Charles (Chuck) Jacob Ebert, 51, of Luverne, died Friday, June 14, 2002, at the Luverne Hospice Cottage.

Services were Monday, June 17, at Grace Lutheran Church of Luverne. Burial was at Maplewood Cemetery in Luverne.

Mr. Ebert was born Jan. 26, 1951, in Clear Lake, SD to Vance and Doris (Warner) Ebert. When he was in grade school he moved with his family to Luverne. He graduated from Luverne High School in 1969. He continued his education at Winona State College. Chuck worked as a Marketing Manager at CWG-Tri-State Insurance in Luverne. Over the years he continued with his insurance education and received the following titles and degrees: CPCU, CIC, ARM, AU, and ALCM.

He and Terri Jasperson were married on Sept. 20, 1975, in Appleton, Minn. They were blessed with three daughters, Katie, Sarah, and Amanda.

Mr. Ebert was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. He served as past president of the Jaycees, past president of the Luverne Toastmasters, past treasurer for the Music Boosters, board member for the Green Earth Players, scorekeeper for the gymnastics team and current treasurer for Pheasants Forever. Above all, he cherished the time he could spend with his family.

Mr. Ebert will be lovingly remembered by his wife, his daughters, his parents, his brothers, Jim (Mary) Ebert of Bemidji, and Paul (Dyan) Ebert of Elk River; his nieces Jessica (Ethan) Harvey of Little Falls, and Laurin Ebert of Elk River; and his nephew Jake Ebert of Truman.

His grandparents proceeded him in death.

Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital will plant a tree in his memory. Donations can be given to the First Farmers & Merchants Bank of Luverne for the Ebert Family Scholarship, which will be awarded at the Pheasants Forever banquet.

Engebretson Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.

Charley Dean Hill, 78, died on Dec. 3, 2001 in Las Vegas, NV from complications from a broken hip and a stroke.
Burial was in the National Military Cemetery in Boulder Dam City, NV in April 2002.

Dean was born to Mary and Carthel Hill, Luverne, on Dec. 17, 1922. He attended Luverne schools and enjoyed playing basketball in high school and some semi-pro ball until the start of WW II. He served in the Alamo Scouts, U. S. Army Rangers in the Pacific Area. After WW II Dean married Vera Muff in Los Angeles.

Survivors include his wife Vera, two daughters and one son in California, brother Marvin Hill, Las Vegas, sister Mary Ellen Ault, Oregon.

By John Rittenhouse

Three Luverne High School players drew honors from Southwest Conference coaches when the 2002 All-SWC Softball Team was announced last week.

Two Cardinals were named to the 18-player All-SWC roster. Another LHS athlete drew honorable mention.

Making the all-league team for Luverne are senior Emmy Bush and junior Karen Jarchow.

League champion Jackson County Central led all teams by having five players selected to the All-SWC roster.

JCC senior Mikayla Smith, juniors Jamie Wheeler and Leah Jensen, sophomore Danielle Stump and freshman Hattie Rossow grace the list for the Huskies.

Pipestone-Jasper drew four all-league selections in juniors Steph Plahn, Jodi Kontz and Kelli Cunningham and sophomore Stacy Evans.

Worthington placed seniors Abby Schmidt and Katie Pierson and junior Amanda Duitsman on the roster.

Windom matched Luverne with two All-SWC selections. Senior Lesley Johnson and junior Connie Fredin made the team for Windom.

Redwood Vally sophomore Kristi Curry and Marshall's Maria Rye round out the all-conference team.

Luverne junior Laura Clark is one of nine players to receive honorable mention from the SWC coaches.

Also drawing honorable mention are RWV juniors Amanda Jacobson and Evan Panitzke, P-J senior Rachel Moffitt and junior Mindy Cunningham, JCC junior Ashley Bezdicek, Worthington junior Celia Westphal, Windom sophomore Michelle Kallin and Marshall sophomore Rachel Henderson.

Luverne's Tim Boen picks himself up after sliding safely into third base during Monday’s 5-3 VFW baseball win over Pipestone at Redbird Field.

By John Rittenhouse

The Luverne VFW baseball team surpassed the .500 mark when it posted a pair of league wins since last Thursday.

Luverne downed Edgerton by four runs on the road Thursday before nipping Pipestone by two runs at Redbird Field Monday.

The 6-5 Cardinals played four games at the Worthington Tournament over the weekend before playing a league game in Worthington Monday.

