By Jolene Farley
Data from a survey mailed by the Hills-Beaver Creek school system on Jan. 4 and 5 will help determine whether the School Board should proceed with plans for new locker rooms and a community fitness center.

The survey, prepared by the H-BC School Board and Superintendent Knoll, was sent to all families with children enrolled in the district.

The survey contains a variety of questions. Some pertain to the quality of the H-BC school system, others to the locker rooms and community fitness center.

Section A asks for a response to the following yes or no questions:
-Our school expects the best from our students.
-Our school expects the best from our school staff.
-The school provides a climate which helps manage studentsÕ behavior in a positive manner.
-The curriculum is meaningful and applicable to real-life situations.
-I am effectively informed about my childÕs progress in school.
-I am effectively informed about the schoolÕs educational programs and policies.
-The food service program provides nutritious food for students.
-Our lunch prices are reasonable.
-The school buses are clean and safe.
-The transportation system is prompt and dependable.
-Children feel safe in the school environment.
-The instructional staff have open lines of communication with students and parents.

Section B contains the following questions:
-All things considered, our schools are better today than they were five years ago.
-The Hills-Beaver Creek School District provides quality educational services.
-Students are often given the grades A, B, C, D, and Fail to show how well they're doing in school. Suppose the Hills-Beaver Creek School District were graded in the same way. All things considered, what grade would you give the H-BC School District?
-Do you feel the community would benefit by having a community fitness center?
-Would you pay a yearly community fitness center membership? (circle one): $75, $100, $125 or no.
-Are the present high school building and locker rooms able to meet the needs of our high school?
-The school buildings are well maintained and kept clean.
-In my contact with the school office personnel, my needs are met promptly, courteously and professionally.
-Do you read the school newsletter?
-How many years have you lived in the Hills-Beaver Creek School District. (circle one): less than a year, 1-3 years, 4-6 years, 7-10 years or 10 years or more.
-If a community fitness center were built, what equipment would you like to see? (essay)
-What is your primary source of school information? (essay)
-Do you have any school district concerns? (essay)

"It looks like it will give us some kind of direction," said Knoll, who has looked at some of the comments but has not tabulated the results yet.

"I think it is an opportunity for people to give feedback; not everyone is going to be positive. I am pleased with what we got back. When you ask for comments you have to be prepared to get what you get."

Although no cut-off date was specified on the survey, return so far has been good, according to Knoll.

The district has received approximately 200 completed surveys from respondents out of 700 mailed. This is about what the board hoped for when it sent the surveys.

"We have not tabulated or done a thing with them," said Knoll. "We hope to do a draft for the (School Board) meeting on the January 22." Knoll plans to have the H-BC math class do the final tabulations.

Knoll said they will wait until they receive only a few stragglers a day before compiling the results.

The board plans to conduct a community meeting to further explore the locker room and community fitness center issues at an undetermined date in February, according to Knoll.

"If the public sees it as a need the board would proceed," said Knoll. "The board has no desire to go to vote. They would use existing money in the general fund for locker rooms. If the fitness center was built we would have to get the city or county involved. We donÕt have that kind of money."

The district is still accepting surveys and reminds everyone to return them.

By Jolene Farley
The Luverne Elementary School gym is the site of this year's Rock County Sportsman's Show on Saturday, Feb. 10.

The Sportsman's Show, open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., is an event for both avid outdoor enthusiasts and the average family interested in outdoor activities.

Nationally-recognized bow hunter and nature photographer Judd Cooney will present two seminars. Missouri River fishing guide Gary Allen will also provide a seminar and be on hand to answer questions.

Other seminars offer information on ice fishing techniques, wild turkey hunting, plug pulling for walleye, lake fishing, whitetail deer and elk hunting, and Missouri River hunting.

Plans are underway to offer several youth seminars and possibly a separate exhibitor fair geared toward youth.

Advance tickets are available from committee members or at the Rock County Extension Office, Luverne. Tickets for adults are $2 with children 5 and younger free.

Proceeds from the event will go to Big Buddies of Rock County, the Hills-Beaver Creek/Steen Baseball Association, Patriot Partners, Steen Community Park Committee and Hills Lions Club.

By Lori Ehde
Anonymous angels saved Christmas this year for boys at Pinnacle Programs Inc. in Magnolia.

