By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth baseball team went 1-2 during three outings since last Thursday.

The Patriots played road games against Red Rock Conference teams Red Rock Central-Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin losing both tilts by the 10-run rule.

H-BC-E hosted Bethany Christian Monday, producing a 12-0 win over the Bears.

RRC-W-WG overpowered the Patriots 19-0 in a game played in Westbrook Thursday.

RRC-W-WG scored six runs in the first and third innings and added seven in the third to open a 19-0 advantage.

H-BC-E, which was limited to two hits, didn't produce a run in a game that ended by the 10-run rule after four and one-half innings of play.

The Patriots blanked the Bethany Christian Bears 12-0 in Hills Monday. No information was available from that game.

H-BC-E's three-game stretch ended with a 10-0 loss to ML-B-O in Butterfield Tuesday.

The Wolverines sported a 1-0 lead through three and one-half innings of play before plating three runs in the fourth inning and six in the fifth to win by the 10-run rule at that point.

H-BC-E, 3-7-1 overall, is scheduled to host Edgerton today and play in Pipestone Tuesday.

Tuff Home residents, guests and staff wore hats for the Mother's Day Tea Monday at Tuff Memorial Home. Tuff Home resident Franceis Kuhl wore her top hat for the festivities.

By Jolene Farley

By John Rittenhouse
A portion of the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track program competed in the West Lyon Relays near Inwood, Iowa, Friday.

With all of H-BC-E's younger athletes attending the Camden Conference Junior High meet the same day, the Patriot varsity squads were shorthanded for the WL Relays.

H-BC-E, however, earned meet titles in both the boys' and girls' divisions of competition while racking up a combined 16 top five finishes overall in what was a solid effort by the Patriots.

Brad Haak came up with the meet championship for H-BC-E's boys. Haak won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:04.1.

Chris Reid placed second in a pair of individual events, covering 20-0 3/4 in the long jump and running 100 meters in 11.27.

Chris Fransman cleared 6-2 to place second in the high jump, Chris Willers ran 400 meters in 52.26 to place second, and Lee Jackson was second in the 3,200-meter run with a time of 11:16.

Erin Boeve was a meet champion for the Patriot girls. Boeve had the winning effort of 15-6 in the long jump.

Boeve also was a member of H-BC-EÕs sprint medley relay team that placed second with a time of 2:01.04. LaDonna Sandstede, Shanna Tilstra and Janelle Jenniges are the other members of the team.

Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-EÕs top five finishers from the WL Relays.

H-BC-E boys
Third place: 800 relay (Reid, Fransman, Willers and Haak), 1:35.86.
Fourth place: Nathan Fick, 3,200, 11:53; distance medley relay (Ryan Ranschau, Jesse Leuthold, Lee Walraven and Jackson), 4:12.01.

H-BC-E girls
Third place: distance medley relay (Sandstede, Brittney Olson, Tilstra and Jenniges), 4:43.84; 400 relay (Jenniges, Connie Lewis, Tilstra and Boeve), 54.85.

Fourth place: Tilstra, high jump, 4-10.

Fifth place: Olson, 1,500, 5:43; Sarah Rozeboom, 400 hurdles, 1:22.44.

By Lori Ehde
In the ongoing saga of the school budget, Luverne School Board members are facing issues of tenure with regard to recent cuts.

During their Thursday, May 10, meeting, board members rescinded two resolutions and amended another with regard to personnel.

At the April 26 meeting, board members voted to place Luverne Elementary Art Specialist Cloyce Smith on unrequested leave of absence after cutting the elementary art program.

Classroom teachers will still offer art to students, but they will not have the specialized services Smith provided.

The board rescinded that action Thursday after learning that Smith is planning to exercise her rights as a tenured teacher.

Smith's program of specialized art was cut, but she is a licensed elementary teacher and will stay on as a classroom teacher.

That means another non-tenured elementary teacher will be "bumped" in the process.

Board members took no action Thursday on placing another teacher on unrequested leave, because they have until July 1 to notify non-tenured staff of such cuts.

In similar action Thursday, the board rescinded an April 26 resolution to place Michelle Johnson on unrequested leave of absence.

Her half-time duties as elementary technology specialist were cut, but she, too, is tenured and is opting to "bump" into another teaching arena.

The board also amended an April 26 resolution placing music teacher Patty Nelson and life sciences teacher Deb Vogt on unrequested leave of absence. The amendment states the action was due to discontinuation of the position and lack of pupil participation.

