MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETINGOF THE HILLS CITY COUNCILAUGUST 25, 2003Mayor Jim Jellema called the meeting to order at 6:00 P.M. with the following Council members present: Jim Jellema, Linus Svoboda, Dana Dahlquist, Arlen Leenderts and Keith Elbers. Employee present: Connie Wiertzema, City Clerk. The purpose of this special meeting was to open sealed bids for leasing LP tanks and contracting LP gas. Sealed bids included costs for: LP, down payment, tank lease, regulators, pads, trips, set-up fee, sales tax, and any miscellaneous costs; along with the contract deadline. Bids were submitted from Farmers Union Coop Oil Co.; Nobles County Coop Oil Co.; and Popkes Car Care. Following the opening and review of bids, a motion was made by Dahlquist and seconded by Elbers to accept the bid from Popkes Car Care. Popkes bid for propane is $0.849 per gallon; contract will run from August 25, 2003 through March 31, 2004; 1,000 gallon tank lease $25 per year; and 500 gallon tank lease $20 per year. Voting in favor: Dahlquist, Elbers and Svoboda. Jellema and Leenderts abstained. Motion carried. No further business, meeting adjourned at 6:30 P.M.Connie J. WiertzemaCity Clerk(8-28)

MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETINGOF THE HILLS CITY COUNCILAUGUST 18, 2003Mayor Jim Jellema called the meeting to order at 6:02 P.M. with the following Council members present: Jim Jellema, Linus Svoboda, Dana Dahlquist, and Keith Elbers. Absent: Arlen Leenderts. Employee present: Joanne Goehle, City Treasurer; Connie Wiertzema, City Clerk and Wayne Ward, City Maintenance. Guests present: Ned Weitgenant. The Council discussed whether to purchase or lease propane tanks. After reviewing costs to purchase tanks, the Council made the decision to lease tanks at this time due to budget cuts, and consider purchasing tanks in the future. The Clerk was instructed to obtain sealed bids from five area propane providers. Bids must include costs for: propane, down payment, tank lease, regulators, pads, trips, set-up fee, sales tax, and any miscellaneous costs; along with the contract deadline. Sealed bids will be opened at a special meeting on August 25th at 6:00 P.M. The Council approved to update the abstract for the depot building a/k/a Grand Labs/Patriot Academy/Barbershop, which was sold to Eugene Immediato. The new abstract will convey five feet south of the building to the buyer. The Council also agreed to pay the second half of the taxes, due October 15, 2003. Ward inquired whether the Council would reconsider to pay his health insurance increase of $212 per month. The Council referred back to minutes of August 12th, wherein a motion was made and unanimously carried, that the City continue to pay the same dollar amount per month ($884.32); and that Ward pay his current share, plus the $212 increase for a total of $506.78. The Council informed Ward that they preferred not to continue discussion at this special meeting, but could be continued at the September 9th meeting. Motion by Dahlquist, seconded by Svoboda to approve a building permit to Chuck and Sandy Kuntze for the construction of a new home at Lot 2 in Park View Fourth Addition. Motion carried. Elbers informed the Council that Lot 5 in Park View Fourth Addition was sold to Michael Kuntze. The Council denied a request to begin a part-time mechanic shop in a housing area. The Clerk was instructed to contact a certain party to inform them that vehicle repairs are not allowed along city streets. Motion by Dahlquist, seconded by Elbers to adjourn. Connie J. WiertzemaCity Clerk(8-28)

10 years ago (1993)"Don Bosshart and his Patriots kicked off their 1993 campaign with a 3-0 victory over the host Faith Christian Falcons Thursday night. H-BC turned in a 58-percent rating from the line, 44-76. Senior Amy Behr led the local attack with 13 points, collecting on 13-19. Becky Olson went 9-15 from the line for nine tallies." 25 years ago (1978)"More than 60 Rock County 4-H’ers take off Wednesday for the Minnesota State Fair. Another eight or so will follow on Friday. That’s a pretty good-sized crew to be sending to the State Fair and it’s just one more indication of the strength of 4-H in our area."50 years ago (1953)"Probably one of the hottest matters of public interest in many years, was calmed here Tuesday night, when Districts 19, 34, 37, 39 and 61 voted in favor of a consolidation with District 66. The more than two-to-one vote was 72 to 35, in favor of the consolidation. This is the second time the matter came up for election. The issue failed by a vote of 48-43 the first time, June 12."75 years ago (1928)"More than 200 4-H Club exhibits in livestock, poultry, bread-making, cake making, garment making and canning will be displayed at the Rock County Fair next week.This will include approximately 20 baby beef, 18 dairy calves, 13 fat lambs, 3 purebred ewe lambs, 15 purebred gilts, 15 fat barrows, 4 yearling draft colts and 20 pens of breeding and market poultry."100 years ago (1903)"The businessmen of Jasper have purchased 15 acres of land adjacent to the village for a driving and baseball park. Hills could follow suit in this respect, even if it hasn’t any $50 per acre land lying around the border."

