Judith D. Vis, age 76, of rural Valley Springs, South Dakota, went to be with her Lord on Sunday, July 17, 2022, while at the Sanford USD Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Visitation will be Wednesday, July 20, from 5 to 7 p.m. at Hills United Reformed Church in Hills, Minnesota. Funeral service will be Thursday, July 21, at 1:30 p.m. at the church. A private family committal service will be held at the Hills Christian Reformed Cemetery in Hills prior to the service.
Memorials may be directed to the Luke Society. To view Judy’s life history or sign an online registry, please visit hartquistfuneral.com.
Judith Dianne Top was born on October 23, 1945, to John and Johanna (Oldenkamp) Top in Luverne, Minnesota. She was raised on various places throughout Rock County, Minnesota. Judy attended Hills Christian School in Hills before then attending and graduating high school from Hills public schools.
Following her education, Judy began working as a secretary at Hakes in Luverne.
On March 13, 1969, Judy was united in marriage to Norman Vis at the Hills United Reformed Church. Following their marriage, the couple made their home on an acreage near Manley, Minnesota, where they would live together for the next 53 years while raising their family. In addition to homemaking, Judy was very involved in the day-to-day operations on the farm with Norm. She also cleaned houses for several years.
Judy’s life was devoted to her faith in the Lord, service to others and her family. She was a member of Hills United Reformed Church where she volunteered and taught Sunday school. She served many meals and drove kids for events at Hills Christian School. She supported and volunteered for several causes, including Trash for Cash, Union Gospel Mission, Right for Life and Luke Society.
Right after her relationship with her Lord, Judy’s priority was her family. She provided for them in all of the ways she was able and taught them many values and lessons which shaped their character as grown adults. She loved spending time with her grandchildren and held “grandma’s day out” special to her heart. She also loved rummaging and thrifting with her sister, Audrey.
Judy is lovingly remembered by her husband, Norm; six children, Kelly (Sheila) Vis of Sioux Falls, Boyd Vis of Beaver Creek, Benjamin Vis of Valley Springs, South Dakota, Rachel (Toby) Kaiser of Brandon, South Dakota, Samuel (Stacey) Vis of Grand Junction, Colorado, and Matthew Vis of Sioux Falls; 14 grandchildren, Caleb (Jasmyn) Vis, Isaiah Vis, Carlie Gardner, Daisey Vis, Isaac Vis, Braxton Kaiser, Taylor Kaiser, Addison Vis, Kennedy Vis, Kadence Vis, Kohlter Vis, Keatton Vis, Arriana Vis, and Averley Vis; two great-grandchildren, Archer and Kutler Vis; seven siblings, Albert (Marlene) Top of Hardwick, Charles Top of Edgerton, Joanne Klarenbeek of Luverne, Audrey (Jim) Vis of Sioux Falls, Annetta Berghorst of Ripon, California, Larry (Melinda) Top of Hardwick, and John (Evonne) Top of Luverne; other family and friends.
She was preceded in death by her parents, John and Johanna Top; step-father, Gerrit Pap; nephew, Albert Top; and a niece, Heather Berghorst.
Arrangements are provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com.
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Frederick L. “Fritz” Nuffer, COL US Army (Retired) September 26, 1934 – July 13, 2022. Omaha, Nebraska.
Served two combat tours in Vietnam as well as tours in Germany, the Pentagon, and numerous posts throughout the United States during his 26-year career. He was a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point (BS), the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (MA), the Naval War College, and the Army War College. Following his military service, Fritz had a second 14-year career as the Senior Vice President of Output Services, a major division of First Data Resources. During his tenure with FDR, Fritz had extended service in New York City and South-end-on-Sea near London, England. Following his second retirement, Fritz and his beloved wife, Martha, traveled extensively. Fritz also became an avid golfer, playing in several senior leagues.
Preceded in death by his wife, Martha.  Survived by sons Frederick J. Nuffer (Diana) and Stephen Nuffer (Melanie); brother William Nuffer; six grandchildren, Megan McGuigan (Bill), Fritz Nuffer, Jordan Nuffer, and Taylor Jeter (Tony); two great-grandchildren, Charlie and Madeline McQuiigan; significant other, Teresa Cavanaugh.
Visitation is Friday, July 15, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the West Center Chapel, 7805 W. Center Rd., Omaha, followed by vigil service at 7 p.m. Mass of Christian Burial Saturday, July 16, at 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Catholic Church, 20500 W. Maple Rd. in Elkhorn, Nebraska.  Entombment: Resurrection Mausoleum, with full military honors. Memorials are suggested to St. Patrick Catholic Church-Elkhorn or The Open Door Mission.