Other areas to cut
During their Thursday meeting, School Board members also approved another $23,919 in cuts to the athletic program.

oThe biggest cost savings will be seen in increasing activity fees from $15 to $30 for grades 9-12 and from $15 to $20 for grades 7-8.

Schaefer said when he researched what other districts were charging for activities fees, he learned Luverne's fees are among the lowest in the region.

Many schools, for example, charge $40 for football and $30 for all other activities. Waseca has an $82 activity fee, and New Ulm charges $70.

The increased fees in Luverne will bring an additional $10,985 in revenue to the district.

oLuverne's adult ticket prices will increase from $4 to $5, representing new revenue of $5,780. Student ticket prices will remain at $2.

The board discussed the fact that this will make family activity passes more beneficial. The 10-punch card can be purchased for $40, representing a $10 savings.

oThe board decided to eliminate towel service for a savings of $2,750, and intramural basketball (which had low participation) was cut for a savings of $177.

oAbout $1,000 can be saved in transportation by having the marching band use one less bus and one less small vehicle (instructor Dale Nelson had advised the board this would be workable).

oAs much as $3,227 could be saved by paying coaches after the season, once participation numbers are confirmed.

Other policy changes in activities could represent additional savings, but those figures wouldn't be available until after the fact.

For example, if cheerleaders attended state tournaments only if a team were competing (as opposed to one or two wrestlers), that would represent a savings.

Administrative cuts
The board also examined the duties of the elementary, middle school and high school principals, in addition to their support staff, for additional areas to trim.

After presenting the information, Schaefer said it didn't appear there was much fat to trim.

"Some days I think the superintendent would be the best to reduce, because I think you can live without some parts of the superintendent, but you can't live without some of these positions," Schaefer said.

No administrative cuts were presented to the board, and no action was taken.

Writing test results
Luverne's writing skills continue to improve, according to results of the Minnesota Basic Standards Test released last week.

In Luverne, 109 10th-graders took the written composition test, and 98 percent of them passed.

Of those who passed, 72 percent passed at the "basic" level, 19 percent passed at the "competent" level, 6 percent were considered "skillful" and 2 percent were "exceptionally skillful."

According to Curriculum Coordinator Jan Olson, two 10th-graders achieved perfect scores, as did one 11th-grader who moved into the district and hadn't taken the test.

This is the third year that Minnesota 10th-graders have taken the test. This year, seniors need to pass the test along with the basic standard tests in reading and math to graduate.

Last year, 93 percent of Luverne's 10th-graders passed the written test, and the year before that 88 percent passed.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth golf squads played their first matches in nearly two weeks when they traveled to Westbrook Monday.

The Patriot boys slipped to 2-2 for the season when they dropped a 173-193 decision to the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers.

H-BC-E's girls fell to 0-4 for the campaign with a 209-228 loss to the hosts.

Marie Barrie led the Charger girls to a 19-stroke win by shooting a medal-earning round of 49 strokes. BarrieÕs tally was 13 strokes over par.

Marla Groen checked in with an 18-over-par 54 to lead the Patriots.

Jessica Martens shot a 56 for H-BC-E, while Jessica Wassenaar and Melissa Fagerness contributed 59s to the team tally.

Angie Bush and Kari Jansma shot 79- and 85-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.

Andy Coulter set the stage for W-WG's 20-stroke win in the boys' competition by shooting a four-over-par 40 to become the meet's medalist.

Blake Brommer shot an eight-over-par 44 to lead H-BC-E.

Tom Janssen, Kyle Sammons and Dean Moss contributed 46-, 51- and 52-stroke scores to H-BC-E's team effort.

Clint Roozenboom and Ben Herman shot 58- and 59-stroke rounds without contributing to the team effort.

With Tom Beaner shooting a nine-over-par to lock up medalist honors, H-BC-EÕs boys' B squad notched a 220-227 victory over W-WG.

Jared Herman, Jeremy Tiesler and Jordan Scott pitched in 56-, 59- and 60-stroke scores to the winning team effort. Aaron Blank shot a 72 without contributing to the scoring.

The H-BC-E teams play in Pipestone today before competing at the Sub-Section 10 Tournament at Worthington's Prairie View Country Club Monday.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track teams began a stretch of competing at three meets in six days in Pipestone Thursday.

The Patriots traveled to Pipestone to make up the Pipestone-Jasper Invitational, which was postponed on April 14.

