Fill it up to the rim with the goodness of caffeineI learned about the supposed dangers of caffeine as an elementary school student, when my music teacher taught us a song for a counting and rhythm exercise.It went: "C-O-F-F-E-E, coffee is not for me. It’s a drink that people wake up with. That it makes them nervous is no myth. There’s always coffee in their cup. They can’t give coffee up."I should’ve been scared straight, but the truth is, I’ve always liked coffee.I used to open grandma’s Folgers can to smell it. I sneaked sips from my parents’ mugs, despite warnings that my nose would turn black. And now, I openly enjoy both the aroma and the taste. Coffee’s warmth, its rich taste and the way it thins my blood in the morning are all reasons to love coffee. I don’t drink that much, but it’s a trusted thing to turn to if I need it. While I like a few cups a day, my husband would prefer to have it administered intravenously. Not quite, but he does consider good coffee a high priority in life and doesn’t see the need to limit his intake. He even found a book that backs up his theories on coffee’s benefits, called "The Caffeine Advantage," by Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K. Bealer.The book is based on scientific studies, not only on coffee, but all forms of caffeine. Among other things, the book says caffeine can:oPrevent cancer with its antioxidant qualitiesoHelp overcome fatigue, which I think we all knew oImprove mental performance and memoryoImprove moodoImprove athletic performancesoEnhance creativityoCreate beautiful skinI don’t know if I’m ready to subscribe to everything in the book, but I hope for my husband’s sake the information is true.If the claims are truly valuable, maybe my elementary teacher shouldn’t have directed us in that anti-coffee song. Of course, if he’d given us a cup before class, we’d probably have learned and performed a lot better.

I have good news and I have bad news. The bad news first: The Library will not be re-opening on Sundays this fall. I wanted to give you fair warning so you can make an adjustment in your library visitation schedule. As you know, many city and county departments have to make substantial budget reductions. Sunday closing is just one of changes you may see in the future. We are reducing spending by $12,500 this year and supposedly next year will be worse. If you see the librarians standing on Main Street with tin cups begging for money and weeping inconsolably, you’ll understand why. Keep in mind, however, that the continued goal of the Library Board and the staff is to provide the best library service that we possibly can. Now for the good news: The new book by Kate White is out, "A Body to Die For." Bailey Weggins, the clever and irreverent true crime writer for Gloss, a leading women's magazine, is in desperate need of a little R&R after solving the murder of her boss' nanny. A trip to the Cedar Inn Spa seems like the perfect remedy. But when Bailey goes to the massage room to retrieve her lost Rolex, she finds a dead body getting a seaweed wrap. As Bailey uncovers the victim's mysterious past, she finds herself becoming infatuated with Jeffrey Beck, a detective working on the case. Meanwhile, another horrifying murder is committed at the inn — and Bailey finds herself the killer's next target. Also new on the shelf is "Exit Wounds" by J.A. Jance. The heat is a killer in Cochise County, Ariz., with temperatures more than 100 degrees. In the suffocating stillness of an airless trailer, a woman is lying dead, a bullet hole in her chest. Why someone would murder a harmless loner with a soft spot for stray dogs is only one of the questions nagging at the local police; another is why the killer used an 85-year-old bullet, fired from the same weapon that slaughtered two other women. The slayings are as oppressive as the blistering heat for Sheriff Joanna Brady, who must shoulder the added burden of a brutal reelection campaign and major developments on the home front. With suddenly more on her plate than many big-city law officers have to contend with, Joanna must deal with the terrifying reality that now threatens everyone in her jurisdiction: a serial killer in their midst.

