Neighbors have been helping neighbors in rural Rock County this week after tornado-like weather ripped through southwest Minnesota around 2:30 a.m. Monday.
There have so far been no reports of injuries, but property damage has been extensive, with reports of trees falling on houses and vehicles, downed powerlines and outages, and livestock buildings and machine shops either collapsed or missing rooftops.
After a sleepless night of violent wind and rain, Rock County residents on Monday afternoon were again sent to basements and tornado shelters when a tornado was spotted on the ground south of Jasper headed east.
The storms dropped nearly two inches of rain, which was welcome in most parts of the county, which has been on the dry side this spring. However, wet fields and muddy farm yards have complicated cleanup efforts.
In most cases, pieces and parts of grain bins, machines and other destroyed structures were scattered for miles in area fields, most of which had been freshly planted with corn and soybeans just beginning to emerge.
While some large hail was reported Monday afternoon, it appears local crops were mostly spared.
According to Rock County Emergency Management Director Kyle Oldre, three separate storms came through — one around 2:30 a.m., another midday and a third later in the afternoon.
“Three cells came through with varying degrees of power and impact,” Oldre said.
“But they each certainly carried a punch.”
He said the county will seek disaster assistance to receive aid for public utility companies.
L & O Power Co-Op in Rock Rapids, which feeds power to Rock County, lost 12 to 15 transmission poles southwest of Luverne.
Sioux Valley Energy reported 25 damaged distribution and transmission poles, estimating nearly $100,000 in repairs.

Friends and family gathered Sunday afternoon in the Luverne Elementary School gymnasium for the LHS Class of 2022 commencement exercises. Speakers encouraged the 81 graduates to achieve the impossible while remembering the years they spent together in elementary, middle and high school. They also remembered their late classmate, Daniella Rose Gacke, with a bouquet of rainbow roses displayed on the stage, where each received their high school diplomas. As per tradition, high school principal Ryan Johnson received a small “gift” during the handshakes with students. On Sunday he received ping pong balls.

Luverne City Administrator John Call formally announced his retirement at the Tuesday, May 24, city council meeting.
“The last 17 years in Luverne have been the highlight of my 35-year career in city management,” Call wrote in his resignation letter to the council.
“With a progressive mayor and council and highly competent department heads and employees, we have been able to move the city forward in many areas of economic development, housing and quality of life while at the same time delivering great city services on a daily basis.”
Mayor Pat Baustian thanked Call for his contributions.
“You’ve done a phenomenal job and we have been privileged to have you as an administrator,” Baustian said.
“I look back on the projects we have done the last 17 years, and it is remarkable what we have all accomplished. Because of your relationship-building, your communication ability … you’ve always put our community first. Thank you.”
The list of projects includes nearly $50 million in city capital improvements.
“Some of them were generational things, in terms of just needing to be done,” Call said. “Hopefully what we’ve accomplished together will be there for the next 40 to 50 years.”
Call’s retirement will be effective Dec. 31, 2022, which will allow six months to fill his position.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the council also took action to establish a city administrator recruitment committee to fill Call’s position.
Committee members include Craig Oftedahl, Mike Cox, Ashley Kurtz, Tim Gust, Caroline Thorson, Mayor Baustian and Connie Connell.
City Clerk Jessica Mead has also been working with the League of Minnesota Cities and other professional development colleagues to establish a recruitment plan.
Call, 63, said he and his wife, Brenda, will continue living in Luverne, and he will work with the council to ensure a smooth transition to the next administrator.

