Verna Rupp, 88, Hardwick, died Tuesday, Aug. 6 at Mankato. Services will be Saturday, Aug. 10 at 1 p.m. at Zion Lutheran Church, Hardwick, with Rev. Mark Mumme officiating. Visitation will be Friday, Aug. 9 from 6 to 8 p.m. with family present at Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne. Burial will be in Maplewood Cemetery.

Henry Schroeder, 85, Luverne, died Friday, Aug. 16 at Luverne Hospice Cottage. Committal services are Tuesday, Aug. 20 at 3 p.m. at Hills of Rest Memorial Park, Sioux Falls. Visitation begins Monday, Aug. 19 at 1 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. at George Boom Funeral Home, Sioux Falls.

Henry Charles Schroeder, 85, Luverne, died Friday, Aug. 16, 2002, in Luverne Hospice Cottage.

Committal services were Tuesday, Aug. 20, at Hills of Rest Memorial Park in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Henry Schroeder was born to Theodore and Bertha (Weiben) Schroeder on Feb. 21, 1917, in Holstein, Iowa. As an infant he moved with his family to a farm near Elkton, S.D. He grew up and received his education there. He then moved to Sioux Falls where he worked at various jobs and also did carpentry work.

He entered the U.S. Navy on Feb. 3, 1944, and served during World War II. Following his honorable discharge on April 3, 1946, he returned to Sioux Falls. He later began maintenance work for the city of Sioux Falls. He retired as a maintenance supervisor in the early 1980s.

He met Orphie Pauline Tranby in 1983. In 1986, they moved to Luverne.

Mr. Schroeder was a life-member of John M. Bliss VFW Post #628 in Sioux Falls. He loved to dance and enjoyed league bowling for many years. In addition he enjoyed traveling, hunting and fishing.

Survivors include his special friend, Pauline Tranby, Luverne; three sons, Henry (Shari) Schroeder Jr., Englewood, Colo., Arlie (LuAnn) Schroeder, Sioux Falls, Lee Schroeder, Mt. View, Hawaii; one daughter, Joyce Schroeder, Tucson, Ariz.; one grandson, Peter Schroeder; one sister, Loretta Christopherson, Sioux Falls; and a host of other relatives and friends.

Mr. Schroeder was preceded in death by his parents, one sister and two brothers.

Hospice of Luverne Community Hospital will be planting a tree in memory of Henry Schroeder.

George Boom Funeral Home, Sioux Falls, was in charge of arrangements.

Roy William Petersen Sr., 89, died Thursday, Aug. 15, 2002, at Palisade Manor in Garretson, S.D.
Services were Monday, Aug. 19, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Jasper. Burial was in Jasper City Cemetery.

Roy Petersen was born to Frank and Adelia (Joens) Petersen on April 18, 1913, on the family farm in Springwater Township, Rock County, where he was raised and attended country school. He was baptized and confirmed on June 17, 1928, at Zion Lutheran Church in Hardwick. In 1934, he went to Austin and graduated from American Auction College. He then moved to Jasper.

He married Marville Damman on Feb. 25, 1937, at First Lutheran church in Sioux Falls, S.D. Following their marriage they farmed in Eden Township, Pipestone County, for a short time. They moved to Edgerton where they farmed for four years. In 1943, they bought a farm in Eden Township and farmed there until 1974 when they retired and moved to Jasper. In addition to farming he enjoyed buying and selling old irons, salvaged materials and antiques. He also dug graves for several cemeteries in the immediate Jasper area. They moved to Garretson Oct. 23, 1993. He moved to Palisade Manor in Garretson December 1999.

Mr. Petersen was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Jasper. He enjoyed fishing, hunting and dancing. He and his wife celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on Feb. 25, 2002.

Survivors include his wife, Marville Petersen, Palisade Manor, Garretson; six children, Eunice (Sherman) Sweeney, Sioux Falls, Elaine Huy, Loryn Petersen, both of Morgantown, W.Va., Larene Pierce, Republic, Mo., Carol (James) Morrow, Knapp, Wis., and Roy "Dugan" Jr. (Jeanne) Petersen, Hartford, S.D.; 10 grandchildren; four great-grandchildren; and three sisters, Hilda Ihlan, Luverne, Helen Hebron, Sioux City, Iowa, and Dorothy Nabholtz, Waterloo, Iowa.

