Native Americans and local residents gather around a bonfire on Touch the Sky Prairie northwest of Luverne during dedication ceremonies last summer.

Three additional land acquisitions will more than double the size of Touch the Sky Prairie northwest of Luverne.Story inside.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek became a victim in an upset to open the South Section 3A Volleyball Tournament in Luverne Friday.

The third-seeded Patriots had to be considered the favorites when they took on No. 6 Edgerton in a quarterfinal-round match in Luverne High School.

Edgerton, however, threw a wrench in the tournament's seedings by nipping H-BC 3-2 in a tightly-contested, five-game match.

The win sent Edgerton to Tuesday's semifinals in Luverne. The loss capped H-BC’s 10-12-3 season.

Although the teams were separated by three seeds for the tournament, the H-BC and Edgerton coaching staffs anticipated a close contest based on prior results.

H-BC swept a three-game match from the Flying Dutchmen in Edgerton on Oct. 1, but Edgerton received some revenge when it topped the Patriots 2-1 during the Subway Tournament in Marshall two weeks later.

Friday's tilt proved to be the rubber match of the season series, and Edgerton battled back from a 2-1 deficit in games to come out on top.

"It probably was the closest match we played all year," said Patriot coach Curt Doorneweerd. "As is always the case, someone had to lose. Unfortunately, it was us."

H-BC got off to a good start in Game 1 by building an early lead and turning it into a 15-13 victory.

Edgerton evened the match at one game each with a 15-6 win in Game 2, but the Patriots regained the upper hand by strolling to a 15-9 victory in Game 3.

The Patriots were on the verge of putting the Flying Dutchmen away when they sported a 13-9 cushion in Game 4, but H-BC didn’t get the job done.

Edgerton reeled off six straight points to steal a 15-13 win, and the momentum it gained with the rally carried over into a 15-5 victory in Game 5.

"We had a 13-9 lead in the fourth game, and we couldn't finish it off. That was the turning point because it gave them momentum," Doorneweerd said.

Erin Boeve had 21 kills and 10 blocks at the net to pace the Patriots. Sarah Rozeboom added 10 kills, Kelly Mulder had four kills and five blocks, Angie Sjaarda had three kills and one block, and Amanda Olson added one block.

Sjaarda and Melissa Fagerness served three and one aces respectively for H-BC.

Services for Anna Kitchenmaster will be at 10:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 1, at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Rev. Gary Klatt will officiate. Burial will be in Trinity Lutheran Cemetery in Steen. Visitation will be from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31, with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m at Dingmann Funeral Home in Luverne, and continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Friday.

Anna Adele Wilma Kitchenmaster, 91, Luverne, formerly of Steen, died Monday, Oct. 28, 2002, at Rock Rapids Health Centre in Rock Rapids, Iowa.

Anna Lauck was born to Henry and Alvina (Kruger) Lauck on Nov. 6, 1910, in Clinton Township, Rock County. She was baptized on Nov. 24, 1910, and later confirmed on March 28, 1926, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Steen. She attended school in Ash Creek.

She married William Kitchenmaster Jr. on Oct. 10, 1934, in Trinity Lutheran Church. The couple made their home on a farm west of Steen until 1970, when they retired and moved to Luverne. She lived in Luverne until July 1995, when she moved to Tuff Memorial Home in Hills.

Mrs. Kitchenmaster was a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne. She enjoyed crocheting, crafts, cooking and baking.

Survivor include three sons, James (Carolyn) Kitchenmaster, Luverne, Arvin (Janice) Kitchenmaster, Hawarden, Iowa, and Loren (Deborah) Kitchenmaster, Spicer; six grandchildren, Paul (Sherri) Kitchenmaster, Kristi (Tim) Matus, Bill (Dawn) Kitchenmaster, Lori (Terry) Glade, Marnie (Dan) Johnson and Mike Kitchenmaster; 11 great-grandchildren; one sister, Ida Strecker, Wittemore, Iowa; two brothers-in-law, Wesley (Mary) Kitchenmaster, and Bill (Esther) Kitchenmaster Weber, all of Luverne; and many nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Kitchenmaster was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, William "Bill" Kitchenmaster on Aug. 31, 1989, four brothers, William, Henry, Fred and Armin Lauck, and five sisters, Emma Kitchenmaster, Bertha Beckman, Frieda Steucker, Venna "Alvina" Kitchenmaster and an infant sister, Amanda.