The Rock County Historical Society and Leicher family descendants celebrated the official dedication of the Luverne Automobile Saturday afternoon in the History Center showroom.
The 1911 Luverne Thirty is one of only two known Luverne automobiles in existence, and one now resides — appropriately – in Luverne.
Dan Anderson, Hills, and his cousin, Tanya Light, Luverne, worked with their Leicher relatives to pool resources for the Historical Society to buy the car from a collector in Minneapolis.
“It belongs in Luverne,” Light said. “It belongs in the History Center, where everyone can enjoy it — including the cousins. This way they can go and take their kids and grandchildren to see it.”
Light and Anderson are great-grandchildren of Al Leicher, who owned and operated the Luverne Automobile Co. with his brother, Ed Leicher, from 1904 to 1917.
The Luverne Thirty arrived in the History Center showroom on Nov. 30, 2021, and on Saturday roughly 60 Leicher descendants, wearing color-coded T-shirts to designate their family affiliations, attended the dedication ceremony.
“They were all just so excited to be included in this to be part of history this way,” Anderson said after the weekend.
“I was tickled to see all the younger generations here to learn about the family heritage and keep the Leicher story alive.”
He said the family has been grateful to the Historical Society for keeping detailed records of the local company and its founders.
“Without the History Center and what it’s doing, that would all be lost,” Anderson said. “How many young people in the community even know that a car was built in Luverne?”
In a picnic at the Luverne City Park that afternoon, the family passed a bucket to collect donations to have the car’s upholstery repaired and to support the Rock County Historical Society.

The Hills-Beaver Creek Education Association honored an H-BC alumnus Friday night as the 2021-22 Teacher of the Year.
Samantha McGaffee graduated from H-BC in 2010 and returned seven years ago as the district’s secondary special education teacher.
Her colleagues have noticed McGaffee’s dedication to her students.
“Miss McGaffee shows genuine care and guidance to her students,” one nomination comment read. “She knows how to balance between challenging and supporting students as they navigate their middle school and high school careers.”
McGaffee grew up in Hills, the daughter of Glenda and Sam McGaffee.
Experiences in leading Bible school classes and babysitting in her middle and high school years ignited her passion for working with children.
Her career choice became more solid when, as a high school senior, she was a teacher’s assistant for two class periods.
“I helped in preschool and first grade,” she said. “It was actually with this year’s graduating seniors, when they were in first grade, ironically.”
McGaffee attended Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
Her focus on special education came as she liked the smaller classroom settings and the chance to work with students for several years.
Her first teaching position was in special education at West Side Elementary School, Marshall, working with third- and fourth-graders. She came to H-BC for the beginning of the 2016-17 school year as the secondary special education teacher.
“As a secondary teacher, you get to be there for them and help them navigate some of the most difficult years of their lives,” she said. “Some of the challenges are they aren’t as easy to please.”
McGaffee admitted she was first drawn to working with elementary-aged students and didn’t see herself teaching students older than third grade.
“Older students are still kids — just bigger bodies,” she said. “They still need patience, grace and help to develop socially, emotionally and academically.”
McGaffee has excelled with her older students, according to her colleagues.
“She and her classroom often are safe havens for students (many of our students stop in for a chat, snack or a moment of support in her room). I’ve heard some students refer to Miss McGaffee as their ‘second mom’ and I’m beyond grateful for our district to have a teacher like her for our students to access as a resource.”
McGaffee said her main goal at the secondary level is to develop positive relationships during the years the students are in her classroom.
“I know that this isn’t always as easy or attainable in the general education setting and is one reason I chose special education,” she said. “Transparency, honest communication and consistency help build this trust and support.”
McGaffee emphasized when working with older students she doesn’t always have a quick solution and has to take a different route as a teacher by letting the student grow and become independent.
“One of my mantras in these situations is: You may not be able to control your circumstances but you can always control your actions and responses,” she said.
McGaffee’s also found that taking an interest in a student’s extra-curricular activity has helped with positive relationship building.
“They notice when you’re there and get so excited to share their passions with you,” McGaffee said. “It is fun to see them excel in other capacities outside of the classroom.”
 
Scott Harris keeps H-BC ‘hydrated’
As the district sales manager with Chesterman Distributing in Sioux Falls, Scott Harris keeps area grocery stores and events at the Hills-Beaver Creek schools stocked with beverages.
Because of his dedication to H-BC, Harris was selected by the education association as the 2021-22 Friend of Education.
Nomination comments were quick to recognize Harris’ ability to “keep us hydrated.”
“Scott has gone out of his way to help better H-BC schools by providing water, Powerade, etc., to events such as the H-BC spelling bee, G.R.A.D. student council events, sports banquets and more,” one nominee wrote.
Harris and his wife, Heather, live in Hills and have three children. The oldest, Andrew, is a Class of 2022 graduate.
“Andrew was early in elementary school and I got some Powerade for them to give to the students after the event,” he said. “Chesterman Coca-Cola has been a part of H-BC since before I worked for them (20 years) and I hope that I have helped strengthen that partnership.”

