Villagers have been enjoying the fruits of the harvest. Fresh vegetables have been shared with us from abundant lush looking gardens. We’ve been given yellow beans from the Wayne Beyenhof’s that we added to our own green beans. Cucumbers, too, have arrived. The first were from Joan in St. Paul. We ate them every way we know how to make them. Alice made their cukes with vinegar, sugar and onions. Ione’s were equal parts of mayo and sugar. Then Rita brought two huge grocery sacks that Carolyn, Ione and friend Coleen Martens cut up to eat at the table and to make refrigerator pickles. Sarah’s Judy is supplying the recipe for pickles to be kept in the refrigerator. Sweet corn, too, has been on the menu. Berdella’s daughter Mary and our nurse Mary brought corn for meals. Arnold T. makes corn to be eaten before bedtime in the microwave. I tried it and it works.When Arnold T. came to the Village to live he sold his home to a young mother. Kelli Hellerud. Kelly has a beautiful garden. She prepared a huge basket of vegetables and took them to the county fair. There she became the grand champion. The basket was beautiful and she brought it over for Arnold to see. That gal had purple, bell and banana peppers, red onions, plum, orange and red plum tomatoes. Everything needed to make salsa. She included a jar of her homemade salsa in the basket. Arnold told her how he noticed her bountiful garden of unusual plants every time he went by. "I really don’t know why it grows so well," Kelly said. "Well" Arnold replied, "that’s the area where the outhouse sat years ago." Now Kelly didn’t want me to tell you that for she thought people wouldn’t eat her tomatoes that she shared. No problem, I investigated.Alice is sharing Colorado peaches she buys each year from Ace Hardware in Sioux Falls. They are so juicy and delicious, the way we remember lug peaches to be in our canning days. Her daughter-in-law, Peggy, made a rhubarb cake with raisins, nuts and coconut that was so good. So you see, we do eat well with such generous friends.Gardens have also produced flowers. Palma went to visit friends where she once lived and returned with a bouquet of huge, full snowballs. Gladys Eitreim and Arla Bakken brought white and yellow gladiolas. We talked how these blooms were so much work. Planting bulbs in the spring and digging up the roots in the fall. Audrey Heidenson shares many of the blooms of her garden. The rose bushes in the patio are unusually beautiful this year. Jim Bush sent roses from the market as well. Karen Soehl and Laura Hoogeveen were the delivery persons. We were glad about that for Laura played the piano for us while here. It was Christmas in August at our Wednesday sing-along with Glenda. We didn’t sound too bad singing the hymns of the season.Deb wanted each of us to put a centerpiece of our own choosing on the dining table. Along with the plants and flowers Arnold S. was a statue of a man with the paper in front of his face while at breakfast — entitled "World’s best husband." Prior to that he had a row of nuts with eyes saying, "We’re all a little nuts." Marie is still sharing flowers from her birthday party.Earl’s been gone on a trip with his daughter. Visitors have been from Texas and Arizona to see Arnold S., Roger and Carol Torkelson from Coon Rapids to see Martha as well as her granddaughter Sara and her husband Eric Lee from Austin, and Corney Verhey from Sioux Falls to renew friendships with Bud and Arnold T. Emil’s family was here this past weekend. The Helgeson’s swung through the parking lot in their camper entitled "The Griswold’s" on their way to Newton Hills for the weekend. Carolyn went to the county fair with her son Clair, returning after 11 p.m. Imagine. We extend our deepest sympathy to Caroline D. on the death of a brother, living in Morris.That’s plenty for now. I’ll keep you posted.