H-BC-E, Adrian, Southwest Christian, Lincoln HI and Baltic (S.D.) competed in the Class B version of the event.

There were no team tallies kept at the meet, but the Patriots did more than hold their own against the other teams on hand.

H-BC-E won a combined 12 meet championships and placed second in seven events in the boys' and girls' competitions.

The H-BC-E girls turned in a dominating performance by winning seven events and picking up seven second-place finishes.

Erin Boeve, Connie Lewis, Bev Wurpts and Sarah Rozeboom all won individual titles for the Patriot girls.

Boeve won the long jump with a distance of 15-5, Lewis was the triple jump champion after covering 31-7, Rozeboom cleared the 300-meter hurdles in 59.82 and Wurpts ran 3,200 meters in 12:39.

H-BC-E also fielded the winning 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays, which turned in respective 56.41, 1:57.18 and 4:23.78 times.

LaDonna Sandstede, Melinda Feucht, Brittney Olson and Lewis ran the 400, Sandstede, Cassi and Shanna Tilstra and Boeve teamed up in the 800, and Janelle Jenniges, Boeve and the Tilstras competed in the 1,600.

H-BC-E placed second in the medley and 3,200-meter relays with respective 4:45.91 and 11:01.92 times.

Olson, Rachel Kvaale, Brittney Rozeboom and Jenniges ran the 3,200, and Boeve, the Tilstras and Wurpts teamed up in the medley.

Shanna Tilstra (4-6, high jump), Sarah Rozeboom (100 hurdles, 19.99), Jenniges (1,600, 6:04.74), Feucht (300 hurdles, 59.75) and Kvaale (800, 2:50.54) placed second individually for H-BC-E.

The Patriot boys finished the meet with five championships.

Tyler Bush ran 800 meters in 2:14.16 and Chris Fransman cleared 6-3 in the high jump to claim individual titles.

The boys also won the medley, 800- and 3,200-meter relays with respective 2:03.45, 1:37.23 and 9:05.95 times.

Chris Reid, Fransman, Chris Willers and Brad Haak won the medley and 800. Lee Jackson, Bush, Greg Van Batavia and Matt Buck teamed up in the 3,200.

Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-EÕs top six finishers during the P-J Invitational.

H-BC-E girls
Third place: Feucht, triple jump, 28-10; Lewis, high jump, 4-4; Angie Bush, 100 hurdles, 20.59; Kelsey Hansel, 400, 1:14.38; B.Rozeboom, 800, 2:50.81.
Fourth place: Olson, 1,600, 6:27.34.
Fifth place: Feucht, 100, 14.43.
Sixth place: Lewis, discus, 64-4, Lewis, long jump, 13-6; Sandstede, 100, 14.45.

H-BC-E boys
Third place: Haak, high jump, 5-4; Jackson, 1,600, 5:15.25; 1,600 relay (Jackson, Van Batavia, Buck and Lee Walraven), 3:56.16.
Fourth place: Buck, triple jump, 37-2; Willers, shot put, 36-4 1/2; Buck, 1,600, 5:17.34.
Fifth place: Robert Swayze, 400, 1:08.85.
Sixth place: Ryan Ranschau, shot, 31-9; Walraven, 100, 12.52; Kale Wiertzema, 3,200, 12:39.

By John Rittenhouse
The Adrian and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track and field teams mixed it up with 11 other teams at the Section 3A True Team meet in Slayton Thursday.

The annual event which decides which programs have the deepest team in the section was dominated by Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster on the girls' side, and by Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City on the boys' side.

Those teams represent the section at the state true team meet in Blaine Saturday.

H-BC-E had a decent day in its own right, placing fifth in the boys' competition and seventh on the girls' side.

Adrian placed 11th in both fields.

Three Patriot boys won a combined four events during the meet.

Brad Haak was a double winner after taking top honors in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs with respective 2:00.46 and 4:38.33 efforts.

Chris Willers won the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.41 for H-BC-E. Chris Fransman was the high jump champion after clearing 6-0.

The Patriots placed second in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:35.9. Chris Reid, Fransman, Willers and Lee Walraven formed the squad.

Fourth-place performances were the best efforts turned in by Adrian boys Thursday.

Joey Anderson was fourth with a time of 11.67 in the 100-meter dash. Jared Brake covered 18-9 1/4 while placing fourth in the long jump.

