Allison and Madison Hennager enjoy the ceremony from a distance. Their husband and daddy, Pete Hennager, is a member of the local unit that left Wednesday for training in Ft. McCoy, Wis.By Lori EhdeThe sounds of children could be heard in the background of the National Guard send-off ceremony Monday in the Luverne City Park.Many of those children will be without their daddies for holidays and birthdays in the coming six months as members of the local unit left Wednesday.They’ll spend the next couple weeks in Ft. McCoy, Wis., for training, and then start their six-month deployment in England.To salute and supportMore than 300 people were served during the private picnic for Guard members and their families Monday night, and the City Park was nearly filled with community members who showed up for the deployment ceremony.Chamber Director Dave Smith said the event would serve two purposes, to salute the departing guard members and to support their families left behind."We’re going to be thinking about you the entire time you’re gone, and we want you to know this community stands behind you and your families," Smith said.He announced that the Winterfest theme this year in Luverne will be "Star Spangled Christmas" in honor of the absent Guard members.This is the first time the Luverne Guard unit has been activated since local troops were deployed in January 1951 for a year in the Korean War.National Guard Commander and World War II Veteran Warren Herreid told the Guardsmen that despite advances in modern technology, their experience away from home won’t be that different from what the World War II veterans of his era went through. "We’re all still people," Herreid said. "You young soldiers are joining an elite group of people. … Make sure you remember your family and friends and co-workers will be thinking about you. … Think positive and soon you’ll be home again living the routine and sometimes mundane life of a civilian."‘Get it over with and come home soon’As military assignments go, the local Guard unit drew a lucky card, according to many of their wives. "At least we know they’re coming home … or we can be relatively sure they’ll be back," said Jody Kramer, rural Ellsworth.She and her husband Don, have four children, the youngest of which is 4 months old.She’s not the only one with her hands full. Patti Thielbar, Hardwick, is expecting twins next month, and if her husband, Brock, is already out of the country by the time they’re born, there’s a chance he won’t see them for six months."You have to do what you have to do," she said. "He has an obligation to his job with the Guards. … Family and friends are stepping up and pitching in."For many families, Monday’s ceremony served as a reality check that departure was near, after months of planning and uncertainty."I’m ready for them to go and be done," said Luverne’s Sharla Reisch, Jody Reisch’s wife. "It’s been a long month."Vicky Meyer agreed. "You wake up every day and think about how life is going to be changing," said Meyer, wife of David Meyer, Luverne. Both she and Reisch said the deployment will be hardest on their children."We’ve been talking about it and letting them know how long it’s going to be," Reisch said. "But I’m not sure if they fully understand … It’ll be hard when the holidays come."Meyer said her children are used to the two-week training sessions their daddy leaves for, but this will be entirely different."We as adults can take the separation, but I don’t know if they can comprehend six months," Meyer said. "I don’t know if I can comprehend six months."Reisch’s mother, Hermina Van Meeteren was listening to the two young mothers talk, and she said she knows how they feel.Her late husband, John, fought in the Korean War when they were newlyweds and was gone for a year."You do a lot of praying and you write a lot of letters," Van Meeteren said.Teddy Bears, yellow ribbons and pinsThe Guardsmen didn’t leave empty-handed after Monday’s send-off ceremony.They were given Rock County lapel pins, yellow ribbons (made by Cloyce Smith) for their families and Teddy bears for their children.The bears, donated by National Guard family support, wore little vests that carried special messages to the children from their daddies.Preschooler Morgan Haugen’s bear said, "To my beautiful daughter, Morgan: When you need a hug from Dad, just hug the bear and know that I love you with all my heart. Love Dad."The Pipestone County Star and the Rock County Star Herald are sending several copies of their weekly papers to the unit overseas at no charge, and guard personnel have promised to send regular e-mails to the papers to keep readers at home informed of their activities.The deployment ceremony was funded by the Chamber, local veterans organizations and banks in Luverne, Hardwick, Hills, Adrian, Ellsworth and Lismore.Patriotic affairThe event included a presentation of a joint color guard, special seating for the guard members and patriotic music by Sue Schneekloth."A large number of guard personnel came up to me afterward and said how they appreciated all the support," Smith said. "So I think it did what it was supposed to do."At last word, local Guard members were told they’re going to England to serve as additional security officers. They could be doing things such as checking IDs and patrolling bases.There are 93 affected members in the local unit that includes Luverne and Pipestone. Of those, 55 serve duty at the National Guard Training and Community Center in Luverne.Twenty-three of those live in Rock County and 21 live in Nobles County.