Luverne High School students will perform “Beauty and the Beast” Thursday, Friday and Saturday and three days next week, June 9-11, for a total of six musical performances.
All six shows are at 7 p.m. in the school’s performing arts center.
According to director Shawn Kinsinger, many of the main characters are played by more than one actor to allow more students in the show.
“Many of the students I get to direct work extremely hard not only to be in the show but to also excel at athletics,” he said.
Instead of forcing them to choose one activity over another, Kinsinger selected understudies to step into the leading roles for the second weekend of performances.
“The students who have understudies to take over for them when they go to the state track and tennis meets are the students that held the program together during the Covid lockdown,” he said.
“They were the students who stayed engaged and wanted to put on good shows when we came back to the stage.”
The musical, “Beauty and the Beast,” follows the story of the live action Disney movie of the same name.
Belle is played by senior Mia Wenzel and sophomore understudy Alex Perkins. The Beast (junior Parker Carbonneau) is under a witch’s spell that only true love will break.
Gaston (senior Pierce Cunningham, eighth-grader Zander Carbonneau) selects Belle as his wife and is angry at Belle’s relationship with the Beast. Lafou (senior Griffen Jarchow, junior Ashlyn Johnson) is Gaston’s sidekick.
When Belle’s father, Maurice (Perkins, junior Camden Hoven) becomes lost and is imprisoned in the Beast’s castle, Belle takes his place.
At the Beast’s magical castle are his servants: Lumiere (senior Luke Thorson), Cogsworth (freshman Xavier McKenzie), Mrs. Potts (freshman Brianna Kinsinger), Chip (junior Grace Ingebretson, freshman Nora Louwagie), Babette (junior Myles Trimble), and Madame Del La Grande Bouche (freshman Bethany Behr) try their best to convince the Beast that Belle “is THE one who can break the spell.”
The insane asylum is run by Monsieur D’Arque (freshman Chris Bonilla), who imprisons Belle’s father when he tells townsfolk about the Beast.
The girls who swoon over Gaston are played by Grace Sandbulte, Andrea Luitjens and Lexi Berg.
The wolves, gargoyles and cronies are Hunter Cope, Steven Woods, Aiden Worshek, Chase Matthiesen and Camden Hoven.
Villagers and castle staff are Chloe Schoneman, Yoselyn Gonzalez, Nora Louwagie, Abby Boltjes, Hannah Vaudrin, Audrie DeBates, Janica Oechsle, Brooklyn Wicks, Morgan Jonas, Priscilla Muehr and Joelia Lopez.
Stage manager is freshman Kaitlin Conger.
Stage crew are Egypt Forrest (lights), Zoey Berghorst and Cameron Aukes (sound), Elijah Henricks (camera) and Lizzy Mulder (robot ops).
Morgan Van Holland is assistant director.
Carol Ceynoya designed many of the customs with former students Sophie Holmberg, Josie Golla and Rylee Gee assisting with rehearsals.
The LHS robotics, art and woods departments helped with special effects and set construction.
The production will benefit from the technology of the performing arts center.
“I researched the show and decided it was a production we could make happen — especially with the capabilities of the new PAC,” Kinsinger said.
Performances are at 7 p.m. June 2-4 and June 9-11. Cost is $6 for adults and $4 students.