H-BC-E's girls were led by Bev Wurpts during the true team meet.

Wurpts, who was second in the 3,200-meter run in 12:44, won the 1,600-meter event with a time of 5:31.83.

H-BC-E also placed second in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 10:15.42. Cassi and Shanna Tilstra, Brittney Olson and Brittney Rozeboom formed the team.

A sixth-place finish was the best effort Adrian's girls could come up with at the meet.

Becky Knips, who was eighth in the discus with a distance of 92-6 1/2, placed sixth in the shot put with a toss of 30-5.

Here is a look at the team results and other notable performances by Adrian and H-BC-E athletes during the meet in Slayton.

Girls' standings: SSC-SV-RL-B 722.5, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 612.5, Westbrook-Walnut Grove-Red Rock Central 592, A-C-GC 586, Renville County West 577, Windom 535, H-BC-E 515, Murray County Central 454.5, Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin 401.5, Fulda 375.5, Adrian 293, Lakeview 90.5, MACCRAY 90.

Boys' standings: A-C-GC 727, MCC 640, Windom 554.5, RCW 538, H-BC-E 535.5, Fulda 495, ML-B-O 433, SSC-SV-RL-B 422.5, W-WG-RRC 411, T-M-B 390, Adrian 312.5, MACCRAY 254, Lakeview 176.

H-BC-E boys
Third place: Haak, high jump, 5-6; Reid, 100, 11.45.
Fourth place: 1,600 relay (Haak, Lee Jackson, Walraven and Willers), 3:40.1.
Fifth place: Reid, long jump, 18-8; Reid, 200, 23.76.
Sixth place: Lyle DeBoer, triple jump, 38-2; Tyler Bush, 3,200, 11:12.

Adrian boys
Sixth place: Anderson, 200, 24.14; 400 relay (Brent Voss, Jason Say, Brake and Anderson), 47.35.
Eighth place: 800 relay (Anton Klingenberg, Say, Roger Serfling and Voss), 1:42.77.

H-BC-E girls
Third place: Erin Boeve, 100, 13.24.
Fourth place: S.Tilstra, high jump, 4-8; C.Tilstra, 400, 1:02.68; Janelle Jenniges, 800, 2:34.2; Boeve, 200, 27.78; 1,600 relay (Olson, Jenniges and the Tilstras), 4:19.31.
Fifth place: Connie Lewis, shot, 30-11 3/4.
Sixth place: Boeve, long jump, 14-11; S.Tilstra, 800, 2:36.3.

Adrian girls
Eighth place: Brittany Bullerman, 400, 1:04.83; 400 relay (Sarah Gengler, Bullerman, Sarah Kruger and Amanda Lynn), 55.07.
10th place: 800 relay (Gengler, Kristina Wagner, Kruger and Lynn), 1:59.62.
11th place: 1,600 relay (Bullerman, Hillary Duin, Lynn and Chelsea Heitkamp), 4:46.96.

When Joe and I began discussing a getaway weekend, many destinations came to mind. We wanted somewhere within a reasonable driving distance so eventually we settled on Deadwood, S.D.

We planned to leave home around noon on Friday and return Sunday afternoon or evening. Because I like seeing new places, I knew I would enjoy the trip.

We eagerly set off early Friday afternoon and made it to Sioux Falls before deciding to travel off our route. Oh, what the hay, we were on vacation!

We visited friends for a few hours in Dell Rapids, S.D., before backtracking to continue west toward our original destination.

Interstate 90 is littered with billboards for various tourist attractions in the Hills. They become more numerous after passing Sioux Falls.

Wall Drug signs are particularly prominent. After awhile, we joked we should make a list of the things the billboards say you can do, see or buy at Wall Drug and stop to see if all the advertising is correct.

Other signs detail other more dignified things you can do in the Black Hills area such as visiting Mount Rushmore or the Crazy Horse Memorial, touring a cave or two, or possibly a gold mine.

It was a good thing Joe was driving when we passed the exit for the six-ton prairie dog exhibit (I might have stopped). Two adults pulling off the road to see that sight couldn't have landed on the dignified side of the list.

As the land became flatter and the scenery less interesting, I jokingly asked Joe if he wanted to play a game I used to play as a child while riding in the car. The object of the game was to find a car with a license plate from every state in the union.