By Jolene FarleyTodd Holthaus, Waite Park, begins duties this fall as elementary principal for the Hills-Beaver Creek School District. The School Board voted unanimously on the recommendation of Personnel Committee member Gary Esselink, to hire Holthaus for the position. "We narrowed it down to four individuals," Esselink said.Personnel Committee members Esselink, Ann Boeve and Al Harnack interviewed the four candidates on Saturday, July 26. Last year, Holthaus worked at St. Cloud Christian School as kindergarten- through 12th-grade principal. "He brings some experience to the job," said Esselink. "He really wants to get back to the elementary (level)."Holthaus is an experienced grant writer and sat on a legislative committee that approves grants, according to Esselink. Holthaus replaces Jil Vaughn who worked as elementary administrator for the district last year. Vaughn will return to her former position as speech teacher.

By Jolene FarleyA 77-year-old Rock County male has contracted West Nile encephalitis, according to information from the Minnesota Department of Health.The man, whose symptoms began in late July, is hospitalized at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls. The Health Department is witholding the man’s name and city of residence.Most people infected with West Nile virus will have either no symptoms or a very mild illness. A small percentage of people, especially elderly patients, may develop West Nile Encephalitis. Approximately 10 percent of these cases are fatal, according to MDH. Most of the severe human cases of encephalitis begin with sudden onset of fever, headache, stiff neck, and vomiting. The illness progresses quickly to include confusion and other mental status changes, altered reflexes, convulsions and coma. There is no treatment for West Nile encephalitis other than supportive care. Procedures at Nobles/Rock Public Health haven’t changed after the diagnosis of the first human case in the county, according to Nobles/Rock Public Sanitarian Jason Kloss."It doesn’t change anything with what we’ve been doing," he said. "We are continuing to monitor the bird population." Kloss advises taking proper precautions to avoid contracting the virus. West Nile virus won’t be going away and is something residents will have to live with year after year."It’s one of these things that’s going to be a fixture in our lives," he said. Kloss said if anyone finds a dead bird they should wear gloves, bag the bird and throw it in the trash. West Nile virus is transferred by mosquitoes and cannot be contracted from birds. Once a county has tested positive for an animal case of the West Nile virus, the Minnesota Department of Health doesn’t continue testing, so local residents don’t need to keep reporting dead birds if they find them.What can people do to prevent West Nile Encephalitis? oPersonal protection measures such as using mosquito repellents, avoiding outdoor exposures at dusk and dawn and wearing long-sleeved shirts and long pants can reduce risk. oRemoval of water-holding containers from residential areas will reduce the numbers of several mosquito species. oThere is a vaccine available for horses to prevent West Nile encephalitis. Contact a veterinarian for vaccine recommendations. A human vaccine is still in development.

