As a thank you to the Luverne community for its years of school support, the 90 seniors at Luverne High School spent Friday morning lending a hand at several public parks and nonprofit organizations for their annual senior service day. After a morning of service work, the students met for a picnic lunch in the city park.

Holthaus graduates from MSU Moorhead
Grace Holthaus will graduate summa cum laude from Minnesota State University Moorhead on Friday, May 14, with a Bachelor of Science in speech/language/hearing.
Grace, an H-BC graduate, is the daughter of Todd and Sherri Holthaus of Beaver Creek.
 
Harnack receives degree at CUNE
Whitney Harnack, Luverne, received a Master of Education degree at Concordia University Nebraska graduation ceremonies on May 8 in Seward, Nebraska.
 
Gillette earns degree at U of N Lincoln
Isaac Gillette, Beaver Creek, received a Bachelor of Science degree in computer engineering from the College of Engineering at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, on May 8.
 
MSU Mankato announces graduates
Minnesota State University, Mankato celebrated the Spring 2021 commencement by providing graduates "commencement-in-a-box" packages and personalized photo opportunities last week on a graduation stage with a virtual ceremony at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 8.
Graduates from Luverne are Griffin Ahrendt, magna cum laude, earning a Bachelor of Science in nursing and Michaella Sandbulte awarded a Bachelor of Science in biology.

LSS meals at Generations
Monday, May 17: Chicken and noodle casserole, mixed vegetables, peaches, cookie.
Tuesday, May 18: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, stewed tomatoes, brownie.
Wednesday, May 19: Chicken a la king, biscuit, carrots, pears.
 Thursday, May 20: Tater tot casserole, green beans, bread, peaches.
Friday, May 21: Turkey and mashed potatoes with gravy, squash, dinner roll, frosted cake.
Half-Price Day anonymously sponsored.
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.

Luverne Elementary counselor Marie Atkinson-Smeins reached a career milestone recently when the American School Counselors Association (ASCA) designated Luverne Elementary School as a Recognized ASCA Model Program (RAMP).
RAMP recognizes schools committed to delivering an exemplary school counseling program by aligning their program with the ASCA National Model, a framework for data-informed school counseling program.
Atkinson-Smeins set the goal to achieve the RAMP designation 10 years ago.
“I attended a day-long conference regarding RAMP,” she said. “This has been one of my professional goals and it has been achieved.”
As the only counselor for the 500 kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Luverne Elementary, Atkinson-Smeins found she didn’t have an effective idea-generating sounding board until two years ago.
In August 2019, she partnered with mentor-coach Rebecca Berry, a school social worker in Oklahoma.
“My success would not have been possible without Rebecca’s help. I am also thankful to my advisory council,” Atkinson-Smeins said.
“I am fortunate to work with a caring staff, supportive parents and a great group of students.”
Advisory council members include local staff and parents: Monica Edstrom, Damon Eisma, principal Stacy Gillette, Wanda Jarchow, Sandy Soto, Lynette Stensland, school board member David Wrigg, Lori Oechsle, Evelyn Perez and Randi Berghorst.
This year Luverne is one of 11 Minnesota schools achieving RAMP status and one of 139 schools in 27 states that will be recognized at the ASCA annual conference in July.
The RAMP designation is valid for five years and is ASCA’s highest honor.

10 years ago (2011)
•Timing has been everything for Sgt. David Klein and his wife, Leslie, this spring as they relocated from Valley Springs, S.D., to their newly purchased century-old house in Ellsworth.
David has been deployed in Afghanistan since May 2010 with the 196th MEB unit. And his homecoming on Tuesday, May 3, included a surprise home makeover by family and friends to make their place livable.
The Kleins had been told earlier this year that their rental home in Valley Springs had been sold, and the family, which includes children Chris, 17, Brittney, 15, and Austin, 9, had to be out by May 1.
“Wow, it’s a miracle,” Leslie said about the home makeover. “Everyone worked—15 or 20 people—I can’t begin to repay them.
According to Leslie’s friend and fellow church member Rebecca Fritz, when David returned home, he had been prepared to begin work on the house but was surprised to find most of the work has already been finished.
 
25 years ago (1996)
•Becky Jensen, a sophomore at Luverne High School, has been selected to be part of the Minnesota All-State Orchestra. Five trumpet players from the state are chosen for the group on the basis of auditions. Jensen will attend a week-long camp at Bemidji State University during the summer. The group will perform in concert at the end of the camp and again for the Minnesota Music Educators Association  Convention. The concert for the convention will be broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio. According to band director Dale Nelson, nine Luverne students have been named all-state musicians in the past seven years. Becky is the daughter of Jerry and Delaine Jensen, Luverne.
 
50 years ago (1971)
•Seven teacher resignations were accepted by the Luverne School Board at their meeting Tuesday night. At the same time, they approved one replacement to the staff.
Leaving the Luverne schools system will be Tom Haugen, band instructor; William Nems, English III and debate; Robert Kolbe, biology and wrestling; Shirley Harrison, grade 1; Janet Capps, grade 4; Leora Turner, grade 4; and Linda Johnson, instrumental music.
Haugen, who has served as band instructor for the past six years; has accepted a position at Kellogg High School in Roseville, a St. Paul suburb. He also plans to study toward his master’s degree.
 