Rock County as it wasThis was taken from an article printed in the Rock County Herald on July 18, 1924: "The year 1869 saw a considerable increase in new settlers, but lack of space forbids going into detail. The first birth of Rock County occurred in the month of March 1869. It was a daughter, Effie Ferguson, born to Mr. and Mrs. John H. Ferguson. The second birth was also a daughter, Lorenda Bradford. The third birth also occurred the same year, a daughter, Carrie Hawes, having been born to Mr. and Mrs. Philo Hawes on Aug. 9th. Several new settlers arrived in the spring of 1870, and when the census was taken by Aiken Miner of Jackson in the summer of that year, the population of Rock County was found to be 138, of which 120 were American born and 18 foreign born. Other interesting statistics were taken by the enumerator. In Rock County were 19 farms of which seven were between 10 and 20 acres in area, 11 between 20 and 50 acres, and 1 between 100 and 500 acres. Among the arrivals of 1870 were Geo. W. Kniss, P.J. Kniss, P.F. Kelley, Ezra Rice, Martin Webber, Ole Nelson, Ole T. Berg, Ole T. Opsata and John Martin, who was the first settler in Martin Township. In 1870 also arrived Ole Steen and family. A few details in regard to the Steen colony might be interesting. Ole Steen, who was chief blacksmith at a sawmill at Necida, Wis., together with Hans and Tom Olson and C.C. Berg, decided to move west. In 1869 Ole Steen was sent out to look up a suitable location, his selection being the lands later homesteaded and occupied by these parties moving out in 1870 as above stated. On the way west, they met Ben Evans and family, who joined them deciding to locate where they did. Mrs. Steen and Mrs. Evans lived in wagon boxes while the men went to Worthington to file on their land." Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Fund can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156.Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw. net).

Much can change in three days — even divorce laws. The New Straits Times, a daily newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, reported on July 28 that Malaysian Muslim men could divorce their wives through text messages on mobile telephones. Short messaging service was viewed as just another form of serving written notice, according to a religious court, and the effects of such a ruling seemed perfect for a column. If a Malaysian Muslim husband keeps getting busy signals when he tries to reach out and divorce somebody, I reasoned, he can still rely on the traditional method of driving home, standing in front of her and declaring "I divorce you" three times. In many cases, those may not be the three little words a woman wants to hear. "I love you" or even "Where’s the remote?" would be preferable in most cases. Getting a divorce in Malaysia may be easier said than dialed. Several things might go wrong when a mobile phone is used for a proclamation of divorce. For starters, the divorce message could be speed dialed incorrectly with a single key and the bad news might be received by an employer or a mother-in-law, who was never fond of the mis-dialer in the first place. Hasty decisions might be regretted later. Text messages, which can be relayed instantly, may not allow divisive issues to be thought out completely. Too much starch in a shirt collar may be irritating at work, but normally it’s something that can be forgotten on the way home. Incomplete calls would also create problems. A phone battery may give out or the words could be half-transmitted when the caller drives through one of those dreaded "no service available" zones. A message reading, "I wish to di...," would confuse any wife. He may wish to die, dine with her or he may wish to divulge some secret to her. To make matters worse, she can’t return his call. In order to keep her marriage intact, a wife might take several precautions to avoid divorce. She could replace her husband’s charged phone battery with a dead one while he’s sleeping or in the shower. If she’s not comfortable with replacing batteries, she might inexplicably lose or misplace the phone while it’s in the house. The phone service could be disrupted if she innocently misplaces the bill from the phone company. Last, but not least, she could simply refuse to answer the phone when her husband is away. With this scenario, no news is good news. Because of universal restrictions regarding the use of cell phones, a Malaysian Muslim wife might relax and not fear receiving a divorce message when her husband is doing any of the following activities — taking a plane trip, walking near certain medical equipment in hospitals, fueling a car at a gas station, or standing near a blasting site. An ideal husband would be unable to send a divorce message if he would do all of those things on a regular basis. Of course, if a husband isn’t the type to divorce by phone, there’s still the possibility he might simply say, "I divorce you," three times when he comes home. Even that method can’t be foolproof. What if the wife has a habit of "tuning out" her husband when he speaks? What if she’s hard of hearing and thinks she hears, "I adore you?" On July 31, the Malaysian government overturned the religious court’s ruling and the Muslim men in that country now have one less divorce option. It might be easier to stay married.

