St. Catherine Catholic Church
203 E. Brown St., Luverne
St. Catherine Ph. 283-8502; www.stscl.org
Monsignor Gerald Kosse, Pastor
Sundays 8:30 a.m. Mass. Public Mass will be celebrated at FULL capacity in the church. Masses: 9 a.m. Wednesdays, 10 a.m. Friday at the nursing homes – check the bulletin. All Sunday masses will be live streamed on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pg/stccluverne/videos/. Visit www.stscl.org for more information.
 
Luverne Christian Reformed Church
605 N. Estey St., Luverne
Office Ph. 283-8482; Prayer Line Ph. 449-5982
www.luvernecrc.com — office@luvernecrc.com
Sundays 9:30 a.m. Worship service. 6:30 p.m. Evening worship service. We are streaming Sunday services live on YouTube at 9:30 a.m. and 6:30 p.m. Send him a friend request if you’re not connected. You may also visit our website for delayed broadcasts. Also our services are on local cable TV at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and at 6:30 p.m. on Thursdays. In all circumstances, may we joyfully declare: “Our help is in the name of the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 124:8.
 
First Baptist Church
103 N. Jackson St., P.O. Box 975, Luverne
Ph. 283-4091; email: fbcluv@iw.net — www.fbcluverne.org
Walt Moser, Pastor
Sundays, 10:30 a.m. In-person worship service. Service is also on Facebook Live at 10:30 a.m.
 
Grace Lutheran Church
500 N. Kniss Ave., Luverne
Ph. 507-283-4431; www.graceluverne.org — graceluverne@iw.net
Ann Zastrow, Pastor
Dave Christenson, Interim Pastor
Thursday, Feb. 10: 8:30 a.m. Missions in Action. Sunday, Feb. 13: 9 a.m. Worship Service with Holy Communion with 2nd Grade Milestone. 10 a.m. Coffee fellowship. 10 a.m. Sunday school. 5 p.m. Worship Service with Holy Communion. 6 p.m. Senior high youth night. 6:30 p.m. Worship practice. Monday, Feb. 14: Grace Notes deadline. Tuesday, Feb. 15: 9 a.m. Staff meeting. Wednesday, Feb. 16: 7 a.m. Men’s Bible study. 1:30 p.m. Women’s Bible study. 3:15 p.m. Faithweavers. 5 p.m. Youth supper. 6:15 p.m. 6th and 7th grade Confirmation. 7:15 p.m. 8th grade Confirmation. 8:15 p.m. 9th grade Confirmation. Online, TV and Radio Worship options are available. Online: Sundays 9 a.m. on the church website www.graceluverne.org, click Worship tab or go directly to our Facebook page at Grace Lutheran ELCA, Luverne. TV: Vast Channel 3 will air our worship service Mondays at 4:30 p.m. and Fridays at 10 a.m. Radio: KQAD-AM Radio will air our worship service on Sundays at 8:15 a.m.
 
Bethany Lutheran Church
720 N. Kniss Ave., Luverne
Ph. 507-283-4571 or 605-215-9834
Sundays, 10:15 a.m. Worship service; worship online as well (at els.org). Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. Zoom Bible study. See our Facebook page, Bethany Lutheran Church (Luverne) for other classes and events.
 
American Reformed Church
304 N. Fairview Dr., Luverne
Ph. 283-8600; email: office@arcluverne.org
Thursday, Feb. 10: 12:30 p.m. Piece Out (puzzle party). 5:30 p.m. Tumbling Tykes. Friday, Feb. 11: 6:3o a.m. Community Men’s Bible study. Sunday, Feb. 13: 9:30 a.m. Worship Service. 10:50 a.m. Sunday school. Tuesday, Feb. 15: 12 p.m. Staff meeting. Wednesday, Feb. 16: 9:30 a.m. 5:30 p.m. Midweek Meal. 6:30 p.m. Pioneer Club. 6:30 p.m. Jr. and Sr. High youth groups. Thursday, Feb. 17: 9 a.m. Cookie Crew. 5:30 p.m. Tumbling Tykes. Services are also broadcast on Vast Channel 3 on Mondays at 6 p.m. and Wednesdays at 4 p.m. DVD’s available upon request. To stay up to date on announcements, follow us on Facebook and Instagram @arcluverne.
 
