On the first day of classes, Hills-Beaver Creek High School announced candidates for the upcoming 2021 Homecoming Week, Sept. 13-17. Coronation takes place at 6 p.m. Monday at the high school in Hills. The Homecoming game against Heron Lake-Okabena-Fulda begins at 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 17.

This Secretarial natural disaster designation allows the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Farm Service Agency (FSA) to extend much-needed emergency credit to producers recovering from natural disasters through emergency loans.
Emergency loans can be used to meet various recovery needs including the replacement of essential items such as equipment or livestock, reorganization of a farming operation, or the refinance of certain debts. FSA will review the loans based on the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, several western and southwestern counties in Minnesota suffered from a drought intensity value during the growing season of 1) D2 Drought-Severe for eight or more consecutive weeks or 2) D3 Drought-Extreme or D4 Drought-Exceptional.
•Impacted area: Minnesota.
•Triggering disaster: drought.
•Application deadline: April 11, 2022.
•Primary counties eligible: Chippewa, Faribault, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac Qui Parle, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, Meeker, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sherburne, Wright, Yellow Medicine.

Delores Audrey Schmidt, 86, Pipestone, died Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2021, at the Pipestone Medical Center.
A funeral Mass was Saturday, Sept. 4, at St. Leo Catholic Church in Pipestone. Interment was in St. Leo Catholic Cemetery in Pipestone.
Delores Staeffler was born on Feb. 14, 1935, to Alfred and Rosa (Wahlert) Staeffler in Luverne. She was raised on a farm east of Hardwick and attended school in District No. 55. She then attended Luverne High School, graduating in 1953. Following graduation she worked for an insurance agency in Luverne. In 1955 she became employed at the Rock County Extension Office.
On June 29, 1957, Delores married John Schmidt at St. Leo Catholic Church in Pipestone. They lived on a farm in Sweet Township in Pipestone County. She worked at the Pipestone County Extension Office until the birth of her first child. She then became a homemaker and also raised poultry and sold eggs. In 1968 she began working as a secretary at the Pipestone Insurance Agency and earned her insurance license in 1982. When Latham Insurance purchased the business, she joined the Key Agency in Pipestone until her retirement in 1999. In retirement she worked part time for Farm Bureau Insurance Agency, Pipestone Vet Clinic and D’s Sanitation.
Delores was baptized June 2, 1935 at the Methodist Episcopal Church in Luverne and was confirmed in 1947 at Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick. She was currently a member of St. Leo Catholic Church and was a member of Ladies Aid and a circle leader. She was also a member of the American Legion Auxiliary, the Hi Neighbor Birthday Club and the Pipestone Senior Citizens. She enjoyed following the Minnesota Twins, baking, and playing solitaire on the computer. She especially enjoyed time with her family.
She is survived by her husband, John E. Schmidt, of Pipestone; three children, John A. (Joyce) Schmidt of Pipestone, Joan (Barry) Kelley of LeRaysville, Pennsylvania, and Jacqueline (Danny) Schaefer of Marshall; six grandchildren, Jenna (Patrick) McGunegill, Amber (Brad) Seiss, Brittney Schaefer, Shelby (Steven) Buchholz, Addy Schaefer, and Jason (Rebecca) Kelley; and eight great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her brother, Virgil Staeffler; her sister-in-law Marjorie Staeffler; her nephew Larry Staeffler; and her niece Sandra Vander Beek.
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Pipestone, hartquistfuneral.com.
(0909 F)

