As the Veterans Home in Luverne celebrated Minnesota Veterans Homes Week May 9-15, staff members also acknowledge the benefits of a caring and generous community.
“We are so fortunate to receive support from the community,” said Administrator Scott Buchanan.
“Volunteers, activities and events, supplies and monetary donations all enhance the experience of our veteran residents and spouses.”
The Luverne Veterans Home is the grateful recipient of tremendous community support, according to Public Affairs Coordinator Duane Mabon. “Many items have been donated that contribute to resident comfort.”
These include, for example, towel warmers, physical therapy and medical equipment, recliners, televisions and a soft serve ice cream machine, all of which enhance residents’ experiences, said Shirley Connor, recreation director.
“There is nothing more soothing than a nice warm blanket on a chilly day or a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day,” she said.
Buchanan said it’s an honor to working for the Veterans Home.
“Our staff are so dedicated to caring for our residents and take such pride in their work,” he said.
“The annual Veterans Home Week is an opportunity to recognize the staff who truly are heroes caring for heroes.”
He said both residents and staff appreciate community support.
Those interested in supporting the Luverne Veterans Home may contact Mabon at duane.mabon@state.mn.us or visit the MDVA website at MinnesotaVeteran.org/Donate. Online donations are also accepted.

10 years ago (2011)
•The world-famous wood-carved sculptures of Fred Cogelow are on display at the Brandenburg Gallery in the Rock County Veterans Memorial Building.
Cogelow is widely known and acclaimed in fine art circles. His work appears throughout the country in museums, private residences, art studios and businesses. Cogelow hails from Rock County ancestors — the Bush family from Hills.
 
25 years ago (1996)
•Luverne High School senior honor students approached the School Board Tuesday night with their concerns over criteria for the Top 10 Students designation.
Luverne’s Top 10 students are names for the honor based on cumulative four-year grade point average and corresponding class rank. …
Post secondary option allows students to attend college at nearby campuses while remaining a student at Luverne High School.
 
50 years ago (1971)
•James A. Harner, Zumbrota, has been named principal at Luverne high school. He will begin his duties July 1. He fills the vacancy created by the resignation last year of John Holsen. Since that time, John Rath served as both junior and senior high principal.
Supt. Harvey Eitreim said that present plans call for Harner and Rath to share a joint principalship, a plan now being used at Montevideo and several other Minnesota schools. Under the plan, Eitreim said, it is hoped that the duplication of duties can be avoided, and that the two men will serve both junior and senior high departments, but in specific areas. One will likely be assigned to administration, organization and supervision while the other will be assigned to curriculum, personnel and supervision. This remains to be worked out, however, before school starts next fall.
 
75 years ago (1946)
•An invitation to everyone living in the Luverne trade territory to make use of the city park for school picnics, family reunions, and family outings was issued this week by the Luverne Civic and Commerce association.
“The city council has gone to considerable expense to provide Luverne with a fine park, with adequate picnic facilities.” P. D. Stephenson temporary chairman of the Luverne Civic and Commerce association stated this week, “and we are anxious that the people of this community use it as much as possible.
 
100 years ago (1921)
•A fire, alleged to be of incendiary origin, totally destroyed the south bleachers at Athletic park shortly after two o’clock  Monday morning, and but for the prompt arrival of the fire department the grandstand and north bleachers would have been consumed. When the department arrived, the flames had spread through the south end of the grandstand and were rapidly eating through the roof.
Two incidents serve to strengthen the theory that the fire was set. Shortly after 7 o’clock Sunday evening a member of the Harry Campbell family, who occupies the living quarters at the sales pavilion, discovered the bleachers on fire, and Mr. Campbell succeeded in putting out the fire.
M. E. Teeter, secretary of the agricultural society, was notified and went to the fair grounds at 8 o’clock that evening and made careful inspection of the bleachers to make sure the fire was extinguished. The location and character of the first fire indicated that it might have been due to a cigarette or cigar being thrown under the bleachers during the ball game in the afternoon.
But the second fire was discovered at about 2:40 a.m. or approximately seven hours after the first one and that a spark would smolder for this period is highly improbable. Then too, on Monday President G. A. Hagedorn of the fair association, discovered a gallon oil can in about the center of the site of the burned bleachers, and it is considered quite certain that this can was not there early Sunday evening.

Card showers
Jim Rolfs will celebrate his 80th birthday on Saturday, May 22. Greetings may be sent to 1006 Black Moon Circle, Luverne, MN 56156.

