By John Rittenhouse
A crowd of more than 500 people attended the fourth annual Rock County Sportsman's Show at the Luverne Elementary School Saturday.

The family-oriented event offered something for everyone and was especially well-received by fathers and their children.

"All in all, it went really well," said Julie Wynia, co-chairperson for the event. "We wanted to provide an event that would offer something for fathers, mothers and children. We had a lot of dads come with their sons and daughters, and that was really neat to see."

Nearly 60 exhibitors and a seminar schedule that consisted of six discussions were the highlights of the event for the older members of the crowd.

Brent Mielke, the Zoo Man representing Adrian's Prairie Wind Zoo, and an opportunity to snow shoe around the school grounds were big hits with the children.

Recent weather trends and area competition were factors in attendance figures that were down from 1,000 the year before.

After a rash of poor weather that closed many area schools in the days leading up to the event, parents were left to make a choice between taking in the Sportsman's Show or taking on the neglected chores that piled up after the weather kept people indoors most of the week.

Competing with a Farm and Home Show in Edgerton the same day also influenced the attendance numbers.
"We didn't draw as many people as last year, but everyone who I talked to said that it was an exciting show. The kids' portion of the event went over really well," Wynia said.

The event raised approximately $4,000 (before expenses). Proceeds will go to the Big Buddies of Rock County, the Hills-Beaver Creek-Steen Baseball Association, Patriot Partners, Steen Community Park Committee and the Hills Lions Club.

By Sara Quam
Luverne's less-than-adequate National Guard Armory may be replaced by a new Training and Community Center.

After a visit from Adjutant General Eugene Andreotti a few months ago, various community groups gathered to assess needs of the Armory.

Personnel from the Minnesota National Guard, the city, county, school and Chamber of Commerce discussed the possibility of a new center that could provide better for the Guard unit and incorporate community needs.

The group said in a letter sent to Andreotti Wednesday, "Members of the community feel the Training and Community Center is important for our community as well as the Guard unit it serves. At the present time the facility is used by the school for the gymnastics team and its equipment. There are craft shows, auctions, meetings and emergency situations where the TACC has been invaluable. We support the Guard and wish to have the facilities upgraded to meet their needs as well as those of the community."

The letter is the first step in getting federal approval, which would pay for 75 percent of its costs, with the rest split by state and local fees.

A big concern with the facility is parking. The current Armory is surrounded by residences and railroad tracks, and expansion is not an option.

If a new facility is built, the letter addresses some key points the community would like to see included in the planning: additional school gymnasium space, high school vocational services, law enforcement center, day care center, after school and latchkey programs, Heartland Express Bus storage and communications and senior citizens center.

After reviewing the current facility the following were listed as areas of concern:

oA report on state armory facilities shows Luverne's at the bottom of the list.

oThe present facility has no fire alarm system and no safety lighting.

oThere is inadequate wiring and lighting throughout the building.

oThe parking lot is inadequate and in need of repair.

oThere is no parking for the unit's military vehicles.

oThe kitchen area has been determined unusable. A cost of $90,000 has been attached to improving the present kitchen facilities.

oThe boiler is 25 years old. The cost to convert from the current steam to water is $150,000.

oThe roof on the main structure needs to be redone.

oThere is no ventilation.

oBecause of the winter training exercises, it is necessary for the facility to have additional storage.

oThe current phone system is inadequate with no possible state-of-the-art capabilities.

oThe soffets around the building are rotting and need to be replaced.

oThe acoustics in the main area are inadequate and cause problems because of the noise.

oThe shower facilities and male rest rooms are in the basement area and are inadequate.

oThere are no shower facilities for females.

oThere is no exit egress lighting.

oThere is no backup source of heating.

oThe steps on the entrances need to be replaced.

oThe facility does not meet requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

By John Rittenhouse
Two boys' basketball teams were searching for their first Tri-County Conference wins of the season when Ellsworth traveled to Hills Monday.

In what was a tight game the entire way, Hills-Beaver Creek produced a field goal with 1:00 left to play, and it proved to be the difference in a 53-52 outcome.
H-BC, which trailed 40-39 entering the fourth quarter, gained a one-point edge with its late field goal.

Ellsworth had a chance to win the game with a last-second shot, but Dylan Kvaale's 20-foot attempt fell short of the rim as the final buzzer sounded.

The visiting Panthers sported a 13-11 edge after eight minutes of play before being outscored 22-14 by H-BC in the second quarter to trail 33-37 at halftime.

EHS moved in front 40-39 with a 13-6 scoring advantage in the third quarter, but the Patriots prevailed with their 14-12 scoring edge in the final eight minutes of play.