Enterprising dairy farmers in Switzerland are milking a new business for all it’s worth. They’re renting out their cows. Reuters reports that cheese lovers around Zurich "can now lease their own cow on an Alpine pasture to provide the personal touch that store-bought products just can’t offer." At least 25 people, "primarily city slickers," are seriously interested in the rental plan. Customers pay a fee of 380 Swiss francs ($275) per summer plus 40 Swiss cents for each liter of milk their rented cows produce. In return, the customers receive the cows’ milk, in the form of 150 to 250 pounds of cheese. Farmhands milk the cows and do the cheesemaking. The only catch is that the customers have to work at least one day in the meadow to earn their cheese in the fall. There’s always a catch. It won’t be long before cow rentals will resemble car rentals. In fact, if you say the two expressions — "car chassis" and "cow cheeses" — together enough times with a mouthful of crackers and Cheddar, they sound very similar. Cheese rental categories may eventually be divided into luxury, standard and economy classes, with negotiable upgrades available for frequent cow renters. Dairy farmers will scramble to register the most exciting names for their new rent-a-cow businesses. "Udder Delight," "Cash and Dairy" and "Gouda for You" are only a few possibilities. Luxury class customers won’t be expected to show up for the one day of milking. The cheese would be carefully shipped to their homes in the fall by special delivery. Their packages would include exotic varieties of cheese, along with complimentary gourmet crackers, cheese spreaders and slicers and handcrafted cutting boards. Behind their backs, these customers would be referred to as "the big cheeses." Standard class customers will have the basic package. One day of milking, a shipment of very ordinary cheese and nothing else. If the dairy farmer is feeling particularly generous on shipment day, the Standards might also receive complimentary packages of soda crackers. Economy class customers, the cheesiest group of all, will be required to report to the farms everyday and do all of the work from start to finish. They will be asked to provide their own pails and milking stools. Unless they happen to have cheesemaking supplies of their own, they will pay extra for cheesecloth, finishing waxes and the use of cheese presses. Milking the cows and then separating the curds from the whey will keep them so busy they will have little time for other activities during the entire summer. Jobs, social lives and time for personal grooming habits will be forfeited for the sake of saving a little money and acquiring permanently chapped hands. The Economy class will be little more than signing up as a farmhand and receiving cheese for pay. As a final insult, small print in the rental contract might specify that the arrangement won’t expire until 50,000 gallons of milk, or 10 years or whatever happens first. Economy customers will have more reason than anyone else to cry over spilt milk.

August has arrived! And I am not ready for it! However, it brings back lots of memories of days gone by when everyone had small grain and it began to ripen in August. Some would remember cutting the grain and shocking it into little tepees, at least that is what they looked like, waiting for the threshing machine. The sunflowers were usually doing very well about that time of year, popping up everywhere, especially where you didn’t want them, with their golden yellow flowers. When autumn arrives it brings back many memories!So far, we haven’t received much rain. We had a light shower on Tuesday evening and that has been all of the moisture we have received of late. This means that we have to get out and water our gardens and flowers in the evening. It is not quite like having it rain but it is better than nothing. The crops are looking very good. They seem to have done well even when moisture was very much needed. No longer is there much, if any, small grain planted in this area so threshing is about a thing of the past. Hopefully, the temperatures remain on the cool side so things can mature and be harvested at the right time. Mr. and Mrs. Gerrit Spronk, Pipestone, and Bertha Christoffels were coffee guests in the Bill and Bertha Bosch home Friday afternoon. Other guests were Mildred Keunen and Jo Aykens. Those who returned home on Aug. 8 from a mission trip with the FCA to Guatemala and El Salvador are Cassi Tilstra, Erin Boeve, Kelly Mulder, Ashley Bosch, Dustin Bonnema, Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson and David Top and their sponsors, Randy Mulder and Shanna Tilstra. Welcome home!Dries and Laura May Bosch, Nathan and Erin, Sioux Falls, and Paul and Diane Bosch, Brandon, S.D., attended the Irish Fest at Terrace Park in Sioux Falls on Saturday evening.Guests in the Arnold and Jane Bonnema home Friday evening were George Bonnema and family, Luverne, Dan and Carol Bonnema, Hull, Iowa, Milton Bonnema and Lowell and Glenda Bonnema, Steen, to help Arnold celebrate his birthday. Dries and Laura May Bosch met their son, Tom and Amy, and children, Emma and Isabel Bosch, Sioux Falls, at the Rock County Fair in Luverne Friday evening. The most important news that I have this week is that I just got home from a four-day vacation. I can’t remember when I went somewhere just because I wanted to. It is usually because I have a meeting to attend. However, I joined a group for a big trip to Iowa. Now that shouldn’t be such a big deal as I only live one mile from the Iowa state line. However, I enjoyed every minute of it.As we traveled through the farming country it was just like a picture. The corn was a brilliant green and was beginning to tassel. The trees were lush and loaded with leaves. When we looked up into the azure blue sky there were fluffy white clouds sailing along. I can’t think of anything more beautiful. I decided right then and there that you do not have to travel many miles to enjoy a beautiful and relaxing vacation.As you think back, maybe you can remember a few things from your past if you have lived on the farm. For instance the softness of a baby chick in the palm of your hand. Some memories that were not so pleasant were running after the hogs or cattle that had managed to get out. I think we can all remember how it was, and remembering I am so happy. This is my Father’s world, and it is good, very good! He has given us a sense of appreciation, so we can experience some of his happiness from the beautiful things he has created.

