Peter "Pete" Delfs, 79, Luverne, died Thursday, July 24, 2003, at Luverne Community Hospital following a long illness. Services were Monday, July 28, at American Reformed Church in Luverne. The Rev. David Sikkema officiated. Burial with military honors was at Eastside Cemetery in Steen. Peter Henry Delfs was born to Henry and Anna (Holmer) Delfs on Aug. 3, 1923, in Suderstapel, Germany. He moved with his family to the United States when he was 14 months old and settled near Hinton, Iowa, where he grew up and attended school. The family moved to a farm northwest of Rock Rapids, Iowa, when he was 16 and in the years to follow, he worked as a farm hand. He married Dorothy Bosch on March 11, 1943, in Steen. He was inducted into the U.S. Army in January 1944. At the time of his induction, he was still a citizen of Germany but became a naturalized citizen of the United States shortly thereafter. Because of his German heritage he served in the Pacific Theater rather than in Europe. He rose to the rank of Staff Sergeant as a heavy machine gunner. He served in the invasion of Luzon and spent more than 130 days fighting on the front lines before being wounded from a hand grenade blast. He spent six months in Fitzsimmons General Hospital in Denver, Colo., recovering from his wounds. He was honorably discharged, receiving the Purple Heart and Bronze Star decorations. He operated an independent trucking and corn shelling operation for many years. The family moved to Albert Lea in 1964 where he was trained as a federal meat inspector. He also lived in Worthington before moving to Luverne in 1976. He worked as an inspector of packinghouses before retiring in the mid 1980s. In October 2002 he was diagnosed with cancer and had a lung removed. He became a patient of Luverne Hospice on July 23. Mr. Delfs was a member of American Reformed Church in Luverne, the Luverne VFW, Valley Springs American Legion and the Disabled American Veterans. He enjoyed his daily trips to see his buddies at the coffee shop along with playing pinochle at Steen Senior Citizens Center. His other interests included NASCAR racing, gospel music events and his weekly swimming workout at the Rock County Community Pool. Survivors include his wife, Dorothy Delfs, Luverne; three daughters, Janice (Duane) Klosterbuer, Steen, and twin daughters, Meredeth Timmerman, Indianapolis, Ind., and Marlene Delfs, Rochester; five grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; two brothers, Raymond and Gary Delfs, both of Rock Rapids, and three sisters, Margaret LeFrenz, Rock Rapids, Phyllis Wildeman, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Eunice McCarty, Larchwood, Iowa. Mr. Delfs was preceded in death by his parents and two brothers, Alvin and Adrian.The Luverne Community Hospital Hospice will plant a tree in memory of Pete Delfs.Roste Funeral Home, Hills, was in charge of arrangements.

By Sara StrongUnless there’s a reverse referendum, the County Recorder Position will be appointed instead of elected. It’s been in the process for a long time at the county, but after a public hearing Tuesday, it became final.Recorder Jere Ohme was on hand to answer public questions at the hearing, which included three opposed to the change, and support from two.Those objecting to the change from elected to appointed have said that the public is losing control over government with each official they don’t get to elect.County Board members said they’ve heard favorable comments for the change to appointed.Commissioner Bakken said, "At first I was opposed, but I think it’s something that needs to be done."Commissioner Ron Boyenga said that office efficiencies and the security in knowing a qualified person will be in the job are important. But he also said the county could save money on salary for a recorder. As an elected position, the recorder earns what a department head would. Because of the mostly clerical nature of the work, if it is appointed, the job will be paid according to actual job duties.Ohme has never been opposed when he’s filed for re-election. That isn’t the case in many counties. Other counties have had problems when people are voted out of office, or retire from elected positions. They often don’t train their replacements. Ohme said that would mean continued good service in the office wouldn’t be assured in the future.Ohme said, "Most people don’t know what we do."Recorders direct the recording of all deeds, mortgages and other legal documents involved in the registration of land to meet statutory requirements. They review deeds and other documents for accuracy and completeness and advise the public on procedures for recording deeds and mortgages and related documents.Recorders assist the public and legal professionals in searches for recorded information about specific property and titles. Ohme said that especially during the summer, genealogy research is popular in the vault of records.Ohme said that by changing the position to appointed, the Board isn’t doing the public a disservice or taking away someone who makes decisions. He said, "What we do is right out of the statute books."