David Top helped the Patriots win the game by drilling five three-point shots during a 21-point performance. Matt Buck added 13 points, six rebounds and three assists to the winning effort.

Lyle DeBoer had four rebounds and three assists for H-BC, while Lance Crawford and Brad Haak collected four rebounds each. Darin DeBoer had four assists for the winners.

Dean Moss pumped in 19 points and passed for four assists for EHS.

Curt Schilling and Brant Deutsch snared seven and five rebounds respectively. Curt Chapa registered four assists and Kvaale came away with three steals.

Box score
Ellsworth
Schilling 2 1 2-2 9, Jenniges 0 1 0-0 3, Kvaale 0 1 2-2 5, Moss 4 2 5-7 19, Deutsch 1 0 1-3 3, Kramer 2 0 0-0 4, Peters 2 0 0-0 4, Chapa 1 1 0-0 5.
H-BC
D.DeBoer 2 0 2-2 6, Fransman 0 0 0-0 0, Haak 0 0 3-8 3, L.DeBoer 2 0 0-2 4, Top 2 5 2-5 21, Crawford 1 0 4-6 6, Buck 5 0 3-6 13.

Team statistics
Ellsworth: 18 of 48 field goals (38 percent), 10 of 14 free throws (71 percent), 26 rebounds, 11 turnovers.
H-BC: 17 of 47 field goals (36 percent), 14 of 29 free throws (48 percent), 22 rebounds, 11 turnovers.

Valentine's Day surprises traveled throughout Luverne Wednesday. The Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Center organized "Singing Serenades" for a furniture fundraiser for the first time. Brenda Plimpton, community relations for MJB, said they met their goal of 40 appointments for the singers and even had to turn away last-minute requests. She expects an even better turnout with more people planning ahead next year. The serenades were $25, of which $20 was tax-deductible. MJB plans to donate a portion of the proceeds to the Luverne Music Boosters, because high school choir students were among the 20 volunteers.

Above, Marie Frakes enjoys "Hey Baby," sung by (from left) Kyle Bitterman, Tom Bouwman, Dan Voigt and Dan Antoine. She said, "That was really, really good, but I can't be all your girls!"

Below, George Bonnema and Jim Ouverson sing "Love Me Tender" to a blushing Sue Bruynes.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek and Southwest Star Concept mixed it up in a girls' basketball game that lasted the equivalent of five quarters before the Patriots were declared the victors in Hills Monday.

After 32 minutes of regulation play and two four-minute overtime sessions, H-BC was able to celebrate its second straight victory by besting the Quasars 58-50.

In a game that was a tight battle from beginning to end, H-BC outscored SSC 18-6 at the charity stripe and made nine free throws during a 12-4 run during the second overtime period to win by eight.

Both teams had chances to win the game in the fourth quarter, which began in a deadlock at 34.

Becky Broesder, who had 12 points and three steals in the game, gave the Patriots a 44-42 edge with a field goal with 19 seconds remaining.

Quasar Jane Vangsness tied the game at 44 with six seconds remaining in regulation play, and overtime became a reality when Broesder's last-second three-point shot attempt drew iron and caromed away from the mark.

In an uneventful first overtime, SSC led 46-44 before Shanna Tilstra produced a steal followed by a layup with 50 seconds left to tie the game at 46. Neither team could score in the final 50 seconds.

With Cassi Tilstra nailing two free throws and Shanna Tilstra draining one of her four three-point shots in the game in the first 40 seconds of the second overtime, H-BC opened a 51-47 cushion.

SSC climbed to within one point of H-BC at 51-50, but Erin Boeve made three free throws and Broesder and Shanna Tilstra made two each in the final 1:54 to put the game away for the Patriots.

Shanna Tilstra, who had three steals and 21 points, netted 10 counters in a first quarter that ended with SSC sporting a 14-12 edge.

SSC netted the first five points of the second quarter to gain its biggest lead of the game at 19-12, but H-BC went on a 14-6 run capped by Jamie Arp's field goal at the 1:47 mark to give the Patriots a 26-25 edge. The first half ended with H-BC sporting a 28-27 lead.

Tilstra gave the Patriots a 34-29 lead with a three-point shot at the 3:59 mark of the third quarter. SSC, however, battled back to tie the game at 34 by period's end to set up a competitive fourth quarter.

Boeve contributed 11 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots to H-BC's winning cause. Cassi Tilstra, LaDonna Sandstede and Brittney Olson chipped in three assists each.