H-BC 1973 class reunionOut of 38 classmates, 15 attended the 1973 class reunion Saturday, Aug. 23, at Sharkee’s in Luverne. Attending were Cathy Aykens, Crosby; Rod Bajema, Larchwood, Iowa; Wayne Beyenhof, Luverne; Patti Demuth Gutzwiler, Mora; Janie Nelson Helgeson, St. Paul; Laurie Schlueter Hynes, St. Louis Park; Lila Bos Kroon, Steen; Brad Larson, Lakeville; Ken McFarland, Sioux Falls, S.D.; Joyce Sandager Wulf, Herrick, S.D.; Carolyn Schubbe Randall, Stillwater; Merlyn Sandstede, Steen; Bill Stegemann, Luverne; Donna Deragisch Schneider, Fargo, N.D.; and Becky Leuthold Wulf, Lester, Iowa, along with some of their spouses. Carol Lonkey, Brooklyn Center, spent from Wednesday to Sunday in the home of her mother, Martha Lindrud and on Saturday visited Ruben Vestlie in Sioux Falls.David and Nancy Swanson and Chad and Jenny Nelson and children returned home Friday night after traveling to St. Louis, Mo., Kansas City and other points south taking in ballgames and other points of interest. Guests for dinner Sunday in the home of Darrell and Marie Brown were their daughter, Shelly Swenson, her son, Casey, and daughter Katie, Luverne. In the afternoon they visited Marie’s mother, Pearl Hiney, at Tuff Memorial Home. Mitchell Elbers, Valley Springs, spent last week in the home of his grandparents, Wilmer and Betty Elbers. Keith and Marj Hellie, Detroit Lakes, stopped Saturday for a visit with Don and Edyth Briggs. Gerald and Rosemary Kraetsch, Kasson, were weekend guests of Bob and Twila Kirsch. On Sunday they all attended the Moeller cousin picnic at Don and Bonnie Moeller’s in rural Ellsworth. David and Nancy Swanson, Opal Swanson and Arnold Swanson attended the Swanson family reunion Sunday at the Pizza Ranch in Brandon. Chuck and Rheta DeBoer celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary by spending three days at Inspirational Hills. Also present were their children and spouses and their grandchildren who helped honor the occasion. John and Laurie Hynes, Gregory and Ellen, St. Louis Park, spent Friday night until Sunday morning with Luella Schlueter. Joanne Goehle, Brenda, Katie and Colby Hadler, and Alyssa Carmany drove to Mankato Thursday to watch Nicole Nester, Joanne’s granddaughter, play in two tennis meets. They beat both Mankato East and Mankato West. Donna Edyth Briggs drove to Madison, S.D., Sunday to the Prairie Village where the Shriner’s played a concert in which Don participated. Later they were supper guests in the home of Wally Johnson. Lorraine Wiese, Kanaranzi, accompanied them. Katie Hadler and Alyssa Carmany spent from Thursday evening until Sunday with their grandmother, Joanne Goehle. Vi VanWyhe met her daughter, Lexia DeWit, in Sioux Falls on Monday to enjoy lunch together. Dwayne and Margo Skattum, Forestburg, S.D., spent from Friday until Sunday in the home of Margo’s mother, Harriet Skattum. Brad Larson, Lakeville, spent Saturday overnight in the home of Tedd and Diane Larson.Saturday Leanne, Andrew, Elliot and Allison Carmany, Tyler, were visitors of Joanne Goehle. Sunday, Mark, Brenda, Zack and Colby Handler and Amber Rieck, Edgerton, were guests of Joanne. Jo Wulf, Herrick, S.D., spent the weekend in the home of her parents, Sheldon and Ellie Sandager.

