The annual Fourth of July celebration at The Lake in Luverne experienced cloudy skies and a rain delay while finishing with the well-attended fireworks display.
“Other than the weather — which slowed down one of the triathlon events — the weather was good,” said organizer Traci Davis, who with her husband, Mike, head the Fourth of July committee.
The potential for rain forced the band to set up inside. The move didn’t dampen spirits, however.
“We needed the rain,” said Mike Davis. “We were happy.”
Hundreds gathered for the daylong event that featured various activities, a food court and music. The event culminated with the fireworks display.
The Tuesday night event was well-attended.
Mike Davis noted that the two portable bleachers moved in for the event were full, along with areas around The Lake, to view the fireworks.
“We had a little bit bigger fireworks show this year,” Mike said. “Jonathon Kurtz (and Jen Wieme) put a lot of work into the show. Many people commented it was the best fireworks show they’ve ever seen.”
The committee, Luverne Lake Events, organized this year’s event for the first time, taking over from the Luverne Convention and Visitors Bureau and Luverne Area Chamber.
About 40 volunteers helped with this year’s Fourth of July celebration, and Mike said the committee will meet soon to evaluate last week’s event and plan for 2024.

Pastor Praveen Muthusamy heard about southwest Minnesota’s blustery winters, not knowing the severity of cold and snow until moving to Hills in October.
Muthusamy accepted the open pastoral position at Hills United Reformed Church, moving his wife, Sharon, and daughter, Hannah, to Hills weeks before one of the coldest and snowiest winters hit the area.
“The snow is pretty,” said the native of Chennai, the capitol of Tamil Nadu in southeast India. “The coldest it gets in Chennai is 70 degrees F. That’s winter for us.”
Fortunately for Muthusamy, he lives in the parsonage next door to the church in Hills.
“I personally didn’t mind the snow except on days where I needed to use our car for going different places,” he said.
He’s also become used to Hills’ small population (around 700 residents), a stark contrast to his home country’s population of roughly 11.8 million.
“Definitely I see a lot less people here in Hills, but I enjoy the country living. It is peaceful and quiet,” Muthusamy said.
“I enjoy the slow pace of living in the town compared to the hustle and bustle of big cities life. Hills is a nice town with lots of friendly people.”
 
Second career
The ministry is a second career for Muthusamy, who earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in engineering, electronics and communication.
“I was pursuing a PhD in optics and laser science in Vellore Institute of Technology Chennai campus,” he said. “During that time I felt the Lord was calling me to the ministry.”
He carries on the tradition of Tamil Nadu, India, in which they don’t use last names.
Generally, wives and the children take the first name of their father. Muthusamy uses his father’s first name as his last name, but his wife and daughter use his last name, Praveen.
In Hills he is known simply as Pastor Praveen.
He credits his mother for preparing him for the Christian ministry when he was a child.
India primarily practices Hinduism (80 percent) with just over 2 percent being Christian.
“It was God’s gift to me that I was born in a Christian family in a country that has idols of gold, silver and wood in every nook and corner of a street,” he said.
“My mom not only taught my brother and me to constantly pray to God but showed us how to do it in her life.”
English is Muthusamy’s second language after his native language of Tamil. He is fluent in both languages.
He can read, write and listen to Hindi, one of the common languages in India. He’s also studied French, Greek, Hebrew, German and Latin.
In August 2018, he entered the Mid-American Reformed Seminary in Dyer, Indiana, for a Master of Divinity Degree.
 
Intro to Hills came through seminary
At seminary in 2019, he met his wife, Sharon, who grew up in Indiana and taught Spanish and world history for 16 years at Illiana Christian High School.
She became a full-time mom when Hannah was born 16 months ago.
As a requirement for his divinity degree, Muthusamy needed to complete two summer internships. Both times he traveled to Hills and the Hills United Reformed Church. The first was in 2021 and the second last summer.
“Both those summer internships went really well. We loved the congregation and the congregation loved us, which reflected in the call after I sustained my candidacy exam in September 2022,” Muthusamy said.
“So, in God’s providence it was clear that God wanted us to serve his people at Hills.”
At Hills United, Muthusamy said his primary duty is to preach the good news of Jesus Christ to the congregation of 20 families.
“Lost sinners are brought into true faith in Jesus and those who have true faith continue to mature and become more and more like Jesus,” he said.
“This is what I want for my congregation so that by the grace of God the Father and through the power of God the Holy Spirit, we can be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.”