Norman "Dan" Johnston, 77, Hills, died Wednesday, July 23 at his home. Visitation will be Sunday, July 27 from 4 to 8 p.m. with the family present from 4 to 6 p.m. at Roste Funeral Home, Hills. Services will be Monday, July 28 at 10 a.m. at Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Hills. Burial will be 3 p.m. in Altona Cemetery, Hitchcock, SD.

By Jolene FarleyLocal 4-H members are busy putting the finishing touches on their projects for the Rock County Fair next week. Monday is the deadline for entering non-perishable items such as crafts, clothes, etc.Wednesday is the deadline for pets, foods and other perishables.Zach Van Westen, Steen, a member of the Hills Blue Ribbon 4-H Club, began his project, restoring a barge box farm wagon, for the fair on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2002. He remembers the exact date he started because it was his 13th birthday. After hauling the wagon home from Monroe, S.D., he immediately began tearing it down.Zach’s grandfather, Hilbert Van Westen, purchased the wagon in 1960 and hauled many loads of corn, beans and oats over the years.Zach decided to tackle the restoration of the wagon for his 4-H project with the help of his father, Dale. They logged many hours on the wagon this spring. During the project, Zach learned to use a cutting torch, a sandblaster and a paint sprayer.Because it was so time consuming to restore, the wagon is the only item Zach is entering in the fair this year. Last year, his projects included a birdhouse, bookshelf and lamp.Zach’s sister Alaina, 10, is entering a lamp, a quilt, a pillowcase, a picture, wind chimes and food. Meagan and Natalie Stueven, Hills, are close to completing their projects and are confident they will be ready.The girls are also members of the Hills Blue Ribbon 4-H Club. Their mother, Sue, is the leader of the club."It isn’t quite as rushed as last year," Sue Stueven said. "It’s not the night before and we’re still sewing."The girls are entering a variety of projects, including cats, calves, a horse and various craft projects.They got ideas for their projects from magazines and the Internet."They have a lot of fun," Sue said. "We try to keep it fun and we try to keep it learning for them."Entrants will know whether their projects earned a purple, blue, red or white ribbon at the fair by Wednesday or Thursday, according to Stueven.

By John RittenhouseZach Wysong and the Luverne American Legion baseball team placed second in the Area A Tournament that was completed late last week.The Cardinals came up one run short in the tournament’s championship game against Pipestone Wednesday, July 16, in Luverne.Luverne locked up the second seed in the district by besting Okabena by five runs in Luverne Friday. They’ll play in the Second District American Legion Baseball Tournament in Truman the next two weekends.Wysong, a Hills-Beaver Creek High School student, made positive impacts in both Area A games last week.He recorded a pitching win and drove in a combined five runs with four hits in the games against Pipestone and Okabena.Wysong went the distance on the mound during an 8-3 victory over Okabena Friday.The hurler recorded 11 strikeouts and yielded one earned run during a seven-inning stint on the hill. Wysong also was two-for-four at the plate, driving in one run and scoring another.Wysong, who doubled in a scoreless third inning, helped Luverne break the game open in the bottom of the fourth.Okabena scored its first earned run in the top of the fourth to trail 4-3, but the Cards answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to gain a 7-3 cushion.Wysong drove in the first run of the rally with an RBI single. He scored later in the frame on a wild pitch.Wysong had a great night at the plate during an 8-7 loss to Pipestone Wednesday, July 16.The Cardinals shortstop drove in four runs with two doubles, but it wasn’t enough to keep Luverne from falling to the Arrows in extra innings.Wysong gave the Cardinals a 2-0 lead when he doubled after Adam Reisch and Adam Kurtz walked in the bottom of the second.Luverne needed a boost when Pipestone scored twice in the top of the eighth to take a 4-2 lead, and Wysong provided it by slapping a double after Jared Pick and Rob Fodness drew walks to tie the game at four.Pipestone, however, outscored the Cards 4-3 in the ninth inning to win the championship game.Luverne will open the Second District Tournament by taking on Wabasso 6:30 p.m. Friday in Truman.