To view live broadcasts of the vigil service, Mass, and graveside service, please visitwww.heafeyheafey.com and click the “View Live Cast” button at the top of the home page.
Grandparents and three maiden aunts, two of whom were English teachers, raised Fritz in a small, rural Minnesota community.  While he had little practical knowledge of the world beyond his village, Fritz was instilled with a love of literature and all things written. It was exciting and a true wonderment for Fritz to be selected to attend West Point. Nearly the entire town saw him off in his new woolen suit. The New York cabbie noted his attire and ensured Fritz’s longest taxi ride ever on his way to Port Authority and West Point.
The next four years were fulfilling and challenging. There were so many opportunities for learning and enjoying life at the Point. Fritz made a lot of friends with whom he continued to keep in touch throughout his life. Upon graduation, he never planned to have a military career.
Twenty-six years later, a bunch of moves, more friends, many challenges, great assignments, fulfillment beyond Fritz’s wildest expectations, he felt so very fortunate to have been a soldier. Throughout, he gained a deep appreciation for our country, its people, and our many blessings. Of these blessings, Fritz held his time at West Point as one of the most treasured. Following retirement from the Army, Fritz joined a small firm which became a major publicly traded, international corporation. Again, there were challenges, more moves — England, New York City — more friends.
Fritz was left with many great memories, most of which focused on people, less and less on places and things. Lastly, Fritz was blessed with a wonderful family, the center of which was his wife, Martha. She endured the early financial struggles, the constant moving, and the extended times apart while successfully raising two children. Throughout, she remained beautiful and loving, and a great friend.
Arrangements were provided by Heafey-Hoffmann-Dworak-Cutler www.heafeyheafey.com
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Rock County commissioners unanimously passed a one-year moratorium halting the sale of hemp-derived THC food and beverages in Rock County.
The county’s action Tuesday on the moratorium is in response to the state’s legalization of tetrahydrocannabinols, which began July 1.
The cities in Rock County are expected to follow suit in adopting similar moratoriums.
The action essentially allows local government leaders to study the issue and consider licensing, rules and sales management controls for the sale of THC products.
The county is considering rules and controls similar to those in place for tobacco sales and products.
This includes checking identifications, enforcement, compliance and license fees.

Living Rock Church pastor Billy Skaggs survived two kidney transplants in his lifetime only to be diagnosed with cancer last summer.
Skaggs retired from the pulpit in June after 12 years with the local congregation in order to focus on healing.
“That was not very easy,” he said about the congregation that had become like family. “I married their kids and buried their grandparents. … It’s hard to walk away from that.”
Meanwhile, his church family has organized a benefit event for this weekend in order to support Skaggs and his wife, Cindy, with medical bills for cancer treatment.
A “clean comedy show” featuring headliner comedian Brandon Young, San Diego, will be Sunday night, July 24, at Living Rock Church on East Main Street.
Doors open at 5:30 when silent auction bidding begins. The comedy act starts at 6:30, and pie and ice cream will be served at 8 p.m. when silent auction winners are announced.
Posters and social media have been advertising the event.
“We want to celebrate the amazing impact he and Cindy have made in this community,” are the words on posters.
Sioux Falls comedian and radio personality Big John Small will host the event, which is sponsored by Main Street Financial Services, Luverne.
Freewill offerings will be accepted at the door.
Cindy said she’s touched by the local support. “We love the people of Luverne,” she said. “Over the 12 years they’ve been so good to us.”
The couple moved to Luverne from Georgia in 2010.
“We didn’t know what we were in for with the weather and moving from the metro to plant a church in a small farming community,” Billy said.
“We wouldn’t change it for anything.”
Their house on Pine Drive is listed for sale and Billy will start dialysis soon, because cancer treatment has interfered with his kidney function.
“We don’t know what our next step is,” he said.
But he said he trusts God’s plan and is grateful for support from his former congregation and from the community.
“It’s overwhelming that they would do this for us in this way,” Skaggs said.
Sunday’s benefit is organized through Stand Up to Help, a comedy show that helps local non-profits raise money. More information is at StandUpToHelp.com

Workers with Court Surfaces & Repair of Blaine spent three days at the Luverne High School tennis courts filling cracks and applying a new asphalt base and painted acrylic paste surface. Workers then restriped the white lines for the tennis and pickle ball courts. The courts are painted green with areas between the courts painted in red. The original concrete courts were constructed in 2010. The $50,000 resurfacing project is being paid for through the school district’s long-term facility maintenance fund.