Rock River Community Church (formerly First Assembly of God)
1075 110th Ave., 2 miles west of Luverne on County Rd. 4
Ph. 612-800-1255; email info@rockrivercommunity.church
Bob Junak, Pastor; Annette Junak, Assistant Pastor
Sundays, 9 a.m. Sunday school; 10 a.m. Worship service. Children’s church for ages 3-6th grade and nursery for ages 0-3 provided during our services. Wednesdays, 7 p.m. Worship service. All services are in-person and all are welcome.
 
United Methodist Church
109 N. Freeman Ave., Luverne
Ph. 283-4529
Saturday, Feb. 12: 8 p.m. AA meeting. Sunday, Feb. 13: 9 a.m. Adult Sunday school. 9:15 a.m. Coffee. 10:30 a.m. Worship service. 4:30 p.m. Genesis/Revelation Bible study. Tuesday, Feb. 15: Home visits. 6 p.m. Teachers meeting. 7 p.m. Club Scout/Boy Scouts. Wednesday, Feb. 16: 6:15 p.m. FUEL. 6:30 p.m. Confirmation. 8 p.m. AA meeting. Live streamed on Facebook and radio.
 
First Presbyterian Church
302 Central Lane, Luverne
Ph. 283-4787; email: Firstpc@iw.net
Sunday, Feb. 13: 9:30 a.m. Worship service. 10:30 a.m. Sunday school. Tuesday, Feb. 15: 1:30 p.m. Communion at MJB. 2:30 p.m. Communion at Poplar Creek. Wednesday, Feb. 16: 9:15 a.m. Circle. 1:30 p.m. Circle. 5:30 p.m. Bells. 6:15 p.m. Choir. In-person Worship service and live on Facebook. Our Facebook page can be found under First Presbyterian Church of Luverne. We are also on the local Luverne cable station at 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesdays and 10 a.m. on Thursdays.
 
St. John Lutheran Church
803 N. Cedar St., Luverne
Ph. 283-2316; email: stjohn@iw.net
www.stjohnlutheranluverne.org
Rev. Dr. Phil Booe, Pastor
Saturday, Feb. 12: 5:30 p.m. Worship Service. Sunday, Feb. 13: 9 a.m. Worship Service. 10:15 a.m. Adult Bible class; Sunday School. Wednesday, Feb. 16: 9:30 a.m. Bible study. 6:30 p.m. Kids for Christ; 6:30-8 p.m. Confirmation. 7:30 p.m. High School Youth Group. Services will be available on the Vast Channel 3 Sunday and online at the city website, cityofluverne.org.
 
Living Rock Church
500 E. Main St., Luverne
Ph. 449-0057; www.livingrockswmn.org
Billy Skaggs, Pastor
 
New Life Celebration Church
101 W. Maple, Luverne
Ph. (605) 368-1924; email: newlifecelebration@gmail.com
Food mission every third Thursday.
 
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church
305 E. 2nd St., P.O. Box 36, Hardwick
Ph. (507) 669-2855; zionoffice@alliancecom.net
Jesse Baker, Pastor
Sunday, Feb. 13: 9 a.m. Worship service. 10:15 a.m. Sunday School. 10:30 a.m. Bible study. Worship service on Luverne cable at 3:30 p.m. every Thursday and Friday.
 
Ben Clare United Methodist Church
26762 Ben Clare Ave., Valley Springs, S.D.
igtwlb@WOW.net
Bill Bates, Pastor
 
First Lutheran Church
300 Maple St., Valley Springs, S.D.
Ph. (605) 757-6662
Mark Eliason, Pastor
Sunday, Feb. 13: 9 a.m. Joint worship service at Palisade Lutheran Church. 10 a.m. Sunday school. Masks are strongly recommended, but not required, even if fully vaccinated. Worship will be streamed live on Facebook Video worship via YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHdQwVxFcU4
 
Palisade Lutheran Church
211 121st St., Garretson, S.D.
Ph. (507) 597-6257 — firstpalisade@alliancecom.net
Mark Eliason, Pastor
Thursday, Feb. 10: 1:30 p.m. Palisade Lutheran WELCA. 7 p.m. Palisade Lutheran council meeting. Sunday, Feb. 13: 10 a.m. Joint worship service at Palisade Lutheran Church. Masks are strongly recommended, but not required, even if fully vaccinated. Worship will be streamed live on Facebook. Video worship via YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHdQwVxFcU4
 
First Presbyterian Church
201 S. 3rd St., P.O Box 73, Beaver Creek
Ph. 507-935-5025
email: lori.firstpres@gmail.com
Sundays, 9:30 a.m. Worship Service. Second Tuesday of each month, 7 p.m. Session meeting.
 
