I’m writing in concern for the upcoming 2005-2006 school year in regard to the kindergarten program.I understand why the school needed to cut the all-day-every-day program, but I am very disappointed. I know the town prides itself on our excellent school programs and that’s why it’s hard to understand why we would want our children to only get half-day kindergarten while all the small towns around us are still providing their kids with an all day every day kindergarten.I’m also concerned with the enrichment program they are offering in the afternoon for $150 a month. That is a lot of money for an enrichment program and it would leave a lot of kids unable to participate because of the cost. My understanding was that all children are entitled to equal education in a public school system and this is not equal. I’ve been told that my concerns don’t really matter, but I’m choosing to share them anyway in the hopes that somebody does care. Kristee and Mike HartLuverne

MINUTES OF THE HILLS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITYApril 12, 2005Dan Dahlquist, President of the Hills EDA, called the meeting to order at 8:15 P.M. with the following Board members present: Dana Dahlquist, Jim Jellema, Keith Elbers, and Linus Svoboda. Board members absent: Ross Metzger. Others present: Connie Wiertzema, EDA Secretary; Joanne Goehle, EDA Treasurer; and Lexi Moore, Reporter-Hills Crescent. Motion by Svoboda, seconded by Jellema to approve the minutes of March 8th. Motion carried. Motion by Jellema, seconded by Elbers to approve payment of the March expenditures. Also, to combine the EDA’s CD’s into one, to be reinvested, along with $10,000 from the EDA checking account. Motion carried. The Board approved a written recommendation from LDH Construction to make minor repairs in apartment #502.The Board agreed to hire Olson’s Pest Control to treat the outside perimeter of the condo building for termites. No further discussion, meeting adjourned at 8:23 P.M.Connie J. WiertzemaEDA Secretary(5-5)

COUNTY OF ROCKNOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING ON INTENTION TO ISSUE GENERAL OBLIGATION CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN BONDS AND THE PROPOSAL TO ADOPT A CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN THEREFORNOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, that the County Board of the County of Rock, Minnesota will meet on May 23rd, 2005, at 8:00 P.M. at the Rock County Human Services Bldg. in Luverne, Minnesota, for the purpose of conducting a public hearing on (a) the intention to issue general obligation capital improvement plan bonds in an amount not to exceed $1,750,000 and (b) the proposal to adopt a capital improvement plan therefor. The proceeds of the bonds will be used to finance various capital improvements within the County pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Section 373.40.All persons interested may appear and be heard at the time and place set forth above. If a petition requesting a vote on the issuance of the bonds is signed by voters equal to 5 percent of the votes cast in the County in the last general election and is filed with the County within 30 days after the public hearing, the bonds may only be issued upon obtaining the approval of the majority of the voters voting on the question of issuing the bonds. Individuals unable to attend the public hearing can make written comment by writing to the County Administrator, County of Rock, Rock County Courthouse, Luverne, Minnesota 56156. Written comments must be received prior to the public hearing.BY ORDER OF THE COUNTY BOARD/s/ Kyle J. OldreCounty Administrator(5-5, 5-12)

10 years ago (1995)"Hills-Beaver Creek School District residents will go to the polls on Tuesday, May 16, to elect two board members to three-year terms. Incumbents Dan Siegfried and Eugene Sandager are seeking re-election to the board. Both have served one three-year term. Beaver Creek’s Lloyd DeBoer has also put his name on this year’s ballot."25 years ago (1980)"The Beaver Creek State Bank was recently accepted into the National Register of Historical Places. The honor is given to special buildings considered worthy of preservation. Placement of the property makes it eligible for federal grants for preservation purposes."50 years ago (1955)"The juvenile population of our community is enjoying real fall carnival enjoyment this week on account of a gayly painted pony Merry-go-round and Kiddy-car ride having set up business on the empty lots across the street from the band stand. One remarkable thing about the hurdy-gurdy organ is that the music ground out is all nice, clean music, with a lilt and swing from the gay nineties and on, instead of the usual hot tom-tom banshee stuff that rasped the nerves of music lovers the past decade. It’s good business, too, as it draws the old folks around and makes them easy marks for extra nickels." 75 years ago (1930)"A.A. Anderson tendered his resignation yesterday as vice president of the First & Farmers National Bank in order to give his undivided attention to real estate loans and a general brokerage business. He expects to open an office in Luverne in the near future, says the Rock County Herald." 100 years ago (1905)"The board of health the past week has been getting after persons who have been in the habit of burying dead horses and cows in close proximity to the business portion of our town. This is a proper move and the board of health should be commended for their action in this matter and should have the support of all good citizens."

