H-BC School Board 
meets Aug. 22
Hills-Beaver Creek Dist. 671
Minutes
Aug. 22, 2022
The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board met for its semi-monthly meeting at
7:00 p.m. at the Elementary School in Beaver Creek (404 S 4th St) for building
walkthrough then convened in the H-BC Secondary School Board room, 301 N.
Summit Ave, Hills, MN.
Board members and Administration present were Bosch, Gehrke, Harnack, Knobloch, Rauk and Rozeboom. Superintendent Holthaus, Principal Kellenberger and Business Manager Rozeboom were also in attendance. Board member Fransman was absent.
Motion by Rozeboom, second by Knobloch, and carried to approve the
agenda. Proposed Additions: 7.4 and 7.5.
Visitor to the meeting was Mavis Fodness of the Star Herald.
BOARD COMMITTEE MEETING REPORTS:
Building/Grounds- 8/10 and 8/15; Personnel 8/22
Motion by Bosch, second by Rozeboom, and carried to approve Consent Agenda:
-Minutes—08/08/2022
-Bills and Treasurer’s Report
-Student Activity Accounts Report
-Imprest Cash Report
-Tyler Bush’s immediate resignation as assistant Girls Basketball Coach. 
-Accept Mark Top’s immediate resignation as a paraprofessional.
-Hiring Katie Angelo as Special Needs Paraprofessional for the 22-23 school year
-Contract with SWSC Cooperative to provide technology integration
training for staff for the 22-23 school year.
Motion by Knobloch, second by Harnack, and carried to approve Concessions
Manager position and assign Samantha McGaffee to this position.
Motion by Bosch, second by Rozeboom, and carried to adopt a resolution declaring Supt. Todd Holthaus as the identified official with authority for the MN Department of Education and Identity and Access Management System.
Motion by Rozeboom, second by Harnack, and carried to approve Resolution
Relating to the Election of School Board Members and Calling the School
District General Election.
Motion by Bosch, second by Knobloch, and carried to approve adding
assistant volleyball coach for the 22-23 school year.
Motion by Harnack, second by Bosch, and carried to approve adding PEAC
Assistant for the 22-23 school year.
POLICY ACTION ITEMS:
Motion by Knobloch, second by Gehrke, and carried to approve Second
Reading of the following policies:
•209 Code of Ethics
•210 Conflict of Interest
•410 Family Leave
•416 Drug and Alcohol Testing (Form)
•417 Chemical Use and Abuse
•418 Drug-Free Workplace/School (Form)
•515 Protection of Pupil Records (Form)
•524 Internet Use (Form)
•603 Curriculum Development
•604 Instructional Curriculum
•708 Transportation Nonpublic
•709 Student Transportation Safety
•721 Uniform Grant Guidance
•722 Public Data Requests
DISTRICT NON-ACTION ITEMS:
•Secondary Principal Report
•Superintendent Report
AGENDA ITEMS FOR THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED MEETING
DATES TO REMEMBER:
-New Staff Training Friday, August 26
-All Staff Training, Monday, August 29
-Regular Board Meeting, Monday, September 12, 2022 -Regular Board 
Meeting, Monday, September 26, 2022
Meeting adjourned at 8:45 p.m.
Tamara Rauk, Clerk
(09-22)

The Hills-Beaver Creek Lady Pates dropped two volleyball matches in regular season action last week.
H-BC took on the Southwest Minnesota Christian Eagles in Edgerton Tuesday, Sept. 13, and came away with a loss in three matches, 19-25, 14-25 and 16-25.
In a match at home against Westbrook-Walnut Grove, Thursday, Sept. 15, H-BC fell short 13-25, 18-25, 17-25. 
The Patriots will host MLA-C on Tuesday, Sept. 20, in Hills.
 