Mr. Petersen was preceded in death by his parents, a stillborn infant daughter, three brothers, Emil, Albert and Donald, and seven sisters, Emma Schneekloth, Ella Hanson, Elsie Wikner, Edna Caswell, Esther Braa, Wilma Spease and Lillian Haakenson.

Foster-Hartquist Funeral Chapel, Jasper, was in charge of arrangements.

By John Rittenhouse
Drivers from Luverne and Magnolia posted wins at different area race tracks over the weekend.

Luverne's Marlin Kracht drew a checkered flag during Friday's races at Murray County Speedway in Slayton.

Magnolia's Josh Klay recorded a win at Huset’s Speedway, near Brandon, S.D. Sunday.

Coming off a two-win performance the week before, Kracht came up big again on Friday. Kracht won the feature race in the outlaw modified class.

Klay’s win came in a heat race during the hobby stock competition at Huset's.

Later that night, Klay was fifth in the feature event.

Kanaranzi's Colter Deutsch and Steen's Tammy Kracht also raced in the hobby stock class at Huset's.

Deutsch, who placed fifth in his heat race, finished a strong second in the B feature. He went on to place 14th in the A feature.

Tammy Kracht placed sixth in her heat race and sixth in the B feature.

Luverne High School graduate Chad Overgaard and Steen's David Kruger competed in the short track stock car class at Huset's.

Overgaard placed third in his heat race and fifth in the feature. Kruger was sixth in his heat race and sixth in the feature.

Karen Fey (middle) won her fourth consecutive and 16th overall Women's Club Tournament championship at the Luverne Country Club Saturday. Paula Lammert (left) placed second, and Melissa Kopp (right) finished third.

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne Country Club's version of Tiger Woods came up big again during the 51st version of the Women's Club Tournament Saturday.

Karen Fey, who had won 15 Women's Club Tournament titles since 1976 heading into Saturday's competition, added a 16th title to her credit.

Fey had to fight off challenges by three hungry contenders during the 18-hole event's final round, but she answered the challenge without trailing at any time.

In the end, it was Fey's consistent play that clinched her fourth consecutive club championship.

Fey shot a pair of five-over-par 41s for an 18-hole total of 82 strokes, which wasn't bad considering strong winds and cool temperatures were a factor for all players to deal with.

Paula Lammert made a charge during the final round of the event, but she ended up one stroke behind the winner with an 83.

Melissa Kopp, a standout Luverne High School player, finished her first club tournament in third place with an 84.

While Lammert and Kopp finished right behind the champion, it was Mary Jo Graphenteen who applied the pressure early in the tournament.

Fey's 41 on the front nine featured one birdie and three pars. Graphenteen, who won the Club Tournament in 1992, matched Fey's 41-stroke performance during the first round. Graphenteen had one birdie and two pars over the first nine holes of play.

Fey and Graphenteen shared the lead heading into the final round of play. They were joined in a final-round foursome with Kopp and Lammert. Kopp was one shot back with a 42, and Lammert three shots behind with a 44.

The second round started with Kopp recording a par on the 10th hole to move into a deadlock for first place with Fey, who bogeyed the same hole along with Lammert.

Graphenteen, who had a double bogey on the 10th hole to fall one shot out of the lead, dropped another shot when she made par on the 11th hole while Fey completed a birdie. Kopp's double-bogey seven on the 11th dropped her into a second-place tie with Graphenteen, while Lammert fell four shots off the pace with a par.

The contenders each made up a shot on the 12th hole by making pars, while Fey recorded a bogey. The hole left Fey sporting a one-shot lead over Kopp and Graphenteen, and a three-shot cushion over Lammert.

Fate dealt Graphenteen a cruel blow moments later as her tee shot off the No. 13 box rolled into the hazard next to the pond on the left side of the fairway. Graphenteen found the ball in the heavy rough, but the one-stroke penalty for removing it out of the hazard led to a double-bogey six. Her bad luck continued the rest of the way as she was unable to make par over the next five holes, which knocked her out of the title-chase.

Fey, on the other hand, made par on the 13th and 14th holes. Bogeys by Kopp on the same holes left her four shots back. Lammert bogeyed the 13th hole and made par on No. 14, joined Kopp in a tie for second place.

Kopp shot par in the 15th hole to gain a stroke on Fey and Lammert, who registered bogeys.

It looked like Fey might ice the title when she was the lone player to put her tee shot on the green of the par-3, 16th hole, but her first of three consecutive three-putts opened the door for the challengers.