After driving to St. Cloud last weekend I am convinced that we live in the garden spot of the world. The crops looked very good until we got to Hutchinson and from there on the corn was burned to a crisp in the fields. Many fields had been disked and plowed as it was a total loss. There were many, many fields like that all the way to St. Cloud. I know we are very dry and could really use a nice rain and hopefully, it will come soon as most fields are looking all right as yet.August means harvest as far back as ancient Gaul. The first day of August marked the beginning of the Guil of August, one of the great pagan festivals of ancient Britain, celebrating the first fruits of the earth. Most of our communities today celebrate the harvest with their county fairs where they get together to share in the harvest. Even if we have had our share in the hot, humid weather it hasn’t been as hot as it was one year back in Ohio where the milk cows were giving evaporated milk. Now that’s pretty hot!The Steen softball team will have their annual Labor Day Tournament on Labor Day weekend. The first games begin at 7 and 8:30 p.m. Saturday. The tournament continues at 9:30 a.m. on Labor Day. A special dedication service honoring Duane Sandbulte is at noon. Mildred Paulsen left last Sunday afternoon for Lakefield where she met Sylvia Hasara. From there they traveled to St. Cloud to attend the meeting of volunteer advocates and ombudsman training on Monday and Tuesday. The final agenda was "Mental Health in Long-Term Care." They returned home on Tuesday. There will be an open house in honor of Elizabeth Elbers’ 95th birthday from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, in Steen Reformed Church Fellowship Hall. Happy Birthday to her!The Bible Conference for Steen Reformed Church is from Aug. 29 to Sept. 1, Labor Day weekend, on the shores of Lake Okoboji. The featured speaker is the Rev. Ed Baker, pastor of Orchard Church in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Congratulations to the Steen softball team who participated in the Hills softball tournament this past week. They made it to the finals where they played the Hills town team for the championship game Wednesday evening. They defeated the Hills team and won the championship. Our deepest sympathy goes out to Anna May Berghorst, Joyce Bristow and the Tinklenberg family on the death of their mother, Hermina Tinklenberg, who passed away on Sunday, Aug. 17. Funeral services were at American Reformed Church in Luverne with burial in Edgerton. Melba Boeve joined the Prime Timers from Luverne for a mystery trip which took them Wednesday to Eau Claire, Wis., and other interesting places. They returned home on Saturday. Henrietta Huenink was a Sunday dinner guest in the home of her daughter, Norma and Wayne VanWyhe, in Lester, Iowa. Harold Wissink was transferred from Sioux Valley Hospital in Sioux Falls to Luverne Community Hospital on Friday where he remains a patient at this time. Melba Boeve helped her granddaughter, Malinda Boeve, daughter of Brian Boeve, celebrate her 19th birthday on Sunday. A Sunday morning brunch was served at the Dries and Laura May Bosch home for their family. Those attending were Paul and Diane Bosch, Brandon, Nathan and Erick Bosch and Tom and Amy Bosch, Isabel and Emma, all of Sioux Falls.Thursday afternoon visitors in the Arnold and Jane Bonnema home were Dries and Laura May Bosch. Orrin and Bernice Aukes visited in the Iona Eckhoff home in Sioux Falls Thursday. She is the wife of the late Herbert Eckhoff who passed away several years ago. Word was received here recently that Gloria Gangestad was injured in a head-on auto accident in Hawaii. She is the daughter of Gladys and Otto Van Wettering, former residents of this area. She and her husband live in Wyoming. Her husband was more seriously injured and remains a patient in the hospital in Hawaii at this time. Don’t forget the school bells will ring Sept. 2, the day after Labor Day. Summer is over and we will all be back in the old routine. A Psalm and hymn sing was at Tuff Home in Hills last Thursday. Those participating from Steen were Bill and Bertha Bosch and Jo Aykens. Lori Scholten (Rick) underwent correctional back surgery at Sioux Falls Surgical Center on Monday. She was able to return to her home on Friday. There are many things in our world today that are changing. One of the more important ones is our education system and what is happening in our schools. One of the issues is what we should be and what we should not be including in our children’s education. I found this article titled "An eagerness to go on and on in learning." This was written in 1972 but I think it gives us much food for thought today as well. This was a gripping and meaningful address on the problems of education as delivered by Mary E. Meade, an outstanding educator and, at the time this was written, was a member of the New York City Board of Education. Ms. Meade’s remarks came from the heart, as well as from the mind. She declared, "Our schools today must give the young people what they need: Standards to live by as well as standards to live. The underlying purpose of education is to give young people an understanding of life, of how to live successfully, so that they won’t get into the drug habit along the way or something worse.The spirit of education should be to inspire the individual with the desire to learn — and to keep on learning and growing no matter what field of work, profession or vocation may be." Ms. Meade supported her own firm views by quoting Dr. Thomas Briggs, one of her teachers in Normal School. "The first duty of the school is to teach the children to do better, the desirable things they will do anyway. The ultimate aim of education should be to develop in the children the habit of education — an eagerness to go on and on and continue in the field the school has led them only a little way into. Each one of us should realize that good education for our young people is basic to the solution of many of today’s problems — and to the prevention of future problems. However, it takes more than efforts of the educators to provide good education. It takes cooperation on the part of concerned citizens."This is your food for thought! But since school is beginning soon or has begun I want to give you something to think about and wonder if you know the answers to these questions: oWhy is a naughty boy like a postage stamp?oWhat is the difference between an engineer and a teacher?oWhat is the difference between a teacher and a train?oWhat did one arithmetic book say to another?oWhat letters of the alphabet are bad for your teeth?oWhat happened to the plant in the math class?Answers to the quiz:oBecause you lick them with a stick.oOne minds the train and the other trains your mind.oOne says choo, choo, and the other says spit out your gum.oI’ve got problems.oDK (Decay).oIt grew square roots.