The 7-10 Patriots host Edgerton and Russell-Tyler-Ruthton tonight and Monday respectively. H-BC plays in Pipestone Tuesday.

Box score
C.Tilstra 0 0 2-3 2, Olson 1 0 0-0 2, Sandstede 0 0 0-2 0, Brandt 0 0 0-0 0, Rentschler 2 0 2-3 6, S.Tilstra 2 4 5-7 21, Broesder 4 0 4-5 12, DeNoble 0 0 2-4 2, Boeve 4 0 3-4 11, DeHaan 0 0 0-0 0, Arp 1 0 0-0 2.

Team statistics
H-BC: 18 of 56 field goals (64 percent), 18 of 28 free throws (64 percent), 30 rebounds, 15 turnovers.
SSC: 22 of 58 field goals (38 percent), six of 22 free throws (27 percent), 42 rebounds, 23 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
Kerry Fink and the rest of the members of the Luverne-Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth wrestling team experienced a rough pair of outings since Friday.

L-H-BC-E hosted Redwood Valley for a duel in Luverne Friday and took a 49-21 setback.

The Cardinals went to Adrian Tuesday and came up on the short end of a 61-7 decision.

Fink, an H-BC seventh-grader, dropped both of his matches as the team's 103-pounder during the duels.

RWV's Russell Gewerth covered Fink with 25 seconds remaining in the first period of their match.

Adrian's Cody Reverts pinned Fink with 22 seconds remaining in the first period of their match Tuesday.

The losses left L-H-BC-E with a 2-14-1 record heading into tonight's regular-season ending triangular in Luverne.

The Cards will wrestle Jackson County Central at 5:30 p.m. in the Elementary School gym before taking on Minneota at 8:30.

L-H-BC-E will open Section 3A Team competition next Tuesday. The seedings for the tournament have not been announced.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls' basketball team broke out of a slump in a big way Saturday when they hosted Faith Christian for a Tri-County Conference game in Hills.

Trying to snap a season-long, seven-game losing skid, H-BC got the job done in fashion by rolling to a 75-21 win over the Falcons.

The Patriots were able to pick up the pace on offense during the game, which helped the hosts outscore FC in every quarter while coasting to a 54-point win.

"We were able to play an up-tempo game in which we used our depth to push the ball on offense. It worked to our advantage," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle.

H-BC gained a slim 15-9 lead during the first quarter before going on a 22-6 scoring run in the second stanza to make it a 37-15 game at the intermission.

The Patriots outscored the Falcons 14-4 in the third quarter to make it a 51-19 game before embarking on a 24-2 run in the final eight minutes of play to win by 54.

Becky Broesder and Shanna Tilstra fueled H-BC's offense, which produced 22 more field goals (31-9) and 10 more free throws (13-3) than FC.

Broesder scored 10 points in the first half before finishing the contest with a game-high 17 points.

Tilstra, who came up with seven steals, netted 10 points in the second half and finished the game with 14 points.

Jody DeNoble led the Patriots on the boards with eight rebounds. LaDonna Sandstede registered five assists.

Box score
C.Tilstra 2 0 4-6 8, Olson 1 0 0-0 2, Sandstede 0 0 0-0 0, Brandt 0 0 0-0 0, Rentschler 2 0 0-0 4, S.Tilstra 5 0 4-4 14, Broesder 8 0 1-2 17, Rozeboom 1 0 0-0 2, DeNoble 4 0 0-1 8, Boeve 3 0 2-6 8, DeHaan 2 0 0-0 4, Arp 3 0 2-4 8.

Team statistics
H-BC: 31 of 75 field goals (41 percent), 13 of 23 free throws (57 percent), 40 rebounds, 10 turnovers.
FC: nine of 23 field goals (39 percent), three of 12 free throws (25 percent), 34 rebounds.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne's Carol Morgan joins the long list of injured who have fallen victim to slippery ice.

After a dinner party last week, she carefully shuffled out to her car along with several of her friends. Suddenly, she found herself on the ground with a broken wrist.

"One minute you're upright, and the next minute - actually next second - you're not," she said Monday.

"I guess I wasn't wearing sensible shoes. You know, when you put on a dress, you're not as likely to wear the big cleated shoes."

She had surgery Monday to reset her wrist, and she's still trying to figure out how to put in her contact lenses in with one hand.

But, things could always be worse.

Terry Johnson had to cancel an upcoming golf vacation in Palm Springs since a mishap on his driveway in Luverne Monday.

"I was just going to swing the door shut on my pickup, and my feet slid out from under me," he said.