Magnolia United Methodist Church
501 E. Luverne St., Magnolia
Ph. 605-215-3429
email: magnoliamnumc@gmail.com
Nancy Manning, Pastor
Sunday, 9 a.m., in-person with livestream available on the church’s Facebook site.
 
Steen Reformed Church
112 W. Church Ave., Steen
Ph. 855-2336
Jeremy Wiersema, Pastor
Sunday, 9:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Worship service in-person with livestream available on Facebook and YouTube. Radio worship on KQAD Sundays at 9:30 a.m.
 
Bethlehem Lutheran Church
112 N. Main St., Hills
Ph. 962-3270
Sunday, Feb. 13: 9 a.m. Worship at Tuff Chapel. 10 a.m. Worship with Holy Communion. 9 a.m. Sunday School. 7-8:30 p.m. Youth group meets. Worship will be streamed live to Facebook at Bethlehem of Hills. You can find more info on our website blchills.org. Tuesday, Feb 15: 2 p.m. Tuff Home Bible study. 3:30 p.m. Tuff Village Bible study. Wednesday, Feb. 16: 9 a.m. Quilting. 6 p.m. Confirmation. 7 p.m. Social/dessert time. 7:15 p.m. Wednesday night worship service.
 
Hills United Reformed Church
410 S. Central Ave., Hills
Office Ph. 962-3254
hillsurc@alliancecom.net
Alan Camarigg, Pastor

“We were right back at it, as if nothing ever changed.”
That’s how Palace Theatre director Shawn Kinsinger described the past several months since the pandemic.
“This past fall into winter, I was curious as to how much we would rebound after being closed over the last holiday season, which is typically really busy,” he told Luverne City Council members during their Tuesday, Jan. 25, meeting.
“Everything’s firing on all cylinders again. Movies came back nicely after the holiday season. The numbers have been spectacular for all the shows we brought in.”
 
Mama Mia ‘blew the doors off’
Kinsinger said popular live events included the Dueling Pianos in October and the Shawn Johnson Holiday Show, but he said the locally produced “Mama Mia” in November was among the biggest hits.
“That absolutely blew the doors off the place,” Kinsinger said about the Green Earth Players production. “I believe it drew the biggest numbers the Green Earth Players have ever brought in. It was a great windfall for them after being shut down for the year.”
He said the success of “Mama Mia” represented an important turning point after the pandemic.
“It was great for the Palace, and it was great for the community,” Kinsinger said. “A lot of people who hadn’t participated in a while came back. We had some regulars and a lot of new folks that showed up, and that kind of grew the community theater there.”
Meanwhile, he said the production exposed more people to the Palace Theatre and its operation.
“It also had the added benefit of bolstering our volunteer base,” Kinsinger said. “We had a lot more people who knew about the Palace but didn’t realize we run off volunteers  who step up and start working movies and helping with shows.”
 
Homegrown children’s theater
Kinsinger said a pandemic casualty has been the popular Missoula Children’s Theater — the nation's largest touring children's theater and education group, which has been coming to Luverne for nearly 20 years.
“It’s been hit and miss for them being back on the road after the pandemic, and I don’t want the kids to miss out on an opportunity like that,” Kinsinger said.
“It’s a popular program in town, so we’re going to try to put something together to fill that need for the younger kids and get them excited about what’s going on at the Palace.”
To do that, he said he’s working on a “homegrown collaboration” between Green Earth Players and The Palace.
“We’re going to attempt a children’s theater camp, similar to Missoula,” he said.
The camp will be sometime in mid-July or early August and will be listed with Luverne Community Education.
 
Late-night TV talk with retired teachers
For this summer’s all-school reunion, Kinsinger said he has a plan to draw returning alumni to the Palace.
“I’ll try to explain it without sounding crazy,” he said.
“We’re going to interview retired teachers in a late-night TV talk-show-type setting at the Palace. We’ll use our camera system to livestream it and record it so people can watch it whenever they want, and we’ll focus on a live event during the all-school reunion.”
He said Betty Mann has agreed to be the first one.
“We’ll give her a chance to sort of spill the goods on what it was like to be a teacher … what she really thinks of things,” Kinsinger said.
“It will just be kind of a unique experience for people who maybe haven’t been back to Luverne to connect with their roots again and relive some old memories.”
 