SWC 3, H-BC 0
The Patriots traveled to Edgerton to take on the Southwest Minnesota Christian Eagles Sept. 13.
H-BC struggled with service receival, and the Pates were unable to stop SWC’s power hitters.
In the first set, Brynn Rauk, Olivia Bork and Layla Deelstra each contributed points with ace serves.
H-BC tied the score at 4-4, 9-9 and 12-12.
SWC had several serve errors that kept the score close, but SWC was able to pull away and took the first set 25-19.
Lanae Elbers started Set 2 strong with a block and then a kill to tie the score 4-4. Elbers then added an ace serve followed by a kill from Ella Sammons to tie it again 6-6. Sammons and Taylor Huisman added a doing block after SWC went on a run, bringing the score to 15-8.
SWC went on to win Set 2 by a score of 25-14.
Elbers served another ace to begin the third set and gave H-BC the lead 5-4. A push to the back by Huisman kept them in the lead 11-10.
SWC then took the lead and finished the third and final set 25-16.
 
Individual statistics:
Lanae Elbers: six kills, one solo block, two ace serves
Brynn Rauk: five set assists, 8/8 serving with three ace serves, three digs
Malli Ternus: five set assists, two blocks
Layla Deelstra: 8/9 serving with one ace serve, four kills, six digs
Larissa Steinhoff: 9/9 serving, four kills, three digs
 
WWG 3, H-BC 0
The Patriots met Westbrook-Walnut Grove at home Thursday, Sept. 15.
WWG got out to an early lead in the first set and had no problem keeping that lead.
A pass from Larissa Steinhoff, set by Brynn Rauk, and kill by Lanae Elbers gave H-BC their first score 1-4. Layla Deelstra and Steinhoff both tallied a couple of kills before WWG finished the set 13-25.
H-BC started the second set out strong. A double block by Deelstra and Elbers followed by two serves from Rauk gave H-BC the early lead 4-0. Grace Anderson, who played a strong back row throughout the night, had a pass to setter Malli Ternus, who set Steinhoff up to add to the score 8-3.
Deelstra and Elbers both added a kill to continue to keep the lead 10-7.
WWG fought back to tie the score 13-13 and kept the lead after that.
Another pass by Anderson, with a set by Olivia Bork, set Steinhoff up for a kill. Taylor Huisman added a kill and Steinhoff had an ace serve, but H-BC fell short, 18-25. 
Elbers started H-BC out strong in the third set with a block, a tip and an ace serve to give them the lead 6-3. Huisman added a kill followed by a double block alongside Ella Sammons to keep the lead 10-8. Deelstra and Elbers scored off kills, and Rauk added a tip-over 14-12.
WWG tied the score at 14-14 and took over from there.
Steinhoff, Sammons, and Huisman all tallied points from kills before the game ended with the Pates coming up short at 17-25. 
 
Individual statistics
Lanae Elbers: 6 kills, 9/10 serving with 1 ace, 2 blocks
Larissa Steinhoff: 8 kills, 6/6 serving with 1 ace, 5 digs
Layla Deelstra: 5 kills, 5/6 serving with 1 ace, 10 digs
Grace Anderson: 9/9 serving, 13 digs
Brynn Rauk: 11/12 serving with 2 aces, 8 set assists
Olivia Bork: 7/7 serving, 10 set assists
Ella Sammons: 5 solo blocks, 2 kills

