Open house
Jo Mann will celebrate her retirement from day care with a “come and go” gathering at the Howling Dog on Tuesday, May 4, beginning at 6 p.m. Greetings may be sent to 1015 N. Blue Mound Ave.; Luverne, MN 56156.

Monday, May 3: Salisbury steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, dinner roll, frosted cake.
Tuesday, May 4: Chef’s choice, vegetable, fruit, bread, dessert.
Wednesday, May 5: Chicken parmesan, spaghetti, broccoli, dessert.
 Thursday, May 6: Barbecue pork riblet on a bun, coleslaw, fresh fruit, gelatin with whipped topping.
Half-Price Day sponsored by American Reformed Church.
Friday, May 7: Chicken-fried steak with gravy, mashed potatoes, carrots, 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.

The following appeared in The Rock County Herald on Jan. 9, 1942.
 
9 P.M. Saturday Closing Advised
 
Civic And Commerce Executive Committee Holds First Meeting
Holding its first meeting in the Luverne National bank, the new executive board of the Luverne Civic and Commerce association recommended Monday evening that all retail businesses in this city close promptly at 9 p.m. on Saturday nights. The proposition was advanced as a defense conservation measure, in order to save fuel and power.
Three committee chairmen for the coming year were appointed at the meeting by President Elmer Piepgras. They are: R. A. Ronlund, retailers’ committee; Irid Bjerk, agriculture committee; and Sidney Hammer, finance and membership committee.
Five members of the Luverne association attended the annual meeting of the Rock Rapids Civic and Commerce association Tuesday evening, when they conferred with officials there relative to the Iowa group’s paid secretary set-up. A secretary for the local organization will be appointed in the near future. Those who went to Rock Rapids were President Piepgras, Charles Merrill, R. A. Ronlund, Dr. G. N. Getman and Fred Herman.
 
         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.

Minnesota West Community and Technical College has announced its graduation dates and locations, as well as names of those who will receive diplomas. All ceremonies will be live-streamed on the Minnesota West Facebook page at www.facebook.com/MinnesotaWest.
The Luverne Center graduation ceremony will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, April 29, for all programs. Due to the pandemic, graduates may each invite two guests to attend in person.
Graduation at the Pipestone Campus is at 1 p.m. Thursday, April 29, for all programs.
The Worthington Campus graduation ceremony for Law Enforcement Program is at 10 a.m. Friday, April 30, and the Liberal Arts graduation ceremony is at 1 p.m. Friday, April 30, both at the Minnesota West Center for Health and Wellness Gymnasium. Graduation ceremony for all other programs on the Worthington campus is at 3 p.m. Friday, April 30.
The following are the area graduate candidates at Minnesota West:
Luverne: Heather Alderson, Heather Frey, Justyce Ripka, Courtney Nath, Nathaniel Shuler, Michaela Van Grootheest.
Adrian: Heather Kruse, Elizabeth Tosch, Emily Zemler.
Ellsworth: Jennifer Reyes Rivera.
Hills: Valerie Meinerts.
Lismore: Sydney Knips, Ernesto Rivera Mercado.
Steen: Larissa Kruid.

10 years ago (2011)
•The year was 1962 when three teenagers from Pipestone and Luverne formed a group called The Starflies.
They were lead singer and guitarist Steve Ellis, Pipestone, drummer Butch Hatting and guitarist Jim Brandenburg, both of Luverne.
The band was widely known in its day, and on April 16 it was inducted into the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association Hall of Fame.
Hatting — who still lives in Luverne and who still plays drums — is the only one of the original three Starflies who was available to accept the honor on behalf of the band in Sioux Falls. …
Brandenburg was unable to attend the induction, but he told the Star Herald he wishes he could have been there. …
Ellis died in a motorcycle accident in 1967, and the Starflies group members included other band members who came and went.
Several of those musicians attended the ceremony and were able to perform some Starflies numbers on stage. That included bass guitarist Mike Mulligan, Luverne, who joined the group in later years.
 
25 years ago (1996)
•The third year of Raku Madness drew about 25 potters and interested artists form the tri-state area to the back yard of the Carnegie Cultural Center last weekend.
For two days, they shaped and fired pots. With two tophat kilns going in the backyard of the Center, the group completed nearly 60 posts by Saturday evening and enjoyed the social aspects of shared meals and work.
Michael Hill, an art instructor at the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, demonstrated the Raku process and helped participants remove glowing pots from the kiln and manipulate flames to achieve just the right desired effect.
The Rock County Fine Arts Association, which sponsors the event, is already planning a fourth Raku Madness in 1997.
 