Shuttered venue grants help with maintenance
Off stage, Kinsinger told City Council members about several maintenance projects at the Palace, including sign repair, a refresh of the downstairs dressing rooms, façade work and lighting in the balcony.
“We applied for the Shuttered Venue grant and received a nice sum of cash,” he said.
“It was nice to have the cushion there to make some improvements and to make sure that we can keep doing what we’re doing.”
Mayor Pat Baustian thanked him for his work at the Palace.
“It’s nice to see the passion that you have and the passion that your board has. It’s evident in the events and what you have going on there,” he said.
“Our community is so very fortunate to have you and your group and your volunteers ... You’re doing a great job.”
Baustian said Luverne is fortunate to have the Palace Theatre downtown.
Kinsinger replid, “We do love having those lights lighting up Main Street at night.”

The Child’s Remembrance Garden in Luverne is taking shape with the efforts of local volunteers, generous donations and help from city leaders.
The garden will provide a place for people who have lost a child to grieve, remember and heal.
Several local families who have lost children formed a non-profit and have been raising money to design and build the garden on a parcel of land owned by the city.
Last summer they approached the City Council about leasing the 140-foot by 60-foot parcel in the northwest corner of Tonto Park off James Street near the Catholic cemetery.
At that July meeting, the city verbally agreed to provide the space free of charge with the understanding that long-term maintenance would be a shared responsibility.
At their Jan. 25 meeting council members and the non-profit group signed a “Contract for Management and Operation of Child's Remembrance Garden.”
The contract states that the city will own the garden and its accessories, and the non-profit will be responsible for costs associated with operating, maintaining and managing the property, including utilities for a water feature and lighting.
City public works crews have already helped by clearing some old, dying evergreens and preparing the site for development.
The garden will be professionally planned and installed by a landscape architect/designer hired by the non-profit group, and the city will review the plans before implementation.
Lucas Stoffel from Oak Haven Landscape and Design out of Sherburn, Minnesota, will be working to build the garden in Spring 2022.
Among other specifications, the contract states that the group will not allow “the internment of human remains or scattering of ashes of human remains in the garden.”
It also states that the non-profit will raise funds to establish a reserve for repair and replacement and improvement of the garden.
The initial timeline for the lease is for five years; then the parties will negotiate in good faith for further extensions.
“The garden will be an asset to the city park as it will be in close proximity to the Luverne Loop and provide a nice visual appeal to that corner of the park area.
In addition to city support, local donors have already given thousands toward the garden through the Luverne Area Community Foundation.
“We’re so excited about it, and it’s coming together so quickly,” said Pat Saum, one of the group’s founding members. “It’s a beautiful spot. It’s like it was meant to be.”
To donate, contact the Luverne Area Community Foundation at 507-227-2424.  To help, contact maggie.siebenahler@gmail.com or pat.saum@gmail.com.
Learn more  at www.childsremembrancegarden.org or on Facebook, Childs-Remembrance-Garden.

Luverne gymnasts pulled together as a team in a rescheduled dual meet from December against Martin County Area Monday night.
At the Parents Night event, the Cardinals won over the Magic 131.625 to 127.375. They upped their season record to 6-2.
The win came at the heels of another win last week against Marshall, also at home on Jan. 27.
Luverne travels to St. James to take on the Saints Friday to finish out the 2021-22 season.
The 3A Section meet takes place Feb. 12 in Marshall.
 
Luverne 131.625,
MCA 127.375
Luverne started the meet by posting their highest vault and beam scores of the season (35.75 and 33.075 respectively) before turning to the uneven bars.
While on the bars, freshman Amira Cowell fell during a transition and was unable to finish the routine. She also didn’t compete in the last event for the Cardinals, the floor exercise.
Instead, teammate Hailey Como stepped up from junior varsity to round out the team of five on the floor.
The Cardinals swept the uneven bars and the floor exercise with scores of 29.95 and 32.85 respectively. MCA scored 33.075 on vault, 29.775 (bars), 32.150 (beam) and 32.375 (floor).
Luverne’s Ella Reisdorfer finished first in all four events and posted the highest all-around score of the meet with a 35.45. She received scores of 9.15 (vault), 8.45 (bars), 9.075 (beam) and 8.775 (floor).
Teammates scoring in the top four included Cowell second on the vault (9.025) and second on beam (8.4), Sarah deCesare third on vault (8.825) and third on bars (7.7), Tiana Lais fourth on vault (8.75), and Kianna Winter second on floor (8.55).
Luverne JV won over MCA 118.6 to 75.2.
Coach Phoebe Flom expects Cowell to return for the Cardinals’ final two meets of the season.
 