The Rock County History Center has acquired a new 6-foot-tall nutcracker that mirrors an existing 6-footer that greets visitors at Luverne’s 5,000-piece collection.
The “King Red” German nutcracker, with an estimated value of nearly $6,000, was first given to the Alexandria Shrine Club to be used as a fundraiser for the Minneapolis Shriners Hospital for Children.
It was brought from East Germany in the 1980s before the fall of the iron curtain. After it was purchased, it took the owners three years to get it into West Germany and eventually to Minnesota.
Now it makes its home in Luverne, standing at attention in the doorway to the nutcracker collection and across from a white one that looks nearly identical, except for its color.
“They could be twins,” said Betty Mann, who started Luverne’s nutcracker collection in 2016 when she donated her personal nutcracker collection to draw more people to the museum.
Since then, the collection has grown from 2,800 to more than 5,000.
The white 6-footer arrived in Luverne with a donation of 130 German nutcrackers from a Northfield resident last year, and Mann said they may name that one also, since King Red has a name.
She said the museum recently received 22 additional German nutcrackers formerly owned by the late Rev. Alfred and Trudy Schmalz, who ministered at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne from 1956 to 1981.
That brings the current number of nutcrackers in Luverne to exactly 5,435, the third-largest collection in the United States.
Seguin, Texas, has a collection of over 8,000, and the Nutcracker Museum in Leavenworth, Washington, has 9,100.
Those may be the largest collections in the United States, but Mann makes an important distinction about Luverne’s collection.
“I tell everybody that comes through here that all their items are made in Germany and the majority of their collection actually cracks nuts,” she said.
“Our collection has anything that reminds you of a nutcracker. I’m biased, but their collections have racks and racks of what look like tools. … They’re beautiful, but you know, they are different from ours. And people have told me you see a lot more color here.”
Regardless of who has the most nutcrackers, Mann said she’s enjoyed comparing nutcrackers to Luverne’s population.
“Our claim to fame at this point is that we now have more nutcrackers than people.”
Luverne’s nutcracker collection is housed in the Rock County History Center on East Main Street.
Hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday and closed on Sundays. Call 507-283-2122 or email rcmuseum@gmail.com.

Luverne will celebrate Hot Dog Night for the 61st time Thursday, June 13. 
Since 1963, local businesses have thanked their customers by serving free hot dogs. More than 50 Luverne businesses and organizations will participate this year. 
“Over the years, the event has changed and responded to the current needs and opportunities,” said Jane Lanphere, Luverne Area Chamber director. 
“But one constant remains; Hot Dog Night is a family-friendly, fun and free event that our businesses and organizations come together to give back to their customers and community.” 
Between 14,000 and 15,000 hot dogs will be served on Main Street and at businesses throughout the community. Most businesses begin serving at 5:30 p.m. 
Events are planned throughout the evening, and live music will be at Sterling’s Cafe and Grille, Take 16 Brewing Company and Big Top Tents and Events. 
Take 16 will also have a dunk tank and Big Top will host a keg throwing contest. 
“Our businesses continue to come up with fun ways to thank customers during Hot Dog Night,” Lamphere said. 
The first official Hot Dog Night event will be in the morning at 10:30 at Kolbert Park where the Rock County Library will host a summer storytime reading of the children’s book, “Hot Dog,” by Doug Salati.
Some copies of the book will be given away to children in attendance. 
The Hinkley House Museum is open from 2 to 4 p.m. and the Luverne Farmers' Market is open from 4 to 7 p.m. at Redbird Field. 
Events on Main Street begin at 5 p.m. with face painting, inflatables and more. 
"The Chamber and all our members couldn't be prouder to be able to keep up this great tradition," Lanphere said. "It's one of the most iconic summer events in Luverne."