About midway through the state of South Dakota I flipped on the radio. After scanning for stations I soon realized only one station came in. I began singing the western favorite, "Rawhide," to myself and to an unappreciative audience member. I have also been known to sing a rousing rendition of "Ninety-nine Bottles of Beer on the Wall" when I have nothing better to do.

I learned some interesting facts about farming and ranching on my trip. For instance, they only plant wheat every other year. I didn't know that! Also, it takes 20 acres to support a cow in mid-South Dakota versus one acre to support a cow and calf in southwestern Minnesota. My traveling companion shared all these facts with me. What a guy!

We reached our final destination of Deadwood around 9 p.m. Friday. We checked into the historic Franklin Hotel in Deadwood. Tired from our long drive, we decided to wait until Saturday evening to go out on the town.

The Franklin Hotel has beautiful antiques, and about $2 million was spent renovating the hotel.

We awoke Saturday morning to snow on the ground and predictions of more snow yet to come. We decided to leave Deadwood and drive into Rapid City. We knew the twisting, turning roads out of Deadwood would be treacherous with snow on them.

Once we arrived in Rapid City we checked into another hotel and went to the mall. Rapid City has a nice mall with many stores to choose from. I had a wonderful time shopping. I knew Joe was done for when he sat on a bench and wouldn't go into any more stores. It must be a man thing!

We decided to go back to the hotel (he wanted to take a nap) and I planned to continue on to Hobby Lobby after dropping him off.

I returned to our room after about an hour at Hobby Lobby. A message was flashing across the bottom of the television screen. The National Weather Service was advising no travel in the Rapid City area through Sunday. According to them, snow would begin falling Saturday night and continue into the next day.

This presented a dilemma; only two months before this trip I was stranded in the Twin Cities because of a blizzard. When we finally were able to leave, we were forced to drive home on horrible roads. I did not want to repeat that incident.

We checked out of the motel and drove back home. No fun Saturday night for us! We were relieved we left when we did when we found out more than 20 inches of snow had accumulated in the Hills.

My recommendation to anyone considering a weekend getaway (mine was more like a day getaway) is to make sure winter is long over before planning your trip. It will likely be awhile before I plan another getaway weekend. Every time I try to get away bad weather follows me. I hope my next travel experience sometime in the future will be better than this one!

By Jolene Farley
A room full of parents attended the Hills-Beaver Creek School Board meeting Monday night to express concern over the status of H-BC's vocal and band programs.

Speaking for the group, Lorraine Sandbulte said the quality of the high school music program has deteriorated greatly in the last few years.

"I am just sad, sad, sad, sad," said Sandbulte, who has been involved in the music program in various capacities for 14 years.

She said the senior high choir is singing pieces the junior high choir used to sing. The parents stressed the need for change in the program, or they felt there would be nothing left. Several students have decided to quit the music program unless changes are made.

Sandbulte suggested that maybe Jodi Ackerman, who currently teaches vocal music at the elementary level, should be allowed to take over the vocal program in the high school.

Alan Harnack, who was running the meeting in Chair Roland Crawford's absence, offered some background on H-BC's music program status.

He said a five-year sabbatical granted to a previous music teacher made hiring difficult because applicants knew they could be let go if the absent teacher decided to return.

When the current instructor, Dawn Griepp, was hired, she was the only applicant for the position, according to the board. "What if we let go of a person and there are no other applicants?" asked board member Ann Boeve.

After the band parents left the meeting, Harnack spoke in defense of Griepp, stating, "There are kids and parents that think she is doing a good job with the program."

The board's indecision on the issue was clear after a vote to terminate GrieppÕs contract split 3-3.

With Crawford absent, only six members of the board were present. The board will revote on the motion at the next meeting on Tuesday, May 29.

In other board business:
oContracts were terminated for elementary teachers Chris Louwagie, Angie Blosmo and Jodi Ackerman. A motion passed to rehire Angie Blosmo to work exclusively at Little Patriot Academy. Rehiring Jodi Ackerman will likely occur at the next board meeting, according to Boeve. Louwagie, a non-tenured teacher, lost his position.

oSuperintendent Tom Knoll suggested a more conservative dress code for commencement exercises. "I have had 20 to 25 people talk to me about the attire of our kids," said Knoll. Any policy changes would take effect next year.

oSuperintendent Knoll advised the board that a "re-examination of Patriot Millworks" is needed. "We are really violating, probably, a law," said Knoll.

Some H-BC students have been issued checks for $200 to $300 without payroll taxes withheld, according to Knoll.