Dingmann Funeral Home in Luverne is in charge of arrangements.

Jason R. Oden, 26, Hills, died in his home.

Memorial services were Friday, Oct. 25, at Roste Funeral Home in Hills. Don Nelson and Dan Smith officiated. Burial of the cremains was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.

Jason Robert Oden was born to James and Rebecca (Aanenson) Oden on April 29, 1976, in Marion, Ind. He attended school at Hills-Beaver Creek High school and graduated in 1994. While in high school, he participated in football track and softball. He was confirmed at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek. After high school, he attended Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, S.D., for cabinet making.

He married Jennifer Smith on Dec. 29, 1996, at First Presbyterian Church in Luverne. The marriage later ended in divorce. He worked for Xerox Corporation in Sioux Falls, where he managed the Xerox accounts of the Sioux Falls schools and later managed all of the Xerox accounts within Sioux Falls. Later, he worked as a sheetrock installer within the Sioux Falls area.

Mr. Oden was a member of First Presbyterian Church in Luverne. His many talents included restoring and showing vehicles, working with auto stereo equipment, building furniture and drawing. He also helped his parents with their new home construction.

Survivors include his parents, Becky and Dan Anderson, Hills, Jim Oden, Jonesboro, Ind.; one brother, Stephen (Cristina) Oden, Hawaii, and son, Tristin John Wilshaw, Sioux Falls; his maternal grandmother, Naidine Aanenson, Luverne; step-grandparents, Ted Anderson, Luverne, and Dorothea Goembel, Magnolia; stepsister, Christine Guzman; and stepbrother, Kyle Anderson, Oak Harbor, Wash.

Mr. Oden was preceded in death by his maternal grandfather, Edwin Aanenson and paternal grandfather, James Oden Sr.

Roste Funeral Home, Hills, was in charge of arrangements.

Solar Dome
Luverne fourth graders Joey Sleiter (left) Dylan Stokes and Matthew Engesser prepare to lead the next group of students through the Solar Dome, an oversized plastic bubble that was on display last week in the elementary school multi-purpose area. Fourth-grade teachers Tim Christensen and Randa Gangestad developed the Solar Dome idea seven years ago as a science project that encourages students to research space facts and develop a Solar Dome based on their findings. Various fourth-grade students took turns serving as flashlight tour guides to show off the air-filled space system to fellow elementary school students in all grades.

Photo by Lori Ehde

Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton's Lee Jackson sprints to the finish line with Luverne's Dusty Antoine during the Section 3A Cross County Championships in Slayton Thursday. Jackson placed 22nd to help the Patriots win the boys' team championship and earn a trip to the state meet in Northfield.

By John Rittenhouse
Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton cross country coach Tom Goehle thought the pressure would be over once his boys' varsity team completed the Section 3A race in Slayton Thursday.

He was mistaken.

The Patriot coach knew his boys had a chance to be the first H-BC-E-E team to qualify for a state meet if they ran well at the section championships, and that wish was granted as all seven runners turned in their best times of the season during the race.

What Goehle wasn't counting on was the nervousness he would experience after the race, when the meet judges were calculating the results of the 13-team meet.

"Waiting for the final results became the longest 30 minutes of our lives," Goehle said Friday. "We knew it would be close, and we were hoping to finish in the top-two."

The top-two teams and top-10 individual finishers at the section level earn berths in the state meet, so there was a lot on the line as the Patriots and their coach waited for the final results to be tabulated.

Goehle was all too familiar with the feeling of disappointment that comes with falling short of cracking the top-two teams in the section field.

Last year, when the Patriots competed as Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth, the boys' team finished third in the final standings. It was a good effort that Goehle was proud of, but there was an emotional letdown when the reality of not reaching the state meet as a team kicked in.

The way things turned out in Slayton, the longest 30 minutes in the lives of Goehle and his runners had a happy ending. The meet’s final results revealed that H-BC-E-E not only cracked the top-team, but it will be representing Southwest Minnesota as the Section 3A champion at state competition.

H-BC-E-E won the section team title with 63 points, nipping second-place Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI (64 points).

"We just wanted to be in the top two," Goehle said. "To win the section championship was a bonus. Right now we're excited to be going to state. The kids know that they have been blessed, and they are thankful for it."