By Jolene FarleyHills Postmaster Rita Bode attended Tuesday’s city council meeting to inform the council that she requested and received a new post office box section of 50 boxes. Once installed, the post office wouldn’t move to a different location. Installation of the box section is labor-intensive, according to Bode."If he puts a new box section in, there’ll be no moving the post office," she said. The council reviewed a letter from the United States Post Office at a past meeting stating that if they wanted the facility to move into the city office building they would have to evict them from their present location. The council decided not to terminate the lease.The council said they didn’t want to evict a tenant. "It makes us look like the bad guy," council member Linus Svoboda said. "That’s the only way they (the postal service) move forward, is if you terminate the lease," said Bode. The council made recent improvements to the current post office location. A new extra-wide door was installed and a window replaced. The postal service added a new sign on the building.The council added the item to next month’s agenda.In other council business:oThe council reviewed fencing proposals for the compost lot. They discussed installing a fence around the area with a gate to discourage unauthorized dumping.If fenced, the facility would be open set daytime hours and maybe a few weekend hours.City Clerk Connie Wiertzema told the council the county picked up five tractor batteries and two gallons of oil this week. After reviewing the bids, the council decided not to spend the money at this time. "I can’t see spending $4,600 for a fence and it’s not (the facility) going to be open," Jellema said. oThe council reviewed three painting proposals for the Hills Legion. The council budgeted $9,000 for capital outlay on the building.The council hopes a coat of paint will make the auditorium less dark.They discussed the option of adding more fixtures to improve lighting. They instructed City Clerk Connie Wiertzema to pursue bids from local electricians.The painting bids were tabled until a later date. oJim VanderWoude from DeWild, Grant and Reckert, Sioux Falls, attended the meeting to clarify the city’s corporate boundary map. VanderWoude said he spent a day at the Rock County Courthouse looking at documents to determine the correct corporate limits of the city. "What I’m going to talk about tonight is about the most accurate information available," he said. VanderWoude suggested the city certify a map with a title block and the present date and file it with the county. The map would be the official record from the date it’s filed forward.oA joint meeting is planned for Rock County, city and law enforcement officials Monday to discuss law enforcement contracts. Jellema, Elbers and Svoboda plan to attend the meeting representing the City of Hills.

By Jolene FarleyRevisions to the high school handbook sparked debate at Monday’s Hills-Beaver Creek school board meeting.Discussion followed the administration’s suggestion to require graduation student speakers to have no alcohol, tobacco and drug violations during their high school years. Some board members didn’t want a mistake made as a freshman to pertain when the student was a senior. "I don’t think we should penalize a student for four years of their life," board member Lois Leuthold said. Superintendent Dave Deragisch said the administration was trying to "get the good role models and the best students.""We’re really looking for the best of the best. We’re looking for the cream of the crop." In the past, the senior class voted for the classmate they wanted to speak at graduation. The requirement was later added that the student must be an honor student. He said all speeches were approved before read at graduation but sometimes things didn’t turn out as planned."What you approve and what they bring up on stage to read … you sweat blood," he said.Deragisch threw out the idea that the board require the student speaker to be a member of the National Honor Society.Board member Gary Esselink jumped in on the issue. Esselink thought students should be held to the highest standards."You know the rules. These are the rules that are there," he said. "We’re setting the standards for those who speak to represent their class."After more debate, board member Ann Boeve made the motion the student speaker be selected from the pool of National Honor Society students. Esselink and Harnack voted against the motion, but it carried by majority.Other changes to the handbook include adding a section on 1998 legislation requiring public schools to establish a chemical abuse pre-assessment team made up of school officials. The team is responsible for addressing reports of chemical use by the students. "These reports shall be made, without exception, by all law enforcement people and teachers. The law enforcement agencies must report to the pre-assessment team any and all chemical