50 years ago (1971)
•Federal funds totaling $280,000 have been approved for a water and sewer system for the village of Magnolia, Congressman Ancher Nelsen’s office notified the Star Herald this week.
The Farmers Home Administration Tuesday approved a loan of $180,000, and an outright grant of $100,000 for the project, which will include the installation of water and sewer system to serve 75 homes and business establishments in the community. The Farmers Home Administration, a Department of Agriculture rural credit service, has set 40 years as the period over which the loan must be repaid. The interest rate has been set at 5 per cent.
When work will commence is not known, Mayor Eldor Olson said, “Even though the grant has been approved, there’s a lot yet to be done before we can go ahead with it.”
 
75 years ago (1946)
•A new firm, Leuthold & Bauer, will open for business in Luverne September 1 in the Hudson building. The firm will feature clothing, furnishings and shoes for men and boys.
The new owners will take possession of the building July 1. Mr. Hudson said his plans for the future are indefinite.
 
100 years ago (1921)
•The newly organized Beaver Creek American Legion base ball club will open the season next Sunday afternoon with a game with the Hardwick base ball team to be played on Dunn’s field, two miles east of Beaver Creek.
The line-up for the Beaver Creek team is Dell McCoy, left field; Frank McGee, first base; Jack Hall, catcher; C. C. Lauxman, third base; Euell Linnell, shortstop; Celos Hettinger, center field; W. M. Roberg, right field; Louis Jansma, second base, and Ed Grimm, pitcher.
This club has received new suits from the Spaulding Co., which are of blue gray with blue trimmings, and embellished with the American Legion emblem. Under the management of Mr. Hall it gives promise of playing a prominent role in the house ball circles of this section this season.

Our spring weather certainly has been unstable this year. I don’t understand how a tulip flower stem can survive 16 degrees and still stand firm and continue on to a beautiful flower.
My blooming daffodils didn’t come through the cold as well. The leaves are still green so they can feed the bulb to develop the flower for next year.
That is why we stress the importance of leaving the leaves of spring-flowering bulbs intact until they turn yellow. Those weeks between flowering and the foliage maturing and drying down is when the flower bud is forming in the bulb for the next season.
That is the tricky part of cutting tulips for cut flowers. Often the stem of the flower isn’t very tall, but you don’t want to cut more than one leaf with the flower because of the needed energy produced by the foliage to replenish the bulb.
For the cut flower market, the bulb is disposed of after the flower is produced. But in our garden, we want the bulbs to keep blooming for consecutive years.
I am writing this on Sunday night. We have had cold wind, rain and snow today, but tomorrow is predicted to be warm in comparison to the previous weeks. So, tomorrow I will be in the garden planting as fast as I can because rain is predicted for Tuesday, and the 15-day forecast doesn’t show any below freezing temperatures. That doesn’t mean planting tomatoes, peppers or any of the tender plants. The soil temperature isn’t warm enough for that at this point. The crops I will plant are the cole crops like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and lettuce, peas, carrots radish, spinach, beets and onions. These vegetables all benefit from getting started while the soil temperature is cool.
If you are hoping to get a strawberry patch started, early planting is essential, especially if you are planting bare root plants (dormant plants not growing in a container).
You have the choice of June-bearing, which produce for a couple of weeks in late June, or ever-bearing, which produce a crop in late June, take the month of July off and then start yielding again in August. They will continue blooming and producing until it gets too cold in the fall.
The ever-bearing variety I grow is Seascape. I grow that one because I appreciate fresh for as long as possible for the season. They definitely are more work because you absolutely have to keep harvesting to avoid damage from insects that are attracted by overripe fruit.
Spotted Wing Drosophila is a fruit fly pest in our area, and strawberries are one of their favorites. The June-bearing varieties are usually finished before the insect population becomes a problem.
If the season is hot and dry, strawberries need an inch of water per week to produce good fruit. If you need to irrigate, NEVER water overhead with a sprinkler. That is the surest way to invite disease that will ruin the fruit. Rain is different in that it usually doesn’t last long; however, a prolonged period of rain will cause the same problem.
Hope you are getting outdoors in the morning to hear the bird choir practicing … absolutely amazing.