Saturday overnight guests and Sunday in the Dahlquist home were Dana’s brother, Terry Dahlquist, and wife Kay, Sioux City, Iowa. Joining them Sunday for dinner were Adam and Laurie Dahlquist and Avery, Luverne, Kim and Jeremy Vis, Dan’s mother, all of Sioux Falls, and his sister, Diane and Earl Williams, Lennox, S.D.Wendell and Kathryn Erickson attended his 1943 class reunion at Grandy Center Club on Friday night. They spent the night with Charles and Mary Erickson at Anoka and spent Saturday and Sunday with Patrick and Kristen Anderson and their children at Lake Madison, S.D.Pete Hoff, along with his family and other family members, 12 in number, attended the Minnesota Twins-Detroit Tigers game on Sunday with the Twins coming out on top 7 to 2. Luella Schlueter visited her cousin, Alvin Hetland, Saturday. He is hospitalized at Avera McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls. On Monday, July 28, Bill Bruce, Puyallup, Wash., and his mother, Florence Bruce, Sioux Falls, were visitors in the home of Joanne Goehle. Bill and Joanne were former classmates in Bonesteel, S.D.Monday evening Betty Elbers visited with Cheryl Elbers in Valley Springs. Guests at Mae Top’s home on Saturday were Margaret Ziegahn, Sioux Falls, and her granddaughter, Heidi, from Connecticut. Spending the weekend in the home of Jesse Gaugler and Karen were friends from Bismarck, N.D. Gen Peterson drove from North Dakota to meet her husband, Eric, who is in the service and stationed at Ft. Riley, Kan. Also with Eric was his brother, also stationed at Ft. Riley. It was a good meeting place for all concerned. Nelva Baker, Mesa, Ariz., is spending several days in the area visiting relatives. She was a Wednesday evening guest in the home of Wilmer and Betty Elbers. Last Tuesday a group of ladies visited the BEAR store in Dell Rapids, S.D. and the quilt store in Renner, S.D., ending up with lunch in Sioux Falls. In the group were Rheta DeBoer and her sister, Judy Steen, and high school friends, Mert Vogel and Irene Timmerman and her daughter, Lisa. Randy and Brenda Beyers spent from Monday to Friday vacationing in the Black Hills. Friday Tony Elbers, Sioux Falls, spent the day with Betty Elbers and they went to the Rock County Fair in Luverne. Saturday, Mitchell and Madison Elbers, Valley Springs, came, and with Betty Elbers, spent the day at the Fair. Colby Hadler spent Saturday and Sunday with his grandmother, Joanne Goehle. Sunday they went to Sunrise Village in Jasper to help celebrate the 97th birthday of Hugo’s, sister, Magdalena Groth. Sunday afternoon, Betty Elbers and Malena Boeve drove to Edgerton to visit Betty’s mother, Jessie Boeve, a resident at Edgebrook Care Center in Edgerton. Jarid, Grant and Courtney accompanied their grandparents, Jake and Kathy Hoogendoorn, to vacation from Saturday to Saturday at Star Lake in Minnesota.

Marie Johanna Eernisse, 97, Hills, died Tuesday, July 29, 2003, at Tuff Memorial Home in Hills. Services were Friday, Aug. 1, at Reformed Church of Valley Springs, S.D. Dr. Jerrie Jones and the Rev. Ben Den Hartog officiated. Burial was at Pleasant View Cemetery in Valley Springs. Marie Vander Brake was born to William and Henrietta (Vangrevenhoff) Vander Brake on June 20, 1906, in Devils Lake, N.D. She married William Eernisse on June 9, 1925, in Marshall. Mr. Eernisse died Jan. 3, 1978.Mrs. Eernisse was a member of Reformed Church of Valley Springs. She was active in the church for more than 60 years. She enjoyed Ladies Aid and was a member of Valley Springs Senior Citizens. She loved to entertain at coffee parties. She enjoyed crafts of all kinds, especially crocheting. Survivors include one son, Lester (Mae) Eernisse, Reseda, Calif.; three daughters, Vivian (Gerald) Bosch, Valley Springs, Evelyn (Gerald) Harsma, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Joyce (Jerrie) Jones, Sedalia, Mo.; 19 grandchildren; 38 great-grandchildren; nine great-great-grandchildren; and two stepgreat-grandchildren.Mrs. Eernisse was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, one great-granddaughter, two brothers and one sister.Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangement.

