Blanche Zona Sibson, 91, a resident of Good Samaritan Nursing Center, Davenport, Iowa, formerly of Beaver Creek, died Tuesday, June 18, 2002, at Genesis Medical Center, West Campus, in Davenport.

Services were Saturday, June 22, at Westside Assembly of God Church in Davenport. Graveside services were Monday, June 24, at Beaver Creek Cemetery in Beaver Creek.

Blanche McCurdy was born to William E. and Della (Cooksley) McCurdy on Nov. 22, 1910, in Beaver Creek.

She married Chester O. Sibson on June 5, 1935, He preceded her in death in 1975. She worked at the former S&H Stamp Redemption Center in Davenport, before retiring in July 1974. She also babysat for a number of families over the years.

Mrs. Sibson was a member of Westside Assembly of God Church in Davenport and the Women of the Moose #28 of Davenport.

Survivors include one son, Vincent (Pat) Sherwood, Ft. Wayne, Ind.; two daughters, Iris (Paul) McCoy, Maysville, Iowa, and Maxine Love, Davenport; 10 grandchildren; 33 great-grandchildren; three great-great-grandchildren; one sister, Gladys Wulf, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and several nieces and nephews.

Mrs. Sibson was preceded in death by her husband, Chester, one brother, Roy McCurdy, and two sisters, Edna Love and Ethel Sensenbuch.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Westside Assembly of God Church in Davenport.

McGinnis, Chambers and Sass Funeral Home, Bettendorf, Iowa, was in charge of arrangements.

By Lori Ehde
Lorraine Becker and her job are perfectly suited for each other.

The position of Luverne School District food service director requires sharp organizational skills, a warm personality to work with staff and students, creativity in planning a menu around limited resources and the drive to get it all done.

Becker enjoys baking, but she also possesses the skills to manage a staff of 18 and appease the palates of finicky eaters who could opt to dine at McDonald's.

She started as a food service employee in 1971, following a family tradition in the district. Her husband, Lin Becker retired as head custodian after 31 years with the district, and her parents, Joe and Reka Visker, were with the district for many years as head custodian and food service employee, respectively.

After earning necessary education and certification, she was hired as food service director in 1988.

She remembers that year as "quite a challenge," because while she was learning her new job, she supervised nine others who were also learning new jobs in food service.

At the same time, she was busy implementing important changes in the program, such as the "offer vs. serve," system, in which students can choose three of five items.

Also, the district began offering breakfast. "That was a big plus for the district," she said. "It's a known fact that if children have breakfast, they not only learn better, they retain longer."

Under BeckerÕs direction, students found themselves enjoying more and updated menu options.

For example, she said popular additions have been twice baked potatoes, improved homemade pizza with more toppings and a thicker crust, homemade cheese bread, "dunker sticks" and nacho cheese baskets.

"I had to be competitive, because I was competing with 18 restaurants in town," she said. "My senior kids have been very loyal. They come down here to eat instead of going out."

Becker said more than 80 percent of Luverne students choose to eat at school. Similar districts with an open noon hour often feed only 50 percent of their students.

She said students have especially enjoyed the restaurant-style "Cardinal Baskets," that include a hamburger, fries and fixings in a plastic red basket.

Wednesdays are the most popular food service days for students and staff, because thatÕs the day for home made sweet rolls.

In fact, one of her former students who was home from college last week came to Luverne High School to eat a home-made roll.

"Kids in college will comment on how they miss Luverne's hot lunches, and that's a really good feeling for me," Becker said.

"If you work hard at something, it's nice to get rewarded for it. ...One of the biggest complaints I get is that there were two good choices and they didn't know what to choose."

While making baked items from scratch adds to the cafeteria's popularity, Becker said it also pads the food service budget.

"I make good money for the school," Becker said. "[Vince] Schaefer tells me I'm leaving the food service budget in a very healthy financial state."

She said many schools allocate their government commodities to Tony's Pizza, Schwan's or some other vendor to prepare foods. This adds costs - and unwanted ingredients - to the menu.

Besides, she said, baking from scratch sends "a wonderful aroma" wafting through school hallways.