By John RittenhouseThe Hills Thunder opened the 2003 Gopher League Playoffs by shocking the Luverne Redbirds Wednesday, July 16, in Luverne.Hills had never beaten Luverne since joining the amateur baseball ranks in the late 1990s, but that changed at Redbird Field last week.Chad Rauk tossed nine strong innings on the mound and Eric and Scott Harnack and Matt Funke drove in three runs each to lead the Thunder to a 13-4 victory.Hills assumed control of the game by scoring two runs in the first and second innings to open a 4-0 lead.Jarud Lang opened the game with a double and scored the first run when Eric Harnack singled. Harnack scored on a sacrifice fly by Funke to make it 2-0.Cade Lang and Scott Harnack singled before scoring on a two-run double by Eric Harnack in the second as Hills doubled its lead to 4-0.Luverne cut the lead in half (4-2) when Brian Weber reached base, Micky Sehr singled before both runners scored in the bottom of the second, but Hills put the game away by scoring three runs in the fourth inning and four in the fifth to gain an 11-2 cushion.Scott Harnack doubled home a pair of runs and Eric Harnack singled home another during a three-run fourth inning.Cade Lang doubled home one run, Funke received an RBI for a fielder’s choice, Eric Harnack reached base on an error and scored and Scott Harnack walked and scored on a wild pitch in the fifth.Luverne scored single runs in the seventh and ninth innings, while Hills countered with single runs in the eighth and ninth frames.Wade Jellema received an RBI for a fielder’s choice in the eighth and Funke singled home a run in the ninth for Hills. Mike Wenninger scored on an error in the seventh and Ben Winkels singled home a run in the ninth for Luverne.Rauk limited the Redbirds to five hits and five walks while striking out five batters during his nine-inning stint on the mound.Derek Ohme took the loss for Luverne, allowing seven earned runs and nine hits in three and one-third innings.Terry Eernisse worked the next four and two-thirds innings, allowing five runs (one was earned) and seven hits. Isaac Schmidt pitched one inning of one-run, one-hit ball.Hills box score AB R H BIJ.Lang 5 2 2 0E.Harnack 4 2 3 3S.Harnack 4 4 2 3Sammons 3 0 1 0Top 0 0 0 0Funke 5 1 1 3Van Maanen 5 0 1 0Jellema 4 0 1 1C.Lang 5 3 3 1Rauk 5 0 2 0Forshey 0 0 0 0C.Harnack 0 0 0 0Krenz 0 0 0 0Luverne box score AB R H BIOhme 4 0 1 0Edstrom 5 0 0 0Wenninger 3 1 0 0Shelton 1 0 0 0Weber 3 1 0 0Iveland 1 1 1 0M.Sehr 3 1 1 0Jarchow 1 0 0 0Winkels 4 0 1 1Reisch 4 0 0 0Sandublte 2 0 0 0Fisher 2 0 0 0Eernisse 2 0 1 0Schmidt 0 0 0 0

By Jolene FarleyLocal 4-H members are busy putting the finishing touches on their projects for the Rock County Fair next week. Monday is the deadline for entering non-perishable items such as crafts, clothes, etc.Wednesday is the deadline for pets, foods and other perishables.Zach Van Westen, Steen, a member of the Hills Blue Ribbon 4-H Club, began his project, restoring a barge box farm wagon, for the fair on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2002. He remembers the exact date he started because it was his 13th birthday. After hauling the wagon home from Monroe, S.D., he immediately began tearing it down.Zach’s grandfather, Hilbert Van Westen, purchased the wagon in 1960 and hauled many loads of corn, beans and oats over the years.Zach decided to tackle the restoration of the wagon for his 4-H project with the help of his father, Dale. They logged many hours on the wagon this spring. During the project, Zach learned to use a cutting torch, a sandblaster and a paint sprayer.Because it was so time consuming to restore, the wagon is the only item Zach is entering in the fair this year. Last year, his projects included a birdhouse, bookshelf and lamp.Zach’s sister Alaina, 10, is entering a lamp, a quilt, a pillowcase, a picture, wind chimes and food. Meagan and Natalie Stueven, Hills, are close to completing their projects and are confident they will be ready.The girls are also members of the Hills Blue Ribbon 4-H Club. Their mother, Sue, is the leader of the club."It isn’t quite as rushed as last year," Sue Stueven said. "It’s not the night before and we’re still sewing."The girls are entering a variety of projects, including cats, calves, a horse and various craft projects.They got ideas for their projects from magazines and the Internet."They have a lot of fun," Sue said. "We try to keep it fun and we try to keep it learning for them."Entrants will know whether their projects earned a purple, blue, red or white ribbon at the fair by Wednesday or Thursday, according to Stueven.