The Luverne Cardinals football team upped their record to 2-1 after defeating the Windom Eagles in a shortened game Thursday night in Luverne.
The Cardinals raced out to a 36-0 halftime lead, and just 18 seconds into the second half the game was stopped due to lightning. Both coaches mutually agreed to call the game final, giving the Cardinals the 36-0 win.
The story of the night was the resurgence of the Cardinal offense. After starting the season with 21 first-half points against Redwood Valley, the Cardinals had gone scoreless in six straight quarters heading into Thursday night's game. The Luverne offense utilized several big plays enroute to a 29-point opening quarter versus the Eagles.
“It was really fun. We started off hot in Redwood and then the offense had a few rough spots in the Jackson game,” said junior quarterback/tight end Connor Connell.
“This week I think we focused on getting everybody involved and taking care of the football. We knew we were the more physical team, we just had to execute.”
The Cardinals were able to keep the Eagles guessing early in the game as three different players contributed plays for more than 20 yards on the Luverne opening drive.
Taking over at their 20-yard line, the Cardinals got their first big play when Connell connected with senior wide receiver Gannon Ahrendt on a 25-yard passing play. On the next play senior running back Tyson Cowell broke free for a 25-yard gain. On the next play, Connell ran for 21 yards, bringing the Cardinals to the Windom 5-yard line. Two plays later the Cardinals scored their first touchdown of the game when Connell’s pass found senior running back Kaleb Hein for a 3-yard touchdown catch. Sophomore quarterback Carter Sehr was able to find Ahrendt in the end zone on the two-point conversion, giving the Cardinals an 8-0 lead with 9:30 to go in the first quarter.
The Cardinal defense started strong as well, as senior defensive lineman Zachary DeBoer was able to sack the Windom quarterback on the first play for a loss. After the Eagles failed to move the ball on their next two plays, they were forced to punt the ball back to the Cardinals, and Luverne took over on their own 24-yard line.
Just two plays later, the Cardinals got back in the end zone when junior running back Gavin DeBeer took the second down handoff and broke free down the right side of the field for a 76-yard touchdown run. Patrick Kroski’s point-after kick was good, and the Cardinals upped their lead to 15-0 with 7:11 left in the first quarter.
After another successful defensive stop, the Cardinal offense would continue to rack up big plays. Connell was able to complete a pass to Hein for 25 yards on first down, and on the ensuing first down Connell ran for 18 yards and another Cardinal touchdown. Kroski’s extra point kick was good, and the Cardinals led the Eagles 22-0 with 5:04 left in the first quarter.
Windom once again went three and out on their offensive possession and punted the ball back to Luverne. It took the Cardinals just three plays before they were back in the end zone after Sehr threw a beautiful pass over a Windom defender and into the arms of Connell for a 29-yard score. After another successful Kroski kick, Luverne was up 29-0 with 1:45 to go in the opening quarter.
Both defenses held strong to start the second quarter, but the Cardinals got one more big play from Connell to cap the scoring for the night. Taking over at the Windom 48-yard line, Connell broke free and ran down the right side of the field for his third touchdown of the night. Kroski connected on the extra point to bring the lead to 36-0 with 5:01 remaining in the second quarter.
Neither team scored in the remainder of the half, and the Cardinals took a 36-0 lead into halftime.
Windom received the ball to start the second half, but the teams would only get three plays in before lighting was spotted by the officials and the teams were directed to leave the field. Both coaching staffs met during the delay and agreed to end the game with Luverne winning 36-0.
After his big night on offense, Connell was also happy to see the improvement that his team is showing on the defensive side of the ball as they move throughout the season.
“The main things we have improved on are alignment and knowing what our leverage is and where our help is coming from on defense,” Connell said after the game.
“We have also gotten more physical, especially this week, which has helped us in short yardage situations.”
The Cardinals’ next game will be on the road versus New Ulm on Friday night. Game time is 7 p.m.
 
Team statistics:
Luverne: 289 rushing yards, 82 passing yards, 371 total yards, 15 first downs, 6 penalties for 55 yards, 0 turnovers.
Windom: 1 rushing yards, 87 passing yards, 88 total yards, 3 first downs, 2 penalties for 10 yards, 1 turnover.
 
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Conner Connell 5-105 (2 TD), Gavin DeBeer 1-76 (1 TD), Kaleb Hein 8-69, Tyson Cowell 1-25, DJ Rock 4-18
Passing: Conner Connell 3-5, 53 yards (1 TD). Carter Sehr 1-1, 29 yards (1 TD).
Receiving: Conner Connell 1-29 (1 TD), Kaleb Hein 2-28 (1 TD), Gannon Ahrendt 1-25
Defense: Conner Connell 5 tackles, Zachary DeBoer 2 tackles, Gavin Baum 2 tackles, Anyuon Atem 2 tackles

