The following poem says much about what it means to be a Christian. Sometimes we Christians convey the idea that we are better than other people. Poet Laureate Maya Angelou eloquently helps us understand otherwise. I hope you will enjoy her writing as much as I did. ChristianBy Maya Angelou When I say ... "I am a Christian" I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'." I'm whispering "I was lost, Now I'm found and forgiven." When I say ... "I am a Christian" I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide. When I say ... "I am a Christian" I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak And need His strength to carry on. When I say ... "I am a Christian" I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed And need God to clean my mess. When I say ... "I am a Christian" I'm not claiming to be perfect, My flaws are far too visible But, God believes I am worth it. When I say ... "I am a Christian" I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches So I call upon His name. When I say ... "I am a Christian" I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner Who received God's good grace, somehow! It is Reformation week and we Christians should be the first to realize that our salvation and faith has nothing to do with us but everything to do with God. Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a sinner like me.

I’m working on a special project. The library has a small (very small) collection of yearbooks from the Luverne High School, a few from the ’50s and a few from the ’60s and ’70s. I would like to have the entire collection available as a reference tool. If anyone has the Luverne High School yearbooks and would like to donate any or all of them to the library, we would appreciate the opportunity to develop a full collection. The yearbooks would be cataloged as reference and would not circulate outside of the library. We will be working on a collection of Magnolia and Hills school yearbooks, as well. We have a large collection of new books on the shelf this week. Many of you have asked for the latest title on Oprah’s list, "A Million Little Pieces" by Stephen Frey. This book and his newest title, "My Friend Leonard," are both in. If you haven’t called in and requested to be on the reserve list, now would be a good time to do so (449-5040). Also new on the shelf this week is "Toxic Bachelors" by Danielle Steel. They were the best of friends and the most daunting of bachelors ... Charlie Harrington, a handsome philanthropist, has such high expectations for his perfect bride that no mortal need apply ... Adam Weiss, a 40-something celebrity lawyer, prefers his women very young, very voluptuous, and very short-term. And for Gray Hawk, a gifted artist with a knack for attracting troubled relationships, women are fine; it’s just the idea of family he can’t imagine (particularly the family of the woman he’s dating). Now the three friends, spending their annual summer vacation cruising the Mediterranean aboard Charlie’s majestic yacht, are about to have their bachelorhood rocked. Charlie begins dating a crusading social worker who couldn’t be further from his ideal until he makes a stunning discovery about her. Adam gets involved with his usual 20-something bombshell, only this one has a remarkable mind of her own. And Gray, who has avoided both business and family like the plague, has managed to fall head over heels for a successful career woman who just happens to be a mother as well. As another holiday on the yacht approaches, the once-carefree trio is about to discover that love is the most unpredictable adventure of all. "The Camel Club" by David Baldacci. The Camel Club is where the most influential businessmen and politicians wine, dine, and often change the course of history — and where ruthless mercenaries spy unseen, recording every last bit of information to sell to the highest bidder. But when Harry Stone, homeless man and conspiracy theorist, witnesses a gruesome murder, secrets begin to unravel. Stone steals a piece of evidence from the scene that links the Club’s founders to the murder of a high-profile government official, and they’ll do anything to get it back. Secret Service Agent W. Frank Churchill begins investigating Stone as a murder suspect, but soon, with the help of defense attorney Kate Monroe, he unearths a shocking truth: One man is using the Camel Club for his own terrible devices — and to achieve his horrific goals, he must kill Stone ... and anyone else who gets in his way. Alert: Children’s Book Week will be celebrated Nov. 14-20 with special programs for children and families. Monday Nov. 14: Family Reading and Open House in the Children’s Library is from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 17: Pumpkin Turkey Painting from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Grades 1-5. Pre-registration required. Friday Nov. 18: Wee Ones Story Time from 10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