Villagers heard caregiver Jason ask, "Where is everyone? I’ve brought the food from the Home and no one is in the dining room and the tables aren’t set. What’s going on?" Everyone failed to tell Jason we were having a picnic on the patio in honor of Lemonade Day. He soon found himself grilling hamburgers and hot dogs. It was a fun time. You could choose to eat inside if you liked, but it was nice outside except for pesky flies. A bouquet of truly perfect blooms were the center of attention one morning. Everyone thought the zinnias were artificial and came to feel but our beautician said, "No, they came from my mother’s backyard. She has a beautiful garden." So, drive by the Everett and Catherine Fikse home and see for yourself. Our caregiver, Jennifer Hoffenkamp, has left us for she’s off to school. A new adventure for this freshman at Brookings, S.D. We wish her well and ask that she keep in touch.I’ve not been a good reporter this week. News is scarce but I can tell you, Arnold went to a Swanson reunion in Brandon, S.D., with the David Swanson’s. Ione’s cousins, Gerald and Rosemary Kraetsch visited from Kasson. Twila (another cousin) and Bob Kirsch came with them. Carolyn Randall came for her class reunion and took her mother, Erma, home with her to Stillwater for a visit. Ruby’s husband, Emil, has developed pneumonia and is very sick. The children have all been here visiting. Their daughter is coming from Florida. Earl was out to dinner with his daughter and her husband. The garden was cleaned up although we still have tomatoes to ripen and carrots to harvest. Jill was here to see that her mother got to a doctor’s appointment. Martha and Erma fried some cooked home grown potatoes. One pan with onions, one without. We love ‘em but why are they always best when you just have a few like we did. Alice is relieved for her household sale is over. She, too, went to a reunion this weekend at Sherburn.I’ll keep you posted.

"I have a hankering," wrote a man named Lin Yutang, "to go back to the Orient and discard my necktie. Neckties strangle clear thinking." As it turns out, clear thinking isn’t the only thing being strangled when men wear neckties. Think jugular vein. A recent article in the British Journal of Ophthalmology reports that tight neckties increase the risk of glaucoma, the leading cause of preventable blindness. A tight necktie can evidently increase blood pressure by constricting the jugular vein, causing a backup of blood to the eye than can damage the optic nerve. If men ever needed an excuse to throw away their neckties, this is it. Neckties in men’s wardrobes are a prime example of the worn-out expression, "It’s always been done this way." The "four-in-hands" and bow ties worn today are almost identical to the neckwear worn first in the United States back in the 1870s. By comparison, if women would still be wearing things dating back to that time, we would have closets filled with whalebone corsets, long dresses with bustles and hoop skirts. Today’s neckties are descendants of ascots, cravats and other men’s neckwear too difficult to spell or pronounce and dating back to the 1700s. In light of the news about neckties, men might question the motives of family members who repeatedly give them ties for Christmas and birthdays. Neckties rarely wear out and they are truly gifts that keep on giving. One humorist once observed, "Nothing lasts as long as a necktie you don’t like." That’s particularly true if the ties in question reveal holiday trees with real flashing lights, hula dancers or neon pink flamingos. For every man in this country there must be at least "one ugly tie in the back of the closet" story. The ties are never thrown away, perhaps because of unspoken fears that the givers might find out or that the neckwear police might show up at the front door. Neckties are difficult to knot and they must be terribly uncomfortable because men are seen loosening them whenever they can. Ties are often unsightly stain traps for foods that might otherwise plummet from fork to floor unnoticed. Surely, with the exception of women’s pantyhose, no other garment has been cursed as often as men’s neckties. This world might be a better place without neckties. Of course, we would no longer be able to sing in church, "Blest be the Tie that Binds." Now it’s all about the tie that blinds. Given the link between possible blindness and tight neckwear, we might have negative reactions to, and different interpretations of, everyday expressions — "tie-dyed," "to tie one on," "tie-breakers" and "to risk one’s neck." A necktie-less world might also be safer. Dangling ties are undoubtedly dangerous for men working near moving parts of heavy machinery or restoring old wringer washers. When A.E. Housman wrote "Shropshire Lad" in 1896, he had another neckwear in mind, but it was deadly nevertheless — "And naked in the hangman’s noose, the morning clocks will ring a neck God made for other use than strangling in a string." The comparison is a natural for an eventual revolution against men’s neckwear — a hangman’s noose and a tight necktie.