Ruben Vestlie, 84, Sioux Falls, S.D., formerly of Rock County, died Friday, April 29, 2005, at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls.Services were Wednesday, May 4, at Grace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. Burial was at Flowerfield Cemetery in Hills. Ruben Vestlie was born in Rock County to Norwegian immigrant parents Ole and Ragna (Bakken) Vestlie in 1921. He grew up on farms in Beaver Creek and Hills.He married Jennie Gabrielson, Luverne, on Dec. 2, 1946. They made their home in Sioux Falls. He worked for Hassenstein Steel Company, where he became skilled in welding and steel fabrication. He retired in 1983. Mr. Vestlie was an active member of Grace Lutheran Church in Sioux Falls. He also was well known for his gardening skills. Survivors include two sons, Russell (Debby) Vestlie, Madison, Wis., and Richard (Lauri) Vestlie, Sioux Falls; one daughter, Marlys (Frank) Bernard, Sioux Falls; 12 grandchildren, Michael, Joel (Cathie), David, Jeremy, Sarah, Joshua, Kate, Karin, Kristen, Kaylyn, Kyla and Reece; one great-grandchild, Hannah; and one sister, Martha Lindrud, Hills. Mr. Vestlie was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Jennie in 2003, one grandchild, Adam, one great-granddaughter, Grace, and one sister, Jennie Nelson.Chapel Hill Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, was in charge of arrangements.

Mary Carter accompanied Alf and Marilyn Metzger to Lyons, S.D., on Sunday to attend church services at the Lutheran Church. Mary’s great-granddaughter is a senior graduating from school there and the church was honoring the graduates of the church with a gift of a homemade quilt.Don and Edyth Briggs motored to Iowa City, Iowa, on Friday to attend funeral services for Don’s cousin, Shirley Briggs. They returned to Hills Saturday. Wendell and Kathryn Erickson and Dick and Audrey Heidenson enjoyed supper out Friday night and later attended the Tri-Valley Chorus and Barber Shop performance at Viborg, S.D.Wilmer and Betty Elbers returned home last week Thursday after attending the International Milk Haulers convention in Nashville, Tenn. Gene and Shirley Sandager, Brittany and Kelly were Sunday dinner guests of Fran Sandager at Tuff Village. Paul and Evangeline Opheim drove to Moorhead early Sunday morning to join family members in celebrating Benjamin Cherland’s graduation from Concordia College. He graduated with honors in music. Benjamin is the son of Carl and Meredith Cherland of Regina, Saskatchewan. Carl is the son of the former Ramona (Opheim) Cherland and Clarence Cherland. Paul and Evangeline returned home late Sunday evening. Leanna Gaugler turned one year old on April 29. She is the daughter of Jesse and Karen Gaugler. Her birthday was celebrated with the Drust and Page children and their moms. Also Leanna’s grandparents, Roger and Ardella Gaugler who came from Elgin, N.D., for the event. Roger, Ardella, Karen and Leanna Gaugler went to Brookings, S.D., on Saturday, April 30, to attend the graduation of Annie Gaugler from South Dakota State University with a major in animal science. She is the daughter of the Roger Gauglers. Karen and Leanna returned to Hills Saturday. Grace Miller, who had been hospitalized in Sioux Falls for a few days, has returned to her apartment in Luverne. Chuck and Rheta DeBoer spent the weekend in the home of their son, Jeff and Karen DeBoer and children, Josiah and Micah, in Garner, Iowa. Friday night Audrey Heidenson was a guest of her daughter-in-law, Lyn Heidenson of Brandon, S.D., at the mother- daughter banquet in Palisades Lutheran Church. Wilmer and Betty Elbers attended the confirmation services Sunday at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne in honor of their grandson, Steven Walker’s, confirmation. Wendell and Kathryn Erickson helped Patrick Anderson of Sioux Falls celebrate his birthday on Sunday. Colby Hadler, Edgerton, spent Friday with his grandmother, Joanne Goehle. Bob and Twila Kirsch spent Friday with family at Heron Lake. Riley Lentz came home with his grandparents to spend until Sunday here.