I moved to Worthington at the age of 13 and after my folks bought me a new bike, I was the traveling fisherman and hunter.
I would ride my bike to the local lake in my town almost every day.
When I reached the age of 14, which is when you can hunt without an adult, I would ride my bike about six miles out to the Lake Ocheda Waterfowl refuge and try to shoot a Canada goose. I would often ride home with a shotgun in one hand and, if I was lucky, a goose held by the neck in the other.
When my own son was about 10, he wanted to start hunting, and this was when hunting became a bigger part of my life. So, fast forward almost 50 years from that new bike, and wildlife habitat and the conservation of our natural resources now occupy almost all my non-work hours.
I was at the Minnesota DNR Roundtable a few weeks back and ran across an old friend by the name of Jason Garms. He didn’t know it and I didn’t really realize it until that chance meeting last week, but my encounter with Jason was a pivotal moment in my life.
I was working to enroll a portion of my parents’ farm into the Minnesota Native Prairie Bank Easement Program, which paid owners of remnant native prairie parcels to protect those lands from ever being plowed or developed.
Considering that 97 percent of the native prairie in Minnesota is long gone, these unique spaces offer a glimpse of what the state looked like before modern civilization, with plants and flowers that exist nowhere else in the state.
Back in the days before the plow, native prairie could support as many as 250 different plant species all living in harmony at the same time. Native prairies are a look into the past and are my very favorite places to spend my time in the wild.
Jason came down to do a site inspection on my parcel. My parcel was not very large, 20 acres or so, so it wasn’t a big priority in terms of protecting large blocks of remaining native prairie.
I was doing my best to convince Jason that my spot was important. After a short walk I asked him if he thought I could qualify. He responded, “I have already made up my mind to recommend this spot for protection. Now I am just going on a treasure hunt.”
What he meant was that he was exploring for as many different plant species as he could identify.
It was on that day more than two decades ago – that  very moment – that I became immersed in native prairies and the creatures that lived there.
Every year I try to learn and remember (that is the hard part) the names of new plants and flowers, including their scientific names.
When I met Jason, his title was a Prairie Stewardship Specialist.  Today he has been promoted more than a few times and now holds the title of Agricultural Program Liaison.  
My engagement in the outdoors now results in countless hours a year volunteering for Pheasants Forever, Minnesota DNR, Prairie Chicken Society, Round Lake Sportsman’s Club, Quail Forever, Ducks Unlimited Okabena/Ocheda Watershed and many others.
You hear all the time that you should always be good to one another and that every meeting, no matter how insignificant, could be a life-changing event for you or the other person.
I never really realized it until my drive home from the metro that day just how important my chance meeting with Jason Garms was in terms of becoming the person I have become.
Lighting a spark, creating a curiosity, opening someone’s eyes to the wonders of nature is something that every adult and child needs and deserves.
Jason did it for me, and I truly believe I will spend the rest of my life trying to do the same for every person I might have the opportunity to interact with.
I am sure Jason has no idea of the effect he had in my life and the results that my efforts since have achieved. Thank you, Jason, and I will do my best to carry on your spark.
 
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.

An upcoming Luverne High School junior will have her design featured on the 2022 Tri-State Band Festival button.
Perceyis Trierweiler created the award-winning design as a sophomore in Bill Thompson’s graphic arts class.
LHS students enrolled in a fine arts or graphic arts class are encouraged each year to enter the Tri-State Band Festival button design contest.
Trierweiler incorporated her favorite colors, images of musical instruments and unusual fonts.
She was awarded $50 for the winning design. Trierweiler is the daughter of Craig and Kathy Hawes.
The band festival is set for Sept. 24 in Luverne.

City of Luverne sets hearing on proposed assessment
Notice of Hearing on Propsed Assessment
Luverne, Minnesota, July 21, 2022
Notice is hereby given that the council will meet at 5:00 p.m. on August 9, 2022, at City Offices, Council Chambers to consider, and possibly adopt, the proposed assessment against abutting property for Improvement No. 371114, the improvement
of the Alleyway with asphalt in Block 5 of Barck, Adams and Howe Addition.
Such assessment is proposed to be payable in equal annual installments extending over a period of 7 years, the first of the installments to be payable on or before the first Monday in January 2023, and will bear interest at the rate of four percent per annum from the date of the adoption of the assessment resolution. To the first installment shall be added interest on the entire assessment from the date of the assessment resolution until December 31, 2023. To each subsequent installment when due shall be added interest for one year on all unpaid installments.