In addition to providing an enticing menu, Becker said sheÕs always felt it important to provide a pleasant atmosphere.

The gray basement cafeteria in the high school has a tendency to look "institutional," but Becker always took it upon her self to decorate the walls with seasonal themes. For Christmas, the entire cafeteria is dressed up in holiday garb.

"I've always worked to provide a friendly, warm and clean environment so the kids know they're welcome here," Becker said.

"I always encourage my staff to wear a smile. There's no yelling here."

An inspection from Public Health Department can be a stressful thing, but not for Becker. "I love it," she said. "I've always gotten excellent reviews."

After 31 years, Becker tallied up some staggering statistics. She figures she's had something to do with 5 million plates of food, considering she serves 1,300 a day and 220,000 per year.

On Wednesdays, she works with 150 pounds of flour for baking. One of her favorites is French bread for a 20-foot sub sandwich.

Tears well up in her eyes when she thinks about what she'll miss. "I'll miss my wonderful staff. These people work very hard and do a fantastic job," she said.

"What she won't miss is the hours. "I won't miss going to bed at 7:30 or 8 and getting up at 4."

She and her husband are remodeling their home on Lake Shetek, where they will live. That will keep her busy for the next year or two, but Becker, 56, said she's considering consulting work.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne native Cory Mensen spent Labor Day weekend on paid R and R in his northwoods Ely home after a two-week stint fighting forest fires in Montana.

Friday night, Sept. 1, he nursed his swollen, blistered feet and dragged his aching bones to bed for a well-deserved 10-hour nap.

Crickets chirping outside his window sounded almost foreign after he'd grown accustomed to the constant background roar of the insatiable flames.

For awhile that weekend, Mensen found himself instinctively glancing upward to warn his crew of falling timber.

As a three-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service, fighting forest fires isn't new to Mensen. He'd been called to fight blazes throughout the Rocky Mountains, and this is his third year as a certified smoke chaser.

But the magnitude of the blaze consuming Flathead National Forest makes his previous battles look like pesky bonfires gone awry.

"Overall it was an awesome experience," Mensen said of the Montana blaze. "Quite a bit happened in those two weeks."

While there, he saw some of the most horrific fires he'd ever seen, while at the same time catching breathtaking glimpses of Mother NatureÕs most scenic landscapes.

All in a day's work
Fighting forest fires is seasonal work for Mensen, whose regular job with the Forest Service is patrolling the Minnesota Boundary Waters in Superior National Forest.

As a trained smoke chaser, he's often called to out-of-state assignments to fight fires in late summer. This time the call for help came from Flathead National Forest in western Montana where fires have been burning since early July in an area that hasnÕt seen rain all summer long.

Mensen flew out Thursday, Aug. 17, and returned home Friday, Sept. 1. During his 14 days of work on the job he logged almost 200 hours of fire fighting and racked up a sizable paycheck.

"The money's good and it's pretty exciting work," Mensen said when asked why he got involved in forest fires.

Mensen was in charge of a 10-person Minnesota crew. As a crew leader, he said one of the most important parts of his job was to keep everyone motivated.

"It's hard to get up in the morning," he said. "When you're putting in 12- to 18-hour days you get pretty drained."

The primary job of a smoke-chaser is to squelch spot fires that flare up from burning embers carried by the wind - sometimes as far as a quarter mile.

It involves backbreaking labor from 4 or 5 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. "We'd burn 4,000 calories a day, no problem," Mensen said.

"At the end of the day, it's probably your feet that hurt the worst. You get blisters from hiking around the steep slopes and rough terrain. It's probably a 60- to 70-degree grade."

Hand tools and
human strength
Armed with nearly 70 pounds of survival gear and fire fighting equipment, smoke chasers serve as an initial attack, battling flames by clearing burnable foliage.

Much of their work is done with a specialized hand tool called a pulasky. The combination of an ax and a hoe is used to clear brush and hand-dig a line of dirt to serve as a fire break.

Often roads and rivers are used as natural breaks, and bulldozers clear ground on either side to prevent the flames from jumping.

But in mountainous terrain, the only line of defense is a hand tool and human strength.