Vote ‘no’ because it’s your right, not because there wasn’t enough informationThere has been enough information generated about the Luverne School District’s proposed operating referendum. It’s time to make a decision and head to the polls. If something needs clarifying, it’s time to take initiative and call school board members or the district office, 283-8088.As a person in the information business, I can vouch for local efforts to get the information to the public.There have been multiple mailings to all property owners in the district. There have been numerous news and radio reports over the past several months. And volunteers have even called homes to see if there were questions that needed answering.Short of being spoon-fed the information, every district property owner should by now have some idea why the school is asking for an operating referendum.There haven’t been public meetings, because prior to last year’s failed referendum in Luverne, nobody showed up, and recently in Worthington, those public meetings also generated little participation.Residents who care enough to attend a public meeting are also passionate enough to contact a school board member or school administrator.Anyone who’s been paying attention knows there are lots of good reasons to vote "yes" on the referendum question Tuesday.oDistrict costs that far outpace district revenues is the simple reason the voters are being asked for money.oKeeping quality in Luverne schools is the more important, long-term reason for approving the referendum.A failed referendum won’t cause noticeable, horrible results in the short term. Our quality staff will creatively make sure kids get what they need to meet state and federal standards. But long-term, that quality staff may be tempted to work for districts that can pay more and expect less "creativity" (extra hours, duties and larger classrooms).Eventually, school will be reduced only to meeting the grade. All other "fluff" like music and advanced learning opportunities, will be sacrificed in order to live within the budget.Families considering moving to Luverne may no longer see its school system as the bright and shining beacon of the community that it is today.To be fair, there are also reasons to vote "no" on Tuesday.oVote against it because you truly can’t afford it. For some people in a $100,000 home, the extra $18.25 per month might actually be a burden.oVote against it because you simply don’t care about education and its effect on the local economy. Nobody said you have to care, and the fact that you have that right to vote your mind is the beauty of the American democratic process.But don’t vote against it because "there wasn’t enough information."That sounds to me like a "no" vote with a guilty conscience.

Driving home from Friday’s Section 3AA volleyball match between Luverne and Jackson County Central in Windom, I had some time to reflect on what has been a pretty good fall sports season in our neck of the woods.I’ve witnessed a lot of entertaining sporting events over the last two months, and some of them will be tough to forget about years down the road.With the Adrian football team and the Luverne and Adrian cross country programs still competing in early November, I might be jumping the gun a little bit.Still, I would like to share with you some of my thoughts about the teams and people that have made the 2005 fall campaign a special one.True characterThe Luverne-Fairmont football game played Sept. 16 stands out as one of the most memorable team performances of the year.After beating Fairmont in the section semifinals in 2004, the Cardinals returned to the scene for a Week 3 game with a huge target on their backs.Fairmont, ranked fifth in the state at the time, ambushed LHS by scoring two quick touchdowns and led 21-0 at halftime.It would have been easy for the Luverne kids to quit at that point, but they did not. The Cards dominated the second half of the game and trailed 21-13 when they went on a long drive that ended short of the end zone in the final minutes.Luverne may have lost that game, but the character the Cards displayed in the second half is something I’ll never forget.Take-charge playerThe most dominating individual performance I witnessed came during a volleyball match between Edgerton and Ellsworth Sept. 19.Visiting Edgerton was in a position to sweep the Panthers after winning the first two games of the match, but Ellsworth senior Amy Tiesler didn’t let it happen.With Tiesler’s 27 kills, 12 ace serves and six blocks, she helped the Panthers rally to win Games 3 and 4.The fifth game was tied at 10 when Tiesler took matters into her own hands, delivering four kills and recording one block to ice a 15-10 victory.Quality assistantsSince I deal with the head coaches most of the time, it’s easy to forget about the assistant coaches who make an equally important impact with every sports team.Two such men who grabbed my attention this fall are Mike Wenninger and Darrin Pater.As an LHS football assistant, Wenninger is in charge of the LHS defense. The play of Luverne’s defense was the main reason the Cardinals compiled a 6-3 record this year.During the eight-game regular season, the LHS defense surrendered just six points. They allowed a single touchdown in 192 minutes of play. Any way you look at it, that’s a pretty impressive feat.I don’t know Pater personally, but Adrian cross country coach Doug Petersen recently shared some information with me about the only assistant coach he ever had.Pater, who doesn’t hold a job in the Adrian School District, has a son (Jordan, an eighth-grader) who’s a member of the cross country program.In order to play an active role in his son’s interests, Darrin Pater uses vacation time to attend all AHS practices and meets. That type of commitment deserves to be recognized.Team to watchA team to keep an eye on in the future will be the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth boys’ cross country squad.With a lineup consisting of one senior, one junior and five freshmen, the Patriots earned my respect by placing sixth as a team at the section meet.Patriot coach Tom Goehle did everything right by limiting his boys to junior high and junior varsity competition most of the year, then letting them build some confidence for the future by racing them at the varsity level at the end of the season.The H-BC-E boys will be a team that will be feared in years to come.Tip of the hatThe Luverne girls’ cross country team and senior Thomas Pinkal deserve this gesture from all of us.Pinkal emerged as one of the area’s top runners this season, and the LHS girls qualified for the state meet for the fourth straight year.Those are top-notch achievements.

