By Sara Quam
Prom isn't what it used to be. Backseat rendezvous and bonfire parties aren't necessarily a given for proms of the 21st century; neither is the traditional suit and dress.

Some students decide not to go to prom at all - taking the pressure off having to find a date. And others, like sophomores Jamison Tooley (pictured) and Daniel Amborn are making their nights out less traditional in the way of prom attire.

To save money and just to be different, the boys looked around for unique clothes.

Tooley saw a pair of black shoes with a red flame inlay and decided to create his prom suit around them. After the shoes came a black-and- metallic shirt (also trimmed with flames), a flame-covered belt, velvet pants with flecks of silver and so on, until his desired look was complete.

"It's cheaper or equal to the cost of renting a suit," Tooley said. And he can easily rewear his prom outfit.

The fact that it will stand out in a sea of black tuxes also appeals to Tooley who wants to make his first prom memorable.

"It only has to be serious for your last year. That's my opinion," Tooley said.

Although prom is still a big deal, Tooley doesn't see it as the huge event that many do. "It will be something to remember, but not a major thing."

Amborn said, "We didn't want to go with traditional tuxes, and saving money helps."

Amborn's suit was actually free - his grandfather allowed him to ransack his closets for prom.

"He has an interesting sense of humor, and we just mixed and matched some of his suits," Amborn said.

What he ended up with is this: white pants, black-and-white wing tip shoes, white shirt, flowery cummerbund and bow tie, shiny red vest and a black hat.

Another student who bucks the prom system is senior Tony Burns, who won't be attending prom this year. As the feature editor of The Echo, Luverne High School's newspaper, he had something to say about prom in a recent column.

Burns wrote, "Prom is supposed to be this magical thing that everyone likes and has fun at, but to tell you the truth, prom is not that great. It is blown way out of proportion and is way too expensive for what we do."

Expensive is a pretty accurate term.

Prom can cost couples anywhere from $400 to $1,000. And that's not hard to believe once costs of garters, special drinking glasses, professional photographs, dress, special undergarments, shoes, hair, nails, tanning, suit, meal and transportation are tallied.

Of course, some Luverne High School students have found ways around that this year.

Prom 2001
Saturday, April 28
Theme: HeartÕs Desire
Song: "When You Say
Nothing At All," by
Allison Krause
Colors: Purple, silver, white
Dinner: Luverne Country Club, steak or chicken
DJ: Hott 104.7 until 1 a.m.

After prom party
The school's after-prom party leaves students with alternatives to drinking and other social pressures that the big night can bring. Businesses donate money and prizes to make the event possible. From 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. the after-prom party will keep participants busy with games and food.

Luverne City Park equipment will be wet for quite awhile.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track teams traveled to Windom for a five-team meet Tuesday.

The low-key event featured unlimited entries in open competition, and each school could enter two teams in each relay event.

H-BC-E took advantage of the situation by doing some experimenting and testing its athletes.

"We treated it like it was a very good practice meet," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "It was an excellent workout for the kids, and we had some excellent performances on the way."

The Patriot teams produced a total of five meet titles during the event.

H-BC-E's boys fielded the winning 400- and 3,200-meter relays, which turned in respective 46.72 and 8:50.29 times.

Chris Reid, Brad Haak, Chris Willers and Chris Fransman ran the 400, while Haak, Willers, Tyler Bush and Greg Van Batavia teamed up in the 3,200.

Fransman also posted a win in the high jump, clearing 6-2.

Reid placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.1.

The 1,600-meter relay team of Reid, Fransman, Willers and Haak placed second with a time of 3:40.44.

H-BC-E's girls posted a relay victory and a win in an open event.

Shanna Tilstra placed first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:06.41.

The 1,600-meter relay team of Cassi Tilstra, Bev Wurpts, Brittney Olson and Janelle Jenniges produced the winning time of 4:24.96.

Wurpts, Erin Boeve and Connie Lewis placed second in individual events.

Wurpts ran 1,600 meters in 5:54.94, Boeve covered 16-1 1/4 in the long jump and Lewis was measured at 32-1 in the triple jump.

Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-EÕs place-earners from the meet in Windom.

The Patriot squads will participate in the Tri-State Relays in Luverne Saturday.

Patriot boys
Fifth place: 800 relay (Lee Walraven, Cayd Boltjes, Trevor Boltjes and Derek Klaassen), 1:54.9; Nathan Fick, 3,200, 11:55.92; Weightmen co-ed relay (Klaassen, Kelsay Hansel, Ryan Ranschau and Rosie Lewis), 1:00.9.

