head coaching position.

"The main reason why I decided to become the head coach is that I wanted to see the program continue. With all the cuts and things going on, I wanted to make sure the program would go on," he said.

"If the school would have hired someone coming out of college who wanted to coach tennis, I probably wouldnÕt have applied for the job."

Although he has no prior experience as a tennis coach, Antoine has held several coaching positions during his 20-year career as an educator.

He played tennis as youngster growing up in Madelia, where he graduated from high school in 1975.

Antoine then earned his bachelor's degree from Southwest State University, Marshall, and later earned a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from South Dakota State University, Brookings.

Antoine received his first teaching experience in the Amboy-Good Thunder School District in 1982 and 1983. He also held the head girls' volleyball and softball coaching positions at A-GH, and served as assistant girlsÕ basketball coach.

Antoine came to Luverne in 1984 as a freshman science teacher and served as an assistant girls' basketball coach for one year before taking the head coaching job for four years.

Antoine stepped down from the head coaching slot after the 1988-89 campaign and has been the eighth-grade girls' coach ever since.

Being familiar with the sport and having past coaching experience will work in Antoine's favor as a tennis mentor.

"I've been playing the game since I was little, and all of my kids have been in the tennis program here. I've been at a lot of matches over the last six years," he said.

Antoine is looking forward to the challenge of serving as a coach in a sport that places a lot of importance on individual performances.

"Tennis is competitive, but the pressure of coaching sports like basketball and football does not come with it. What I like about it is tennis is more of an individual sport. You compete as a team, but it's one player against another in singles, and one team against another in doubles. I also like tennis because it's a lifetime sport. You can teach a kid to play tennis, and it's a game they can play the rest of their lives," he said.

Unlike most coaches taking over a new program, Antoine has some certain advantages. He can tap the outgoing coach, as well as his youngest son and daughter, for information on staging productive practice sessions.

"I want to continue the coaching style Dave had going, which I call a laid-back competitiveness," Antoine said.

"As far as practices go, I really don't know how I'll run them right now. I'll be learning right with the kids, and they'll probably teach me how practices are run. Just like any other sport, we'll work on the fundamentals. Once you get the fundamentals down, the rest of it should come around."

Virginia Ann Bode, 73, Luverne, died Saturday, July 6, 2002, in Luverne Community Hospital.

Services were Tuesday, July 9, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. The Rev. Gerald Kosse officiated. Burial was at St. Catherine Catholic Cemetery in Luverne.

Virginia Demunck was born to Arthur and Lucy (DeToy) Demunck on June 25, 1929, in Jasper. She attended school in Jasper. She worked at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls after her schooling.

She married John Jacob Bode on June 29, 1950, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jasper. After their marriage they lived on the farm for two years before moving to Luverne. She worked at George's Bakery, Ohlen CafŽ and also LambertonÕs CafŽ.

Mrs. Bode was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. She enjoyed fishing and playing cards.

Survivors include four children and their spouses, Mary Arp (Leon) Pick, Pam Bode (Gary) Abell, all of Luverne, Pat (Ron) Raabe, Hartford, S.D., and Michael (Rita) Bode, Brandon, S.D.; 10 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; five stepgrandchildren; six stepgreat-grandchildren; and one sister, Ruby (Harold) Steuck, Pipestone.

Mrs. Bode was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, John Bode on May 31, one sister, Doris, and one brother, Arthur.

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