Minnesota’s pheasant opener this year is Oct. 16, a week later than the normal opening weekend, cutting the season short by seven days.
I have attended the Minnesota Governor’s Pheasant Hunting Opener for the past 10 years or so, but the jury is still out as to whether this is actually going to happen in 2021, so I made other plans.
My Pheasants Forever chapter and I are now hosting a ladies-only mentor hunt on the opening weekend. All lady guides and all lady participants. This should offer up a really good time to all who are involved.
Hunting on opening weekend is certainly a tradition many hunters look forward to. The real deal here is that hunting on opening weekend usually results in less than perfect conditions, as crops are often not out and you have to share the field with other others.  These are two legitimate issues. The issue that ranks higher for me is how hot it might be that weekend.
It was about eight to 10 years ago that over 200 dogs died of heat exhaustion in South Dakota over opening weekend when temperatures were in the 80s. For the vast majority of dogs that had done nothing but sit on the couch the previous nine months and because dog owners either did not pay attention or did not understand, the signs of heat stroke resulted in many dogs perishing as a result.
Last year on Sunday I was all ready to go and when the 9 a.m. opening bell rang, I headed out with a diligent and conscious intent to worry more about my dogs than the number of birds harvested. I was able to hunt for exactly 15 minutes on opening weekend Sunday. I dropped off a friend and drove to the other side of the spot, but before I could get out of the truck, my phone rang. It was the same guy who had downed a bird and could not recover it.
I got back in the truck, drove back to the original spot, and after only a few minutes the bird was in hand …  and I was out of dog. “Out of dog” means I had a dog with more than enough desire but no ability to hunt safely any more that morning. I had no birds, but I did get out for the last 15 minutes that day and had some success.
Sportsmen and women really need to adjust their calendar for best results. Hunting pheasants after the opening weekend rush is gone results in more crop out, less hunting pressure, and temperatures that allow a dog to hunt longer. Snow on the ground is a great advantage to both dog and hunter.
Those same pheasant hunters that go gung-ho the first two weeks of pheasant season will be readying their deer rifles when the best pheasant hunting presents itself. Those same deer hunters will put the rifle away and start ice fishing during the best days of pheasant hunting.
I never hunt in big groups. Hunting with two others would be about as big a group as I am comfortable with. A few seasons back I hunted a federal waterfowl production area by myself near my home on a Thursday.  I left tire tracks in the snow that day. I went back for three weeks in a row and each time mine were still the only tire tracks in the parking area. I shot two birds each of those four trips.
Be ready when the opening bell rings on the 2021 pheasant hunting season, but don’t use up all of your vacation in October.  Save your free time and travel money for after the firearms deer season is over.  This is usually the middle of November when the roosters are older and fully colored.
This makes for a better mount if you ever want to take one to the taxidermist. You will have a higher quality outing, your dog can hunt safely, and you can roam the planet all by yourself.  Adjust your calendars to the later part of the season. Your harvest will increase, and so will your satisfaction.
 
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com or on Twitter @habitat champion.

The Luverne Cardinals fell to the Redwood Valley Cardinals 20-16 in the season opener Thursday night at Cardinal Field. 
The game featured a matchup of last year’s 3AA section champions (Redwood Valley) versus last year’s 3AAA section champions (Luverne).
Taking a 7-6 lead into halftime, Redwood Valley scored 13 unanswered points in the second half to win the game by 14 points.
“Redwood Valley is a very good team that returned many players from last year’s team that we played in an overtime game with,” said Luverne head coach Todd Oye.
“We played very well defensively in the first half but we weren’t able to continue that into the second half.”
Luverne received the opening kickoff, but just three plays into their opening drive the Cardinals fumbled and the ball was recovered by Redwood Valley at the Luverne 20-yard line.
Redwood Valley wasted no time taking advantage of the turnover and scored the game’s first touchdown just three plays later with a 5-yard touchdown run from quarterback Alex Lang.
After a successful extra point kick, Redwood Valley took the early lead 7-0 with 10:22 to go in the first quarter. 
Luverne bounced back in their next possession when LHS junior Gavin Baum returned the kickoff to the Luverne 24-yard line.
After one failed play the Cardinals got their first touchdown of the season from senior Ashton Sandbulte.  Taking the handoff from senior quarterback Casey Sehr, Sandbulte avoided the tackle of a Redwood Valley defender and sprinted for a 76-yard touchdown run. After a missed extra point, Luverne trailed Redwood Valley 7-6 with 9:52 to go in the first quarter.
Both teams’ defenses settled in after the action-packed first few minutes.
Luverne’s best opportunity to score came on fourth and 10 from the Redwood Valley 15-yard line with 5:13 to go in the second quarter.
Casey Sehr’s pass to fellow senior Eli Radtke was ruled out of bounds in the end zone. Both teams would each have one possession after the near touchdown, but the defenses held strong and the teams went into halftime with Redwood Valley leading 7-6.
Coming out of halftime, Redwood Valley put together a 12-play, 61-yard scoring drive that ended with a 1-yard rushing touchdown for quarterback Alex Lang with 8:22 remaining in the third quarter. After a failed extra point attempt, Redwood Valley held a 13-6 lead.
Luverne’s next possession saw the Cardinals gain only three yards in three plays, and they were forced to attempt a punt on 4th and 7 from their own 30-yard line.
Unfortunately for the Luverne Cardinals, a bad snap forced punter Jordan Friedrichsen to fall on the ball at the team’s own 13-yard line.
Redwood Valley took advantage of the Luverne mistake and scored two plays later on a 4-yard touchdown run from running back Maverick Goblirsch. After a completed extra point, Redwood Valley led 20-6 with 5:25 to go in the third quarter. 
Neither team could gain offensive momentum the rest of the half as the game ended with the final score of 20-6.
“Offensively we had good field position and multiple opportunities to score,” Oye said. “But besides Ashton Sandbulte’s long run, we weren’t able to capitalize on those opportunities.”
The Luverne Cardinals are looking to bounce back from the loss when they travel to Jackson Friday night.
“JCC is traditionally a very good team,” Oye said. “They also return many key players, and for our team to be successful we need to eliminate the mental mistakes from Week 1.”
 