use, possession or transfer of alcohol or a controlled substance by student, in writing, within two weeks of the incident," the added section reads. Another change involves increasing the number of credits required to graduate over the course of four years from 25 to 28 credits. All students graduating in 2005 and after will be required to pass three science and three math credits. The eight-period class schedule was laid out in the handbook, with a revised schedule for a two-hour late start. Other changes included listing the towns where activity buses travel, spelling out the rules and penalties for Category I and II extracurricular activities suggested by the Minnesota State High School League and developing rules and penalties for Category III activities.Book-of-the-Week ClubElementary teachers Amy Christensen, Michele Baker, Nicole Fey and Diane VandenHoek attended the meeting to update the board on this year’s Book-of-the-Week Club. "It was just a wonderful opportunity for everybody involved," said Christensen.The program, which had an enrollment of 98 kids (20 from outside of the district) this year, was funded with $16,000 from various sources. Each participant took home about $60 in materials to keep, according to Christensen.Retired Senior Volunteers helped teachers for the day. "I had liked four or five volunteers each week," said VandenHoek. "It was nice to get to know them." The teachers said they saw a lot of excitement about reading and received many nice comments about the school.The board and the teachers hope to offer the program next year even with uncertain funding. "You lose funding sources from one group and sometimes another group steps forward," said Deragisch. Personnel changesThe board accepted a letter of resignation from elementary teacher Amy Christensen. Christensen accepted the kindergarten through eighth-grade combined principal and superintendent position at Lynd.Bus driver John Tilstra is retiring after 26 years with the district. The board voted to hire Doug Boeve to replace Tilstra. Starla Scholten begins duties as cheerleading advisor at the high school this fall.Fuel oil and propane bidsAfter some discussion, the board accepted a firm bid of $.85 per gallon for propane and a variable bid of 6 cents less than posted retail price at the time of delivery (with a current price of 93.9 cents per gallon) for fuel oil from Nobles County Co-op Oil, Worthington.The district used approximately 12,000 gallons of fuel oil and between 33,000 and 34,000 gallons of propane last year, according to Deragisch.

I saw a hawk and a snakewhen surprised by my car.Up in the air they did make for the horizon far.They must have been the best of friends.The hawk would notrelease his lot. The snake and Iwere wonderingif the view mightbe "fundering!"The moral is this:life may be fleetingbut you never knowwho you may be meeting.Submitted by Alex FrickLuverne

Summer vacation is nearing an end and many parents are already bracing for another round of back-to-school shopping. I want to remind parents that some school-related purchases they make before the end of the year may be eligible for state tax credits or tax subtractions on their 2003 Minnesota income tax forms. So save your receipts!Under Minnesota's education tax credit/subtraction program, families with children in grades K-12 and with incomes under $37,500 are eligible for a tax credit of up to $1,000 per child and up to $2,000 per family. Up to 75 percent of the money you spend on eligible purchases will be refunded to you when you file your taxes. Families can use tax credits for tutoring, enrichment programs, textbooks, instructional materials and expenses associated with individual schools, and home computer hardware and educational software up to $200. As of 2001, the credit is also applicable to the purchase of a musical instrument, calculator or other life-long piece of equipment that your child uses at school. Not covered is a tuition expense at a private or parochial school.All families with children in K-12 school, regardless of income, can claim state tax subtractions for the same education-related expenses listed above, including tuition. A subtraction lowers a family's taxable income. Subtraction limits are $1,625 for a child in kindergarten through 6th grade and $2,500 for a child in grades 7 through 12. What many taxpayers don't realize is that you don't have to itemize your federal taxes to claim the subtractions. A House staffer who took a tax preparation course last year told me that this is one of the most overlooked and underutilized Minnesota tax breaks. Any family filing a Minnesota income tax form can take advantage of these education-related tax reductions. For more information about education tax credits and subtractions, you can check with the Minnesota Department of Revenue online at www.taxes.state.mn.us.What's on your mind? Constituents in District 22A in Pipestone, Rock, Nobles, and Murray counties can contact me at 515 State Office Building, St. Paul, MN 55155, call me at (651) 296-5505, or e-mail me at rep.doug.magnus@house.mn.Doug MagnusState Representative District 22A