How are they doing it? What diet are they on? As the dietitian for "The Big Loser Competition," these are the questions I’m getting from the general public as they marvel at the pounds dropping off the participants. Since inquiring minds want to know, I took a poll and asked each of the participants how they are losing their weight. Here’s a sample of what I found.Laurie Hunter already lost 30 pounds before starting the contest; therefore, her weight loss is slow and steady with a strict 1,000-calorie balanced diet (three fruits, four vegetables, eight-ounces protein and three starches daily). She goes to the cardio room at the fitness center three times per week.Nate Skattum has a similar program where he eats 1,000 calories per day and works out three times per week for 45 minutes. He pays attention to portion sizes.The Connells – Chantel is preparing a lot of green vegetables such as salads, green beans and brussel sprouts! They also eat lean meat such as fish, chicken, pork and turkey and try to walk as much as possible. Terry has cut out all soda, which is quite an accomplishment since he was hooked on six sodas per day. He has also cut out convenience store foods and snacks.Evan Verbrugge is doing Weight Watchers Program. He counts points, drinks a lot of water and exercises almost every day. His exercise program consists of 40 minutes on the treadmill at various speeds and inclines, burning up about 600 extra calories a day.Amy VandeVoortused to eat breakfast, dinner and sometimes supper out EVERY DAY. Now she’s "brown bagging" it and has noticed a difference on her pocketbook as well as the scale. She sticks to 1,200 to 1,400 calories per day with only bites of her favorite high calorie foods and has cut back on pop and alcohol. She walks a minimum of two miles every other day, walks on her breaks at work, and has started to lift weights. She uses tricks such as putting her fork down between bites and keeping her serving sizes so small that they never touch each other on her dinner plate.Terry Reisch eats a lot of fruits and vegetables along with lean meat such as tuna. He said that walking has been the key factor in making a difference. You can probably spot Terry walking around town — he has been known to walk 20 miles per week.Rick Peterson has cut back on breads, fat and salt, i.e. he does not use the salt shaker anymore. He is also eating three times a day as opposed to his old habit of eating one heavy meal at night and then snacking until bedtime. He rides his bike and walks when the weather allows it.Astrid Rittenhouse stays away from refined grains and foods that are high in fat and calories. If she craves these, she eats them in small amounts. She also exercises.There you have it: no tricks, no gimmicks and no fad diets, just a lot of persistence in good eating habits and exercise. Of course all of the contestants commented that the accountability of having their picture and weight loss in the paper each week as well as the encouraging words from people following their progress has been the biggest help in this feat. I would agree — it’s usually not lack of information that keeps us from getting healthy but rather lack of motivation. I’m proud of each of these participants and hope that you too have been inspired by their efforts.

The moniker of The Greatest Generation was given to the men and women who fought World War II. The credit is deserved, but I think that putting one generation of servicemen over another is not a fair comparison. After World War II, the victory parades and welcome home celebrations were beyond anything we would ever see again. The victory was huge, and it took a whole nation to win it. In the end we were an exhausted people. When the next war came, the size and scope of the conflict and our reason for being there was not appreciated in the same way. The threat seemed to be against South Korea only, but the real threat was communism itself and the ability for it to spread across the world. Had the communist machine taken hold in all of Asia, Europe would have been next. This was the reason we went to Vietnam, too. Our government saw the danger of communism spreading and wanted to fight it in every corner of the world.The problem in the United States was that World War II had set boundaries and we all knew where the battle lines were. Korea and Vietnam became unpopular wars, and in the end the Korean War veterans were forgotten and the Vietnam Veterans were hated. No victory parades for the Korean War veterans and no coming home parties for either group.Vietnam veterans became well known for having massive problems readjusting to their return home. The problems were there, but certainly not on the scale that some wanted people to believe. I wonder if the problems were more because of the war they fought or the treatment they received back here? The Vietnam War was the first modern guerilla war that we fought, and the confusion over whom we were fighting hurt the soldiers and Marines and made the controversy in the States worse. Could you imagine massive peace protests and high-level politicians running down the efforts of the military and their country during World War II?It took until the Persian Gulf War in the early ’90s for the United States military to get any credit for their service. Many others that fought in smaller conflicts were allowed to pass as though they never existed. After the quick victory in Kuwait the country once again forgot that we even had a military. Over the course of more than five decades the members of our military services went from heroes to ghosts, villains, and non-effects.I don’t feel that any group of veterans should be placed above the others. All of our service members answered their nation’s call to duty and worked to defend our freedom and the freedoms of millions of people worldwide. The men who fought in Vietnam would have performed the same as the World War II guys did in their situation. All of the men and women that have served throughout the years deserve the same credit as all others. I think that they are all the Greatest of Their Generations.To be continued:Curtis HendelAdrian