Sixth place: Willers, shot, 35-11; 3,200 relay (Kale Wiertzema, Derek Haak, Travis Broesder and Robert Swayze), 11:04.8.

Patriot girls
Third place: Lewis, shot, 27-4; 3,200 relay (Wurpts, Olson, Boeve and Melinda Feucht), 10:59.76; 800 relay (LaDonna Sandstede, Lewis, Cassi and Shanna Tilstra), 1:58.9; Boeve, 200, 28.34.

Fourth place: S.Tilstra, high jump, 4-8; 3,200 relay (C.Tilstra, Jenniges, Sarah Rozeboom and Rachel Kvaale), 11:10.2; Brittney Rozeboom, 800, 2:49.67; 800 relay (B.Rozeboom, Jenniges, Olson and Boeve), 1:59.3.

Fifth place: Olson, high jump, 4-6; 400 relay (Sarah Rozeboom, Hansel, B.Rozeboom and Sandstede), 59.13.

Sixth place: Angie Bush, 100 hurdles, 22.41; Kvaale, 800, 2:52.75.

By John Rittenhouse
During a recent practice session, some members of the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth baseball team were pondering what to record as team goals for the 2001 season.

While two team members questioned what their responses would be, they seemed to find common ground moments later. The two Patriots thought the team was capable of recording a five-win campaign.

If the 2001 H-BC-E team can reach the goal of five victories, it would be a season of dramatic improvement.

The Patriots are coming off a 1-8 campaign that could have been better if H-BC-E had been able to win some of the close games that slipped away.

H-BC-E's first appearance in the Section 3A Tournament is a good example of how close the Patriots were to posting more wins last spring.

Entering the event as the No. 14 seed, the Patriots had to be considered underdogs against No. 2 Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunberg in a first-round game played in Granite Falls.

After falling behind early, H-BC-E battled back to knot the score at three while putting a scare into the highly-regarded K-M-S players. The favorites eventually won the game 7-5, but like most games last spring, the Patriots hung around until the very end.

H-BC-E lost seven seniors (Eric Harnack, Cory Metzger, Derek Sammons, Ryan Rentschler, Nick Wassenaar, Ryan Behr and Chris Nelson) who were listed on the 2000 pre-season roster to graduation, but the hope is the Patriots can better last yearÕs campaign with a 13-player roster consisting of two seniors, seven juniors, three sophomores and one freshman in 2001.

Seniors Stephen Swayze and exchange student Vlad Pastushenko, juniors Justin Van Maanen, Kevin Van Batavia, Paul Jess, Matt Buck, David Top and Lyle and Darin DeBoer, sophomores Tyson Metzger, Clint Roozenboom and Randy Krull, and freshman Wayne Baker are the team members.

Pitching is the key in high school baseball, and Patriot coach Tom Knoll is looking to form a staff out of Lyle DeBoer, Top, Van Maanen and Baker.

Darin DeBoer and Krull are prospects to handle the pitching staff at the catching position.

Buck and Swayze are expected to man the corner positions in the infield at first and third base respectively.

Lyle DeBoer and Van Maanen are potential shortstops, and Metzger and Jess are candidates to play second base.

Van Batavia and Roozenboom are potential outfielders, as is Pastushenko and the odd man out at second base.

Brent Grengs is serving as KnollÕs assistant coach this spring.

The Patriots open the season in Adrian April 21.

By John Rittenhouse
Proven talent and solid rosters have Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth golf coach Tim Lange feeling optimistic about the 2001 campaign.

Lange, who is heading the program for the second straight year, likes what he sees on both sides of the ledger.

With 14 boys, including three letter winners and a pair of section qualifiers from the 2000 season back with the team, the Patriot coach expects improved team play.

Ten athletes, including three returning letter winners, have been preparing for the season on the girls' side of the roster.

With a nice blend of experience and potential, both H-BC-E teams could surprise some opponents this spring.

"What is nice about both teams is we're dealing with younger kids who will be around for a while," Lange said. "There are seven seniors overall, but most of the these kids are freshmen and sophomores."

Lange feels especially good about H-BC-E's boys' chances this season.

The Patriots are coming off a 3-8 2000 season that didn’t end with a seventh-place finish as a team during the Sub-Section 10 Tournament in late May.