You may at any time prior to certification of the assessment to the county auditor-treasurer, pay the entire assessment on such property, with interest accrued to the date of payment, to the City of Luverne. No interest shall be charged if the entire assessment is paid within 30 days from the adoption of this assessment. You may at any time thereafter, pay to the Rock County Auditor-Treasurer the entire amount of the assessment remaining unpaid, with interest accrued to December 31 of the year in which such payment is made. Such payment must be made before November 15 or interest will be charged through December 31 of the succeeding year. If you decide not to prepay the assessment before the date given above the rate of interest that will apply is (4) four percent per year.
The proposed assessment roll is on file for public inspection at the city clerk’s office. The total amount of the proposed assessment is $38,745.00. Written or oral objections will be considered at the meeting. No appeal to district court may be taken as to the amount of an assessment unless a written objection signed by the affected property owner is filed with the municipal clerk prior to the assessment hearing or presented to the presiding officer at the hearing. The council may upon such notice consider any objection to the amount of a proposed individual assessment at an adjourned meeting
upon such further notice to the affected property owners as it deems advisable.
Under Minn. Stat. §§ 435.193 to 435.195 and city Ordinance No. 33.36, the council may, in its discretion, defer the payment of this special assessment for any homestead property owned by a person 65 years of age or older, one retired by virtue of a permanent and total disability, or a member of the National Guard or other reserves ordered to active military service for whom it would be a hardship to make the payments. When deferment of the special assessment has been granted and is terminated for any reason provided in that law and Ordinance, all amounts accumulated plus applicable interest become due. Any assessed property owner meeting the requirements of this law and Ordinance No. 33.36, may, within 30 days of the confirmation of the assessment, apply to the city clerk for the prescribed form for such deferral of payment of this special assessment on his/her property.
If an assessment is contested or there is an adjourned hearing, the following
procedure will be followed.
1. The City will present its case first by calling witnesses who may testify by narrative or by examination, and by the introduction of exhibits. After each witness has testified, the contesting party will be allowed to ask questions. This procedure will be repeated with each witness until neither side has further questions.
2. After the City has presented all its evidence, the objector may call witnesses or present such testimony as the objector desires. The same procedure for questioning of the City’s witnesses will be followed with the objector’s witnesses.
3. The objector may be represented by counsel.
4. Minnesota rules of evidence will not be strictly applied; however, they may be considered and argued to the City Council as to the weight of items of evidence
or testimony presented to the City Council.
5. The entire proceedings will be taped-recorded.
6. At the close of presentation of evidence, the objector may make a final presentation to the City Council based on the evidence and the law. No new evidence
may be presented at this point.
7. The City Council may adopt the proposed assessment at this meeting.
An owner may appeal an assessment to district court pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 429.081 by serving notice of the appeal upon the mayor or clerk of the city within 30 days after the adoption of the assessment and filing such notice with the district court within ten days after service upon the mayor or clerk.
/s/ Jessica Mead
City Clerk
References:
City Code 33.52 and 50.23
MS 429.101
MS 443.015
MS 444.075
AG Op 59-A-36 (January 26, 1961)
AG Op 387-G-7 (April 28, 1965)
AG Op 450-F-1 (September 8, 1969)
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LHS grad on international winning tractor design team
Luverne native JJ Dooyema is a member of the South Dakota State University 1/4 Scale Tractor Team that is champion of the 2022 American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers International 1/4 Scale Tractor Student Design Competition.
This year’s team competed against 24 teams from across the United States and Canada. 
At the beginning of the school year, each team is given a 31-hp Briggs & Stratton engine and a set of Titan tires, which they design their tractor around.
At the competition, tractors are judged by a panel of industry experts based on innovation, manufacturability, serviceability, safety, sound level and ergonomics. 
The tractor is first evaluated in a technical inspection process where industry engineers seek to ensure the tractors comply with competition safety and design rules.
The tractor is then put to the test through a maneuverability course, durability course, and a tractor pull. Additionally the team gives a formal design presentation explaining various aspects of the tractor’s design to industry judges.  
“From an engineering standpoint, this competition gives five key learning opportunities for our future careers: design, technical writing, testing, manufacturing and marketing,” said Ty Grone, 1/4 scale tractor team co-captain.
“This competition prepares us, coming out of college, to move into industry with those skills.”
Dooyema, son of Doug and Pam Dooyema, Luverne, is majoring in agricultural and biosystems engineering at SDSU, Brookings, South Dakota.