Eitreim probatePROBATE COURTDISTRICT COURT—COUNTY COURTPROBATE DIVISIONORDER AND NOTICE OF HEARING FOR FORMAL PROBATE OF WILL AND APPOINTMENT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE IN SUPERVISED ADMINISTRATION AND NOTICE TO CREDITORSSTATE OF MINNESOTACOUNTY OF ROCKIn Re: Estate ofIrid A. EitreimDeceasedTO ALL INTERESTED PERSONS AND CREDITORS:It is Ordered and Notice is hereby given that on the 25th day of August, 2003, at 9:00 O’Clock A.M., a hearing will be held in the above named Court at Rock County Courthouse, Luverne, Minnesota, for the formal probate of an instrument purporting to be the will of the above named deceased, dated December 15, 1981, and for the appointment of Gregory A. Eitreim, whose address is 11725 Champlin Drive, #211, Champlin Minnesota 55316, as personal representative of the estate of the above named decedent in supervised administration, and that any objections thereto must be filed with the Court. That, if proper, and no objections are filed, said personal representatives will be appointed to administer the estate, to collect all assets, pay all legal debts, claims, taxes and expenses, and sell real and personal property, and do all necessary acts for the estate. Upon completion of the administration, the representative shall file a final account for the allowance and shall distribute the estate to the persons thereto entitled as ordered by the Court, and close the estate. Notice is further given that ALL CREDITORS having claims against said estate are required to present the same to said personal representatives or to the Court Administrator within four months after the date of this notice or said claims will be barred.Dated: July 31, 2003 /s/Timothy K. ConnellDistrict Court Judge/s/ Douglas E. Eisma /s/Douglas E. Eisma Sandra L. VrtacnikAttorney for Petitioner Court AdministratorEisma and Eisma130 East Main, Box 625Luverne, MN 56156(507)283-4828I.D. #249269(8-7, 8-14)

10 years ago (1993)"One hundred years ago, a newspaper was created to publish the news of the tiny village of Hills. The paper was started when an agreement between two early residents of the city — Frank M. Bailey and Orrie Haislett — agreed to publish the weekly paper. …Two hundred subscribers were secured, and so Bailey went to work, rolling the first edition of the Hills Crescent off of an old Rampage press."25 years ago (1978)"The old barn behind the Preston Ver Meer home was removed this week by Bravo Construction Company. The building, in later years rather run-down and of little use, was something of a Hills landmark. It was the original home of the Fikse Produce Co. and served that company well from the business’s beginnings in 1941. The building, which probably took at least a month to erect, was totally leveled, loaded and hauled away for an unceremonious burial in less than three hours." 50 years ago (1953)"A variety of entertainment is in store for all who attend the 43rd annual Rock County Free Fair at Luverne, Monday Aug. 10, through Wednesday, Aug. 12, according to George Golla, secretary.Opening night feature on Monday evening, is the ‘Tournament of Thrills," a spine-tingling thrill show staged by Hollywood’s best stunt men. …. Tuesday night’s feature attraction will be well-known orchestra and recording artist, Eddy Howard. Wednesday night will bring back the area’s best midget auto racers and drivers for an evening of midget auto racing." 75 years ago (1928)"Past experience indicates that the Rock County Fair has not failed in the trust which has been imposed in among 100 county and district fairs in the state of Minnesota. It has always maintained an enviable position in the class of exhibits which it has shown and in the amount of premiums which it has awarded. "Figures compiled for 1927, indicate that it ranks 15th in the State in the amount of premium awards; 1926 places it in ninth position. Considering the fact that practically every one of these 100 fairs are much larger in financial resources and attendance than is our own, it would seem that our record is one in which we may well take a justifiable pride." Ben Pelstring, Sec.100 years ago (1903)"Judge Brown and Gust Nelson of Luverne, with their respective families, honored Hills with a call Sunday — eating a picnic dinner on the beautiful farm of Lars Kolsrud north of town, and incidentally inspecting the bountiful harvest fields of the garden spot of Rock County — the banner county of the state."