The organization is a residential treatment program for troubled youth operating out of the former Magnolia school since 1995.

Of the 23 boys staying at Pinnacle over the holidays, only a handful saw their families for Christmas, and of those who stayed in Magnolia, only a couple received gifts from home.

Most of the boys, ages 13 to 17, are from the Minneapolis-St. Paul area or from other large cities.

Many are from homes so troubled that, given the chance, they'd rather not celebrate Christmas with their families.

For years, teachers and staff at Pinnacle have looked for creative ways to make Christmas special for the boys. That has meant special meals, Christmas parties and activities.

In recent years, staff members have pooled resources to buy small gifts for the boys to open.

While the efforts were thoughtful and appreciated, opening a generic gift that everyone received wasn't the same as getting a personal gift meant specifically for them.

Last year about a week before Christmas, Pinnacle business manager and co-owner Sonja Crowley put up an "Angel Tree," in an effort to reach each one of the boys personally.

The boys were asked to write on a card what they wanted for Christmas, and those wish lists were hung on the tree in the Pinnacle lobby.

Initial requests were modest, Crowley said. "They'd ask for socks or toiletries or small things they needed," she said. "So we went around again and asked if there were any fun things they wanted to add to the list."

Staff members, volunteers and area residents then retrieved those lists and anonymously purchased the requested items.

"At first the kids didn't believe it would happen," Crowley said. "But they were surprised."

Actually, Crowley said everyone was surprised at the generosity of the gift-buying "angels."

"That first year it was kind of rushed, but this year we started early, and it just exploded," Crowley said. "We had people calling for names long after they were gone from the tree. People spent a lot of time shopping for hard-to-find items."

Most of the boys received everything on their lists plus stocking stuffers besides.

Two Omaha, Neb., boys, A.B. and J.W., agreed to be photographed and interviewed by the Star Herald about their Christmas angels. A.B., 13, has been with Pinnacle since Oct. 27, and J.W., 17, has been there since July 28.

Both were struck by the generosity of their angels.

"I was surprised that people care for me - people I don't even know," J.W. said. "It surprised me."

A.B. was pleased with his gifts and the Christmas experience offered by Pinnacle.

"I'm happy they gave me a Christmas to spend like a family," he said. "It surprised me that people would pick a name off a tree and go buy for us."

The boys weren't the only ones surprised by the Angel Tree response.

"My office was packed with gifts," said assistant director Rebecca Dreesen. "I was amazed by the turnout and the amount of money that people spent."

Special education teacher Diane Schmidt said news of the Angel Tree traveled fast, even in circles outside of Rock County.

"I was flabbergasted at the generosity of the people and the interest," she said.
She had mentioned Pinnacle's tree to her Zion Lutheran Church choir members in Sioux Falls, "and they jumped on it," she said, estimating the group spent $800 on gifts.

"I'd come home at night and I'd find gift bags stuffed between my doors," she said.

At a time of year when so many organizations are seeking donations, why such a positive community response?

"I think it's that so many kids don't have homes to go to for Christmas," Schmidt said.

Another possible reason for the generous response, Dreesen said, is that Pinnacle kids make frequent contact with the Rock County community through various activities.

Having faces to attach to some of the names on the wish lists may have prompted more interest.

The Angel Tree will go up at Pinnacle again next year, in addition to satellite trees volunteered at other locations in the area.

By Sara Quam
Residents paying their Luverne utility bills should look twice before dropping off payments.

In the mail this week, the city included a survey asking whether residents would support a funeral home being developed on the former Fledgling Field. Surveys were mailed with the utility bill.

Dan Dingmann, owner of Dingmann Funeral Home, said, "I'm not going to beat a dead horse, but it's what people have told me they want. I would've dropped this if I thought there was no support."

Mayor Glen Gust got the idea to survey the community during his campaign. "When I was door-knocking, it was an issue everyone was talking about. The citizens wanted a survey."

Fledgling Field, located along Highway 75, Luverne, was purchased last April by Cornerstone Construction, St. Cloud. It had the intention of constructing a funeral home and then selling it to Dingmann.

The Planning Commission and then City Council turned down the request to construct a business on the property, which is in a low-density residential zone. R-1 zones are held up to the highest standards, limiting development to housing only.

