Work crews finish up a tuck-pointing project on Luverne's historic Manitou Hotel building. Bill Frakes is completely renovating the building, with his own living quarters on the bottom floor and the upper floors being redone for future apartments. The Star Herald has been following Frakes' progress and a feature ont he unique remodeling will be published at a later date.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team will take a three-match losing streak into post-season play after losing its regular-season finale in Slayton Tuesday.

Playing Murray County Central in a Red Rock Conference match, H-BC dropped three straight games to the Rebels to finish the regular season with a 10-11-3 record.

H-BC will attempt to end the skid when it opens South Section 3A Tournament play at Luverne High School Friday, Oct. 25.

Third-seeded H-BC plays No. 6 Edgerton in the second match of the night at LHS. The first match begins at 6 p.m.

The Patriots hope to have junior hitter Erin Boeve on the court for the quarterfinal-round tilt against Edgerton.

Boeve sprained her ankle during practice Monday, and was unable to compete in Slayton.

H-BC dropped 15-6, 15-5 and 15-6 games to the Rebels without Boeve, but Patriot coach Curt Doorneweerd thought his charges played well in the match.

"Overall, I was pleased with our performance," he said. "Considering the circumstances of playing a match with a new lineup against a pretty good team, I was pleased with the way things went."

Angie Sjaarda (five kills), Cassi Tilstra (three kills and three blocks), Kelly Mulder (three blocks), Sarah Rozeboom (two kills) and Amanda Olson (one block) played well at the net for H-BC.

Melissa Fagerness (nine of nine), Melinda Sandstede (seven of seven) and Sjaarda (six of six) all had perfect serving matches.

By John Rittenhouse
It wasn't pretty, but the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team completed an undefeated regular season by edging Lakeview 7-6 in Cottonwood Wednesday, Oct. 16.

A partially snow-covered, muddy field set the stage for a low-scoring, turnover-filled game.

The teams turned the ball over a combined 10 times in the contest, but H-BC-E was able to overcome both mistakes and poor field position through the second half to record its second straight 8-0 regular season and wrap up its second straight Southwest Ridge Conference title with a 7-0 mark.

The win proved to be an important one as the Patriots locked up the No. 1 seed for the Section 2 Nine-Man Football Playoffs. The top-seeded team in Section 2 receives a bye in the quarterfinal-round of the playoffs. H-BC-EÕs first playoff action will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts No. 4 Southwest Star Concept, a 28-16 winner over Edgerton Tuesday, for a semifinal-round game in Hills.

When they host their playoff opener, the Patriots will hope for better field conditions than what they played on during the Oct. 16 win over the Lakers. H-BC-E turned the ball over four times in the game, and most of them were the result of a slippery ball.

"The conditions were miserable," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "There was snow on the field, and the middle of the field was completely muddy. The ball was slipping out of everyone's hands."

Lakeview lost the ball six times in the game, and the first turnover proved to be costly.

The Lakers' defense forced the Patriots to punt at the end of their first possession of the game, and Lakeview's return man fumbled the ball. Patriot Zach Wysong recovered the loose ball on the Lakers' 35-yard line, and it set up a scoring drive that was capped by Chris Reid's 21-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Wysong added the all-important extra point to make it a 7-0 game.

The score remained the same until late in the first half when Lakeview's Tyler Laleman scored on a 44-yard touchdown dash with 44 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Lakers tried to run for a two-point conversion, but the Patriot defense stopped the attempt short of the end zone to maintain a 7-6 advantage.

Neither team could produce any second-half points, but Lakeview did come close.

The Lakers were in a first-and-goal situation at the H-BC-E two-yard line, but a fumble in the end zone on third down was recovered by Patriot defender Brian Gacke.

Gacke's big play came midway through the fourth quarter, and it proved to be the best scoring opportunity either team would have in the second half.

"We had terrible field position in the second half," Ellingson said. "The ball was on our end of the field the whole time. Because of the field conditions, our field position and the fact that they were playing our receivers tight, we didn't attempt a pass in the entire second half. We were able to run the ball a little bit, but we didn't want to take the risk of trying to throw it."