Can’t you imagine the tremendous job of downsizing your home to apartment living? It’s often done in stages. We bring on the initial visit what we really need and then keep going back to get more. At present we’re giving Alice a bad time. She’s in the process of getting ready for an auction. Every time her family takes her to her home in Larchwood, she comes back with a chair, an armload of clothes and lots of little treasures she’s sure she can’t be without. We have been fortunate to receive lots of garden produce but we’ve no pan to cook them in so Alice, on her last trip home, brought us a big canner just right for sweet corn. She didn’t forget me either. I sew lots of fabric together to make quilt tops for Lutheran World Relief. This makes linty clothes so Alice solved that by bringing me those big aprons of yesterday that cover wonderfully. No more threads to be picked from shirts or slacks. Great.As you know we’re going through old Crescents helping Erma with her museum scrapbooks. This is so time consuming for we have to read all the time and then share with the others what we learned. Here’s an interesting quote from the Crescent regarding 1899."The people of Hills were surprised and deeply grieved last Thursday afternoon when the news came over the wire that F.C. Hills, after whom our town was named, had died at his home in Sioux City, Iowa, at 2 p.m., his death being caused by a grievous mistake in eating breakfast food mixed with arsenic for the purpose of poisoning rats.Fredrick C. Hills was born at Bethersden, England, Jan. 23, 1842, and came to America with his parents in 1849. He received a good academic education. He remained on a farm in New York until the age of 15 when he served an apprenticeship at the carriage trimmer’s trade. In 1862, when the Civil War broke out, Mr. Hills enlisted as a volunteer and after serving for three months was discharged for physical disability.In March 1864, he came west to Sioux City. Mr. Hills soon won his way to the front as a successful railroad man, and in 1889 when the Sioux and Northern Railroad Co. was organized, he accepted the position of president and general manager ... It was during his reign as president that the Sioux City and Northern was built from Sioux City to Garretson S.D., and when the new station, now known as Hills, was located the farmers adjoining the station were given the privilege of naming it.Oslo was agreed upon, but it was soon learned that there was already a town by this name in the state. In the meantime, the railroad officials had named it Anderson after Goodmund Anderson who was taking a good deal of interest in the new town. This, however, displeased some and a new meeting was called and the town renamed Hills after Fredrick Clark Hills."The piano man is here. Dave and Alta’s son Miles is visiting. How we enjoy his noon hour concerts. On one occasion he had a couple silly words for Sioux City Sue."Her hair is greenHer eyes are redI wouldn’t change youFor Uncle Fred."Or how about"Her hair is redHer eyes are greenShe’s the darnest messI’ve ever seen."The Olson’s have an attendant occasion. One is Evie Kephart who brought her young son Harlan Kurrasch to meet us. He had just returned from spending two months on the streets of Iraq. He will return to Fort Benning, Ga., until his discharge in December.Emil Feucht has moved to the Tuff Home for he is in need of more care. We’ll miss his jokes and tootsie rolls but we’ll see him often and am glad he’ll get good care to help him get better.I’ll keep you posted.