75 years ago (1946)
•An excellent and timely program will be given at a meeting of the Rock County Sportsmen’s club here Monday evening, May 20, at 8 o’clock. The meeting will be held in the V.F.W. hall above the J. C. Penney store.
Main feature of the program will be the showing of a 37-minute sound technicolor movie entitled “Minnesota’s Ten Thousand Lakes.” This picture was taken by Path News on a tour which started at Winona, went through the Twin Cities and then into the northern lake and forest region.
There will also be a short business session, and as this is the last meeting, members of the club are urged to be present and bring up any matters which pertain to the organization.
An invitation is extended to the general public to see the motion picture.
 
100 years ago (1921)
•Ten cans of small fry wall-eyed pike, approximately 100,000 in number, were planted in Rock river near the public park Tuesday.
The fish were secured from the State Fish and Game commission through efforts of Geo. W. Cottrell, Otto Ihlan and Ray Olson who drove to Worthington Tuesday and secured the small fry from the commissioner’s fish car that was there for the day.

The following appeared in The Rock County Star-Herald on Jan. 19, 1950.
 
New Café To Open In Beaver Creek
 
“The Beaver Café” Will Hold Formal Opening Jan. 25
 
Geo. Schultz  and C. L. Gray, Sioux Falls Man, Owners, Announce Business Staff
Formal opening of the new Beaver Creek will be held next Wednesday, January 25th. Although the café will be opened prior to that for serving meals and lunches, it is not thought that all the “final touches” will be done until about Wednesday.
As a feature of the opening, according to George Schultz one of the owners of the café, free coffee and doughnuts for adults and free ice cream cones for youngsters will be served on opening day.
The café is located in the former barber shop building, directly across the street from the old Beaver Café which was lost by the fire that swept the Beaver Creek buildings in December.
In partnership with Mr. Schultz in the café will be C. L. Gray of Sioux Falls.
A woman whose name has long been synonymous with good food for Beaver Creek patrons will be in charge of the cooking, Mrs. James Vopat. Also employed in the café will be Miss Vernice Olson and Mrs. Robert Tower.
The building has been redecorated and remodeled for the new business. A new front has been installed on the building and every effort has been made to provide a bright, attractive, restaurant again for Beaver Creek.
Four new booths will be installed in the near future. The counter now seats nine persons. Equipment and fixtures were those purchased several years ago for use in the Chez Paree lunch room building.
Regular lunches and meals will be served and it is planned to keep the café open seven days a week, from 6 a.m. till 11:30 p.m. on week days with an earlier closing on Sundays.
         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.

I hope you have noticed the beautiful lavender flowers of the rhododendron shrubs that have been blooming for the last two weeks.
The variety is PJM, and these rhododendrons are broad-leaf evergreens, meaning that they do not drop their leaves in winter. This rhododendron grows to about 3 feet tall.
They prefer a slightly acidic soil, which is not what we have in this part of Minnesota, so amending the soil with peat moss when the shrub is planted will lower the soil ph enough to make the plants happy.
Most of our soil is heavy loam which can cause rhododendron roots to rot. A generous quantity of peat moss worked into the soil at planting time will help prevent this problem.
The potential for the foliage to winter-burn can be minimized by choosing a planting site in full to partial shade like the north, east, or west side of your house.
In the winter, broad-leafed evergreens planted in a sunny area can develop winter burn. This happens when their leaves warm enough to transpire moisture. The frozen ground prevents the plant from replacing the lost moisture, resulting in “burned” foliage. Some winters are worse than others for this problem, but avoiding winter sun is the best preventative.
PJM is probably the best variety for our area of zone 4. Several other varieties are listed as hardy but most of them have a much larger leaf, making them less likely to survive our harsh winters.
Other varieties bloom earlier in the spring, and in the case of a spring like we are experiencing this year, the flowers would likely have been ruined by the cold.

Four Hills-Beaver Creek students were recognized recently for their creative writing skills.
Sponsored through the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative based in Marshall, the 2021 Creative Writing Contest drew 162 entries from 110 students in grades three through twelve.
Students could enter one or more submissions in three categories: poetry, fiction and non-fiction.
Two H-BC students earned first-place from the judges.
Brekyn Klarenbeek placed first in fiction for grades 3-4.
Mazzi Moore was chosen first in non-fiction grades 7-8.
Each earned a $20 gift certificate to Barnes & Noble.
Ryker Gehrke earned second place in fiction grades 3-4.
Penni Moore placed third in poetry grades 3-4.
Brystol Teune placed second in non-fiction grades 7-8.
All winning students were awarded a medal and anthology of the 2021 winning submissions in a virtual awards ceremony.
The Creative Writing Contest gives students a chance to shine by expressing themselves in their writing. The program is designed to encourage the love of language and writing for all students, as well as a way to recognize talented young writers.

Gordon Mulder (right) , past president of Luverne Lions Club and current vice district governor 5M3, presents a donation to Friends of Blue Mounds chair Amy Nelson and Blue Mounds State Park manager Chris Ingebretsen. The donation will be used to purchase new bike racks for the state park to enhance biking safety and use within the park.