Lisa Fick of Hills is one of the 10 “Master Bakers” selected during the “Let’s Get Ready to Crumble” contest through the Luverne Area Chamber during Luverne’s recent Winterfest celebration.
Five local restaurants sponsored and selected five adult and five youth Master Bakers from the 26 adult and 16 youth entries in the cookie contest.
Lisa earned Master Baker distinction for her original “Fabulous Andes Mint Cookie” recipe.
“I went off tons of recipes and tweaked it like using cornstarch to make a soft cookie,” she said.
The softness and the mint are what appealed to the tastebuds of Leroy Austin, owner of Vinnie’s Dang Fine Dine of Luverne. Austin selected Lisa’s cookie as the cafe’s top choice.
He also selected Lily Fick’s (daughter of Lisa and Dean) contest entry as the top youth cookie from his business.
Lily, 9, made lemon cookies in which she added lemon zest and lemon extract to give a traditional sugar cookie recipe added flavor.
Austin noticed the lemon because “something different” and “amazing flavor” were two of the criteria he wanted to see in the winning cookie.
Lisa said Lily likes to spend time with her in the kitchen making various desserts. Her niece, Holly Fick, also spends time with the two of them baking cookies. Holly’s s’more cookies were chosen as a youth winner by Bluestem Catering Co. of Luverne.
The threesome carry on a passion started by Lisa’s mom, Joan Schaffer, a retired home economics teacher.
“I was probably the only one of my (two) siblings who was even interested in cooking and baking,” Lisa said. “My mom taught me everything I know.”
Now as a busy mother of four and a psychiatric nurse in Sioux Falls, Lisa has “graduated” from her mom’s kitchen classroom and is experimenting with recipes and tweaking the ingredients for her own and her family’s palates.
She thought entering a cookie contest would be a fun activity.
“I saw a flyer for the contest at the Hidden Hills Cafe in Hills,” Lisa said.
“I immediately thought that would be something fun — baking with family has always been something that brings me joy and creates wonderful memories.”
Lisa’s posted the mint cookie recipe on her food blog, fourmorebites, which she started three years ago when she became obsessed with freezer meal planning.
Her brother, Greg Schaffer, who edits the posts, encouraged her to share her passion for cooking and baking with others.
“I was like ‘I can’t do that’, ‘I don’t know how to make a website,’” she recalled.
Her brother told her, like making changes to a recipe, she’ll figure it out.
In addition to Lisa, Holly, and Lily Fick, seven other cookie entrants earned Master Baker awards from sponsoring Luverne businesses.
The adult category includes Kacee Knap, Luverne, “Ultimate Peanut Butter Cookie,” 75 Diner; Brenda Staeffler,  Valley Springs, South Dakota, “Pfeffernusse Cookie,” Bluestem Catering; Susan Schneekloth, Luverne, “Chocolate Turtle Thumbprint Cookie,” Wild Flower Coffee Boutique; and Jean Leslie, Luverne, “Nutcracker Cookie,” Sterling’s Cafe and Grill.
Youth category winners are Brooklynn Gillette, Luverne, “Funfetti Cake Cookie,” 75 Diner; Hazel Sailor, Luverne, “Hot Cocoa Cookie,” Wild Flower Coffee Boutique; and Aiden Mayeraan, Luverne, “Chocolate Rolo Stuffed Cookie,” Sterling’s Cafe and Grille.