Much can change in three days — even divorce laws. The New Straits Times, a daily newspaper in Kuala Lumpur, reported on July 28 that Malaysian Muslim men could divorce their wives through text messages on mobile telephones. Short messaging service was viewed as just another form of serving written notice, according to a religious court, and the effects of such a ruling seemed perfect for a column. If a Malaysian Muslim husband keeps getting busy signals when he tries to reach out and divorce somebody, I reasoned, he can still rely on the traditional method of driving home, standing in front of her and declaring "I divorce you" three times. In many cases, those may not be the three little words a woman wants to hear. "I love you" or even "Where’s the remote?" would be preferable in most cases. Getting a divorce in Malaysia may be easier said than dialed. Several things might go wrong when a mobile phone is used for a proclamation of divorce. For starters, the divorce message could be speed dialed incorrectly with a single key and the bad news might be received by an employer or a mother-in-law, who was never fond of the mis-dialer in the first place. Hasty decisions might be regretted later. Text messages, which can be relayed instantly, may not allow divisive issues to be thought out completely. Too much starch in a shirt collar may be irritating at work, but normally it’s something that can be forgotten on the way home. Incomplete calls would also create problems. A phone battery may give out or the words could be half-transmitted when the caller drives through one of those dreaded "no service available" zones. A message reading, "I wish to di...," would confuse any wife. He may wish to die, dine with her or he may wish to divulge some secret to her. To make matters worse, she can’t return his call. In order to keep her marriage intact, a wife might take several precautions to avoid divorce. She could replace her husband’s charged phone battery with a dead one while he’s sleeping or in the shower. If she’s not comfortable with replacing batteries, she might inexplicably lose or misplace the phone while it’s in the house. The phone service could be disrupted if she innocently misplaces the bill from the phone company. Last, but not least, she could simply refuse to answer the phone when her husband is away. With this scenario, no news is good news. Because of universal restrictions regarding the use of cell phones, a Malaysian Muslim wife might relax and not fear receiving a divorce message when her husband is doing any of the following activities — taking a plane trip, walking near certain medical equipment in hospitals, fueling a car at a gas station, or standing near a blasting site. An ideal husband would be unable to send a divorce message if he would do all of those things on a regular basis. Of course, if a husband isn’t the type to divorce by phone, there’s still the possibility he might simply say, "I divorce you," three times when he comes home. Even that method can’t be foolproof. What if the wife has a habit of "tuning out" her husband when he speaks? What if she’s hard of hearing and thinks she hears, "I adore you?" On July 31, the Malaysian government overturned the religious court’s ruling and the Muslim men in that country now have one less divorce option. It might be easier to stay married.

Would you believe that I couldn’t find one thing to complain about our weather this week? We have had some warm, even hot, days but by evening a cool breeze would blow up and we never knew from which direction it would come. However, it really didn’t matter to me, just so it cooled down enough so we could get a good nights rest. We certainly have not had to worry about our air conditioning so far, just open the windows and a cool breath of fresh air took care of the thermostat. I just hope it continues. I really don’t care how hot the days are, just so it cools down at night. It really surprises me that the temperatures cool down into the low 60s every night and I am not complaining one bit. It just leaves me utterly confused as I am definitely not ready for fall! In fact, I am still having a hard time realizing it is summer. I have so many things I had hoped to get accomplished this summer, but time waits for no one. I had just better get on the ball and hope to catch up. The Art and Henrietta Boeve family spent this past week vacationing at Clear Lake, Iowa. Those enjoying the week together were Gregg and Anita Bosch, Cedar Falls, Iowa, Chad, Sheri and Mickayla Bosch, Ryan Bosch and friend, Amy, all from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Glen, Ann and Tara Boeve and friend Deric, Little Rock, Iowa, Matt and friend Andrea, from South Dakota, and Gary, Michelle and Riley VanWyhe, Rock Rapids, Iowa. Aaron was unable to be with them as he was with the group that went on the mission trip to Guatemala. Needless to say, a good time