For the first time in program history, two boys advanced to the Section 3A Tournament individually last spring.
"'I'm really excited about this group of boys," Lange said. "We've got some good scorers coming back, and we've got depth. I think we definitely can improve over last year’s 3-8 season."

H-BC-E’s 14-player boys' roster consists of two seniors, six sophomores and six freshmen.

Missing from the mix are Nic Walraven, Nick Wassenaar and Matt Feucht, who were the senior members of the 2000 team.

Walraven and Wassenaar lettered for the Patriots last season and were members of H-BC-E's sub-section squad. Feucht missed most of the campaign due to injury.

Three returning letter winners, including two section qualifiers, are expected to form the nucleus of the 2001 squad.

Senior Dean Moss and sophomore Blake Brommer are the players with section exposure.

Moss tied for third individual qualifying position at the sub-section tournament as a junior and went on to shoot a 96 at the section meet.

Brommer was involved in a deadlock for the fifth and final qualifying spot for the section tournament during sub-section play. He won a one-hole playoff to advance to the section event, where he shot a 99.

Rounding out the returning letter winners from 2000 is freshman Tom Janssen. Janssen turned in his team's third lowest score during the sub-section meet.

Seven more Patriots senior Josh Bosch, were members of the program last season and are back in the ranks.

Sophomores Clint Roozenboom, Dustin Bonnema and Kyle Sammons return to the team, as do freshmen Adam Lange, Jared Herman, Tyler Elbers and Jordan Scott.

Four first-year players cap the roster.

Senior Tom Beener, sophomores Aaron Blank and Brant Deutsch, and freshman Ryan Ranschau round out the list.

"Moss should give us some good rounds this year, along with Tom (Janssen) and Blake (Brommer). Then we have guys like Clint (Roozenboom), Jordan (Scott), Kyle (Sammons) and Adam (Lange) who show good potential. I haven't had the chance to take a good look at the guys like Brant Deutsch, Tom Beener and Ryan Ranschau, but they seem to have solid swings. Once we get outside and are able to practice, we should be OK," Lange offered.

The Patriot girls will not be as experienced as the boys this spring, but their coach is optimistic about the team.

H-BC-E's 10-player roster consists of three seniors, one junior, three sophomores, one freshman and two eighth-graders. However, seven of the 11 athletes are first-year performers.

Like the boys, H-BC-E's girls lost three seniors to graduation from a team that went 1-12 and placed seventh in the sub-section meet last spring.

Becky Mulder and Kristy DeBoer were seniors who produced the team’s third and fourth lowest scores respectively during last year’s sub-section competition.

Valerie Roozenboom was a senior who didn't complete the season with the team.

The good news is three younger Patriots are returning as letter winners, which is something that could help the program now and in the future.

"We have a lot of potential," Lange said. "The returning ninth- and 10th-graders show a lot of promise. They really picked up their games at the end of last season, and I think they'll come around even more this year."

Sophomores Melissa Fagerness and Jessica Martens and freshman Jessica Wassenaar are H-BC-E's returning letter winners.

Martens and Fagerness turned in the team's No. 1 and No. 2 lowest scores during the sub-section event.

Wassenaar also was a member of the sub-section team.

With the exception of senior Kari Jansma, who is a veteran member of the program, the balance of the roster is made up of first-time golfers.

Seniors Jamie Arp and Rachael DeHaan and junior Becky Broesder top the list.

Sophomore Jody Rentschler, and eighth-graders Marla Groen and Ashley Buck cap the roster.

Lange plans to field varsity and B squad teams for each meet this season. The returning letter winners are the leading candidates to play varsity golf. The remaining varsity positions are up for grabs.

"We have some girls who show a lot of promise, and there is some scoring potential here. Hopefully, we can get the new gals to grow to love the game. I think they will come around in their own time," Lange concluded.

Chad and Jason Rauk grabbed the reins of Rauk's Convenience Store in September 2000, making them the fourth generation of Rauks in the business.

Chad and Jason purchased the business from their uncle, Ron Rauk, who built the current building on the edge of Beaver Creek in 1995.

Rauk's long history began in 1917, when Ron's grandfather, A.J. Rauk, opened general stores in Beaver Creek, Hardwick, Jackson, Woodstock, and Colman, S.D.

Although the stores were lost during the Depression, A.J. Rauk was able to purchase the Beaver Creek store back, and he continued to run the business until he died in 1964.

After A.J.'s death, Ron's father, Edward, immediately stepped in. Edward died in 1969, leaving Ron's mother, Betty, with a business to run and three children still in high school. Ron returned home to help his mother with the store.