Dingmann said if the survey shows an overwhelming majority of the city supports development, Cornerstone will apply to have the land rezoned as R-I, or institutional, in which funeral homes are allowed as a conditional use.

Because the surveys are on utility bills, they aren't anonymous. The city doesn't expect to find that a problem in getting responses, though.

City Administrator Matt Hylen said residents who use the automatic withdrawal system will have the opportunity to respond as well.

The survey says
Curt Gacke was acting chair of the Planning Commission during the Fledgling Field decision-making process.

He said, "I don't need to see the survey results to find what people think. What I think is most fair is to consider the people that it really affects - the people who have to live near it every day."

Gacke said when he formed his decision on the issue, he considered the rules of the code books, not popular opinion. "If we're going to have votes now, there's no point in having a commission."

He compared the Fledgling issue to sidewalk proposals in some city developments a few years ago. People living in the affected areas didn't want sidewalks interrupting their landscaping, and the city followed their wishes.

Gacke guessed that if the sidewalks were put up to a vote, a majority of the citizens would have thought they were a fine addition to the neighborhoods. But the city sided with residents most affected, not citizens in general.

Retaining the purity of an R-1 zone was also used as a reason to deny a local business owner permission to develop rental near the fairgrounds, which still has an R-1 designation. Gacke said the city held its belief that strict zones should be kept above the progress of one business owner.

"To me, the issue is it's a business in a residential area," Gacke said.

That's why Cornerstone and Dingmann hope they'll be able to apply for complete rezoning of Fledgling Field instead of a permit. Dingmann said that will avoid the commission having to worry about legal action for allowing the wrong permit in the wrong zone.

Cornerstone has said it will develop the property into residential rental units if the city leaves it no other option.

Dingmann said, "There's going to be a groundbreaking this spring, whether it's a funeral home for me or residences for them."

Historically, funeral homes have been in residential areas - all seven of Luverne's funeral home locations have been in what are now R-1 zones.

Dingmann, owner of the funeral home since 1993, wants the development because his current location on West Main doesn't meet many codes. If he remodels it, the building will lose historic designation.

He maintains that a funeral home would fit well in Fledgling Field because of its proximity to churches and a state highway.

To the editor:
I need to respond to the letter written to the editor last week about the death of Joanne Olson. I not only personally knew Joanne all her life but was her friend. I met Daryl in 1992. Both of them were and are good people, but both needed help.

I understand why the writer may have jumped to the defense of Joanne, but if there is one thing I have learned from this heartbreaking tragedy, it is that there are two sides to everything and from the outside no one knows the inside story.

I think every day about how we, as a society, failed them. It is too late to help my friend, but I am determined to help Daryl and people like him who are good people and get caught in a situation where they feel driven from their homes and have nowhere to go. Oftentimes when men call 911 for help they are ridiculed, and yet they need support just as women need it. And let us not forget many times verbal abuse is as harmful as physical.

Carol Godfrey Lundholm
Plymouth

By Sara Quam
Harvey's Trading Post, Luverne's gun and sporting goods dealership, underwent a change in ownership Monday.

Kevin and Vickie Kramer are new partners with Glen Gust, replacing Kirk Hagberg. Gust and Hagberg operated the business since 1988, and Hagberg will stay on as gunsmith.

The name won't change to keep continuity for customers. The only difference customers will notice is expanded merchandise.

Vickie said, "We'll diversify what Harvey's has." They plan to relocate their current pawn shop west of M-M to Harvey's.

"It's an ideal location," Kevin said. "The gun shop is already established, we'll have the pawn shop and I'm a Cell One dealer."

The pawn aspect of the business will include smaller items like jewelry, VCRs and TVs - no major purchases like vehicles.

The sporting goods retail will also be expanded as much as the building can hold. "We'll continue as normal," Kevin said. "We'll just be adding a few more things."

Kevin is a native of Magnolia and Vickie is originally from Luverne. They now live in Worthington but plan to move to Luverne.

By Sara Quam
Luverne city officials urged the state legislators not to cut Local Government Aid last week and persuaded representatives to support border city legislation.

LGA, state aid to Minnesota cities, is a particular sore spot for Luverne officials, so they attended a meeting Wednesday, Jan. 10, as a part of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities.