Luverne’s 38th annual Buffalo Days Celebration is on deck for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, June 3-5.
The lineup includes all the weekend classics — the Friday Night Cruise-In, Saturday’s parade on Main Street and Buffalo Days Expo at the Courthouse Square.
The Cruise-In is from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Friday with free vehicle registration (all collectibles welcome) and live music, food and beer garden.
Also on Friday the Annual Luverne Baseball Tournament (9U thru 14U & Junior Legion) begins and continues through Saturday and Sunday.
Live performances of the Luverne High School musical, “Beauty and the Beast,” are at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday of Buffalo Days weekend in the school performing arts center. (See the related story on page 6A.)
On Saturday the lineup of entertainment and activities includes:
•Sanford Buffalo Days Fun Run – Registration at 7 a.m. – at Luverne City Park.
•4-H Waffle Feed at the Masonic Temple from 7:30 to 10 a.m.
•Sno-Masters Membership Drive & Side by Side/ATC Poker Run at 9 a.m.
•Buffalo Days Expo vendor show at the Rock County Courthouse Square from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
•Ninja Anywhere Interactive Inflatables at the Courthouse Square from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
•Parade on Main Street at 10 a.m.
•Quilt Show at the Hinkly House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (See the related story on page 7A.)
•Block Party at Take 16 Brewing Company.
On Sunday the 10th annual Tales from the Graves and Pie and Ice Cream Social returns to Maplewood Cemetery from 1 to 4 p.m. with a full slate of local actors portraying distinguished Rock County residents. (See the related story on page 7A.)

Meetings
Parkinson’s support group will meet at 2 p.m. Monday, June 6, at Poplar Creek Care center in Luverne.
Springwater Township Board will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 7, in the township hall.
Luv1LuvAll board will meet from 8 to 9 a.m. Friday, June 10, at the Southwest Health and Human Services building. Luv1LuvAll works to “create opportunities for people to move out of poverty,” and all are welcome. Call Holly at (605) 413-5415 with questions.
 Beaver Creek Township Board will meet at 7:30 p.m. Monday, June 13, in the Township Hall.
 
UMC pie and ice cream June 3
Luverne United Methodist Church annual Pie and Ice Cream Social will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 3, during the Buffalo Days Friday Night Cruise In. The event will move inside the church if it is raining.
 
June 4 show features two local quilters
The Blue Mound Quilters Guild will host its annual quilt show from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at the Hinkly House at 217 N. Freeman Ave., Luverne. Featured at this year’s show will be the works of Leola Sweeney and Arlene Bendix, the Guild’s 2022 Quilters of the Year.
 
 ‘Tales from the Grave’ June 5
The Rock County Historical Society will present its 10th annual “Tales from the Graves” and pie and ice cream social from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 5, at Maplewood Cemetery. 
Local actors will play the roles of featured “guests,” including newspaperman Irid Bjerk, probate judge Helga Skyberg, architect and contractor, W.E.E. Greene, farm boy and tractor accident victim Elroy Sievert, businesswoman Adahlia Wildung, Luverne Automobile founders Al and Ed Leicher, Civil War Veteran and early settler Morris C. Smith and Army nurse Tilda Rossum.
The event will also highlight the move of the Old Luverne Cemetery to Maplewood. The rain location is the History Center on East Main Street. Call 507-283-2122.
 
Donate blood June 6
Community Blood Bank “All American” blood drive is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 2:30 to 5 p.m. Monday, June 6, at Sanford Luverne. Donors receive an “All American” blood donor t-shirt. Visit cbblifeblood.org or call 605-331-3222 to schedule an appointment. Community Blood Banks is the sole blood provider to Sanford Luverne Medical Center.
 
Sign up by June 6 for children’s musical
Shirley Harrison is seeking children ages 7 to 14 for a community musical, ‘Have You Heard the Good News?’ that will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, June 26, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. Sign-up sheets are available at local churches as well as Grace and the Luverne Chamber Office and need to be returned by June 6 to Grace or the Chamber. Practice will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Friday, June 20-24. Dress rehearsal is from 3:30 to 6 p.m. Saturday, June 25. Call 507-227-3154.
 
‘Service Over Self’ June 8, July 20
Rock The Edge Service Over Self days will be June 8 and July 20. Youth who have completed grades eight through 12 are welcome to register, as well as adults. (Sign up by June 2 for the June 8 service day and by July 14 for the second day.) To request a registration form email rocktheedgemn@gmail.com or call 507-283-2316.
 