When church elders closed Blue Mound Lutheran Church in 1976, they vowed to meet once a year for renewed faith and fellowship.
On Sunday about 100 former parishioners, their family members and interested friends gathered for the annual fall festival. This year they celebrated the 150th anniversary of the church’s founding.
The Rev. Gary Klatt, retired pastor of St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne, officiated at Sunday’s service.
He painted a picture of rural Minnesota in 1872, when the church was founded. He described the wilderness that was southwest Minnesota and the efforts families took to developed the area into fertile farmland. The work was hard.
“They didn’t have a lot but they had hope and faith,” he said. “God led the way.”
Many descendants of the 22 founding families of Blue Mound Lutheran Church attended the service.
A few of them serve on the Blue Mound Cemetery Association, which keeps the cemetery surrounding the church on 150th Avenue in Vienna Township mowed and handles burials. The association also keeps the church in good condition for an occasional wedding and the annual September service.
Dick and Dolly Remme have been association members since the church closed.
Several Remme relatives are buried in the cemetery including Dick’s parents, grandparents and great-grandparents.
“I feel the loyalty for my folks and respect for the church,” Dick  said.
Other association members include Dick’s brother and sister-in-law, Dave and Lynn Remme, along with Betty Hamann, Ray and Elaine Hansen, Randy and Vicky Smook, Patti and Wes Pierson, Illa Biteler and Kathy Versteeg.
Versteeg is not a former church member, nor did any family members attend the rural church. She and her late husband, Nolan, farmed a half mile east of the church.
As neighbors, they attended the Blue Mound Lutheran Church’s annual service and felt welcomed.
“We knew the people there,” she said.
When Nolan died in 2013, he had chosen to be buried in the Blue Mound Cemetery, which can be seen from his former farmyard.
Blue Mound Lutheran is no longer just for former members but for anyone who celebrates God and all his goodness.
Dick Remme encouraged young people at Sunday’s service to find it in their hearts to continue the cemetery association and keep the church and cemetery viable for future generations.
“We are not young anymore,” he said. “There aren’t any qualifications (for association membership).”
Those who are association members see that the church is worth preserving.
“There is something special about Blue Mound Lutheran,” said Dolly Remme. “The Lord has looked over the church. It looks just like it did when we left it in 1976. It’s a wonderful, peaceful place.”
Those attending the Sunday service were invited to share memories before moving to the church basement for a catered meal.
Tom Solberg received a round of applause for sharing of an observation.
“This is a beautiful location and a beautiful church, but what makes it special is the people,” he said.

Luverne’s first public art project was unveiled Sunday with the artists explaining the inspiration behind their one-of-a-kind artwork on 7-foot fiberglass nutcrackers.
Retired art and media instructor Kim Schmidt unveiled “Maize” as a tribute to Luverne’s ag industry.
“My belief is that Luverne would not be what it is today if it were not for the hardworking farming families and agricultural workers who are a part of this city and county,” he said.
Schmidt added a whimsical approach to his design.
A grain bin is painted as a hat, work gloves cover the nutcracker’s hands, and both a green (on front) and a red combine (on back) make up the bulk of the design. Schmidt carried soybean, corn and wheat depictions throughout the sculpture including the nutcracker’s hair of corn leaves.
The people painted inside the combines represent local farmers Nate Siebenahler and Jerry Kuhlman, for whom Schmidt provides seasonal help.
“It’s a shoutout to them for their hard work and letting me be a part of their farming family,” he said.
Maize is located at the corner of Redbird Road and East Main Street.
Jen Huisman created “Patriot” in homage to those who serve in the military, especially the women who served in World War II.
Instead of painting, Huisman, who taught art at Ellsworth High School, used an assemblage technique with pictures of her grandparents, war posters and other vintage images she gathered from the Library of Congress and from the Internet “glued” together in the design.
Three of the pictures are of her grandparents.
“Both are World War II veterans,” she said.
“I remember my mom trying to find ways to honor my grandmother in her later years of life as a veteran and there weren’t many tributes to the women of World War II.”
Huisman said the assemblage technique allowed her to work with her hands and feel the objects as she moved them into place. She was experiencing a temporary loss of her eyesight at the time and found painting difficult.
Assemblage was a good alternative.
“The sense of building something and placing tactile objects inspires my creative process,” she said.
Patriot is located at the corner of West Main and Estey streets.
Janine (Anderson) Brands used her talent influenced by her older brother, Todd, and her former high school art teacher, Kim Schmidt, to create “Solitude,” which depicts her passion for the outdoors and the peaceful feelings it brings to her.
She was inspired by the buffalo as her primary design, and she included Sioux quartzite rock and the prairie plants of the Blue Mounds State Park on her nutcracker.
“The Blue Mounds are just gorgeous to me,” Brands said.
She added a lone wolf and an eagle to the nutcracker’s back side as influences of people close to her. She also included a weed growing from a crack on top of one of the nutcracker’s feet. The weed is in honor of her late father, Ray Anderson.
“He would have been driven nuts by not being able to pull that weed out,” she said.
Brands’ nutcracker is located in front of the History Center on East Main Street.
The public sculpture project is a privately funded partnership with the support of the Luverne Initiatives for Tomorrow and the city of Luverne.