By John RittenhouseA Rock County man posted a pair of victories at Huset’s Speedway Sunday night.Colter Deutsch, a Kanaranzi driver, dominated the hobby stock division at the track near Brandon, S.D.Deutsch topped all drivers in the second heat race before winning his sixth feature event at Huset’s this season.Steen’s Billy Cowell also raced in the hobby stock class at Huset’s, finishing fourth in the first heat and eighth in the feature.Luverne’s Chad Overgaard had a good night in the late model street stock class Sunday.Overgaard won the second heat race before placing second in the feature event.Former Rock County resident David Kruger also raced in the street stock division at Huset’s, placing fifth in the second heat and third in the feature.Area drivers were unable to secure victories during Friday’s races at Rapid Speedway in Rock Rapids, Iowa.Deutsch raced well in the hobby stock class, placing second in the second heat and third in the feature.Ellsworth’s Chris Tiesler (third in the first heat and 16th in the feature), Magnolia’s Larry Kracht (second in the third heat and eighth in the feature), Ash Creek’s Bobbi Kracht (third in the third heat and 12th in the feature) and Steen’s Cowell (ninth in the feature) mixed it up in the hobby stock class at the Iowa track.Overgaard and Kruger raced in the street stock division at Rapid Speedway.Overgaard placed third in the first heat and fifth in the feature. Kruger placed fifth in the first heat and ninth in the feature.Ellsworth’s Scott Overgaard (second in the first heat and sixth in the feature), former Rock County resident Darrin Korthals (second in the second heat and fourth in the feature) and Adrian’s Mark DeBoer (third in the second heat and third in the feature) also competed in the street stock class in Rock Rapids.Luverne’s Brandon Buysse placed fifth in the second heat and 11th in the feature race in the 360 sprints at Rapid Speedway.Ellsworth’s Greg Roemen and former Luverne resident Anthony Mann raced in the sportsmen class at the Iowa track. Roemen placed fifth in the first heat and 11th in the feature. Mann placed sixth in the first heat and sixth in the feature.Adrian’s DeBoer represented the area during Saturday’s races at Lake County Speedway in Madison, S.D. DeBoer placed second in the first heat race and sixth in the street stock feature.Ellsworth’s Roemen and Luverne’s Mike Steensma placed in different feature races at Worthington Speedway Sunday.Roemen finished second in the street stock feature. Steensma placed second in the modified feature.Ellsworth’s Todd Wessels placed third in the Wissota sprints feature race at Jackson Speedway Saturday.Hardwick’s Mark Brockberg placed second in the hobby stock feature at Murray County Speedway in Slayton Friday. Luverne’s Jeff Haubrich started off on the right foot in Slayton Friday, taking second in his heat. But a front-end wreck bumped him to 15th in the feature.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne Redbirds bowed out of the Region 13C Amateur Baseball Playoffs in Granite Falls Wednesday, Aug. 6.Playing the second game of a best-of-three series against the defending state champions from Granite Falls, Luverne needed a victory Aug. 6 to tie the series and force a third game.The Redbirds, however, couldn’t get the job done.Granite Falls scored two runs in the middle innings and made them stand up while nailing down a 2-1 victory.The win assured Granite Falls a berth in the state tournament. Luverne’s 17-12 season ended with the loss.The bat of Granite Falls’ Jeff Asche proved to be the difference in the game.Asche connected for a solo homer against Luverne starting pitcher Derek Ohme to open the scoring with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning.Asche came up big again in the sixth when he delivered a two-out double that scored Ryan Hebrick, who singled earlier in the inning, to make it a 2-0 game.Luverne, which was limited to seven hits in the game, produced its lone run in the top of the eighth.James Fisher drew a lead-off walk and advanced to second when Ohme slapped his second single of the game. Two outs later, Mike Wenninger delivered a single to plate Fisher.The Redbirds were unable to take advantage of some scoring opportunities early in the game.Ohme singled and was stranded on second base in the first inning. Eric Edstrom was walked and stranded on third base in the second inning.Ohme worked the first five and two-thirds innings on the mound and took the loss. He allowed seven hits and two earned runs. Wenninger pitched two and one-third innings of scoreless, hitless relief. He fanned three batters.Box score AB R H BIOhme 4 0 2 0Winkels 4 0 2 0J.Sehr 4 0 1 0Wenninger 4 0 1 1M.Sehr 4 0 0 0Edstrom 3 0 1 0Weber 4 0 0 0Iveland 0 0 0 0Sandbulte 3 0 1 0Fisher 2 1 0 0