Not taking any chances proved to be a wise choice for H-BC-E in this game. With the help of Lakeview's six turnovers (five fumbles and one interception), the Patriot defense blanked the hosts in the final two quarters to preserve the win.

Still, Ellingson said H-BC-E will need to address its shortcomings before a long playoff-run will be possible.

"We had six penalties in the game, and two of them took away first downs from us. We also have to concentrate more on holding onto the ball. We have to do a better job of that, because we will run into poor weather conditions again down the line," he said.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 142 rushing yards, 24 passing yards, 166 total yards, three first downs, six penalties for 33 yards, four turnovers.

Lakeview: 150 rushing yards, 107 passing yards, 257 total yards, five first downs, four penalties for 40 yards, six turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 19-113, Jesse Leuthold 8-24, Curt Schilling 3-3, Wysong 1-2.

Passing: Schilling 2-4 for 24 yards.

Receiving: Tyson Metzger 2-24.

Defense: Schilling 11 tackles and one fumble recovery, Wysong one fumble recovery, Leuthold four tackles and one fumble recovery, Cody Scholten eight tackles and one interception, Brant Deutsch one fumble recovery, Gacke one fumble recovery, Clint Roozenboom two tackles and one sack.

More pheasants, less partridge
According to the Minnesota DNR, the four Southwest Minnesota counties, Rock, Nobles, Murray and Pipestone, have shown an increase of 27 percent in this year's pheasant population over last year, but a decrease of 50 percent in the number of Hungarian Partridge in the area.

Ringneck pheasant numbers increased from 52 to 72 birds observed per 100 miles driven in the DNR's annual roadside survey.

That's the third highest count in the last 10 years, with 1999 and 2000 being higher.

Unfortunately, that increase does not apply specifically to Rock County. Rock County was the only one of the four counties to see a decrease in its roadside count.

According to the DNR, weather conditions were nearly perfect for pheasants this past year.

The winter was warm and mostly snowless, allowing hens to enter into the nesting season in excellent condition.

The nesting season had a cool start but was dry, which is favorable to high pheasant chick survival rates.

The one drawback to the dry summer was earlier and more intensive mowing of roadsides and other odd areas for hay.

Undisturbed grass areas through July are critical to good pheasant production.

Luverne merchants to host second annual trick or treat program
Luverne merchants will host their second annual Halloween treats program this year.

Forty-seven participating Luverne merchants will hand out Halloween treats to kids on Oct. 31, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

A sign in their windows can identify participating merchants.

Parents are asked to bring their children to the participating merchants.

Because of the large number of kids involved, parents are also urged to use caution and cross streets only at designated intersections.

Prairie Smoke Floral now open
Luverne's newest floral shop is now open.

Prairie Smoke Floral is located at 220 E. Main, the original location of Cook's Clothing.

Owners of the new Luverne business are the mother and daughter team of Jamie Tofteland and Julie Hamann.

The new flower shop will be affiliated with Teleflora and is planning a grand opening for Saturday, Nov. 2.

One more week to see the scarecrows
If you havenÕt been up to the Veterans Home to see the scarecrows, it's worth the time.

The sixth Annual Scarecrow Festival was set up the first week of October and will start to come down starting Nov. 1.

A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into this yearÕs display, and it shows.

SHARE starts to prepare for Christmas 2002
Sharing Hearts Are Reaching Everyone (SHARE) is preparing for its annual Christmas collection and disbursements.

SHARE is a community-wide program to provide gifts of food, clothing and toys to Rock County residents during the holiday season.

Until 1985, the Christmas gift program was handled through the Rock County Family Services Agency.

Due to increased need, SHARE was established in 1985 and incorporated in 1988.

All of the board and committee members involved with the group are volunteers.

In 2001, SHARE provided 121 families, consisting of 175 children and 176 adults, with groceries, clothing and toys.