In addition to the pulasky, the standard gear pack includes a chainsaw, headlamp, fuel, water and lunch - often food comparable to Army rations.

Always heads up
A critical piece of equipment in every gear pack is a silver emergency fire shelter. If used properly, the small fire-proof tent is designed to protect a firefighter trapped in a blaze.

"You always make sure you have your fire shelter, but you never want to get in that position," Mensen said. "I never felt I was in that position, but it was always a heads-up situation."

He explained that while working on a fire on Cyclone Ridge, a burning tree fell and split his crew in half.

As a crew leader in charge of rookie firefighters, Mensen said a big part of his job involved constantly being on the lookout for falling timber and rear spot fires that could close off planned escape routes.

He said he enjoyed working on the spot fires - apart from firefighters battling the main fire. "The bigger fires get kinda crazy," he said. "With the smaller fires, at least you know who you're working with.

Despite his long hours and hard work, Mensen keeps his labor in perspective by observing people who do it full-time.

"Some of the people I worked with in Montana get two days off every month, and they've been working for two months," he said. "It's a totally different world for these guys. It's hard to explain. It's almost like a weird subculture."

Priceless rewards
Though his blisters are still healing, Mensen said he's ready to go back and do it again, because the work has priceless rewards.

For example, in between battles with spot fires, he and his crew would have brief opportunities to enjoy nature at campgrounds several miles from the fire.

"It's the first time I'd been in Montana, and it's just such beautiful country," Mensen said. "The mountains and lakes are just gorgeous. The scenery's just something else."

In addition to the striking mountain peaks emerging from an endless sea of pine trees, Mensen also described a rare opportunity to cast his line in a scenic fly fishing hole.

He said the best rewards came in the form of thanks from local residents.

"When we'd go into town at night to eat, people would see us and smell the smoke and they'd know we were fighters. They'd come up to us and say thanks. It's pretty amazing," he said.
"ItÕs just a pretty good feeling to get that kind of pat on the back."

Mensen said it's that kind of response that will keep him interested in fighting forest fires.

"It's definitely rewarding," he said. "You feel you're doing something good. You're saving lives and protecting resources. I can see myself doing this for years to come."

By Lori Ehde

A country deer found it wasn't suited for urban living Thursday when it strayed downtown and fatally injured itself on storefront glass.

According to information from the Rock County Sheriff's Department, residents in the neighborhood southeast of Herman Motors called at 6:40 p.m. to report a deer had wandered into town.

Part-time deputy Lon Remme responded to the call. "By the time I got there it had already decided to visit the Brandenburg Gallery," Remme said Tuesday.

When it reached Main Street, Remme said it panicked and broke through the gallery glass, splitting open its underside.

After attempting to break through the glass on the other side of the gallery door, it crossed the street and bounced off another storefront before sprinting back toward Herman Motors.

Joel Herman said the animal left a trail of blood down Main Street and sprayed blood on the vehicles in the Herman lot. "There was blood all over the place," he said, but he saw humor in the incident. "You almost think of Northern Exposure where the moose wanders around Main Street."

Remme said the deer ended up in a fenced in area near Midwest Fire Equipment where it finally laid down. "He was pretty well bled out at that point," he said.

He said some nearby residents slit the animal's throat to end its misery, and it was hauled to the local pound to be picked up by rendering crews.

By Lori Ehde
It's going to be a long, hot summer for Luverne native Cory Mensen who works as a smoke chaser for the National Forest Service.

The 1990 Luverne High School graduate just started a two-week stint fighting forest fires in Colorado, and may work on the wild fires in Arizona.

His mother, Karen Mensen, Luverne, said she tries to keep tabs on her son through the media. "You're just on pins and needles the whole time," she said.

She and her husband, Mike, have been glued to WCCO TV this week, since a reporter from that Twin Cities station has been camping out with Cory's crew.

So far, the newscasts haven't featured interviews with Cory, but the segments have offered priceless glimpses into her son's surroundings.

She said WCCO has aired broadcasts from the reporter at 5, 6 and 10 p.m., but the 10 p.m. airings have the most information.