Rauk's Convenience Store is still a family affair with an all-Rauk employee line-up of Jason and Chad, Ron and his wife, Marlys, and Jason and ChadÕs mother, Mary.

Rauk's offers all types of convenience items. At noon they serve hot dogs, brats and a featured hot sandwich. During winter months, soups and hot dishes are also served. During the summer, subs and carry-out pizza are added to the menu.

For added convenience, Rauk's also offers a propane exchange and Buhl's Dry Cleaning Service.

The best part of the business is meeting people, according to Chad Rauk. He has been associated with Rauk's, first downtown, then in the current location, since high school and said it is "kind of second nature."

"The majority of the people coming through the door you know," he said. "We've grown up in this town, and we know the majority of the people we are doing business with. It is a good feeling that we can provide a service for the community."

The busiest period for Rauk's is April through August. Ballgames and traffic off the interstate increase summer business, according to Chad Rauk.

In the future, Chad and Jason hope to update their pumps so gas can be purchased 24 hours a day by credit card. A car wash is another project in the planning stage.

Rauk's Convenience Store is open Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday 7 to 9 p.m.; and Sunday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Chad and his wife, Tami, and Jason all live in Beaver Creek. Jason is also head custodian at Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary School.

By Jolene Farley
At a Monday evening meeting the Hills-Beaver Creek Board of Education accepted the resignation of elementary principal Kim Grengs effective June 30, 2001.

Grengs has been employed at Hills-Beaver Creek since mid-August of last year, according to Tom Knoll.

Grengs and her family are returning to Farmington where Kim taught fifth grade before accepting the job in the Hills-Beaver Creek district.

In other board business:
oGrengs shared data compiled on the current kindergarten class.

The class went from three out of 19 knowing letter sounds at the beginning of the year to all students knowing letter sounds. "I am excited to have them take their assessment this spring," said Grengs. She attributes the improvement to the all day class schedule.

oFifteen families attended Kindergarten Round-up and 81 percent of the children attending beginning kindergarten next fall are currently enrolled in Little Patriot Academy.

oSuperintendent Knoll advised the board that lightning rods should be added to the elementary building. The school took another hit this spring, according to Knoll.

oThe April 23 School Board meeting was canceled.

By Jolene Farley
The city of Steen has filed an application with United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development for financial assistance with the intent of building another wastewater treatment pond.

Steen currently has two ponds located southwest of town with 14,000 gallons capacity in each pond. The new pond the city hopes to construct will hold 27,000 gallons of wastewater, according to Steen Mayor Melvin Van Batavia.

Steen would continue to use the two original ponds even after construction of the new pond, almost doubling wastewater capacity.

"Twenty years ago Steen was all retired people," said Van Batavia. "Now with more families we are using more water."

The first step toward acquiring funds from Rural Development is ordering a preliminary estimate of the work to be done and coming up with a preliminary plan. The Steen City Council retained the services of the engineering firm Mateffy Inc., Minneapolis, for this job.

The city is hoping Rural Development will award half of the $294,000 price tag of the project in a grant and will loan the balance of the cost of the project at 4.5 percent interest.

Interest rates on Rural Development loans are based on ability to pay. Consequently Steen could be forced to pay a higher interest rate because the city has little debt.

Sewer rates on the 74 hookups in Steen could be raised an additional $10 to defray the cost of the loan, according to Van Batavia.

He stressed there are many steps in the funding process. Construction of the pond could be at least two or more years away.

After an environmental assessment is done, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency must approve the plan.

After MPCA approval and several other steps, Steen will be placed on a waiting list. Allocation of money could change subject to the dollars given to the program by the Minnesota State Legislature.

Cities higher up the waiting list using more funds than anticipated could force an even longer wait.

In the meantime, the city is unable to comply with the MPCA regulation of discharging only six inches a day of wastewater after April 15 for 60 days and again after Sept. 15 for 60 days.

"If we did that we would never get caught up," said Van Batavia. "The ponds would overflow."

Steen began pumping April 11, about two weeks before the regulation specifies with permission of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

An Easter Egg Hunt was held at Tuff Memorial Home on Saturday, April 14, for kids of all ages. Kids were divided into three age categories before combing the grounds for candy. Parents and kids were served cookies and juice while they waited their turn. (Above) A clown paints the face of Mallory Edwards, while she waits to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt. For more photos, see page three of the Crescent.

Photo by Jolene Farley