Seventh-grader Paige Kubesh has a talent for tying knots, a skill that Luverne High School FCCLA adviser Carmen Thompson discovered recently.
Thompson chose making a dog’s chew toy from flannel strips as a community engagement project for her Family, Career and Community Leaders of America chapter members.
She saw the tying of square knots together to form the homemade dog toys and encouraged the FCCLA members to watch a video on how to make the toy.
“I thought, ‘Oh, I have some fleece left over,’ so I decided to give them a try,” Thompson said. “Some kids did a couple, but this one (referring to Kubesh) went wild.”
Kubesh a first-year FCCLA member, made 52 chew toys in a matter of weeks. She discovered she has a talent for braiding four strips of fleece together that comes from a simple focus.
“I wanted to do something fun,” she said. “I didn’t know how to do it when the group started … I just wanted to try and make one.”
Thompson said other students gave up learning how to effectively tie square knots into an almost foot-long braided rope. Kubush uses one hand and pulls the fleece strips with the right amount of tension for a tight weave.
Thompson believes the tight knots will occupy a canine for hours, thanks to Kubesh’s effort to braid a good quality toy in a matter of minutes.
“She’s become a pro,” Thompson said. “She’s gotten really good at it.”
The dog chew’s durability was noticed by Heather Roberts. She gave a donation to the FCCLA group for a few chew toys for her own dogs.
“I love them — even bought a few for gifts for a few other dogs I know,” Roberts said. “
From Roberts’ reaction, the group has dog chews available to the public for a donation to the FCCLA chapter.
The donations and the unsold chews will be given to the Tracy Area Animal Rescue organization for use in animal foster homes.
Thompson is encouraging Kubesh, daughter of Andi and Dan Kubesh, Luverne, to explain the dog toy project in a “See What I Have Done” presentation about what members did as chapter projects.

Reigning Section 3A gymnastics champions, the Worthington Trojans, showed why they’re ranked fourth in the state when they visited Luverne Dec. 7.
Worthington captured the meet win over the Cardinals 140.475 to 131.700.
The Trojans swept all four events along with the all-around title in their almost nine-point win over the Cardinals.
The Cardinals kept the meet close on two of the events with combined team scores of 35.125 for Luverne and 36.5 for Worthington on the vault, and 34.050 to 35.575 on the floor.
The Trojans widened the team’s point spread on the bars 34.275 to 30.675 and the beam 34.125 to 31.850.
Worthington posted the top scores in each event. Hali Bullerman earned a 9.3 on the vault, 8.950 on beam, 9.125 on floor and 36.225 in the all-around. Teammate Mekyla Nystrom earned the top bars score with a 9.075.
Individually, three Cardinals scored in the top five. Freshman Ella Reisdorfer placed third on the bars (8.550), fifth on beam (8.3) and second on the floor (8.975). She finished third in the all-around (34.725).
Freshman Amira Cowell placed fifth on the vault (8.9), fourth on beam (8.4) and tied for fifth place with Worthington’s Mekyla Nystrom with scores of 8.7. Cowell’s 33.935 earned her fifth place in the all-around.
Sophomore Sarah deCesare finished fifth in the all-around with a score of 31.350.
Worthington also won the junior varsity meet with a score of 131.750 to Luverne’s 110.950.
Luverne’s varsity team point total was a three-point improvement from the opening meet of the season on Dec. 2.
Coach Phoebe Flom said her athletes are settling down with each competition. She said they will focus on adding a higher level of skills to the bars, floor and beam events. The increase skill level transfers into higher scores if completed in competition.
“We need to work on connections,” Flom said. “While we had sticks (fewer falls) on the beam, we missed out on the event requirements and bonuses from not putting two leaps/skills together to get extra points.”
Friday’s blizzard postponed the St. James Snowflake Invitational. Luverne was one of five teams scheduled to compete at the event.
Luverne’s next meet is Thursday, Dec. 16, against the Pipestone Area Arrows in Pipestone.
 
Individual varsity scoreboard
•Vault: Cowell 8.925, Reisdorfer 8.9, Kianna Winter and Tiana Lais both 8.65, deCesare 8.2
•Bars: Reisdorfer 8.55, Cowell 7.9, deCesare 7.275, Addyson Mann 6.95, Kendra Thorson 6.8
•Beam: Cowell 8.4, Reisdorfer 8.3, deCesare 7.7, Mann 7.45, Thorson 7.3
•Floor: Reisdorfer 8.975, Cowell 8.7, Winter 8.2, deCesare 8.175, Mann 7.45
•All-around: Reisdorfer 34.725, Cowell 33.925, deCesare 31.350.