When she heard about the four Forest Services workers recently killed in a vehicle accident, Cory called her right away to assure her he wasn't in that accident.

"I'm so glad he called, because I would have been so freaked. We have a toll-free number for that purpose Ð so he can call from anywhere," she said.

"He's going to be doing this for a long time. He just loves it. So, I'm accepting it. He says he's with one of the most experienced teams he's ever worked with and that makes me feel better."

Fighting forest fires is seasonal work for Cory, whose regular job with the Forest Service is patrolling the Minnesota Boundary Waters in Superior National Forest.

As a trained smoke chaser, he's often called to out-of-state assignments to fight fires in late summer.

This year, with such hot, dry conditions throughout much of the country, the fire season started two months early.

This is CoryÕs fourth year as a certified smoke chaser, whose primary job is to squelch spot fires that flare up from burning embers carried by the wind Ð sometimes as far as a quarter mile.

In 2000, he spent a good share of time in Flathead National Forest in western Montana. The Star Herald interviewed Cory in September of that year for an in-depth feature about his work as a fire chaser. That story is printed below.

By Lori Ehde
Eight years ago, Rock County basked in the glow of statewide recognition for its successful feedlot permitting program.

Today, local officials are struggling to maintain the integrity of the program under a cloud of federal bribery charges against former feedlot officer John Burgers.

Knee-deep in the county's subsequent Level III state audit of all its feedlots, current land management director Eric Hartman says heÕs glad to be here.

"When I applied for this job, Rock County was the county all others compared themselves to in feedlot permitting and environmental services," Hartman said.

"That was one of the reasons I was excited about coming into this job. I like the fact that I am in what is still a progressive program. I have no regrets about taking this job.

"I think the integrity is here in the program, and my goal is to have Rock County back on top again."

Further, he praised the staff at the Land Management Office. "I do not doubt the integrity of the staff here and the work they're doing," Hartman said. "As far as what I've witnessed first-hand and heard, they bust their buns for the county and the producers. It's good to see that in my co-workers."

The current audit of all local feedlots was prompted by the bribery scandal involving Burgers and Global Enterprises, but Hartman is quick to point out, this audit was on the horizon for Rock County anyway.

"This was the county's goal back in 1997, but it's a tough pill to swallow to be told to do it in two and half years," Hartman said.

"WeÕre going to go through something no other county has gone through before, as far as gathering this kind of information. Every other county in the state will have to have this done, but they'll get seven to 10 years to do it."

The audit is necessary for Rock County to keep its feedlot permitting ability and state funding.

In the end, Hartman said, Rock County's producers and the environment will be better off for having it done. "It gives the county a clean bill of health in the feedlot program and the environment."

Meanwhile, producers and county staff hope the existing program remains in tact.

"Yes, we've had some problems, but let's not throw out the baby with the bath water," said Rock County livestock producer Richard Bakken.

Bakken, a member of the Rock Nobles Cattlemen's Association, was one of the producers who was helped by Rock CountyÕs feedlot program in the early 1990s.

He remembers that being a time when livestock producers were fearful of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which was enforcing new feedlot management guidelines.

Producers feared MPCA fines, but many were unable to afford the necessary construction to bring their feedlots into compliance.

Serving as a liaison between producers and the state, Burgers sought funding support and provided technical know-how to get the work done.

The 1994 Minnesota County Achievement Award recognized Rock County's inter-agency feedlot program as an innovation that "improved the quality of life for people in Minnesota."

In addition, Burgers established a feedlot ordinance for new construction or expansion of existing operations that became a template for counties statewide that were also balancing agribusiness and environmental concerns.

In 1995, Burgers' feedlot work earned him further state recognition as the "Outstanding Soil and Water Conservation District Employee."

The bottom line, and the most positive result, is that more than 600 Rock County feedlots went on the record as being environmentally friendly.

For example, some that used to drain directly into nearby creeks and waterways, were outfitted with structures to protect water supplies.

Bakken said the audit process could take years, likely producing minimal discrepancies, and meanwhile, he fears it will send the program in the wrong direction.