Faye Bremer blames the unintended collection of Tri-State Band Festival buttons on her late grandfather.
Walter Greene worked as a bill clerk for the South Dakota Senate. Bremer inherited his bucket full of political campaign buttons and would casually toss the buttons from the Tri-State Band Festivals into the bucket.
In honor of the band festival each year, Bremer displayed her button collection at her business, Salon 75 Hair & Spa. Clients would bring in buttons to add to Bremer’s collection.
Sorting through her collection one day, Bremer found she’s missing only one — 1956 — in the band festival’s 71-year history.
“I didn’t mean to collect them,” she said. “I just threw them into the political bucket.”
Bremer originally thought she was missing two, having not found a 1966 button.
The History Center indicated that the 1965 band festival was canceled due to rain, and the committee decided to use the already-made buttons for the following year.
In 2020 no button was made in light of the event’s cancelation due to the pandemic. Face masks were made for the Luverne High School band, who used the last Saturday in September, usually designated for Tri-State Band Festival, as a day for a guest clinician.
A felt banner given to Bremer allows for 55 of the buttons to be displayed. She’s contemplating a new way of displaying her collection. She began taking buttons off in anticipation.
The 2022 button takes on a special significance, as her oldest grandson will compete in the festival Saturday.
“I am so proud and excited to see another generation going through the marching program within the family,” Bremer said.
“I can’t wait to watch him march and watch his parents watch him march. Precious.”

Twenty-three bands will perform Saturday in the 71st annual Tri-State Band Festival.
The parade competition begins at 9:30 a.m. on Luverne’s Main Street.
Fifteen bands will be part of the parade with bleachers available for spectators at the intersection of McKenzie Avenue and Main Street, where the judging station is also located.
Ten bands will participate in Saturday’s field competition beginning at 12:30 p.m. on the Luverne High School football field.
Admission to the field competition is the purchase of a festival button for $10. This year’s button was designed by LHS junior Perceyis Trierweiler.
Hosts for the Tri-State Band Festival are the Luverne middle and high school bands, who will also participate but do not compete.
Bands attending Saturday’s event include:
•From Minnesota: Adrian-Ellsworth, Hutchinson, Murray County Central, Pipestone, Stewartville and Worthington.
•From South Dakota: Brandon Valley, Brookings, Dell Rapids, Garretson, Harrisburg, Lennox, Madison, Sioux Falls Christian, Sioux Falls Lutheran, Sioux Falls O’Gorman, Sioux Falls Roosevelt, Tri-Valley, Tea and West Central.
•From Iowa: George-Little Rock.
The Tri-State Band Festival is one of the longest-running community marching band competitions in the region, according to the Luverne Area Chamber.
Many of the bands, including Luverne, will compete in Saturday evening’s Big Sioux Review in Brandon, South Dakota.

The 110-megawatt Walleye Wind Farm in western Rock County is taking shape with cranes assembling bases for 40 turbines across a 49-square-mile (31,000 acres) footprint.
Starting in October, the turbines will generate $400,000 to $600,000 in annual local tax revenues and feed electricity to the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency through a 30-year agreement.

A correction to the Sept. 15, 2022, story “Remembrance of Luverne’s first AFS exchange student” about Philippe Piot.
The pastors who were part of the 1957-58 AFS support team for Philippe were the Revs. Wesley Drummond and G.S. Helgeson, immediate predecessors to Wayne Hoffman and Stan Eyberg, who were incorrectly named in last week’s Star Herald article as being part of the AFS support team.
Apologies from the author Tom Getman.