Meetings
Battle Plain Township Board will meet at 10 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, in the conference room of Edgerton Ag, 1300 Mechanic Street, Edgerton.
 
Blue Mound Tower celebrates 50 years
A 50th anniversary celebration and holiday open house for Blue Mound Tower will be from 1 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, at 216 N. McKenzie St. in Luverne. The open house celebrates the facility’s construction completion with tours and holiday goodies.
 
Fourth-graders present ‘It’s Winter’ Dec. 16
Luverne Elementary fourth-grade students will present their music program, “It’s Winter,” at 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, in the Performing Arts Center. The public is invited to come and celebrate the fun winter brings.
 
Second-graders present ‘Nutcracker in 20 Minutes or Less’ Dec. 16
Luverne Elementary second-grade students will present their music program, “The Nutcracker in 20 Minutes or Less,” at 1:45 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, in the Performing Arts Center. The public is invited to come and see if they can tell the story of the Nutcracker in under 20 minutes.
 
Free food offered Dec. 16
New Life Celebration Church will offer free food at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 16, at the Generations Building on East Lincoln Street in Luverne. Vehicles should enter the west parking lot from Lincoln Street and drive to the double glass doors on the west side of the building where volunteers will load groceries into cars. Walkers should receive their pre-packaged groceries on the east side of the building. Call 507-283-4366.
 
Southwestern Youth Services Angel Trees
The annual Southwestern Youth Services Angel Trees are available at Lewis Drug, Bomgaars and in the SYS lobby, south door in Magnolia. Cards are on the trees with requests from residents who are away from family during the holidays. With community support, separation is made a little easier. The SYS Facebook page has an Amazon wish list. Call 507-283-4425 with questions.
 
Bell ringers needed for kettle campaign
Volunteer bell ringers are needed for the 2021 Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign now through Dec. 24 at Sunshine Foods in Luverne. Sign up for two-hour increments between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Use the link https://signup.com/go/ARwFTiC or call Carrie Soto, 507-220-8897 with questions.

Neither the depth of snow nor chill in the air stopped Santa and Mrs. Claus (Rodger and Dianne Ossenfort) from visiting Hardwick Saturday afternoon for the annual Hardwick Community Club-sponsored Santa Day. This year the jolly couple greeted children and adults inside the community hall. Last year, due to the coronavirus, they waved to attendees from the outside deck. Hardwick received about 8 inches of snow Dec. 10, the day before the Santa Day celebration, to add to the Christmas mood.

Doug Bos, Rock Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) assistant director, was recently named the 2021 Outstanding Soil and Water Conservation District Employee.
(BWSR) Executive Director John Jaschke recognized Bos with the award during the Minnesota Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (MASWCD) annual convention.
“Local staff is the driving force behind successful conservation delivery in Minnesota,” Jaschke said during the Monday awards luncheon in Bloomington.
“Doug Bos’ dedication to preserving our water resources and promoting soil health practices is commendable, and we appreciate all he does to further conservation implementation in Rock County.”
He said Bos “wears many hats at the district,” serving as a county feedlot officer, conservation technician, Disaster Recovery Assistance Program coordinator and Rock County Comprehensive Local Water Plan coordinator.
Bos also handles competitive grant writing for the district and coordinates surface and groundwater monitoring and modeling programs, among other duties.
This year Bos sought and received funding from several sources including the National Wildlife Federation to promote the benefits of soil health and cover crops.
“Doug Bos is a model technician, coordinator and conservation district employee,” said BWSR Board Conservationist Doug Goodrich, who frequently works with Bos.
“He takes personal pride in the job and truly wants to help landowners find conservation methods that work for them.”
Each year BWSR celebrates the excellent work accomplished by local government staff to advance conservation efforts across the state.

The first measurable snowfall was forecast for Friday, Dec. 10, prompting the Luverne and Hills school districts to call for an e-learning day. While snowfall amounts varied throughout Rock County, the U.S. National Weather Service estimated 4 to 8 inches fell throughout the day in light to moderate snow that persisted throughout the day with some areas receiving a foot of snowfall.
The snow won’t last long, however. The forecast calls for gradually warming temperatures through midweek that will bring a mixture of weather including light rain, light snow and gusty winds.