Minnesota Gov. Jesse Ventura is revealing his budget proposal later in the month, and it's expected he'll propose cuts to LGA and Homestead and Agricultural Credit Aid, which are vital funding to the city's budget.

"Nobody really knows what the plan is," said Luverne Mayor Glen Gust of Ventura's upcoming proposal.

LGA is a state system that supplements cities that don't have property tax bases sufficient enough to meet the needs of their citizens for basic services. Without the aid, cities must rely on local property taxes to provide those services.

The Coalition estimates that without LGA, Luverne's property taxes on a $100,000 home will increase from $1,308 to $2,031 in order to sustain city services.

Gust said he doesn't expect drastic changes in the government aid system quite yet, but Ventura's ideas may take hold more in future legislative sessions.

The CGMC has taken the stand that removing or reducing state aid to cities would severely hurt greater Minnesota. However it won't issue a formal opinion on Ventura's budget proposal until it is released.

Border city legislation
In a more proactive measure, Gust, City Administrator Matt Hylen and Councilmen Tom Martius and Keith Erickson also visited with area representatives to gather support for border city legislation.

"I left there feeling good," Gust said. "I think we had a better chance last year; however, I think with persistence, we can do it. I don't want to get everyone's hopes up, but we want to keep it on the front burner."

Gust said the biggest concern for the legislation is that key committee chairs are from the metro area and may not understand problems facing a city like Luverne.

Hylen said the legislation will be introduced soon and has the support of Rep. Richard Mulder and Sen. Arlene Lesewski. The biggest pitch Luverne can offer is the study that showed it's suffering from the competition across the border in South Dakota.

Dilworth, Moorhead, Breckenridge, Moorhead and East Grand Forks are all Minnesota cities that have benefited from similar legislation. Luverne would ask for sales tax breaks for new and expanding businesses.

Luverne is unique because unlike the other border cities, more than a river separates it from its major competition. Luverne is nearly 30 miles from Sioux Falls and still feels the damage.

The call comes in
Don was actually prepared for surgery twice.

The first call came at 7:10 p.m. on Dec. 26, 1999.

The Sioux Valley on-call medical flight team was waiting for them at the Sioux Falls airport, and they were in the air by 8.

It was snowing in Minneapolis and only one runway was available, so all other flights were kept circling while Don and the flight team landed.

When they arrived at Fairview University Hospital, Don was scrubbed for surgery only to find out the donor lung was infected.

After the mad scramble to meet the six-hour time limit for the lung transplant, Don was sent home.

"It was a relief, really, because I didn't have to go through with it," Don said, when asked if he was disappointed.

He and Linda were well aware what the procedure entailed, and they knew it wouldn't be easy.

The second call came at 12:43 a.m. Jan. 17, 2000. This time it was for real.

They followed the same procedure as during the first call, only this time the weather was better. "We prayed a lot for good weather," Linda said.

By 9 that morning, Don was already in the recovery room with his new lung. By the next afternoon, he was moved from intensive care into his own room.

"Everything clicked along so smoothly," Linda said. "They're so expert at what they do, you don't have time to worry."

Just when they were beginning to feel like the worst was over, acute rejection set in a few days later and infections raged through his body.

For two days, doctors debated placing him back on the respirator. History has shown that lung transplant patients placed on a respirator often must remain on the respirator for months afterward.

Eventually, high doses of antibiotics and prednisone began working, and the respirator wasn't needed.

Those early days in recovery were difficult, but what Don and Linda weren't prepared for was life after a transplant.

"Everyone prepared us for the transplant, but we didn't have any idea about living with a transplant," Linda said.

Rocky first year
It's been more than a year since he received a donor lung, but he's still getting used to the post-operative routine.

Lung transplant surgery is very taxing on even a healthy body. The chest cavity is opened up through an incision under the left breast that follows under the arm and cuts all the way up to the spine.

"I'm finally starting to get over it," Don said Friday.

In addition, the body's entire immune system is disabled so it won’t reject the new lung.

Twice last year, he had close calls with illness- once he was hospitalized with pneumonia.

That's why he needs to take 52 pills a day. Some are anti-rejection medications and some help the body fight infections in the absence of its immune system.

The first two hours of his day are consumed by the pill regime and checking his lung capacity.

He blows into a home spirometer, similar to a laptop computer, which records lung capacity readings for doctors in Minneapolis.