Both Kopp and Lammert scrambled to make par on the 16th green, leaving them two- and three-strokes off the pace.

Three putts by the leader on the 17th and 18th holes led to bogeys, but the best Kopp could do was bogey the same holes. Lammert shot par on the final two holes, surpassing Kopp by one shot while finishing one shot behind Fey at the same time.

Susan Schneekloth, Amber Top, Joan Kindt and Deone Hemme join Fey as flight winners during Saturday's tournament.

Schneekloth took top honors in the president's flight, which consisted of five players who played the first round of the event as members of the championship flight. After the first nine holes of play, six players with the lowest scores remained in the championship flight. The remaining five formed the president's flight.

The president's flight was tight entering the second round as three strokes separated the top three players.

Schneekloth and Lori Witt shared the lead with 48s, while Lisa Dinger was one shot back with a 49. Melissa Sterrett and Mary Aukes were two- and three strokes off the pace with respective 50- and 51-stroke rounds to open the tournament.

The second round turned into a two-player shootout between Schneekloth and Witt, which Schneekloth won by one shot. Schneekloth made birdie on the par-3, 12th hole to open a two-shot advantage and never lost the lead the rest of the round.

Schneekloth added four pars during the final round for a 44-stroke effort that gave her a 92 for the tournament. Witt countered with a 45 to finish with a 93. Aukes, who turned in a 50 in the second round, placed third with a 100.

Top, another member of the LHS girls' golf program last spring, staged a late rally to nip Faye DeBoer for the championship in the first flight.

Top and DeBoer both shot 49s during the first round to share the flight lead. Nancy Frakes was two shots back with a 51.

DeBoer gained a two-shot lead with a bogey on the 10th hole and a par on No. 11 (Top had a double bogey and a bogey on the same holes), and she led by four strokes after Top took a seven on the par-4, 13th hole.

The difference remained at four strokes heading into the 16th hole when Top made par and DeBoer a double bogey to pull within two strokes. A bogey on No. 17 was good enough for Top to move into a first-place tie with DeBoer, and she won the flight by one stroke after bogeying the 18th hole.

Top shot a 49-48-97 for the tournament, while DeBoer finished with a 49-49-98. Frakes came in third with her 51-50-101.

Kindt won the second flight by a five-stroke margin.

The eventual champion shot a 46 during the first round to open a four-stroke lead over Sandy Vrtacnik (50) and six-stroke cushions over Lorna Anderson and Wendy Evink, who both shot 52s.

A flight-low 48 during the second round gave Kindt a five-stroke win (94-99) over Vrtacnik, who shot a 49 during the second round. Anderson shot a 53 during the final round to place third with a 105.
Hemme had to come from behind to win the third flight.

Glenda Vande Griend shot a 52 during the first round to sport a one-shot lead over Hemme (53) and a three-shot advantage over Lori Martinson and Roxanne Holtrop, who carded 55s.

Hemme, however, shot par on the 10th hole to set the stage for a 49-stroke second round, which gave her a four-shot (102-106) win over Martinson.

Martinson shot a 51 during the final round. Vande Griend recorded a 55 for a two-round total of 107 strokes, which was good for third place.

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne girls' tennis team opened the 2002 season by competing at the Worthington Pre-Season Tournament Tuesday.

The Cardinals had a successful outing in two ways.

Luverne went 2-1 in match play, and a pair of Cardinal singles' players captured individual crowns.

"I think it went well," said Cardinal coach Greg Antoine. "They gave medals to the top three finishers in their divisions, and all of our girls came home with medals. I was pleased with the way our girls played."

Luverne opened team competition by rolling to a 6-2 win over the host team. After dropping a 6-2 decision to Pipestone-Jasper, the Cards bounced back to record a 7-1 victory over Martin County West.

Becky Antoine and Gabe Van Dyk came away with individual titles at No. 1 and No. 3 singles respectively.

Antoine recorded an 8-3 win over Worthington's Lisa Jackson, an 8-5 victory over P-J's Cassandra Van Vliet and an 8-1 pounding of MCW's Megan Biehen.

Van Dyk topped Worthington's Lindsey Radloff by an 8-5 margin, She bested P-J's Tory Hess 8-2 and coasted to an 8-0 victory over MCW’s Kelsey Krueger.