Team statistics:
Luverne: 114 rushing yards, 35 passing yards, 149 total yards, 6 first downs, 5 penalties for 35 yards, one turnover.
Redwood Valley: 200 rushing yards, 47 passing yards, 247 total yards, 18 first downs, 5 penalties for 45 yards, zero turnovers.
 
Individual statistics:
Rushing: Ashton Sandbulte 10-95, Zach Kruse 5-10, Gannon Ahrendt 1-5, Casey Sehr 7-4.
Passing: Casey Sehr 5-16 for 35 yards.
Receiving: Ashton Sandbulte 2-14, Connor Connell 1-11, Gavin DeBeer 1-11
Defense: Riley Sneller 10.5 tackles, Braydon Ripka 7.5 tackles, Zach Kruse 5 tackles, Ashton Sandbulte 4 tackles, Micah Anderson 4 tackles, Jamie McCarthy 3.5 tackles.

The Luverne Cardinals volleyball team improved its record to 5-0 with a pair of wins in its home triangular Thursday, Sept. 2.
The Cards put away Murray County Central 2-0 and West Lyon 2-1 in the best-of-three competition.
Luverne beat Redwood Valley 3-0 on Tuesday, Aug. 31, at home (see related story).
The Cards were scheduled to play Tuesday in Marshall for a Big South Conference matchup and they’ll travel to Westbrook Walnut Grove  on Thursday.
 
Luverne 2, Murray County Central 0
Reghan Bork set the pace for the Cardinals volleyball squad Thursday afternoon when she completed a setter dump en route to a 4-0 serving run.
This put Luverne in a commanding position in the opening set of a triangular, which included the Murray County Central Rebels and the West Lyon Wildcats. 
The Cards maintained a demanding lead in the first set, concluding with an 8-5 run marked by two consecutive Kamryn VanBatavia kills and ace serves by both Christina Wagner and Macy Stratton for a 25-15 finish.
In the best of three set matchup, Luverne fell behind early in Set 2, but quickly rallied with a 21-5 run, which included aces by Morgan Gonnerman and Christina Wagner and a tip kill by Madee Schmuck. 
Despite some errors late in the set, the Cards were able to secure a 2-0 victory with a kill by Grace Sandbulte to conclude the set at 25-19.
 
Carly Olson 6 digs
Trista Baustian 9 set assists;
Reghan Bork 10 set assists;
Christina Wagner 2 ace serves, 100% serve percentage, 4 solo blocks and 4 block assists;
Kamryn VanBatavia 6 kills, 4 block assists;
Elise Ferrell 6 kills
 