Where does the time go? Here it is May already and I feel I haven’t had winter, and I am not sorry. However, when May arrives there are all kinds of activities to convince you that it is later than you think! There was a time when we made May baskets and took them to our friends and neighbors. I haven’t heard of anyone bringing May baskets this year. I hope this tradition is not forgotten, as it was something the entire family could get involved with. Our weather has taken a turn back to cold temperatures once again. A cold wind has been blowing nearly every day. It has sort of grounded my spring fever. The weather forecast is for warmer temperatures to return later this week. I hope they are right, as I am ready and anxious to get outdoors and dig in the dirt. However, the weatherman has been known to make promises, and more promises, but let’s hope for the best this time! Friday evening visitors in the Henrietta Huenink home were Glen and Audrey Winter, Little Rock, Iowa.Lisa Telford from Sioux Falls recently had back surgery and is recuperating at the home of her grandparents, Orrin and Bernice Aukes. The Hills-Beaver Creek senior class will observe their Skip Day on Friday, May 20. They are planning to go to Valleyfair. Hope they enjoy it!There will be a Family Book Fair at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 10, in the elementary school library. Everyone is welcome. The H-BC basketball players named to the All Conference team were Travis Broesder, Kale Wiertzema, Tyler Bush, Zach Wysong and Tom LeBoutillier. Jo Aykens and Mildred Keunen, both of Steen, and Joyce Aykens, Worthington, were dinner guests at the Vince and Laurie Kurtz home in Orange City, Iowa, on Saturday, April 23. The event was in honor of McKenzie’s third birthday. Other guests were Paul and Carole Aykens, Susan Veldkamp and daughter Jadeyn, all of Orange City and members of Vince’s family. Among those from the Steen area attending the Southwest Crisis Center 9th annual Women’s Expo at Luverne United Methodist Church was Malena Boeve.The mother-daughter banquet will be at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 11, at Steen Reformed Church.Congratulations to Shanna Tilstra, daughter of Arlyn and Melanie Tilstra, Hills, who will graduate from the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, on May 7 with a degree in nursing. There will be an open house bridal shower for LaDonna Sandstede at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 21, at Steen Reformed Church. Her parents are Terry and Glenda Sandstede, Steen. We will observe Mother’s Day this coming Sunday. It is our special day to honor our mothers and to let them know how much we care for them. I hope you enjoy the following thoughts regarding Mother’s Day. A Mother’s DayTheodore Roosevelt once said, "The successful mother, the mother who does her part in training her children who are to be the men and women of the next generation, is of greater use to the community, and occupies, if she would only realize it, a more honorable as well as a more important position than any man in it. The mother is the supreme asset of national life."Many titles and phrases can define the word mother, yet none can fully capture the essence of the woman. We can conjure up visions of her smile or her frown; we can readily remember the security of her presence and the warmth of her touch. We can reward her with gifts, give her bouquets of flowers, relieve her from kitchen detail on her special day But the most precious gift, the gift that lasts, is our love for her. We honor mother best by doing what she would have us do, being what she would have us be, saying what she would have us say. We honor mother best by never forgetting who we are — her beloved children. A Tribute to MotherIf there is one word divine, it must be "Mother." Without her tender care, while still a part of her, my life could not have been. Without her dreams and aspirations, that spark which burst forth at birth could not burn so brightly. Without her earnest prayers and seeming sternness, Life’s purpose could not surpass its goal. And so to you, my Mother, a tribute to the name you bear — the sweetest word that was ever spoken — ‘Mother."Metha D. Keith