Cardinals Rachel Tofteland and Brittany Boeve placed second at No. 2 and No. 4 singles respectively with 2-1 records, and the No. 1 doubles team of Jenny Braa and Lexi Jauert went 2-1 to place second.

Luverne’s No. 2 doubles team of Samantha Gacke and Nikki Van Dyk, No. 3 squad of Aylssa Klein and Andraya Gacke, and the No. 4 team of Kaitlyn Deragisch and Bailey Scholten all placed third with 1-2 records.

Samantha Gacke, Klein and Deragisch played their first varsity matches at the event.

"Other than our four seniors, almost everyone else was playing girls who were older than they were. We're looking to get some experience right now. We may take some beatings down the road, but we should learn something every time out," Antoine said.

The Cards play at the Sentinel Tournament in Fairmont tomorrow, they play Yellow Medicine East in Pipestone Monday, and they host Brandon Valley Tuesday.

Serving Sara, Unfortunately, Unmemorable!

Serving Sara
Rated PG-13 * Now Playing
Carol's grade: C+

THE PLOT:
Joe (Matthew Perry) hates his job, but makes a good living as a down-and-dirty process server in New York. His boss, Ray (Cedric the Entertainer) fuels a mutual dislike between Joe and co-worker Tony (Vincent Pastore) to see which guy can do the most for the company.

Sara's (Elizabeth Hurley) millionaire rancher husband has filed for divorce in his native Texas. He hires Ray to serve her with the papers in New York. Joe and Tony compete to see who can get to Sara first.

Eventually, Joe succeeds.

Sara is stunned that her spouse has filed for divorce. But, she's even more surprised when Joe tells her that Texas law may leave her with little monetary reward from her marriage.

Too bad she didn't file first, Joe tells her. New York divorce laws practically ensure that she'd get half of everything.

So, Sara offers Joe a million bucks to pretend he never served her. He, in turn, agrees to serve papers on her husband before Tony can find and serve Sara.

CAROL'S TAKE:
Comedies are often pretty simple. Even with a host of twists and turns, they can leave little to the imagination. Still, the good ones establish credible characters that make the movies fun, and memorable, too.

"Serving Sara" is both ordinary and predictable. While it boasts some bright moments, it also suffers from feeble ones. Ultimately, the movie relies on the actor's efforts to make or break the project. Sadly, unevenness is a problem here, too.

Hurley's Sara is impossible to define. She is very slick, but nothing more than surface. Both the actress and the character seem to be completely without depth.  And, neither one is even remotely funny. What a disappointment.

Perry does a much job better as Joe. He appealingly conveys humor and vulnerability - all the while avoiding any "Chandler-isms" that could have made his work seem like a rerun.  Supporting him, funny men Cedric the Entertainer and Pastore are just fine in their cartoon character-type roles.

But, a successful comedy must be more than the sum of its parts, and "Serving Sara" is not. While this movie sometimes serves up the goods, it remains, in the end, unmemorable.

© 2002 Webster-Kirkwood Times, Inc.
Movie reviews by Carol Hemphill and Kent Tentschert
reelworld@timesnewspapers.com

By Lori Ehde
Luverne residents woke up to soggy basements and overflowing rain gauges Wednesday morning after six inches of rain fell through the night.

Thunderstorms rumbled through the region starting at midnight and continuing through dawn, depositing enough water to replenish depleted subsoils and aquifers.

"This pretty much erased all deficits," said Mike Gillispie, hydrologist with the National Weather Service in Sioux Falls.

He said prior to August, rainfall in southwest Minnesota was three to six inches below normal.

August, however, is more than making up for this with 4 to 8 inches more than is typically seen in August.

"This brings us back to normal," Gillispie said.

It’s too late to help most drought-stunted crops, and ironically, Rock County Emergency Coordinator Kyle Oldre is still filling out paperwork to declare the area a drought disaster for state and federal assistance.

Wednesday morning, he said, he switched gears to look for flood damage, which could have been worse in Luverne.

He said water retention berms built northwest of town after the flooding of 1993 slowed the flow of water in Poplar Creek.

"They did exactly what they were supposed to," he said. "They held it in and released it slowly through the pipes … just like a bathtub."

Despite the large amount in a small time period, Gillispie said the rain is still welcome.

"A lot of it will run off into river streams, but there are some areas of ponding, and you will see a decent amount of replenishing for water tables," he said.

"It'd be nice if we could get this water spread out over a four-day period, not a four-hour period, but we’ll take what we can get."