Individual scores
All-around: Reisdorfer 35.45, deCesare 31.725.
Vault: Reisdorfer 9.15, Cowell 9.025, deCesare 8.825, Lais 8.75, Winter 8.725.
Uneven bars: Reisdorfer 8.45, deCesare 7.7, Como 6.9, Addyson Mann 6.9.
Balance beam: Reisdorfer 9.075, Cowell 8.4, Kendra Thorson 7.925, Mann 7.675, deCesare 7.525.
Floor exercise: Reisdorfer 8.775, Winter 8.55, Como 7.85, deCesare 7.675, Mann 7.575.
 
Luverne 132.5,
Marshall 120.3
At the Jan. 27 meet at home, the Cardinals posted their highest score of the season with a 132.5 from the judges, and won the at-home meet against the Marshall Tigers by the largest margin of their seven meets, 12.5 points.
Coach Flom challenged her gymnasts to fight to stay on the beam, and they showed grit as they fought to stay on the 4-inch-wide apparatus and reduced the number of falls. Luverne swept the top five beam scores over the other five competing Tigers.
“Routines were so much better,” she said. “I thought they all did an amazing job last night.”
Cheers ran through the LHS classic gym as several Luverne gymnasts successfully completed more advanced skills and tied or increased the team’s season-high scores on the uneven bars (30.375) and balance beam (32.5). The Cardinals scored 35.675 on the vault and 33.9 on the floor exercise as they swept all four events from the Tigers.
Marshall scored 33.4 on the vault, 28.4 on bars, 28.375 on beam, and 30.125 on the floor.
Individually, Luverne swept the top three places in the all-around competition with Ella Reisdorfer posting the meet’s highest combined score on the four events with a 35.250, followed by Amira Cowell (33.55) and Sarah deCesare (32.050).
Reisdorfer also posted the highest scores on the vault (9.2), bars (8.425), beam (8.925) and floor (8.7).
Joining their teammate in the top four placings were Cowell who was second on the vault (9.025), third on beam (7.875) and floor (8.6); Tiana Lais, third on the vault (8.85); Kendra Thorson,  fourth on beam (7.7); and DeCesare, fourth on the floor (8.35).
Luverne won the junior varsity meet over Marshall, 114.7 to 103.55.
The 3A Sectional meet takes place Feb. 12 in Marshall.
 
Individual scores
All-around: Reisdorfer 35.25, Cowell 33.55, deCesare 32.050.
Vault: Reisdorfer 9.2, Cowell 9.025, Lais 8.850, Kianna Winter 8.6, deCesare 8.45.
Uneven bars: Reisdorfer 8.425, Cowell 8.05, deCesare 7.25, Hailey Como 6.65, Addyson Mann 6.375.
Balance beam: Reisdorfer 8.925, deCesare 8.0, Cowell 7.875, Kendra Thorson 7.7, Mann 7.6.
Floor exercise: Reisdorfer 8.7, Cowell 8.6, deCesare 8.35, Winter 8.3, Mann 8.1.

The Cardinal wrestlers suffered four team losses but were able to secure three individual medals in competition over the past week.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, the Cardinals traveled to Tracy for four team matchups, and on Saturday they went to Wabasso for an invitational.
Luverne wrestlers will compete in _____ and _____ in the coming week.
 