Fair booth makes us fair game for ‘suggestions’The Star Herald fair booth is disassembled and the helium balloons are deflated, so it’s fair to say our anniversary party is over.We made a big deal out of observing the 130th anniversary of the Star Herald this year and our booth saw lots of traffic at the fair. As usual, people generously shared their thoughts about the paper.Some were kind enough to congratulate us on our 130 years, others were duly impressed by our digital slide show at the booth. Others offered compliments on specific stories or columns.Of course, others offered … suggestions for improvement. For example, why don’t we still publish land transactions and accident reports? Why does it cost more for a subscription outside of Rock County? Why don’t we identify the complainants in the cop report? Why do we have to put someone’s DWI in the paper?The "suggestions" are awkward and sometimes unpleasant. Receiving them from the inside of a fair booth makes us easy, vulnerable targets. But in the grand scheme of community newspapering, this sort of exchange is what we should want.A lot has changed since 1873, but these compliments and criticisms are at the heart of what we strive to be at the Star Herald — a newspaper for the people and about the people of Rock County.Without input from readers, this wouldn’t be possible.And the winners are…We’d hoped to make a big announcement this week about whose names were drawn in our special anniversary promotions. At press time, we were still attempting to reach the winners, so that announcement will come next week.Thanks to everyone who stopped at the booth to renew subscriptions, order photos, guess the number of words on the page or simply enter to win free stuff.Who are the departing Guard members?When it comes to departing soldiers in wartime, there’s a big difference in the way things are done today compared with news gathering of days gone by.During World War II, the Star Herald’s front pages were plastered with individual reports, and sometimes lists of names of soldiers who had been called to active duty.That method of reporting served an important purpose of drawing community members together to support the families of departed soldiers.Unfortunately, that broad release of personal information has, in recent years, left families vulnerable to others with less noble intentions.For the past several weeks, I’ve been pressing for a list of names of local National Guard members who are leaving next week for duties overseas. The National Guard communications office has been sympathetic to our intentions, but today the concern for family privacy outweighs that of community interest.That’s something we can all understand, but I can’t help but wonder how this will affect the long-term historical account of our community and the role of its soldiers in global affairs.We can’t read the definitive list of names in the Star Herald, but we as an entire community are invited to the farewell picnic Monday in the city park.The program starts at 6:30, and it’s shaping up to be a tasteful, patriotic, appropriate send-off for our local Guard members.

Rock County as it wasThe following is continued from last week. It appeared in the Rock County Herald, July 18, 1924:In November 1867, Mr. Hawes brought with him John Lietze and family who were to maintain a stopping place, or half-way place, as it was called, on the mail route. Although both the Estey and Lietze families spent the winter of 1867-68 on the Rock River within 10 miles of each other, neither knew of the presence of the other, each family believing itself to be the only one in Rock County. At Jackson, Mr. Hawes had been told that a family has been spending the winter on the route, below his station, and on Jan. 31, 1868, while on a trip over the line, he went down to see if it were true. He found that the Esteys had lost a day in the reckoning of time, and for more than two months had been rigidly keeping Monday for the Sabbath day. When once the trail has been blazed to a frontier country and actual settlement has been established, it is not long until others follow. This was the case in Rock County, and we find that during 1868, quite a number of settlers pushed to the Rock River country and built themselves a home. Among the settlers of 1868, was Edwin Gillham who later became sheriff of Rock County. Despite the fact that only a few had arrived in the county during the first half of the year, those were patriotic and duly celebrated the nation’s birthday. Every man, woman and child in the county excepting Charlie Hawes, who was on a trip to Yankton with the mail, was present. They were Philo Hawes and family, Mrs. Deborah Estey and family, Miss Miranda J. Skinner, Edward McKenzie, Daniel Wilmont and family, S. Toul, J.C. Phelps and family, and Charles Hillman.Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Funds can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156.Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.