LSS meals at Generations
Monday, May 24: Baked chicken, au gratin potatoes, peas, dinner roll, bar.
Tuesday, May 25: Goulash, broccoli, tropical fruit, bread.
Wednesday, May 26: Chef salad, crackers, creamy fruit salad, frosted cake.
 Thursday, May 27: Barbecue meatballs, roasted potatoes, carrots, bread, gelatin with whipped topping.
Half-Price Day sponsored by Security Savings Bank.
Friday, May 28: Hamburger on a bun, potato salad, calico beans, dessert.
LSS Dining offers well-balanced and affordable meals in a community atmosphere.
Call Lynette Hoiland at 283-9846 to arrange to pick up a dinner or for home-delivered meals.
Gift certificates are available at the meal site or online at www.lssmn.org/nutrition.

Scholarships presented to 4-H’ers
Four Rock County 4-H’ers received scholarships for 2021 recently, awarded by the program’s executive committee. Sponsors of the awards are Sunshine Foods and the Marcel Reisch Scholarship Fund.
Scholarship recipients for 2021, parents, club membership and graduating high school include:
•Jacob Raak, son of Philip and Theresa Raak, Jasper, 13-year member of Denver Go-Getters, Southwest MN Christian High School, Edgerton.
•Gretchen Jacobsma, daughter of Doug and Erin Jacobsma, Luverne, six-year member of Magnolia Juniors, Luverne High School.
•Tory Knobloch, son of Dallas and Amy Knoblock, Hills, nine year member of Blue Ribbon, Hills-Beaver Creek Secondary School.
•Dalton Popkes, son of Darrin and Nancy Popkes, Ellsworth, 13-year member of Livewires, Ellsworth High School.
 
Harnack sings with Festival honor choir
Hills-Beaver Creek fourth-grader Gavin Harnack joined 180 fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade students recently to participate in Elementary Festival Honor Choir in a virtual concert.
The concert was a part of the annual South Dakota State University Choral Day in Brookings, South Dakota.
Harnack was selected based on a recorded audition submitted by choral instructor Amy Comp.

Tyler Bush of Security Savings Bank Luverne branch gives a $450 check to Emily Crabtree of Luverne Area Community Foundation on behalf of bank employees, including (back) Sheryl Klaassen, Carol Nelson, Danielle Klooster, Ryan DeBates, Don Bryan, Ashley Tilstra and Amber Bos. Bank employees wanted to give back to their community and to show support to all the organizations that strengthen the community.

The following articles appeared in The Rock County Herald during 1895.
 
Jan. 11, 1895
The HERALD takes great pleasure in announcing to its readers that it has again made arrangements by which it is enabled to furnish the Weekly New York Tribune to its patrons for 25 cents per year, or both for 58 cents, per year. This price is probably less than the cost of the white paper, and the offer is a bargain which no one who wants to “keep posted” and desires to have reliable information respecting political questions of current importance, can afford to miss.
 
Feb. 15, 1895
The Gospel Temperance union celebrated the first anniversary of its organization in an appropriate manner Wednesday afternoon and evening at Armory Hall Opera house. During the afternoon refreshments were served in the rooms in the second story of the Opera house, and a large number of people from all parts of the county enjoyed the feat. Wednesday evening a delightful programme was successfully rendered to an audience only measured by the capacity of the building. People were present from Adrian, Hardwick, Beaver Creek, Hills, Steen, Ash Creek, Magnolia and other points, and a happier crowd was never assembled in Luverne. The W. C. T. U. has the Gospel Temperance Union under its wing, and the HERALD asserts that anything is bound to succeed over which it casts its protecting influence.
 
March 1, 1895
Readers of the HERALD will remember that sometime last summer we published an item stating that a snake seven inches in length had been removed from the stomach of Ole Evenson, of Denver township. Mr. Evenson called at the HERALD office Tuesday and gave more complete particulars regarding the affair. He is under the impression that while on a trip through South Dakota some eight years ago he swallowed an egg or small snake while drinking water from some of the springs or sloughs. For seven years he suffered untold agony. He could feel that “animal” crawling around his insides and was unable to retain any food whatever which did not suit the fancy of his snakeship. Any food of a sour or salty nature would cause Mr. Evenson the most excruciating pain followed by violent vomiting until the contents of his stomach were entirely removed. Last summer he took a big dose of strychnine which did not agree with the snake, nor Mr. Evenson, either for that matter, but the snake was dislodged and when vomited up was still alive. Mr. Evenson now has the snake in a bottle pickled in alcohol. Since the removal of the snake Mr. Evenson has gained 23 pounds in weight and experiences no discomfort from any food he may eat. Physicians, however, tell Mr. Evenson that the snake perforated his stomach with small holes which may in time cause him serious trouble.
 
         Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.

Corrine Elaine Houg, 93, Jasper, died Sunday, May 16, 2021, at the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage in Luverne.
Visitation will be from 5-7 p.m. Friday, May 21, at the Hartquist Funeral Home in Jasper. A funeral service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 22, at Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. Burial will follow at Rosedell Cemetery in rural Jasper.
Corrine Hildring was born on Nov. 2, 1927, to Gilmer and Betty (Long) Hildring in Split Rock Township, South Dakota. Corrine grew up on the family farm in Larchwood, Iowa. When she was in high school she went to live with her uncle in Rock Rapids, Iowa, and graduated from Rock Rapids High School in 1946. After graduation she worked for Verma V. Kostman as a secretary aid and then worked at Shriver-Johnson Company in 1946. She moved in with her sisters at the Brownstone Apartments in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, and got a job working for John Morrell and Company from 1946-1949.
On Jan. 22, 1950, Corrine married Otto Houg at the Bethany Lutheran Church parsonage in Luverne. She left her position in Sioux Falls to become a full-time wife and mother, living across the street from her current home from 1950-1954 and then her farm home from 1954-2021. On May 3, 2021, Corrine suffered a stroke and was hospitalized. A short time later she entered the care of the Sanford Luverne Hospice Cottage until her death.
Corrine was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. She was involved with Rosedell Trinity Lutheran and Bethany Lutheran ladies aid. She enjoyed dancing with the Hollyhoppers Square Dancers, being involved in various social clubs, sewing, and cooking. She learned to play the organ which was something she enjoyed as well as canning, and she had a special knack for baking. Corrine loved ice cream (in moderation, of course), family and church. She loved to sing and travel, especially to the insurance conferences with her husband and to visit family on the West Coast and Washington, D.C.
Corrine is survived by three children, Lynette (Anthony) Mussio of Everett, Washington, Roger (Nancy) Houg of Aitkin, and Dennis Houg of Jasper; two granddaughters, Sherri (Zach) Long and Christina (Duane) Arnold; five great-grandchildren; and six great-great-grandchildren.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Otto Houg; her parents; two brothers, Edward and Paul Hildring; and two sisters, Pauline Pinney and Geraldine Berk.
Memorials may be directed to Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne or the Jasper Ambulance.
Arrangements are provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Jasper, hartquistfuneral.com.
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Richard Albert Rauk, 68, Beaver Creek, died Thursday, May 13, 2021, at his home surrounded by family.
A funeral service was Monday, May 17, at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek. Burial followed in the Beaver Creek Cemetery.
Richard Rauk was born on June 8, 1952, to Edward and Elizabeth (Keehr) Rauk in Valley Springs, South Dakota. He was raised in Beaver Creek and was baptized and confirmed at the First Presbyterian Church. Rick graduated from Hills-Beaver Creek High School in 1971. He then went to work for a time at Gale Tower Construction and then at the Sioux Falls Stockyards.
On April 27, 1974, Richard married Mary Hansen at Bethlehem Lutheran Church in Hills. A short time later, the couple moved to Beaver Creek and began their life together. Rick spent the majority of his working career at two places, Farmland Industries until its closing and later Gold’n Plump until its closing.
In December 2018, Richard formally retired. A short time later, he began having health concerns.
Rick was a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek where he served as a trustee. He was a member of the local cemetery board and the Sportmen’s Club. He was a volunteer firefighter with the Beaver Creek Fire Department. For 35 years Rick was one of the first men on the scene when a fire call came in for the Beaver Creek area. He loved fighting fires with his team.
One of Rick’s passions was mowing and taking care of yards. He enjoyed gardening and flowers, Christmas decorations, bowling, camping and sitting around the fire pit with family and friends. He especially loved to watch his boys participate in sports and later in life was his granddaughters’ biggest fan.
Rick is survived by his wife, Mary, of Beaver Creek; sons Jason Rauk and Chad (Tami) Rauk, all of Beaver Creek; grandchildren Taryn, Brynn and Jordyn Rauk; siblings Ron (Marlys) Rauk of Beaver Creek, Mareda (Keith) Bertelson of Sioux Falls and Roxie Rauk of Sioux Falls.
He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife’s parents, Lester and Dorothy Hansen; sister-in-law Debra Magnuson; and his brother-in-law, Dale “Ole” Hansen.
Memorials are preferred to Beaver Creek Fire Department, Beaver Creek Cemetery Fund or Sanford Luverne Hospice.  
Arrangements were provided by Hartquist Funeral Home of Luverne, hartquistfuneral.com.  
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