But to make it a successful program, SHARE needs donations from individuals like you, as well as churches, organizations and businesses.

The group gives away groceries, clothing, toys, meals for senior dining and home delivery meals.

This year, the dates for collection will be on Friday, Dec. 13, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and again on Saturday, Dec. 14 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. at the Luverne National Guard Armory.

To receive something from the program, fill out the SHARE request form by Dec. 7.

Distribution will be from noon to 2 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 16.

For more information about the program, phone 283-4310 or 283-2810.

Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com

William Mulder, 85, Ellsworth, died Monday, Oct. 14, 2002, at Park View Manor in Ellsworth.

Services were Saturday, Oct. 19, at Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth. The Rev. Robert Raedeke officiated. Burial was in Grand Prairie Cemetery in Ellsworth.

William Lewis "Bill" Mulder was born to William B. and Ida (Moet) Mulder on Jan. 19, 1917, near Sibley, Iowa. He grew up in Osceola County, near Little Rock, Iowa, before moving to Grand Prairie Township near Ellsworth where he completed his education.

He married Catherine Klooster on Oct. 21, 1941, at Zion Presbyterian Church in Ellsworth. Following their marriage, the couple farmed northeast of Ellsworth before moving to a farm in rural Magnolia in 1958. They retired from farming in 1979 and moved to Ellsworth. Mrs. Mulder died on Dec. 14, 1995. He moved to Park View Manor in Ellsworth in 1997.

Survivors include one son, Leroy (Carol) Mulder, Ellsworth; seven grandchildren, Don, Doug, Dan, Randy, Pam, Missy and Tony; 10 great-grandchildren; and one sister, Anna May Hector, Ellsworth.
Mr. Mulder was preceded in death by his parents, his wife, Catherine, and one son, Dallas.

Roste Funeral Home, Rock Rapids, Iowa, was in charge of arrangements.

Vincent Charles Meyer, 84, Luverne, died Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002, at Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Center in Luverne.

Memorial services were Monday, Oct. 21, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. The Rev. Andrew Beerman officiated. Burial was in St. Catherine Catholic Cemetery in Luverne.

Vincent Meyer was born to William and Henrietta (Putman) Meyer on Nov. 9, 1918, in Kanaranzi Township, Rock County. He attended Magnolia High School. He farmed by Beaver Creek until he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was in the Radio Corps, serving in Africa.

He married Norma Alice Nath on May 31, 1951, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. After their marriage, the couple farmed east of Luverne in Luverne Township. He retired from farming in 1989 and moved to Luverne. He moved to Mary Jane Brown Good Samaritan Center in August 2002.

Mr. Meyer was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. He enjoyed woodworking.

Survivors include his wife, Norma Meyer, Luverne; two daughters, Gloria Meyer, Minneapolis, and Debra K. (Trevis) Tilberg, Blaine; two grandchildren, Charles Lynn Johnson, and Milda Alice Johnson; three stepgrandchildren, Timothy Nathaniel, Amy Elizabeth and Allison Nicole Tilberg; and one sister, Marian Marsh, Long Beach, Wash.

Mr. Meyer was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Harold.

Dingmann Funeral Home and Cremation Services, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Richard Ben "Dick" Klooster, 76, Ellsworth, died Thursday, Oct. 17, 2002, in Luverne Community Hospital.

Services were Saturday, Oct. 19, at United Methodist Church in Adrian. The Rev. John Strunk officiated. Burial, with military honors by the Luverne VFW Post, was at Grand Prairie Cemetery in Ellsworth.

Dick Klooster was born to John and Ann (Buus) Klooster on April 5, 1926, in Ellsworth. He grew up near Ellsworth and attended country school. He served in the U.S. Army from 1945 until 1946.

He married Alcie Arends on Feb. 26, 1947, in Ellsworth. Following their marriage, they farmed near Adrian. He worked as a mechanic for Hodgesman, then operated Ellsworth Auto Salvage. He later worked with his brother's Klooster Service. He began working at Adrian Country Club in 2000 and worked there until he became ill.