Wabasso Invitational 
A few individuals found success at the Wabasso Invitational, and for the second time this season, three Cardinal wrestlers returned home with medals.  
Wrestling at 126, seventh-grader Hudson Hough received a first-round bye before suffering a loss to William Flowers of Wabasso. 
In consolation, Hough first defeated Nolan Hanson from Wabasso before pinning Norwood Young-America’s Jack Kloempkin.
Hough then dropped a 11-4 decision to Mason Hansen from Paynesville Area and received sixth place.
Luverne’s Noah Mehlhaff won his first-round match at 132 by defeating Quad County’s Gage Corner, but he suffered a second round 10-2 defeat to Paynesville Area’s Brandon Hess.  
In consolation, Mehlhaff strung together three consecutive wins in order to achieve fifth place. 
He first pinned LeSeur-Henderson’s Wyatt Genelin before besting Redwood Valley’s Jordan Matson 16-10.  In the fifth-place match, Mehlhaff pinned LeSueur-Henderson’s Mark Boisjolie at the end of the first period.  
 The Cardinals’ Braydon Ripka, wrestling at 145, received a first-round bye before defeating Benson’s Jaiden Zimmerman in a 22-7 technical fall. Ripka then won his semi-final match 14-7 over Dylan Novak from LeSueur-Henderson.
In the finals, Ripka met Javier Jackson from Quad County and battled him for three straight periods but eventually suffered a 1-0 decision.
“The tournament went well, but I lost a tough match in the championship, and I wish I had that one back,” Ripka said. “Losing 1-0 is always difficult,” Ripka said.
Head coach Jordan Kopp agreed. “I just wish he could wrestle that kid again, because I know the outcome would be different,” Kopp said.
“I’m proud of the individual performances over the past week with the quad and tournament, but we need to begin to prepare for the section tournaments.”
 
Tracy Quadrangular
On Thursday, Jan. 27, the team traveled to Tracy for four team matchups. 
Fulda/MCC beat the Cardinals 56-16, Red Rock Central beat Luverne 42-30, Springfield downed the Cardinals 45-36, and Tracy came out on top of Luverne 72-10.
Despite the four team losses, three wrestlers came home with a winning record.
Wrestling at 132, Luverne senior Noah Mehlhaff posted three wins with only a single loss.  He beat Fulda’s Aiden Lorenzen in a 12-11 decision and pinned both Springfield’s Paytin Johnson as well as Tracy’s Zachary Swanson.  
Zach Bradley at 138 secured three wins for the Cardinals also. Bradley pinned Fulda’s Owen Olsem, Springfield’s Joe Jensen, and Red Rock Central’s Andrew Pankonin en route to a 3-1 night. 
 
Ripka earns 100th win to join “elite seven” at LHS
Luverne senior Braydon Ripka earned four victories in Tracy and achieved a milestone in his career as a Cardinal wrestler.  
Wrestling at 145, Ripka pinned Red Rock Central’s Jacob Amsden, received a forfeit against Springfield, beat Tracy’s Gage Struchen in a 9-0 major decision, and posted a 15-6 major decision against Fulda’s Carter Benda to round out his 4-0 night.
With his victory over Fulda’s Carter Benda, Ripka reached the milestone 100th win of his career.  
“It feels great to be in the top seven total wins in LHS history,” added Ripka. “I hope to make it in the top five before my career ends.”

The Luverne girls’ hockey team continues its winning ways with two more victories in the past week.
The Cardinals took an easy 12-2 victory from the Trojans in Worthington Jan. 25 and took down the Marshall Tigers 4-1 at home Friday.
Luverne moves to 21-3 on the year and hosts Morris Benson Area Saturday in their final regular season game before section play begins. 
 
Luverne 12, Worthington 2
The Cardinal Girls hockey team went on the road for a varsity doubleheader Tuesday night in Worthington.
The Cardinals got an early lead and never let up against the Trojans. Luverne put seven first-period goals up on the scoreboard.
Mallory Nelson got Luverne going just under two minutes into the first period with the assist going to Kamryn Van Batavia.
It was Van Batavia’s turn next midway through the period to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Worthington would answer back just 34 seconds later to cut the Cardinals’ lead to 1.
Luverne then erupted for five consecutive goals in the last seven minutes of Period 1.
Scoring for the Cardinals were Reghan Bork (assisted by Van Batavia and Nelson), Ella Apel (assisted by Greta McClure and Billi Connell), Van Batavia (assisted by Bork and Payton Behr), Van Batavia (unassisted), and Payton Behr (assisted by Van Batavia).
The Cardinals outshot the Trojans 22-4 in the first period, with Luverne goalie Cheyenne Schutz making three saves.  
In the second period Worthington inched a bit closer and cut the Cardinals’ lead to 7-2 just 55 seconds into the period.
Then it was the Cardinals’ turn, adding four more in the second period to take a commanding 11-2 lead into intermission No. 2.
Scoring for the Cardinals were Van Batavia (assisted by Anika Boll), Payton Behr (assisted by Van Batavia and Nelson), Billi Connell (assisted by McClure and Apel) and Apel (assisted by Bork).
Shots on goal again favored Luverne 16-6 with Emma Saarloos making five saves in Period 2 for the Cardinals. 
With the Cardinals sporting an 11-2 lead, Mallory Nelson added one more in the third to give the Cardinals a 12-2 victory in Worthington.
Third period shots on goal were 8-4 and 42-18 for the game, both in favor of the visiting Cardinals. 
 