By now the Easter dinner leftovers are long gone, but what about those uneaten Marshmallow Peeps? The pastel-colored, chick-shaped confections may be a little harder and more difficult to chew, but Fortune magazine recently reported how the popular candies may be adapted for other uses. According to Fortune, consumers buy 1.2 billion Marshmallow Peeps a year. About a third of those Peeps "are bought not for eating but to be used in science experiments, arts and crafts and rituals." The arts, crafts and ritual uses are comparatively easy to understand, but the idea of using chick-shaped candies in the name of science is — much like a three-year-old Marshmallow Peep left on a shelf — hard to swallow. But it’s true. In the late 1990s, two professors from Emory University did extensive research on the Peeps and found only one liquid, an industrial-strength chemical solution, that could dissolve the candy chicks. On April Fool’s Day 2000, NASA launched five Peeps in a balloon from the Marshall Space Flight Center. Unfortunately, the candy chicks were lost when the balloon ruptured. Dissolving and astronaut-wannabe chicks aside, there must be other scientific uses for Marshmallow Peeps. For example, the chicks might someday be part of an important dietary study. One test group would be fed nothing else but leafy, green and yellow vegetables for one month. Another study group would be fed only Marshmallow Peeps. At the end of the study, the vegans will undoubtedly be lean, physically fit and eager to run the First Annual Marshmallow Peep Marathon Race. The Peep eaters will predictably be high strung, due to their high sugar intakes, and overweight. It all sounds very simple, but that’s how many dietary studies become bestseller books. The Peeps could also be used for longevity studies. It’s a commonly accepted fact that the candies have a shelf life of at least 25 years, which anyone knows is equivalent to 180 human years. Perhaps the physical makeup of Peeps could be adapted to humans. Should our skin be dyed bright yellow or pink so that we resemble them? Should we all be rolled in sugar in order to receive protective coatings against the elements? Military scientists at the Pentagon might consider the curious results of Peep jousting matches, the latest Peep torture shown on various Web sites. Peeps armed with toothpicks in their tiny beaks face each other in a microwave oven and as they expand from the radiation, their lances move closer. The first chick to strike a blow wins. This would be a perfect way for the Pentagon to observe the effects of radiation on military might and soldiers’ aggressiveness and willingness to go into battle. With a few graham crackers and a couple of chocolate bars, the discarded results of the experiments could become s’mores, a tasty treat for the weary scientists. The Peeps will not have melted in vain. Nursing students could practice giving injections to Marshmallow Peeps. They (the Peeps, not the nurses) are, after all, soft and pliable like many humans, but they won’t yell out when they’re in pain. Doctors in training could use the Peeps as they practice making first incisions for future surgeries. Perhaps the scientific uses for Marshmallow Peeps aren’t all that difficult to imagine after all.

Virginia "Ginny" Smedsrud, 64, Luverne, died Wednesday, April 27, 2005, at the Luverne Hospice Cottage.Services were Saturday, April 30, at Grace Lutheran Church, Luverne, The Rev. Del B. Sanderson officiated. Burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne. Virginia Mae Reu was born September 7, 1940, to Arlo and Minna (Hansen) Reu of Luverne. She graduated from Luverne High School in 1958. As a senior in high school she began working at the Luverne Announcer and later also worked at the Rock County Star Herald for 46 years. On Feb. 23, 1964, Virginia married Myron Swenson. After their marriage they lived in rural Luverne. Myron died on Feb. 19, 1981.She married David Smedsrud on March 9, 1984, in Luverne. The couple lived in Luverne. In 2004 Mrs. Smedsrud began working as a caregiver at Habilitative Service, Inc., in Luverne.She was a member of Grace Lutheran Church, the Hills Country Cruisers, and the Great Plains Street Rodders in Sioux Falls, S.D. She enjoyed collecting Garfield paraphernalia and other collectibles.Mrs. Smedsrud is survived by her husband, Dave Smedsrud, Luverne; a daughter, Kellie Jo Smedsrud, Yankton, S.D.; three brothers, Arvin (Bonnie) Reu, Roger (Cathy) Reu, all of Luverne, and Wayne Reu, San Diego, Calif.; three sisters, Lois (Rollie) Stauffer, Des Moines, Iowa, Nancy (Ken) Janssen, Ames, Iowa, and Jolene (Tony) Redder, Luverne; an uncle, Art Hansen, Luverne; several nieces, nephews and cousins; and a longtime family friend, Norma.Mrs. Smedsrud was preceded in death by her parents; first husband, Myron Swenson; infant brother, Ronald; brother, Robert; and an infant sister, Arlene Reu.A tree will be dedicated in memory of Virginia Smedsrud by Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital.Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of the arrangements.