He makes frequent contact with doctors in Luverne who are familiar with Don's medical history. In addition, he travels to Minneapolis every two months for doctors to check his lungs for rejection and infection.

Aside from the medical demands, Don’s condition is still guarded, and catching a cold or flu could mean hospitalization.

"Our lives still revolve around Don," Linda said.

Visitors to the Hubbling home must be healthy, and he may go to church on Sunday only if he's feeling healthy and strong.

God is in control
Don won't deny that he longs for the days before he was sick, and he admits he craves a cigarette occasionally.

"I know I'll always be sick, and I was never sick before. I drove bus for 17 years and never missed a day for being sick," he said. "It's hard to watch the buses go by every day."

Linda said they’ve both had to accept the fact that they’'e not in control. "We don't dwell on it," she said. "You have to accept you're not in control; God is."

Every day that Don is alive, they're reminded of the donor who isn't.

"We don't know the donor; we just know he was a healthy young man [24] who died of head trauma," Linda said.

"This Christmas we really remembered that family and prayed for them because it had to be tough. It had to be hard enough for them to lose him, but they cared enough to do this for us."

* * *

The Hubbling family will offer a special thank-you brunch at the American Reformed Church Sunday to recognize church and community members who helped them during Don's transplant.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne's Don Hubbling gave up a two-pack-a-day smoking habit for a 52-pill-a-day survival routine.

Following a lung transplant a year ago, he's operating on only 50 percent of his original lung capacity, he'll never be able to hold a full-time job again and it seems he's always low on energy.

But he's alive.

"This is as good as it's going to get, but it's living," Don said from his home Friday.

Considering how far he's come, his current limitations are never the focus. Rather, he's grateful for every day he's alive.

"We're learning the difference between a need and a want," his wife, Linda, said. "We're learning that every day is a gift, and we find a way to enjoy each day."

Life-changing diagnosis
Don was diagnosed with emphysema and chronic obstructive lung disease on March 7, 1997.

Prior to that, he operated his own business, Don's Repair, and he drove school bus twice a day for the Luverne district.

When he wasn't busy in the shop, he and Linda were attending their daughters' school events, or they'd enjoy long motorcycle rides on their Honda Goldwing.

But early in 1997, Don began to notice his health deteriorating.

"I was always tired. When I'd come home from the bus route, if I didnt have anything to do in the shop, I'd sleep," he said.

"I knew there was something wrong, but I had no idea what. I just knew I was tired."

A few days prior to his diagnosis, Don's health took a nosedive.

He came home from his bus route completely spent. He couldn't work in the shop, and he couldn't return to his bus route that afternoon.

A March 7 doctor appointment brought news they weren't prepared for: a transplant was his only hope for survival.

"We knew he was developing breathing problems, but there was no clue of this severity whatsoever," Linda said.

The waiting game
In the months and years following his diagnosis, Don's health steadily declined as prayers from his church and community increased.

His lung capacity decreased to the point where he was forced to quit bus driving and quit accepting work at his shop, where chemicals also contributed to lung problems.

Lack of oxygen in the blood eventually affects all major organs - including the brain.

Toward the end, Don said he was so forgetful, if he didn't write a telephone message down as the caller was speaking, he'd forget 30 seconds later what the message was.

Meanwhile, he was on the regional transplant list to receive a donor lung.

Don had two things going for him: he was otherwise strong and healthy (his heart was in good shape) and his blood type, O, was relatively common.

While waiting for a transplant, Don came to depend on oxygen 24 hours a day.

He didn't leave home without carrying with him portable oxygen tanks.

Travel became difficult, but that was just as well, because living on a transplant list restricted his travel to no farther than Sioux Falls or Marshall.

They had to always be ready at a moment's notice to go into surgery, in case a donor lung became available for transplant.

Of all organ transplants, a lung transplant is reportedly the hardest on a body. In fact, surgeons won't perform lung transplants on patients who aren't healthy.

Even a slight cold would be enough to cost Don an available lung if he were sick when the call came in.

"They won't give a lung unless they know your body’s going to accept it," Linda said. "They don't waste it."

Amazingly, neither she nor Don became ill while he was on the waiting list.

"It was like God put a protective cloud around us," Linda said. "Don never got sick; I never got sick, and there was so much flu going around. But then, we had a whole church praying for us."