Luverne 2, West Lyon 1
In the triangular finale Luverne went up against fierce contenders at the net in the Wildcats. 
Sporting their new Cardinal red jerseys, Luverne got off to a strong start with two kills by senior outside hitter Elise Ferrell. 
Providing a set assist to Ferrell and marking a kill of her own, co-captain Trista Baustian put the Cards ahead 4-1 early in Set 1. 
After several dominating kills and a few hitting and passing errors from the home team, the visiting Wildcats took the lead with a 12-9 score. 
Following two set assists from Reghan Bork and kills by Trista Baustian and Ferrell, Luverne tied it up at 12 all. 
Senior Stratton racked up a string of serves, including an ace, to put Luverne in position at 22 all.  The teams traded points to a nail-biting finish, which ended with a receiving error from the home team for a 24-26 loss in Set 1.
Set 2 pushed the Luverne team to step up to the challenge, taking control early and never letting up. 
Anja Jarchow supplied two ace serves to put the home team up 4-1. After a resounding Morgan Ahrendt kill, Luverne’s lead continued at 11-8.  The Cardinals dominated with a 13-6 run off several of Baustian’s serves to complete the set with a Christina Wagner kill to make it 25-18.
In the third and deciding set, the teams traded points until Luverne got an opportunity to break away with a kill from VanBatavia and a service ace from Ferrell.  Baustian capped the short run to 15 with her final serve and a setter dump that the Wildcats were unable to return for a Cardinal 2-1 win.  
Coach Sarah DeBeer said she felt a noticeable momentum building through the matches and noted that she was pleased the team.
“The team took control today,” she said. “We needed that.” 
The Cardinals are now 5-0 on the season.
 
Stat highlights
Reghan Bork 7 digs, 14 set assists, 12/12 serving;
Trista Baustian 7 set assists;
Elise Ferrell 11/12 serving, 2 ace serves, 12 kills;
Christina Wagner 5 block assists, 2 solo blocks, 5 kills

The Lady Pates got to test the waters for their upcoming volleyball season at the Adrian Tournament Saturday, Aug. 28, in Adrian, winning one and losing two.
They traveled to Viborg Tuesday, Aug. 31, and beat Viborg-Hurley 3-2, and they’ll face the Luverne Cardinals in Luverne Thursday.
The Patriots are returning seven seniors to the roster. Coach Dylan Gehrke said this season has felt more normal for himself and the players after dealing with the COVID-19 restrictions.
"Considering last year we didn't start the volleyball season until the middle of September, it was very nice to be able to have our fall camp this year,” Gehrke said.
“Two weeks of three-hour practices has helped coaches and players with preparedness."
 
Adrian Tournament
The Patriots played three tough teams in the Adrian Tournament, beating tournament winner Adrian/Ellsworth 2-0 and losing to Martin County West 2-1 and to Central Minnesota Christian 2-0.
Coach Gehrke's confidence in his team shows in his final statement.
“The girls showed on Saturday that we can compete with the best teams in our conference,” he said.
“But I continue to tell them we have to stay hungry and get better each and every day. … There is still a lot of room for improvement.”
 
H-BC 3, Viborg 2
 The Patriots traveled into South Dakota on Tuesday, Aug. 31, to play the Viborg-Hurley Cougars in what proved to be an evenly matched competition.
The Cougars started out strong, taking the first set 25-22, and they would also take the fourth set 25-15.
The Patriots fought back and took the second and third sets 25-19 and 25-18.
The fifth set went back and forth, but the Patriots would hold on to win 15-13.
Three senior girls were key in the victory.
Setter Tess VanMaanen had 27 set assists and 10 digs. 6'0 Sam Moser had seven kills and three blocks, and Tara Paulsen added four ace serves.
The Lady Pates will head to Luverne on Saturday to take on the Cardinals.

The Luverne Cross Country boys and girls had a strong showing at their cross country meet Friday, Sept. 3, in Mountain Lake.
The LHS girls varsity runners earned a team championship, and the Luverne varsity boys earned a third place.
Girls junior high runners also took first.
Coach Pete Janiszeski said he was pleased with the Mountain Lake outing.
“I thought we did an outstanding job of getting out and competing hard,” he said.
“The kids raced smart and tested their limits, which is what you have to do if you want to improve in our sport.”
He said 17 Cardinals finished in the Top 15, and of those, 10 were Top 5 finishes.
“We had one individual champion in Ella Schmuck, running the junior high 2,000 meter,” Janiszeski said.
The varsity girls had six of the top 20 runners in their 5k. Tenley Nelson got third with a time of 19:04.90. Jenna DeBates was fifth with a time of 19:17.00
Other rankings for girls varsity were:
Grace Ingebretson, 10th, with a time of 21:31.10
Kayla Bloemendaal, 11th, with a time of 21:38.20
Tiana Lais, 16th, with a time of 22:27.90
Makena Nelson, 18th, with a time of 22:49.80
Luverne varsity boys earned an overall third place at the meet.
 