Mr. Klooster attended United Methodist Church in Adrian. He belonged to the Luverne VFW. He enjoyed fishing and was a handy man.

Survivors include his wife, Alcie Klooster, Adrian; three children and their spouses, Barb and Chuck Tweet, Luverne, Jerry and Diane Klooster, Eden Prairie, and Cheryl and Jim Dorn, Adrian; nine grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; three brothers and their wives, Lawrence and Lorraine Klooster, Luverne, David and Sylvia Klooster, Webb, Iowa, and Dale Klooster, Mankato; one sister-in-law Florabell Klooster, Worthington, and an aunt, Delia Hansen, Luverne.

Mr. Klooster was preceded in death by his parents and one brother, Don Klooster.

Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital will plant a tree in his memory.

Totzke Funeral Home, Slayton, was in charge of arrangements.

BBy John Rittenhouse
It wasn’t pretty, but the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team completed an undefeated regular season by edging Lakeview 7-6 in Cottonwood Wednesday, Oct. 16.

A partially snow-covered, muddy field set the stage for a low-scoring, turnover-filled game.

The teams turned the ball over a combined 10 times in the contest, but H-BC-E was able to overcome both mistakes and poor field position through the second half to record its second straight 8-0 regular season and wrap up its second straight Southwest Ridge Conference title with a 7-0 mark.

The win proved to be an important one as the Patriots locked up the No. 1 seed for the Section 2 Nine-Man Football Playoffs. The top-seeded team in Section 2 receives a bye in the quarterfinal-round of the playoffs. H-BC-E’s first playoff action will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, when it hosts No. 4 Southwest Star Concept, a 28-16 winner over Edgerton Tuesday, for a semifinal-round game in Hills.

When they host their playoff opener, the Patriots will hope for better field conditions than what they played on during the Oct. 16 win over the Lakers. H-BC-E turned the ball over four times in the game, and most of them were the result of a slippery ball.

"The conditions were miserable," said Patriot coach Dan Ellingson. "There was snow on the field, and the middle of the field was completely muddy. The ball was slipping out of everyone’s hands."
Lakeview lost the ball six times in the game, and the first turnover proved to be costly.

The Lakers’ defense forced the Patriots to punt at the end of their first possession of the game, and Lakeview’s return man fumbled the ball. Patriot Zach Wysong recovered the loose ball on the Lakers’ 35-yard line, and it set up a scoring drive that was capped by Chris Reid’s 21-yard touchdown run midway through the first quarter. Wysong added the all-important extra point to make it a 7-0 game.

The score remained the same until late in the first half when Lakeview’s Tyler Laleman scored on a 44-yard touchdown dash with 44 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Lakers tried to run for a two-point conversion, but the Patriot defense stopped the attempt short of the end zone to maintain a 7-6 advantage.

Neither team could produce any second-half points, but Lakeview did come close.

The Lakers were in a first-and-goal situation at the H-BC-E two-yard line, but a fumble in the end zone on third down was recovered by Patriot defender Brian Gacke.

Gacke’s big play came midway through the fourth quarter, and it proved to be the best scoring opportunity either team would have in the second half.

"We had terrible field position in the second half," Ellingson said. "The ball was on our end of the field the whole time. Because of the field conditions, our field position and the fact that they were playing our receivers tight, we didn’t attempt a pass in the entire second half.
We were able to run the ball a little bit, but we didn’t want to take the risk of trying to throw it."

Not taking any chances proved to be a wise choice for H-BC-E in this game. With the help of Lakeview’s six turnovers (five fumbles and one interception), the Patriot defense blanked the hosts in the final two quarters to preserve the win.

Still, Ellingson said H-BC-E will need to address its shortcomings before a long playoff-run will be possible.

"We had six penalties in the game, and two of them took away first downs from us. We also have to concentrate more on holding onto the ball. We have to do a better job of that, because we will run into poor weather conditions again down the line," he said.