Food distribution is June 16
New Life Celebration Church’s third Thursday monthly food giveaway is now at the Atlas building at 101 W. Maple St. in Luverne.
The next distribution is 4:30 p.m. Thursday, June 16, until the food is gone.
Enter from Maple Street and stay along the west side of the building. Parking lot opens at 3 p.m. Do not block the Redeemed Remnants parking lot, intersection or alley entrance. Food will be loaded into vehicles, which then exit via the alley going west toward Estey Street.
Call 507-283-8963 or 507-283-4366 with questions.
 
Community Ed
Call 507-283-4724, to register for classes. Community Ed’s website is www.isd2184.net, select Luverne Community Education under schools.
Trips to the Arboretum and Twins game are full.
Defensive Driving Classes Beginning Class is June 21 and 23 (4 hours each evening). Refresher Four-Hour Classes is June 16
Learn how to defend yourself at Self Defense class on June 2.  Fee is $5.  Open to grades kindergarten through adult.
Students grades 3 and older (as attended during 21-22 school year) will receive training that can prepare them to be Home Alone on June 6.  Fee is $15.
“Ninja Anywhere” is June 4 at the Courthouse Square during Buffalo Days. The ninja rig will test upper body strength, balance and agility and finish with a giant slide and inflatable obstacle course. Fee is $20 for ages 3 and older.
Grades 5 (this past school year) through adult can reserve Open Studio two-hour blocks of time on June 4. Fee is $25 and covers all materials, glaze and firing.
The first of three Friday morning Adventure Day Camps, Magical Fairytales, will be June 10 at the fairgrounds for students who have completed Grades 1-4.
Amazing Raku for all ages (younger than third grade attended by adults) is June 11. Select and pay for a pottery bisque piece at the studio for $10-$30 to glaze and fire.
 
Rock County Library Happenings
For more information about library happenings, call 507-449-5040 or email rockcountystaff@gmail.com.
Sign up for the summer reading program, “Camp iRead: Read Beyond the Beaten Path,” is May 31-June 4. The program begins June 1 and will continue to Aug. 1.
Readers in grades K-4 who completed all eight weeks of the summer program will be invited to an End of Summer Pizza Party at 2 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4.
Teens (grades 5-12) who complete a bingo card will be invited to a pizza/prize party at 3 p.m., Thursday, Aug. 5.
Storytime @ the Park will be 10:30 a.m. Thursdays. Locations and start date will be released at a later date.
Teens in Action (grades 5-12) will meet from 3 to 4 p.m. Thursdays. A different activity will be featured each week beginning June 16.
Kick-off to the summer reading program is Magic Zac from 3 to 4 p.m. Monday, June 6. An ice cream social follows the program.
Find the Hidden Animal Tracks during a scavenger hunt from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday, June 14.
Movie and snacks for Camp Rock begins at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 21. The movie is 1 hr. 37 min., rated G. All ages are welcome.
Michael Albert and POP ART program will be Friday, July 15. Registration is required.
Movie and Snacks for The Lorax begins 3 p.m. Tuesday, July 19. The movie is 1 hr. 35 min., rated G. All ages are welcome.
A naturalist from Prairie Ecology Bus Center will present the program “Animals Can Do What?” from 3 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 26, for grades K-4.
Seed library is open and available to anyone in the public who wants to plant a garden. Flowers, fruit and vegetable seeds are available for free.
Trivia Night is at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at Take 16 in Luverne. Team registration begins at 6 p.m.
Reminiscence Kits are available featuring various topics such as gardening, pets, baking, sewing, farming and hunting. The kits are designed to use with a loved one experiencing memory loss, encouraging the loved one to open up about activities they once loved in the past.
 
A.C.E. respite care available, volunteers needed
A.C.E. of SW Minnesota (A.C.E.) offers respite care services in Rock County for those needing a break from caring for a loved one.
The respite program offers short-term (1-3 hours), temporary care for families and caregivers by providing a brief period of reprieve from the daily cares they provide to their loved one.
Volunteers provide non-professional supportive services to caregivers to give them time for themselves, relieve their stress and help them remain healthy.
Respite care volunteers are also needed. Trained A.C.E. volunteers provide respite care to family caregivers of adults age 60 and older who are suffering from long-term health conditions.
Contact Linda Wenzel at 507-283-5064 or ace.rock@co.rock.mn.us.