H-BC-E-E will cash in its bonus Saturday at St. Olaf College in Northfield, where Minnesota State Class A and AA Cross County Championships are staged. The Class A boys' varsity race is scheduled for 11 a.m.

If H-BC-E-E had not qualified for the state meet as a team, two Patriots would have advanced to Northfield individually.

Tyler Bush and Zach Hadler, the team's top two runners most of the season, both finished in the top-10 as individuals.

Bush, who placed 12th at last year's section meet as a freshman, led the Patriots by finishing third in Slayton. He produced a time of 16:46.

Hadler, an Edgerton High School senior, finished eighth with a time of 17:12.

Greg Van Batavia, Kale Wiertzema and Lee Jackson turned in equally important performances that contributed to H-BC-E-E's winning team tally.

Van Batavia placed 16th in 17:44, Wiertzema 17th in 17:49 and Jackson 22nd in 18:00.

Patriots Todd Alberty and Derek Haak finished 26th and 38th with respective 18:10 and 18:43 times without influencing the team scoring.

"Our boys ran awesome," Goehle added. "There's no other better way to say it. All seven of them ran their fastest times of the year, and most were by a pretty considerable margin."

Four Patriot girls ran at the section meet without earning trips to state.

Amanda Tilstra led the way by placing 58th in 17:55.

Mya Mann, Erika Fransen and Corinna Braun finished 65th, 72nd and 96th with respective 18:12, 18:20 and 20:07 times.

"We didn't have a complete girls' team, but I was happy with the way our girls competed. They all ran their best times of the season. I was happy they went out running their best races," Goehle said.

Here is a look at the boys' varsity team standings from the Section 3A meet.

Standings: H-BC-E-E 63, C-M-LH 64

, Jackson County Central 73, Luverne 88, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 108, Southwest Christian 182, Redwood Valley 197, Windom 210, Adrian 227, Yellow Medicine East 292, Bold 305, Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 374, Martin County West 378.

By Sara Strong
Rock County Sheriff candidates are both long-time members of the local department, current sheriff Ron McClure and sergeant Mike Winkels.

Ron McClure
McClure has been in law enforcement for 34 years. "I love my job and I care what happens to the community," he said.

Through his years of service, the job has gone through an evolution that McClure has supported.
First, as the county and city of Luverne law enforcement departments merged, and now, as community policing is a trend Rock County is adopting as its manner of policing.

He sees the joint law merger as a positive thing for the county. It allowed for the investigator position, which the county attorneys will testify, has made reports and legal work more efficient.

When the concept of community policing arose earlier this year, the department faced more changes. "I support community policing, I believe in it very strongly. It will bring the community closer to us, and by doing that, weÕll increase trust."

McClure said a noticeable change in community policing is the feedback individuals will get from officers, who will follow through more regularly with victims or complainants.

Encouraging two-way communication will help the department in the long run, McClure said. "Sometimes people might just have better ideas."

Much of the local talk recently has been about drug use in young people. "ItÕs alarming and we have to continue to work on it, but we still have good kids. This is something weÕve always been working on," McClure said.

The drug problems now, he said, are different in nature because of the harshness of the chemicals ingested when using substances like methamphetamine.

Community policing will bring more communication with the public, but as an elected person, McClure still sees the department as setting its own goals from within.

Much of McClureÕs work involves a mixture of family issues with crime solving. "ThereÕs almost nothing I wouldnÕt do for people who need me," he said.

He wants to remind people that the department is investigating reports of illegal activity and following through to make solid arrests that canÕt be challenged.

Mike Winkels
Mike Winkels has been in law enforcement for 24 years and works with about 130 children with the D.A.R.E. program in Hills-Beaver Creek and Luverne schools.

Those contacts, he said, keep him connected with parents and young people and help bridge law enforcement and the community.

He thinks itÕs appropriate for the community to be involved in setting agendas or general goals for the department, with the sheriff, as an elected person, leading the department through those goals.

The philosophy of community policing, Winkels said, has been present in the Rock County Sheriff's Department in some capacity. The recent and ongoing training will help formulate specific ways to make it more complete though.

"We need to be better about getting information back to people and get out and talk and meet people," he said. "But some were already following up on things on their own."