Jeanette Jellema, 77, Luverne, died Monday, Aug. 25, 2003, at Luverne Hospice Cottage following a long illness. Services were Wednesday at United Methodist Church in Luverne. Burial was in Luverne Memorial Gardens, rural Luverne. Jeanette Harding was born to Richard and Jennie (Hughes) Harding on Dec. 25, 1925, in Hardwick. She grew up and attended school in Hardwick. Following her education, she worked at Honeywell in Minneapolis and later, at Campbell Soup in Worthington and Sathers in Round Lake.She married Ocke Jellema on Nov. 25, 1945, in Adrian. Following their marriage, they lived in various communities before moving to a farm near Kenneth in 1953. They retired from farming in 1984 and moved to Luverne where they were custodians at United Methodist Church for several years. She has spent the past 11 months as a Luverne Hospice patient. Mrs. Jellema was a member of United Methodist Church and VFW Auxiliary. She enjoyed sewing, knitting and crocheting and working in her flower garden. She liked to bowl and attend dances.Survivors include her husband, Ocke Jellema, Luverne; two sons, Jim (Marilyn) Jellema, Hills, Leland (fiancé Katina Dykes) Jellema, Rock Rapids, Iowa; one daughter, Carroll (Allan) Miller, Worthington; a special daughter, Pam (Dan) Dobson Luverne: three grandchildren, Ryan and Wade Jellema and Jodi Harnack; a great-grandson, Easton Harnack; three brothers, Glenn Harding, Aitkin, James Harding, Kentucky, and Richard Harding, Ellendale; and one sister, Lila Blattner, Anoka.Mrs. Jellema was preceded in death by her parents, one son, Norman, a granddaughter, Stacey, and a sister, Margaret. Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital will plant a tree in memory of Jeanette Jellema.Roste Funeral Home, Hills, was in charge of arrangements.

Services for Emil Feucht are at 10 a.m. Friday, Aug. 29, at Apostolic Christian Church in Lester, Iowa, with the church ministers officiating. Burial will follow at the Apostolic Christian Cemetery. Visitation will be from 3 to 8:30 p.m. at the Apostolic Christian Fellowship Hall in Lester with the family present from 3 to 5 and 7 to 8:30 p.m. Emil Feucht, 94, Hills, died Monday, Aug. 25, 2003, at Tuff Memorial Home in Hills.Emil William Feucht was born to Carl and Pauline (Knobloch) Feucht on Nov. 4, 1908, south of Lester. When he turned 21 years old in 1929, he started farming with his brother, Ben. They farmed together for seven years. In 1936, he farmed in Minnesota and in the spring of 1937 he went into the hatchery business in Lester. He married Ruby Sexe on Nov. 20, 1937, in Hills. The couple lived in Lester. The couple bought a farm northwest of Hills in 1942 and farmed there until retirement in 1978. They also rented land in South Dakota, which they eventually bought. During his farming years he did custom work for the neighbors in the area, baling hay, combining and windrowing. They moved to Hills in 1987. In the fall of 2001 they moved to Tuff Village in Hills. He moved to Tuff Memorial Home in August 2003. Mr. Feucht hobbies included tilling gardens, planting lawns, witching water, and fishing and camping. He was noted for his big bountiful gardens.Survivors include his wife, Ruby Feucht, Hills; four children and their spouses, RoseAnn (Tom) Srader, Pensacola, Fla., Jerry (Judi) Feucht, Lester, Ronald (Sandra) Feucht, Hills, and Marlene (Paul) Stueven, Welcome; 15 grandchildren; 20 great-grandchildren; three brothers, Paul Feucht, Canton, S.D., John Feucht, Elgin, Ill., and Raymond Feucht, Lester; and two sisters, Emma Gerber, Lester, and Pauline Schick, Washington, Ill.Mr. Feucht was preceded in death by his parents, one granddaughter, Tanya Stueven, six brothers, August, Sam, Alfred Ernest, Ben and Carl Feucht, and three sisters, Martha Wagenbach, Lydia Mogler and Emilia Banwort. Roste Funeral Home, Hills, is in charge of arrangements.