Enterprising dairy farmers in Switzerland are milking a new business for all it’s worth. They’re renting out their cows. Reuters reports that cheese lovers around Zurich "can now lease their own cow on an Alpine pasture to provide the personal touch that store-bought products just can’t offer." At least 25 people, "primarily city slickers," are seriously interested in the rental plan. Customers pay a fee of 380 Swiss francs ($275) per summer plus 40 Swiss cents for each liter of milk their rented cows produce. In return, the customers receive the cows’ milk, in the form of 150 to 250 pounds of cheese. Farmhands milk the cows and do the cheesemaking. The only catch is that the customers have to work at least one day in the meadow to earn their cheese in the fall. There’s always a catch. It won’t be long before cow rentals will resemble car rentals. In fact, if you say the two expressions — "car chassis" and "cow cheeses" — together enough times with a mouthful of crackers and Cheddar, they sound very similar. Cheese rental categories may eventually be divided into luxury, standard and economy classes, with negotiable upgrades available for frequent cow renters. Dairy farmers will scramble to register the most exciting names for their new rent-a-cow businesses. "Udder Delight," "Cash and Dairy" and "Gouda for You" are only a few possibilities. Luxury class customers won’t be expected to show up for the one day of milking. The cheese would be carefully shipped to their homes in the fall by special delivery. Their packages would include exotic varieties of cheese, along with complimentary gourmet crackers, cheese spreaders and slicers and handcrafted cutting boards. Behind their backs, these customers would be referred to as "the big cheeses." Standard class customers will have the basic package. One day of milking, a shipment of very ordinary cheese and nothing else. If the dairy farmer is feeling particularly generous on shipment day, the Standards might also receive complimentary packages of soda crackers. Economy class customers, the cheesiest group of all, will be required to report to the farms everyday and do all of the work from start to finish. They will be asked to provide their own pails and milking stools. Unless they happen to have cheesemaking supplies of their own, they will pay extra for cheesecloth, finishing waxes and the use of cheese presses. Milking the cows and then separating the curds from the whey will keep them so busy they will have little time for other activities during the entire summer. Jobs, social lives and time for personal grooming habits will be forfeited for the sake of saving a little money and acquiring permanently chapped hands. The Economy class will be little more than signing up as a farmhand and receiving cheese for pay. As a final insult, small print in the rental contract might specify that the arrangement won’t expire until 50,000 gallons of milk, or 10 years or whatever happens first. Economy customers will have more reason than anyone else to cry over spilt milk.

Enterprising dairy farmers in Switzerland are milking a new business for all it’s worth. They’re renting out their cows. Reuters reports that cheese lovers around Zurich "can now lease their own cow on an Alpine pasture to provide the personal touch that store-bought products just can’t offer." At least 25 people, "primarily city slickers," are seriously interested in the rental plan. Customers pay a fee of 380 Swiss francs ($275) per summer plus 40 Swiss cents for each liter of milk their rented cows produce. In return, the customers receive the cows’ milk, in the form of 150 to 250 pounds of cheese. Farmhands milk the cows and do the cheesemaking. The only catch is that the customers have to work at least one day in the meadow to earn their cheese in the fall. There’s always a catch. It won’t be long before cow rentals will resemble car rentals. In fact, if you say the two expressions — "car chassis" and "cow cheeses" — together enough times with a mouthful of crackers and Cheddar, they sound very similar. Cheese rental categories may eventually be divided into luxury, standard and economy classes, with negotiable upgrades available for frequent cow renters. Dairy farmers will scramble to register the most exciting names for their new rent-a-cow businesses. "Udder Delight," "Cash and Dairy" and "Gouda for You" are only a few possibilities. Luxury class customers won’t be expected to show up for the one day of milking. The cheese would be carefully shipped to their homes in the fall by special delivery. Their packages would include exotic varieties of cheese, along with complimentary gourmet crackers, cheese spreaders and slicers and handcrafted cutting boards. Behind their backs, these customers would be referred to as "the big cheeses." Standard class customers will have the basic package. One day of milking, a shipment of very ordinary cheese and nothing else. If the dairy farmer is feeling particularly generous on shipment day, the Standards might also receive complimentary packages of soda crackers. Economy class customers, the cheesiest group of all, will be required to report to the farms everyday and do all of the work from start to finish. They will be asked to provide their own pails and milking stools. Unless they happen to have cheesemaking supplies of their own, they will pay extra for cheesecloth, finishing waxes and the use of cheese presses. Milking the cows and then separating the curds from the whey will keep them so busy they will have little time for other activities during the entire summer. Jobs, social lives and time for personal grooming habits will be forfeited for the sake of saving a little money and acquiring permanently chapped hands. The Economy class will be little more than signing up as a farmhand and receiving cheese for pay. As a final insult, small print in the rental contract might specify that the arrangement won’t expire until 50,000 gallons of milk, or 10 years or whatever happens first. Economy customers will have more reason than anyone else to cry over spilt milk.