Theodore “Bud” Van Peursem, 89, Leota, died Tuesday, April 20, 2021, at the Minnesota Veterans Home in Luverne.
A funeral service was Friday, April 23, at the Bethel Reformed Church in Leota. Burial was at the Leota Community Cemetery.
Arrangements were provided by Dingmann Funeral Home of Luverne, dingmannandsons.com.
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Velma Arlene Brommer, 87, Rock Rapids, Iowa, formerly of Ordway, Colorado, died Thursday, April 15, 2021.
Graveside services were Friday, April 23, at Valley View Cemetery in Ordway. Interment was in the Valley View Cemetery in Ordway.
Arrangements were provided by Ford-Ustick Funeral Home, www.fordustick.com.
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Roger Dale Achterhof, 80, Rochester, died peacefully at his home April 26, 2021, enveloped in the love of family and caregivers from Visiting Angels and Mayo Clinic Hospice.
Tipping the scales at 12.5 pounds, he was born at home July 18, 1940, in Sioux Center, Iowa, to L.W. (Lawrence) and Jeanetta (Jean) Achterhof. At birth he inherited his father's indomitable work ethic and business acumen and his mother's loving kindness and caring, gentle nature.
Roger entered the business world when he began delivering the Sioux City Journal in his hometown at age eight. Two years later he heard about a commercial popcorn machine lying dormant in the basement of a local store. After youthful negotiating, he purchased the machine for $10 from his newspaper delivery profits. He rigged-up a portable popcorn stand and hired his brother and his friends as vendors. Roger's popcorn stand and enticing aroma of freshly popped corn became a fixture at the town's Saturday shopping nights, outdoor summer band concerts in the park and county fair.With the proceeds from his popcorn stand, which continued through high school, 15-year-old Roger and his 12-year-old brother, Doug, had an A&W drive-in restaurant built on the highway through town. He also secured a loan, co-signed by his father, through a local bank. The drive-in, open from spring through fall, was sold in 1961 and paid for the boys' college educations.
Life wasn't all work and no play. Before he graduated from Sioux Center High School in 1958, Roger had attained the Eagle Scout and Order of the Arrow Honors in the Boy Scouts. He also served as a Boy Scout camp counselor at Okoboji, Iowa, for two years, was a lifeguard and swimming instructor at Sandy Hollow, the town's swimming spot. In high school he served in student government and played varsity basketball. He was a multi-tasker before it became a catch-phrase.
He graduated from Hope College in Holland, Michigan, June 4, 1962. On that same day, he married Carole Risselada, who was a sophomore at Hope. His lifetime laugh line was, "I received my bachelor's degree in the morning and lost it at night." While in college Roger was active in class presidencies, Phi Kappa Alpha and his double majors in chemistry and biology. The couple moved to the University of Iowa, where Roger did graduate studies in chemistry for two years, after which he was recruited by Lederle Laboratories as a pharmaceutical representative in Duluth, Minnesota. While there from 1964-1968 Roger savored life: the births of two daughters, his work as a Boy Scout leader and recipient of the Silver Scout Award, and his pursuits of hunting, fishing and golf.
In 1968 Roger became part-owner and manager of Luverne Dehydrated Products, an ag-business which converted alfalfa into pellets for livestock feed in Luverne, Minnesota. After a short time, the couple had two more daughters and bought a farm with a 100-year-old farmhouse, living there from 1974-1987. Roger earned his private pilot license and co-owned a Cessna. He became active in Green Earth Players, a community theater group, and served as president and board member of the Southwest MN Arts and Humanities Council. His favorite pastimes were farming, flying, golfing and hunting deer in Wyoming with his brother and father.
While the couple lived in Luverne, their second daughter, Linda, endured many neurosurgeries. They lost their fourth daughter, Kate, 7, to cancer in 1980 and their third daughter, Marta, sustained a traumatic brain injury in a one-car accident in 1987. After coming out of a two-year coma, she came home to live. Throughout all of these crises, Roger was a rock. He sold Luverne Dehy in 1984 and started FGL Commodities Brokerage in Luverne. The business thrived and was sold in 2002 when Roger retired.
Roger, Carole and Marta moved permanently to their summer home on Little Spirit Lake, Jackson County, Minnesota, in 1994. Roger's outside interests then were focused on fishing, golfing and traveling. Until Covid-19 hit in early 2020, the couple traveled extensively to North America, Central America, Europe, the Caribbean, and a side trip to Africa. They golfed whenever possible and relished every adventure they shared together.In 2015 the threesome moved to Rochester, primarily in hopes of living closer to Mayo Clinic, which Roger frequented often, and also finding a new permanent home for Marta, which was happily realized.
Roger is preceded in death by his daughter, Kate, his parents and his sister, DeeDee Kock.
Survivors include his wife of 58 years, Carole; three daughters, Kristin Achterhof (Glenn Ronaldson), Hinsdale, Illinois, Linda Davis (Jim), Rochester, Marta Achterhof, Rochester. His grandchildren; Sidney Davis, Boston, MA, Rutger and Landon Ronaldson, Hinsdale, IL. He is also survived by a brother, Douglas Achterhof (Karen), Sheridan, WY, and sister, Beverly Rohl, Rapid City, South Dakota.
All who knew Roger will miss him dearly.
A private memorial service will be held in June.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to Mayo Clinic Hospice, phone number:  507-284-2264, or you can make a donation online by visiting: philanthropy.mayoclinic.org, in memory of Roger Achterhof, designating/ supporting the hospice care team.
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