By Jolene FarleyOn Monday, the University of Minnesota Extension Service announced the 18 Minnesota communities that will serve as regional Extension centers beginning in January 2004. Luverne is not one of them, but local Extension officials hope the Rock County Board will finance a satellite office with a support staff to provide an emphasis in 4-H and ag programming."We’re still really going to try hard to listen to the needs of the local communities," said Rock/Pipestone County Extension Director Holli Arp.Last spring, in response to state budget reductions and requests from counties for more flexibility in contracting for services, Extension shifted to a regional system.More than 100 counties and communities submitted a letter of interest hoping to be chosen as a regional center.The communities selected were: Albert Lea, Andover, Brainerd, Cloquet, Crookston, Farmington, Fergus Falls, Grand Rapids, Hutchinson, Mankato, Marshall, Moorhead, Mora, Morris, Rochester, Roseau. St. Cloud and Worthington."After careful consideration and significant consultation, we picked these communities as sites for regional centers because, across the state, they create a network to ensure all Minnesotans have access to Extension," Extension Dean and Director Chuck Casey said. The regional centers are funded by state and federal dollars, according to Arp.Each regional office will house five to 10 University of Minnesota staff. Worthington will be the closest regional center to Rock County. Rock County didn’t submit an application, because, Arp said, "They didn’t think they clearly met the criteria."Rock County Commissioners have the option of contracting with Extension Service to augment programs that the county wants, needs, and can afford. Extension officials will next determine specific office locations in the communities chosen as regional centers. Five of the new centers, those in Cloquet, Crookston, Morris, Rochester, and Grand Rapids, use existing University of Minnesota facilities and build strong program connections with university faculty.Two metro area centers, Andover and Farmington, and faculty and staff on the Twin Cities campus, will position Extension to successfully serve the needs of the densely populated area of the state. The following criteria was used to select the sights:oThe community and site supports a strong technology connection.oAn existing University of Minnesota facility will be considered whenever possible.oThe centers should be distributed geographically to ensure that Extension is available throughout Minnesota. oLocations will be sought that maximize value for anticipated costs for the employer, customer and employee.oThe location lends itself to increased collaboration with agency partners. oThere are existing acceptable facilities. oThere is an active commitment from the host community. oThere are partnership opportunities with other educational institutions. oThe site is a user-friendly location for customers and the deployment of staff.

By Sara StrongUnless there’s a reverse referendum, the County Recorder Position will be appointed instead of elected. It’s been in the process for a long time at the county, but after a public hearing Tuesday, it became final.Recorder Jere Ohme was on hand to answer public questions at the hearing, which included three opposed to the change, and support from two.Those objecting to the change from elected to appointed have said that the public is losing control over government with each official they don’t get to elect.County Board members said they’ve heard favorable comments for the change to appointed.Commissioner Bakken said, "At first I was opposed, but I think it’s something that needs to be done."Commissioner Ron Boyenga said that office efficiencies and the security in knowing a qualified person will be in the job are important. But he also said the county could save money on salary for a recorder. As an elected position, the recorder earns what a department head would. Because of the mostly clerical nature of the work, if it is appointed, the job will be paid according to actual job duties.Ohme has never been opposed when he’s filed for re-election. That isn’t the case in many counties. Other counties have had problems when people are voted out of office, or retire from elected positions. They often don’t train their replacements. Ohme said that would mean continued good service in the office wouldn’t be assured in the future.Ohme said, "Most people don’t know what we do."Recorders direct the recording of all deeds, mortgages and other legal documents involved in the registration of land to meet statutory requirements. They review deeds and other documents for accuracy and completeness and advise the public on procedures for recording deeds and mortgages and related documents.Recorders assist the public and legal professionals in searches for recorded information about specific property and titles. Ohme said that especially during the summer, genealogy research is popular in the vault of records.Ohme said that by changing the position to appointed, the Board isn’t doing the public a disservice or taking away someone who makes decisions. He said, "What we do is right out of the statute books."