Team statistics
H-BC-E: 142 rushing yards, 24 passing yards, 166 total yards, three first downs, six penalties for 33 yards, four turnovers.
Lakeview: 150 rushing yards, 107 passing yards, 257 total yards, five first downs, four penalties for 40 yards, six turnovers.

Individual statistics
Rushing: Reid 19-113, Jesse Leuthold 8-24, Curt Schilling 3-3, Wysong 1-2.
Passing: Schilling 2-4 for 24 yards.
Receiving: Tyson Metzger 2-24.
Defense: Schilling 11 tackles and one fumble recovery, Wysong one fumble recovery, Leuthold four tackles and one fumble recovery, Cody Scholten eight tackles and one interception, Brant Deutsch one fumble recovery, Gacke one fumble recovery, Clint Roozenboom two tackles and one sack.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne High School Students plan to defend their open campus freedoms at tonight's School Board meeting.

During the last meeting on Oct. 10, members of Parents: The Anti Drug and Violence Task Force asked the board to consider closing the campus to eliminate the temptation to use drugs during free periods when they're allowed off campus.

Luverne Community Hospital Chemical Dependency Coordinator Stephanie Pierce said she'd done some checking with area districts within the 507 area code.

Of 36 districts she checked, 21 have closed campuses. In the immediate area, Worthington and Pipestone have open campuses, but Pipestone's will be closed when the new school is built. H-BC is open, but students can't be in or drive their cars. Fairmont and Windom are closed campuses.

Of the open districts, five don't allow driving or access to vehicles during school hours. Two allow driving only with written permission.

"With a closed noon hour, maybe they wouldn't be exposed to so much opportunity to use drugs or smoke cigarettes," Pierce said at the Oct. 10 meeting.

The idea of closing the campus prompted objections from Luverne High School students, who weren't given an opportunity to speak at that meeting.

Dan Amborn, high school student body president, and Canaan Petersen, vice president, are on the agenda for tonight's School Board meeting.

Amborn said he understands the motives of Task Force members, but he said closing the campus wouldnÕt go that far in combating drugs and it wouldn't be fair.

"We can understand their concerns, but we don't want to punish so many kids for the errors of a few," he told the Star Herald Tuesday.

Luverne's campus is open to eligible students during the 29-minute noon period, as well during 50-minute study halls. Amborn said he personally eats and stays on campus for lunch, but he enjoys coming in late after his first-hour study hall.

Amborn said as far he knows local drug problems donÕt start at school.

"I don't doubt that there are some who use drugs, but there haven't been any major problems here in years," he said, adding that closing the campus might do more harm than good.

"If you close the campus, the kids who are doing it - and that's very few - will bring drugs into the building and expose it to those who would probably otherwise never be exposed," he said.

High School Principal Gary Fisher said he wouldn't support closing the campus. He said an open campus is a nice way to reward responsible behavior.

"I look at it this way: Kids are given the opportunity to show they're responsible, and until they show they're not responsible, don't penalize them," Fisher told the Star Herald Monday.

"It's all about expecting kids to do the right thing. If we are going to teach kids to be responsible, we need to give them an opportunity to experience freedom."

Fisher said heÕs taken away open campus privileges for certain groups of students for a certain length of time, but he said his high school student body is remarkably well-behaved, compared with many closed campus districts.

When asked to speculate on how many students are using drugs, Fisher said thereÕs no way to know for sure.

"Anybody can use drugs. If they're using, they're going to use whether we close the campus or not," he said. "If you ask the kids, they'll tell you anybody can get drugs, and sometimes it's surprising who they'll see using at a party. It's not just a certain group of kids who dress or look a certain way."

He added that Luverne students don't like having the reputation that they use drugs.

"They've said, 'Bring in the dogs once a month.' They donÕt want it [drugs] here any more than anybody else does."

A surprise visit by two drug dogs on the middle-school high school campus Wednesday, Oct. 16, turned up no evidence of drugs, but Fisher said snowy weather that day may have prevented the dogs from detecting drugs in the parking lot.

Tonight's School Board meeting begins at 8 p.m. in the Middle School/High School library.