"The foundation of every state is the education of its youth." (Diogenes Laertius)Yeah, we’d like to think so, but how is that going right now in Luverne? Not so well, I’d say. To reiterate what many have already said, Luverne’s education budget has given up almost $650,000 in the last few years. $650,000! As a Luverne student with three and one-half years left in school, that scares me (not to mention my two younger brothers who still have many more years left of school). By the time I’m a senior, will there be anything left of the quality school we’ve always bragged about?With the budget cuts, many teachers’ positions were cut, and many others were forced to take on extra work WITHOUT EXTRA PAY.Many are already aware of some of the programs that have been cut, including all-day-every-day kindergarten, the Future Images (gifted) program, and sixth grade guitars, just to name a few. Also they are looking at cutting some of the college preparation and speech classes that are currently offered. For students, activity fees are skyrocketing. For example, there are two different overall fees students have to pay for two different types of activities. Sports and fine arts. On top of that, there is a fee for each individual activity one might want to be in. For example, to be in choir and band this year I had to pay $35 for the encompassing fine arts fee, $35 for the choir fee, and $50 for the band fee. That is $120 for two activities, a substantial increase over the last few years. Quite recently, the temperature in the school was decreased by four degrees to lower fuel costs.As Malcolm Forbes said, "It’s so much easier to suggest solutions when you don’t know too much about the problem." That’s all I have to say to those of you who think MORE cuts and fee raises are the answer. I encourage everyone to understand this issue completely before voting, because the outcome will determine the future of our school and the lives of our students. Vote "yes" on the referendum.Matt Stensland-BosLuverne

I’m voting a "yes" vote on the Nov. 8 school referendum. Why? Because I’m proud of our schools! Because we’ve had an excellent school system well managed, and we must consider our future children’s needs as well as those currently in school. Our family has always prized education — our three have teaching degrees, and without a doubt we can give a lot of credit to our Luverne schools for a great foundation.I’m aware of the increase in property tax; escalating operating costs, on and on the negative news continues. But on the positive side, to be in a community with highly rated schools is something worth bragging about, whether it’s sports, speech, drama, music, whatever!Rosa Tofteland JohnsonLuverne

Vote "yes" next Tuesday, Nov. 8, for the school referendum! The investment in our schools is always a good idea for the long-term benefits of our children and our community. I would like to appeal to the voters of this district on the premise that it is to our financial benefit to pass the referendum. The saying "it takes money to make money" can be applied to our referendum question. If we approve the referendum, the State of Minnesota will pay an estimated 45 percent of the total amount. That means that each dollar we pay locally will be nearly matched by the State.A second reason that a "yes" vote makes good financial sense is that our community and surrounding area has greater appeal when we have a progressive school district that has a reputation for academic excellence. Those looking to bring businesses into the area and those looking to move to this part of the state will certainly look at the school system. When our tax base (total taxable value of properties) rises, it makes an individual owner’s tax liability a smaller portion of the total.Along with about 25 percent of the population in this community, I am a senior citizen. Some seniors think that they shouldn’t be asked to pay more for the school district’s expenses because they no longer have children in the schools. I say it’s the best gift that we can give the future generations of this community and do this for "the kids." It’s our time to support the school district and approve the funds needed to keep quality education. My "yes" vote, along with the "yes" votes from all of you fellow senior citizens, can be a wonderful legacy to following generations.Go to the high school next Tuesday, Nov. 8, and vote "yes."Esther Spease FrakesLuverne