Luverne 5, Pipestone 3
The Cardinals scored four runs in the first two innings and pitcher Jared Pick made them stand up during Monday’s game in Luverne.

Luverne scored three times in the first inning and once in the second to gain a quick, 4-0 advantage. Pick protected the lead by pitching seven innings of six-hit, two-earned run ball. He fanned nine Pipestone batters.

Pick singled and Tim Boen walked to start a two-out rally for Luverne in the first. Zach Wysong singled home one run, Brad Herman singled home another and the final run scored on a wild pitch.

Andy Stegemann singled and scored on Rob Fodness' fielder's choice to make it a 4-0 game in the second.

Pipestone scored one run in the top of the third and twice in the seventh to make the game close.

John Tofteland walked and scored on Mark Remme’s sacrifice fly in the fourth to cap the scoring for Luverne.

Box score AB R H BI
Remme 3 0 1 1
Fodness 3 0 0 1
Pick 3 1 1 0
Boen 2 1 0 0
Wysong 3 1 1 1
Herman 3 0 1 1
Tofteland 2 1 0 0
Stegemann 2 1 2 0
Kopp 1 0 0 0
Graphenteen 2 0 1 0

Luverne 10,
Edgerton 6
The Cardinals secured their first league win of the season when they toppled Edgerton by four runs in Edgerton Thursday.

Five different Luverne players drew in runs at the plate in a game that belonged to the Cardinals after the first inning.
Edgerton drew first blood by scoring a run off Luverne's starting and winning pitcher Stegemann in the bottom half of the first inning.

Luverne, however, scored a combined nine runs in the second and third frames and never lost the lead the rest of the night.

Brandon Deragisch produced a key hit in a five-run second inning that gave the Cards a four-run cushion.
Remme doubled home a run in the second, while Taylor Graphenteen and Pick singled home runs.

Graphenteen and Fodness singled home runs during a four-run third inning that included Luverne plating a pair of unearned runs to take a 9-1 lead.

Edgerton scored twice in the bottom of the third to make it a 9-3 game, and added three more in the fifth after Luverne scored its last run in the top of the inning.

The game ended due to darkness after six innings of play.
Remme reached base on an error and scored Luverne’s fifth-inning run when Fodness singled.

Stegemann pitched the first four and two-thirds innings for Luverne. Wysong worked the final inning and one-third to pick up a save.

Box score AB R H BI
Remme 4 3 2 1
Fodness 3 0 1 1
Pick 4 0 1 1
Boen 4 0 0 0
Wysong 3 2 3 0
Herman 3 0 0 0
Bradley 1 0 0 0
Tofteland 2 2 1 0
Graphenteen 4 2 2 2
Deragisch 3 1 1 2

By Lori Ehde
A large contingent of Hardwick residents and their friends and relatives participated in the annual MS Walk in Sioux Falls Sunday.

This isn't surprising, considering the little town of Hardwick has seen four of its residents diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a chronic disease of the central nervous system.

Even more striking, these four residents, at one time, all lived on the same street, Buckingham Street.

Babe Obele started showing symptoms of MS in 1972 at the age of 47. She and her husband, Squint, owned the Valley Bar in Valley Springs, S.D., at the time, and Squint remembers it was Babe's balance that was first affected.

"SheÕd walk in the back of the bar, and she'd have to hang on to both sides," he said. "She didn't know what the heck was going on."

Local doctors were unable to determine the cause of her symptoms, but as slurred speech and double vision set in, the couple sought help from Minneapolis physicians.

"The doctors explained it this way: Your brain is like a fuse box, and your brain tells you to lift your arm or leg," Squint said. "With MS your brain doesn't make the connection."

Babe was diagnosed with MS in 1975 and was admitted to the Minnesota Veterans Nursing Home seven years ago.

Jean Hansen was the first to be diagnosed in 1978 at the age of 25. Her mother, Bette Colbeck, said Jean, a computer programmer at the time, noticed numbness and loss of function in her hands.

"The same thing happened to my brother," Colbeck remembers, saying she believes the theory that MS is hereditary.

Her father, Harold Kadinger, had MS, and her brother, Bob, was discharged from the military when MS prevented him from writing.

"They locked him up because they thought he was going goofy," Colbeck said. "I also remember him walking down the street in Hardwick one day and everybody thought he was drunk."

Having lived with MS for so much of her life, her daughterÕs diagnosis seemed a cruel curse.