Luverne 4, Marshall 1
The Luverne Cardinals welcomed the Marshall Tigers Friday for a Section 3 Big South Conference showdown. 
Payton Behr got Luverne on the board at the 11:51 mark of Period 1 with assists going to Kamryn Van Batavia and Mallory Von Tersch.
Van Batavia made it 2-0 just over three minutes later with the assist going to Reghan Bork.
Bork would call her own number and make it 3-0 just 44 seconds later.
Shots on goal for Period 1 were 14-6 in favor of Luverne. 
In Period 2 it took Van Batavia just over three minutes to give the Cardinals a 4-0 lead with assists going to Behr and Bork.
Marshall got on the Board with just 10 seconds left in the period to cut Luverne’s lead to 4-1. 
The final period saw action on both ends of the ice, but neither team ended up scoring, and the Cardinals claimed the 4-1 victory.
Final shots on goal for the game were 43-22 Luverne. Cardinal goalie Cheyenne Schutz had 21 saves on the night.

The final links of the Luverne Loop will be built this summer, completing the city’s seven-mile biking and pedestrian trail that’s been seven years in the making.
At their Jan. 25 meeting City Council members approved plans and specifications for Phase 3B and Phase 4 of the loop project and authorized advertising for a Feb. 16 bid letting.
“These are the final two phases of the project and are the links that provide for a beautiful seven-mile biking and walking trail around the entire community,” City Administrator John Call said. 
Phase 4 is almost a mile long and will connect the trail from the Highway 75 Economy Lodge area to the existing trail that dead-ends at the Rock River near the Luverne wastewater treatment plant area.
The most recent construction, Phase 3A, built the Loop from the existing Blue Mound Trail along berm of the Rock River near the city park and behind Redbird Field and southward.
Phase 3B is .75 miles and will bring the trail at the north end of the community, around Sanford area and east to connect with the Blue Mound Trail.
The Phase 4 bids will call out some options in surfacing to either concrete or asphalt and will give the City Council flexibility to use either concrete or asphalt on different areas of the trail.
Construction will start on or after April 4, with a completion date of Aug. 27, 2022.
Approximately 70 percent of the trail will be financed with grant funds from the state of Minnesota.
In capital improvement planning last year, the council budgeted $732,000 for Phase 3B Trail work with a $512,000 Legacy Grant going toward that amount.
Phase 4 work, estimated at $571,000, will be offset by a Legacy Grant in the amount of $399,700.
The Loop and the Blue Mound Trail to the state park offers 13 contiguous miles, which is popular among users and prompted the Greater Minnesota Regional Parks and Trails Commission to name the Loop a “Regional Trail of Significance.”
That designation qualifies the local trail for more grant funds and other state support.

More than eight acres of land north of Luverne will become part of the city following action at the Jan. 25 council meeting.
In a last-minute addendum to the agenda, Luverne City Council members approved a “resolution for orderly annexation” with Mound Township for a parcel owned by Allen Schmuck and Patrick Widboom.
The property owners petitioned the city requesting immediate annexation of the 8.42 acres into the city for the purpose of residential development.
The land, north of the hospital along the north side of 131st Street, will be divided into four large residential lots.
The parcel currently has no city utilities, but city staff indicated those services can be provided for a price. The owners will pay for a large share of the improvements.
“I think this is our growth to the north,” Call said. “There’s room for another 13-lot development that we’d like to the north there. There’d be a lot of growth and taxation for the city.”
Mound Township officials approved the petition Jan. 24, with signatures by Mound Township chair Keith Schmuck and clerk David DeBoer.
As part of the agreement, the city of Luverne will make a one-time payment to Mound Township of $2,000 for lost future tax revenue.