Owen Janiszeski had the best time for Luverne varsity boys in the 5k, placing seventh with a time of 17:37.50. Griffen Jarchow wasn’t far behind, placing ninth with a time of 17:50.80.
Other rankings for boys’ varsity were:
Sage Viessman, 21st, with a time of 18:51.80
Leif Ingebretson, 33rd, with a time of 19:45.00
Camden Hoven, 39th, with a time of 20:19.70
 
Junior varsity mixed 4k run:
Kaleb Hemme, 2nd (16:55.00)
Zach Brown, 3rd (17:22.70)
Brynn Boyenga, 3rd (21:20.10) Ethan Rahm, 4th (17:31.20) Logan Ommen, 5th (18:04.40) Eli McLendon, 6th (18:13.00) Andrea Luitjens, 9th (23:55.30)
 
Junior high girls 2,000 meter:
Ella Schmuck, 1st (8:32) Kianna Winter, 2nd (8:38.60) Khloe Visker, 4th (8:47.20) Mariah Knorr, 11th (9:29.30) Maddy Schepel, 42nd (11:52.10)
 
Junior high boys:
Riley Ripka, 38th (9:59.30)

The Luverne Cardinals received their first tennis setback of the season when they dropped a 6-1 decision to Fairmont Tuesday, Aug. 31, in Luverne.
LHS was able to bounce back on Friday, Sept. 3, with a 5-2 decision over Lac Qui Parle Valley in Madison.
Two games were postponed due to weather.
Luverne started a match with River Valley on Monday, Aug. 30, but stopped due to lightning. The Cardinals were also scheduled to play a second match on Friday in Montevideo, but that match was postponed due to rain.
 
Luverne 1, Fairmont 6 
LHS went 1-3 in singles competition and went 0-3 in doubles to suffer their first loss of the season Aug. 31 in Luverne.
The lone win on the day came at No. 4 singles. Roselynn Hartshorn was able to win the match in a third set tiebreaker over Abi Peyman 6-3, 6-7 (0), and 10-7.
At No. 1 singles, Mia Wenzel lost to Claire Nemmers 2-6, 4-6. Kristin Rud playing No. 2 singles was defeated by Briana Joseph 3-6, 0-6, and Hope Thorson lost to Maggy Totzke 0-6, 0-6 at No. 3 singles.
In doubles play, Olivia Wieneke and Jacey Smith lost a three-set match to Lauren Davis and Ellie Hernes winning the first set 6-1, but losing the next two by scores of 2-6, 1-6.
At No. 2 doubles, Sarah Stegenga and Katharine Kelm lost to Libby Totzke and Hope Klanderud 0-6, 3-6. Tori Hemme and Priscilla Muehr were beaten by Anika Haugen and Johanna Petschke by scores of 4-6, 1-6 at No. 3 doubles.
“Fairmont is a very talented team. Many of the girls have been playing varsity matches for the last three to four years,” said Luverne coach Jon Beers.
“I thought that Roselynn played a great match. She was able to come back and get the win in a super tiebreaker for the third set after losing the second set in a tiebreaker. Mia at No. 1 singles and Olivia and Jacey at No. 1 doubles also had good matches with their very tough opponents.”
 
Luverne 5, Lac Qui Parle Valley 2
The Cardinals were able to take two of four singles matches and sweep the doubles matches to win 5-2 in Madison Friday.
“We switched our lineup for the LQPV match,” Beers said. “I wanted to see some of the girls play with different partners in doubles and play some girls in singles that had only played doubles so far this year. I was really happy with the way all the girls played on Friday.”
At No. 1 singles Wenzel defeated Katelyn Wittnebel in a great three-set match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. Smith lost a hard-fought three-set match at No. 2 singles to Maddie Matthies 6-2, 3-6, 2-6. Kelm, playing her first singles match of the year, lost to Hanna Oie 3-6, 4-6. At No. 4 singles, Hartshorn won easily over Kali Bormann 6-1, 6-1.
In doubles, Wieneke and Rud, playing together for the first time, defeated Sarah Halvorson and Claire Lowry 6-2, 6-3. At No. 2 doubles, Thorson and Stegenga, also playing for the first time this year, beat Kayla Jahn and Sadie Hacker 3-6, 6-3, 10-6. Hemme and Muehr defeated Taylen Jorgenson and Gertie Sieg by identical 6-1 scores.
Luverne was scheduled to return to action on Tuesday with a match at Blue Earth Area (after Star Herald press time) and a home match on Thursday against Marshall.