"I just couldn't believe it at first," she said. "I didnÕt want to believe it."

Jean, now 48, lives in California and hasnÕt been able to work for more than 10 years. She uses a cane around the house, but if she has to cross more than one room at a time, she needs a wheelchair.

Colbeck said the four Hardwick people with MS all lived near each other on the west side of the railroad tracks, but she blames the water.

"I say it's the rock in the water," she said. "Hardwick is built on rock, you know, and I say thatÕs why there's so much cancer in Hardwick, too."

Feedlot Zoning Ordinance hearing set for June 24
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Revised Ordinance Adoption
Pursuant to Rock County Zoning Ordinance, Notice is hereby given by the Rock County Planning Commission that a public hearing will be held at the Rock County Family Service Building located at 2 Roundwind Road in Luverne, MN at 7:10 p.m. on Monday, June 24, 2002. The purpose of the hearing is to review the adoption of the revised Rock County Feedlot Zoning Ordinance. Copies are available for your review at the Rock County Land Management Office.

Zoning Administrator
Eric Hartman
(6-13, 6-20)

Sign variance hearing set for June 24
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING
Variance Request
Pursuant to the Rock County Zoning Ordinance, Notice is hereby given by the Rock County Planning Commission that a public hearing will be held at the Rock County Family Service Center Community Room located at 2 Round Wind Road in Luverne, MN at 7:00 p.m. on Monday, June 24, 2002. The purpose of the hearing is to rule on the application submitted by Skattum Confinement Systems and Superior Buildings for a variance request on the number of business signs allowed for a business located in A-2. These signs are proposed to be located at the intersections of County Road 4 and County Road 9, Highway 75 and County Road 16, County Road 16 and County Road 9, County Road 9 and Township Road 45, County Road 3 and Township Road 45, and County Road 55 and Township Road 45 in Rock County, Minnesota.

Zoning Administrator
Eric Hartman
(6-13, 6-20)

Jauert variance hearing set for June 24
Notice of a Public Hearing for a variance
To the City of Luverne Zoning Ordinance

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN by the City of Luverne Board of Appeals and Adjustments that a public hearing will be held in the Council Chambers at City Hall, Luverne, Minnesota, at 5:00 p.m. on June 24, 2002, to consider a variance, as requested by Lynette Jauert, to City Code Section 11.35, (3) (b) to allow less than the required 10% side yard setback for installation of a new attached garage addition in the R-1 Low Density Residential District on property located at 206 E. Oakland St., Luverne, Minnesota.

All persons wishing to be heard in favor or in opposition to the variance request should be present at the hearing or present written comments prior thereto the City Clerk. Anyone needing reasonable accommodations or an interpreter should contact the City Clerk's office, 203 E. Main St. (507) 449-2388.

Marianne Perkins
City Clerk

Published: 06/13/02

F

Roger Siebenahler was diagnosed in 1985 at the age of 38. Now, at age 54, his symptoms have become so debilitating he lives in Southridge Nursing Home in Sioux Falls where heÕs been there since 1994.

Prior to his diagnosis, he drove for his father, LuVerne Siebenahler, and also for Old Home in Sioux Falls.

His sister, Lorna Bryan, walked in his honor in Sunday's MS Walk.

"My brother's major challenge with MS is independence," she said. "He said it was difficult to get a diagnosis and deal with a terminal disease at such a young age."

She wonders if the weed spray along the railroad tracks could be a cause. "I remember the smell was very strong," Bryan said. "We lived on the west side of the tracks, and his is the only thing that set us apart from everyone else in Hardwick."

Ron Hansen was diagnosed in 1991 at the age of 47. "MS has changed my life so much," he said. "Little things like driving a nail wears me out. I canÕt mow the lawn. There are so many things."

Since then, he's been able to keep working as Rock CountyÕs veterans services coordinator, and he leans on a cane to get around.

Despite his physical limitations, he counts himself lucky that his diagnosis came after the release of a drug that prohibits progression of the disease.

Once a week he self-administers a shot of Interferon Beta 1 Avonex.

"My doctor tells me had I not been put on it, thereÕs a good chance I would be in a wheelchair by now," Hansen said.

"I guess I consider myself very fortunate of the four Hardwick people who have it."

He still suffers from bladder and kidney damage and daily fatigue. "Every day, you wake up and you don't know what the day will be like," he said.