Basketball cheerleading returns to Luverne High School after a 17-year absence.
School members met in special session Monday evening and unanimously supported senior Syndal Pick’s request to add cheerleading back to the winter activity offerings.
Pick talked with board members at their Nov. 23 meeting. Because her request was not an agenda item, board members postponed any decision until their next meeting.
The board unanimously approved Pick’s request.
Football cheerleading coach Leah Radisewitz agreed to be the basketball cheerleading coach.
Radisewitz, who attended Monday’s special board meeting, expects the squad to begin cheering at the home girls’ and boys’ basketball games in January.
Consideration of Radisewitz as basketball cheerleading adviser at a stipend of $1,588 is proposed for action at the board’s Dec. 23 meeting.
 
Teachers get 3-percent pay hike this year,
2.5 percent next year
Board members also unanimously adopted a two-year agreement with the Luverne Education Association at Monday’s special meeting.
Licensed teachers will receive a 3-percent salary increase in the contract’s first year and a 2.5-percent increase for 2022-23.
Group insurance contribution will not increase for the 2021-22 school year but will increase 3.5 percent the second contract year.
Early Childhood Family Education teachers receive an additional day of personal leave under the new agreement and will now have three days, matching other licensed teaching staff.
The district will be responsible for 100 percent of substitute costs for Days 1 and 2 of personal leave. The teacher remains responsible for substitute costs for Day 3.
Total cost to the district under the master agreement is $1.76 million over two years.

The Covid-19 pandemic put many of last year's holiday festivities on hold, so these holidays are the first opportunity that many have had to gather and celebrate. But this could also mean that many people who've become addicted to drugs and alcohol are seeing their family again, which could bring a lot of things to light.
That's because the Covid-19 pandemic drastically worsened America's already horrific drug epidemic. Last year was the deadliest year for drug overdoses in American history. More than 93,000 people died of an overdose in 2020, which was an increase of more than 30 percent from the previous year's total, as reported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. And in 2021 those numbers are still climbing. 
So we have a large number of people who have begun abusing substances or have increased their use, leading to the worst point we’ve seen in our country’s history of addiction. And many of them will be joining their families for the holidays, a time of year when addiction is usually at its worst. 
According to Marcel Gemme of Addicted.org, the holidays are already a recipe for overindulgence. Many people’s holiday plans involve consumption of at least alcohol, which can easily lead to misuse.
Those who already struggle with addiction may find that the holidays bring up negative emotions or additional scrutiny from family members. They may use even more substances to cope with the negative feelings or try to hide their drug use. All these things can lead to consuming drugs or alcohol when one might otherwise not. 
With addiction rates increasing and more people gathering this holiday season than at any time since 2019, the chances of the year ending in tragedy are much higher than experts would like to see. But instead of preparing for the worst, this time could be viewed as an opportunity to solve the problem. 
A solution to America’s drug epidemic is needed. We have poured an excessive amount of time, attention and resources into fighting the Covid-19 pandemic, and those efforts are what are allowing us to have this holiday experience in 2021. Tackling the nation’s addiction problem with even a fraction of the same intensity level given to Covid could potentially end one of the worst public health threats we've ever known. After all, drug overdoses alone have taken more lives than the coronavirus has in America, with a death toll that's more than 25 percent higher.  And that’s only taking into account drug overdoses since 1999 and does not include other drug-related deaths such as those from accidents and illnesses. 
This New Year, let’s aim to address this problem once and for all. We can each go on hoping it gets better, which it isn’t, or we can do something about it. 
Taking action to solve addiction may start small. But it starts with each of us. Take this time to see your loved ones and really check on how they’re doing. You might just save the life of someone you love, and that’s all that matters whether we’re fighting Covid or addiction. 
 
Joseph Kertis of Newport, Oregon, is an experienced health care professional turned journalist with experience in the field of substance abuse and addiction recovery.