"Everybody now is kind of waiting to see what develops," Bakken said. "It took so long to build up trust for people to come into the office, and now they'll probably hang back. Instead of making progress for the next two years, nobody's going to do anything for fear of doing something wrong."

Complicating the audit is that MPCA staff involved in the original permitting of Rock County feedlots may have interpreted the law differently than those auditing those operations today.

That, and personality conflicts could make for a long summer.

"There's a decent way of doing it and there's the Gestapo way of saying 'You guys are going to get in line.Õ If they hadn't come down here with that attitude, it would have been different," Bakken said.

"We don't need to draw a line in the sand - we need cooperation, and for that to happen, we need trust on both sides.

Bakken, too, hopes no one loses sight of value Rock CountyÕs feedlot program still holds.

"You take a look at what we've got and what we've lost and you go forward," he said. "I think when you look at what we've got, we're still by far and wide the best program in the state."

By Sara Strong
The Luverne City Council met for its regular meeting Tuesday.

Administrative reports included an update on the Freeman and Estey Street project.

Contractors are laying sod and residents are asked to water the new sod to help it take root. The contractor is obligated to water it only after it is first in place, but during the current dry weather, it is important to water it almost daily.

The sod work is expected to be finished by July 4. The asphalt work is expected to be completed the week of July 8 to 15.

In other business Tuesday,

Residents of the northwest part of Luverne may have experienced decreased water pressure and are asked to remain patient while the city fixes a burst pipe.

Councilman Tom Martius asked if the city could look into installing or relocating garbage receptacles to the areas where teenagers typically loiter. The old Jubilee parking lot, across from the Rock County Community Library, and the Sears and Furniture House parking lot are both heavily littered, he said.

Mayor Glen Gust, City Administrator Matt Hylen and Councilman David Hauge returned from a League of Minnesota Cities conference in Rochester last week. They went to presentations on annexation, state aid to cities and general service to the public.

The Council moved its July Committee of the Whole meeting from July 16 to 5 p.m. July 23 to work around a council member who would be absent.

By Sara Strong
Expansion plans for the Luverne Municipal Airport will continue with a slightly different plan than was released earlier this year.

The Luverne City Council, acting on a recommendation from the Airport Board, voted Tuesday to go forward with engineer plans that call for the expanded runway to be further south.

Final surveying and more revisions are still needed before the plans can be examined at the state and federal levels.

Cost of the new plans and other components like an environmental study is about $18,000, of which the Airport Board is paying $5,000. That money comes from federal funds, though.

After public input, the engineering and consulting firm Bolten and Menk moved the expanded airport runway plans far enough to the south to allow for growth closer to the interstate. This met with more favorable reviews from area landowners than any other previous plan.

"We want this to be a cooperative effort," Airport Board Chairman Pat Baustian said.

The Airport Board wants people to know that a bigger runway will help the entire area. The hospital can use it for high-speed, longer distance patient transports. Bigger businesses or ones with distant executives can fly into the Luverne airport instead of Sioux Falls.

Baustian said expecting businesses to come to Luverne because of the runway may be putting the "cart before the horse," but that's better than having a prospective business not locate in Luverne because of inadequate transportation services.

Baustian said a quality airport is as important as busing or highway department services to the infrastructure of a community.

Township roads caused a clash between the city and Airport Board and the townships and county Planning and Zoning Board last time the runway expansion was debated.

The gravel township road just south of the airport (running east and west) is going to be closed with or without a new runway because of its proximity to the current runway.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation said the road is a liability to both the township and the city because of the airport and the airport is continually cited for the road being left open.

A road further to the south, between the properties of Greg Uithoven and Dan Smeins, will remain open according to the new runway plans.

Most areas that the airport gets easements for are still farmable. Height restrictions in the proposed new runway clearance area are mostly limited to very tall buildings or towers. Regular business or residential buildings would be at an acceptable height to meet regulations.

Richard Ellis throws out a line at the Blue Mounds State Park Lower Lake Monday. He and his wife, Judy (pictured in the boat), have spent a couple days at the park so far this season with their Chihuahua, Tia. Ellis is a Luverne native who now lives in Pipestone.

Photo by Sara Strong