"You know there's the fatigue factor, but youÕre always glad just to get through a day."

Hansen walked 11 blocks of the MS Walk Sunday with his wife, Alice, at his side. "My wife is one of the best supporters I have," he said. "She does so much for me."

In addition, 16 other friends and family members walked Sunday in HansenÕs honor, many of them wearing "Walking for Grandpa" T-shirts.

MS affects roughly 350,000 Americans, and it strikes women two to three times more often than men.

There is a higher frequency of MS diagnosed in children with parents who have MS, and theories on possible causes range from genetic and immunologic to environmental and viral.

While it remains unknown what caused the disease for these Hardwick residents, all they know for certain is they share common symptoms.

MS typically strikes adults between the ages of 20 and 50 and affects the brain and spinal chord.
It causes blurred vision, loss of balance, poor coordination, slurred speech, tremors, numbness, extreme fatigue and paralysis and blindness.

The symptoms may be permanent or they may come and go.

Participants in Sunday's MS Walk started at the University of Sioux Falls and had the option of a six- or nine-mile route.

About 2,000 people participated in the annual event, which raised about $160,000. The money goes to the National MS Society, which funds research for treatments and ultimately a cure.

More than 100 cancer survivors kick off the 2002 Relay for Life in Luverne by completing the Survivor Lap Friday night at the Luverne High School track.

By Lori Ehde

Theresa Graff has been cancer-free for eight years, and for her and her family, Friday's Relay for Life was a celebration of survival.

Chuck Ebert and his family, on the other hand, were dealt a different hand. He was diagnosed last summer with a brain tumor and died Friday morning, just hours before local Relay for Life activities began.

"It really brought home the fact that we need to do research to find a cure for cancer," said Relay for Life co-chair Nancy Kaczrowski. "It put into perspective why we were all up at the football field together."

Some of Ebert's family members attended Relay For Life activities that evening on the Luverne High School track. "I gave them a hug, but I really didn't know what to do," Graff said. "I know this isn’t right, but I almost feel guilty. Here I am still alive, and their loved one is gone."
More than 700 participants in Luverne's second annual Relay for Life all had their own reasons for being there - whether to celebrate or remember - but the underlying purpose was the same for everyone.

The event so far has raised $43,000 for the American Cancer Society, money that will be used for cancer research and education, and hopefully someday a cure.

According to organizers, 32 teams and 400 walkers circled the track for 12 continuous hours Friday night into Saturday morning.

"People were walking and visiting and the campfires were burning and it was really just a beautiful night," said co-chair Vicki Baartman.

"We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was perfect."
Some highlights of the night were the luminary ceremony and the sunrise service.

Cancer survivor Glenda Schomacker told her story at dusk as burning luminaries fringed the track. They glowed in memory of those who died from cancer or in honor of those who have survived it.

"Many things go through your mind," Schomacker said Friday night. "Will I see another Mother's Day? Will I be a survivor? How am I going to get through this? What about the bills?"

Her story illustrated the "darkness" of the disease and the "daylight" of recovery, which is why Relay for Life is an overnight event.

"I found out a survivor is a victim with an attitude," she said.

"Being a survivor is a state of mind. A survivor knows feeling down is okay. A survivor never leaves home without tissues, because tears are made to be shared. A survivor loves a good laugh, A survivor says 'thanks' with dignity and grace. A survivor learns to pray for little things just to get through the day."

For the sunrise service Saturday morning, participants sang the hymn, "Morning has Broken," and Pastor Del Sanderson referred to the Psalmist who wrote, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil."

In his prayer, Sanderson said, "Lord of Light, as the dawn breaks forth we are mindful that light does come in time, not by our making, but by yours. As we have walked through the night, we know that dawn awaits us, for we are a people who walk in hope."

The event concluded with breakfast and cleanup.

"I think anybody who has experienced a Relay for Life event will be forever changed," Kaczrowski said.

"Witnessing friends and family members in the survivors walk, then the release of the balloons and the lighting of the luminaries can only fill a person with hope for cancer-free days and gratitude for all the good things we have."

Baartman said the event went more smoothly this year than last year, partly due to the weather, but partly due to good help.

"A heartfelt thanks to everyone in the community who pulled together to make this happen," Baartman said. "It really was a wonderful event."

Those still interested in donating money to the 2002 Relay for Life effort can contact Vivian Holst at the Reliant Energy office on Main Street. The phone number is 283-2331.