was had by all!Congratulations to Lance Van Der Weerd, son of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Van Der Weerd, who graduated from the Mayo School of Health Related Sciences, Friday, Aug. 8, with a degree in radiology technologist.Robert and Dorothy Mulder, Firth, Neb., were weekend guests in the Henrietta Huenink home. Dorothy was Preston’s sister. Bernice Aukes and some of her family spent the weekend camping at Beaver Creek Valley State Park near Caledonia. Those enjoying the weekend together were Bernice Aukes, Mary Crawford, Lisa and Taylor Telford, Sioux Falls, Steve and Nancy Willers, and Shilo, Fairmont, and Tim and Tess Lynn, Houston. They returned home on Sunday. There will be an open house in honor of Pete and Jane De Boer’s 50th wedding anniversary from 2 to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 23, in the Fellowship Hall of Steen Reformed Church. Joyce and Jo Aykens were Saturday afternoon visitors in the home of Paul and Carole Aykens in Orange City, Iowa, to visit with their daughter, Andrea Aykens, Cedar Falls. Her sister, Susan Veldkamp and daughter from Orange City joined them for the afternoon. Melba Boeve spent the weekend in the home of her daughter, Carla and John Overlander at their lake cottage near New London. Sunday, Melba and her granddaughters, Krysta and Megan enjoyed a tour of the Clemmens Gardens at St. Cloud which were beautiful. En route home Melba visited with Jessie Boeve at Edgebrook Nursing Home in Edgerton. She also visited with Bill and Janet Blyenburg who also make their home in Edgerton. Steven Bosch, Minneapolis arrived on Monday at the home of his parents, Dries and Laura May Bosch, where he will spend several days. Laura May was hospitalized for an angiogram on Tuesday. She planned to return home on Wednesday. Good luck to her. Pastor Dan and Karen Ramaker returned home Sunday evening after spending about a week visiting Karen’s mother in Wisconsin. Steen Reformed Church had a special congregational meeting Monday evening for discussion and approval of the recommendation that the parking lot in front of the church be hard-surfaced. The recommendation passed 58 to 3 in favor of the project. Word was received here this morning that Evelyn Tilstra passed away Tuesday morning at Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital. Funeral arrangements are pending. Our deepest sympathy goes out to the family. Monday dinner guest in the Dries and Laura May Bosch home was their grandson, Eric Bosch, from Sioux Falls. Marlin and Linda Elbers, Kristi, Stacy, Jeremy and Sonya Elbers spent this past week vacationing in Branson, Mo. For many years we have been hearing that we are living in "one world." With our transportation systems making travel so easily available it definitely shortens the distance between all of our nations. Many of us have even visited several foreign countries. However, because they are so easily accessible it doesn’t mean that every country is alike. Each and every one have their own way of doing things, their own priorities, their own form of government and educational systems. Even though our transportation system allows us to visit these different countries we do not or cannot understand their way of life. However, we can still become good neighbors or as in Bible times they were called "Good Samaritans." We can try to understand their ways and help them to understand ours. The following suggestions for being a Good Neighbor (or a Good Samaritan) were written by William Arthur Ward and I think we could apply any and all of them right here in our own United States as well. It is titled, "I will be a Good Samaritan."I will be sensitive to the needs of my fellowman and look for ways to befriend him. I will be aware of man’s suffering, get involved in his struggle and comfort him in his sorrow.I will withhold judgment of my brother, and attempt to understand his thinking, his attitudes and his behavior. I will forgive those who have injured me. I will forgive, I will forgive even those who have hurt those I love. I will not close my eyes or pass on the other side whenever there is need of my service, my friendship or my presence. I will lift someone’s spirits by giving them much needed gifts of a word of hope and encouragement. I will remember to be grateful to those who have been Good Samaritans to me in the past, and who keep me from falling into the ditches of discouragement, depression and defeat.I will be a Good Samaritan for the inner joy of serving, and because helping others is what the Golden Rule is all about. I will realize that my neighbor is anyone — and that my brother is everyone. I will feel so much joy, experience, so much growth, and receive such a blessing as a Good Neighbor today that I will be a Good Neighbor again tomorrow."Perhaps we could try to follow these suggestions and I will bet every person in the world would be happy that you cared.