He landed on his elbow, fracturing his elbow and dislocating his shoulder. His arm is now in a sling.

"My driveway faces to the north, and it's just one solid sheet of ice," he said.

Medical clinics busy with ice victims
Injuries as serious as Morgan's and Johnson's have required medical attention, and that's caused busy waiting rooms in medical clinics.

Morgan was referred to Sioux Valley’s Vande Mark Orthopedic Specialists, Sioux Falls, where switchboard receptionist Connie Byers said scheduling has been difficult.

"It's to the point now where, especially after last weekend’s bad weather, I’ve dreaded coming to work because I know it's going to be so busy," she said.

She said most ice injuries are to wrists, knees and tailbones.

"One of our own receptionists slipped, and then a gentleman stopped to help her, and he fell," she said. "It's just nuts how slippery it's been."

She added that the ice has caused motor vehicle injuries as well, further complicating schedules for busy doctors.

Luverne Medical Center and Luverne Community Hospital haven't reported a large number of ice injuries.

Often the patients seeking care from the local emergency room are referred directly to orthopedic doctors or other specialists.

Chiropractic clinics are also seeing heavier patient traffic due to slippery ice. Dr. Bill Preuss saw six ice injury patients on Monday alone, and nearly a third of all his patients the last couple weeks have been ice victims.

"Sometimes it's their heinies, sometimes it's their upper back or lower back, depending on how they fall," he said, adding that people of all ages are coming in with ice injuries.

"There is no age or sex discrimination; ice doesn't care."

He said about half of the ice victims he sees haven’t actually fallen, but they've wrenched their backs in the process of regaining balance.

"My patients call it 'the dance,'" he said.

Many of the people seeking chiropractic attention aren't critically hurt, but they're checking the damages.

"What they're asking is, 'Gee, did I really hurt something?"

Preuss said a good rule of thumb to follow is if there’s no significant improvement after two to three days to a suspected pulled muscle, professional help may be needed.

Ice melt is hot commodity
In addition to common-sense caution while negotiating slippery sidewalks, another way to combat slick surfaces is with de-icing agents.

According to area businesses, everyone’s had the same idea, and it's been hard to keep the product on the shelves.

After being sold out for nearly a week, M&M Distributing, Luverne, received a small shipment Friday, and store manager Merlin Lopau said he expects more to come later this week.

Luverne True Value has had similar difficulty keeping ice melt stocked. Store owner Mark Novotny has made additional trips to Brookings, S.D., to the True Value distribution center to keep the product stocked.

Both stores have noticed other winter products, such as ice chippers, roof rakes and shovels disappearing off the shelves this winter.

Meanwhile, Lopau said people have been creative melting ice with other products.

For example, he said lawn fertilizer works well, except that it can be tracked indoors. Also, he said water softener salt works, too, except that it’s hard on cement and lawns.

"You improvise, I guess, when there's nothing else," Lopau said.

By Jolene Farley
Tuesday evening the Hills City Council decided to purchase more playground equipment for Jacobson Park.

Council members allowed $3,000 in the 2001 budget for the purchase, but they hope to increase that amount with donations.

A council representative will attend an Optimist Club meeting in Luverne to ask for a donation to help with the purchase. The council was informed a formal request at an Optimist meeting was needed for approval of the donation.

The council will begin browsing through catalogs to determine the best equipment choice. "I was thinking of something that could be added to each year," said Mayor George Langford.

In other business:
oThe council suggested the Rez Park as an alternate site for dumping snow removed from city streets. With excessive amounts of snow this year and weeks of winter left, the current location south of the football field is quickly filling up.

oWayne Ward, city maintenance supervisor, asked for a covered containment building for the sand mixture used on city streets. Moisture seeps into the mixture and freezes it into hard chunks.

The council agreed to the plan. Mayor Langford volunteered to help with construction.

oMartin Township representatives Gawaine Diekevers, Allen Nuffer and Dave Swanson addressed the council concerning fire protection fees for Clinton Township and the city of Steen. The fire department is jointly owned by the city of Hills and Martin Township.

The Fire Department budget remained at $20,850 in 2001. Actual expenses for the fire department ran very close to the budgeted amount of $20,850 in 2000.

Clinton Township currently pays $260 per section a year for fire protection and the city of Steen pays $1,500. These fees are remitted quarterly.

Rates were increased to $270 per section for Clinton Township and $1,700 per year for the city of Steen.

oThe council approved the use of the old Cenex office for a janitor's room for the Legion. Connie Wiertzema, city clerk, suggested moving the paper products currently stored in the furnace room to the new janitorÕs room to reduce the chance of fire.