Winkels said heÕs made good contacts in the community since heÕs lived here. "I had young kids when I moved to Luverne and I think that helped."

People got to see and know him outside his capacity as a law enforcement officer. For example, he developed relationships with children competing in sporting events with his children, who are now adults in the community.

Winkels said he supports adding an additional officer to the department to help ease logistical challenges like covering vacation times.

He also said the sheriff shouldn't spend as much time transporting prisoners, as the current arrangement is.

"Transports don't have to be done by non-sworn officers. A sheriff needs to be around more," Winkels said.

He'd like to see the department utilize part-time officers, non-sworn employees or volunteers to help the sheriffÕs department run more efficiently.

Winkels acknowledges the drug problem in the community, but adds that drugs, to some extent, have always been a problem.

"Parents can't allow risky behavior, like smoking cigarettes at home," Winkels said, because it can escalate to larger problems.

Theft and property crime are often related to drug use and supporting habits, Winkels said. But even with that activity locally, he points out that violent crime is low in Rock County and that people should generally feel safe.

Winkels said the department is always checking on leads from the community. He said officers stop suspicious vehicles on traffic violations, ask where they are coming from or going to, but stay within the law to avoid civil rights violations.

Ongoing investigations take time to develop into solid arrests, he said.

By Jolene Farley
Those who appreciate history find the First National Bank and Trust building on Main Street in Beaver Creek an interesting step back in time. The structure has changed little since it was built around 1917.

"I love it here," said part-time employee Jodi VandenBosch. "I like the history. The people are so friendly."

The interior and exterior of the building still closely resemble the description in the next seven paragraphs from the history book, Roaring Beaver, a Story of a Prairie Village, by Carl Kahler.

"Around 1917, bank directors made plans to enlarge their old 21 feet by 41 feet building. The new building would not be ordinary. It would be architecturally unique in the Midwest.

The old building was almost completely torn down except for the vault and the west wall that was attached to the wall of Dunbar's store.

The basement was enlarged and a new building was constructed measuring 36 feet by 41 feet. The new building was made of brick, stone and concrete.

Two pillars and pilasters in classic Greek style are topped by four Kasotas. Stone capitals that support a massive frieze are carved with THE FIRST NATIONAL BANK.

The floor of the bank is Tennessee marble and the interior of the bank is Rosetto marble. Interior trim is quarter-sawed oak.

The materials in the bank are, and were the very best obtainable.

The bank building is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places."

The bank has a long history of ownership changes but is currently owned by First National Bank, Brookings, S.D. The banks in Luverne, Beaver Creek and Magnolia were purchased in 1999. The Magnolia branch closed in 2001.

"The Beaver Creek location has always been here," said First National Bank President Ryan DeBates.

The bank was robbed only once in its history, according to employee Marlys Rauk. Although currently working in the Luverne office, Rauk began her banking career in 1974 at the Beaver Creek branch.

In January of 1980, four employees (including Rauk) and one customer were locked in the bank vault by robbers. The bankÕs president hid under his desk and set the hostages free immediately after the robbers left. The Federal Bureau of Investigation later caught the thieves.

Current bank hours at the depository in Beaver Creek are 8:30 a.m. to noon Monday through Friday and 8:30 to 11 a.m. on Saturday.

HISTORICAL BANKING NOTE:
On March 6, 1933, two days after Roosevelt's inauguration, he declared a "national bank holiday" and closed every bank in the United States.

All banks were examined and given a passing or a failing grade. They all remained closed for nine days and only solvent banks re-opened.

There were few transactions allowed in the interim. Customers could cash one check for $10 at the bank only if they needed it for food or medicine. They had to state what they were going to use the money for. They could cash a payroll check if it was marked "payroll check." New accounts could be opened with cash or a government check, but not with a check drawn on another bank account.

All Beaver Creek banks re-opened. After the re-opening of the solvent banks, the safety of accounts was guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Company, a federal agency. Under the new law, the federal government guaranteed all accounts to the limit of $90,000.

Distinguished judges Pastor George Clausen (left), Peace Lutheran Church, Rock Rapids, Iowa; Pastor Daniel Ramacker, Steen Reformed Church; and Pastor Connie Stone, First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek sample one of 13 entries made by Tuff Home staff in the Pumpkin Bake-Off Contest on Friday.

Photo by Jolene Farley