Sylvia Amanda Erickson, 88, Luverne, formerly of Steen, died Sunday, July 7, 2002, at Luverne Hospice Cottage.

Services were Thursday, July 11, at United Methodist Church in Luverne. Burial was at Eastside Cemetery in Steen.

Sylvia Hoops was born to Louis W. and Margaret (Pieper) Hoops, in Ida Grove, Iowa. She attended country school near Quimby, Iowa, and Quimby High School.

She married Clarence Erickson on June 29, 1940,in Hills. The couple made their home in Steen where Mr. Erickson operated a garage and worked as a mechanic. She was a homemaker. Mr. Erickson died on Feb. 4, 1994. In 1996 she moved to Luverne.

She was a member of United Methodist Church in Luverne. She was a wonderful cook and seamstress. In her spare time she loved to draw and paint.

Survivors include two sons and their spouses, Marlin (Marlene) Erickson, Sioux Falls, S.D., and Gordon (Kay) Erickson, Sioux City, Iowa; four granddaughters, Pam (Scott) Peterson, Sioux Falls, Heather (Bruce) Venner, Arvada, Colo., Angela Erickson and Maria Erickson, both of Sioux City; one great-grandson, Jacob Erickson, Sioux City; three sisters, Rose Bride, Washta, Iowa, Opal Claussen, Las Vegas, Nev., and Marvel Prado, Denver, Colo.; numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and other relatives and friends.

Mrs. Erickson was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Clarence, one brother, Oraman Hoops, and one sister, Margearette Wirt.

A tree will be planted in Mrs. Erickson's name by Luverne Hospice Cottage.

Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

By John Rittenhouse
The Fourth of July weekend was unkind to the Luverne Redbirds as the amateur baseball team dropped two of three games.

The Redbirds traveled to Hadley Thursday, where they took a two-run holiday loss. Luverne then beat Windom by five runs in Luverne Sunday before falling by two runs to Butterfield later in the day.

Luverne, 10-7 overall, caps the regular season by hosting Brookings, S.D., tonight and Fairmont Sunday.

Butterfield 5,
Luverne 3
The Redbirds fell behind by five runs early in the game and couldn't catch up during Sunday's finale against Butterfield.

Butterfield scored two runs in the second inning and three in the third while opening a 5-0 lead it would never relinquish.

Luverne scored once in the fourth inning and twice in the fifth to trim the difference to three runs, but the rally stalled at that point.

Mike Wenninger made it a 5-1 game when he belted a homer in the fourth.

Mike Boen and James Fisher slapped RBI singles in the fifth to wrap up the scoring in the fifth.

Terry Eernisse yielded five runs in two and one-third innings to take the pitching loss. Travis Eernisse blanked Butterfield over the final four and two-thirds innings.

Box score AB R H BI
Boen 4 1 1 1
Fisher 3 0 1 1
Ohme 3 0 1 0
Wenninger 2 1 1 1
Te.Eernisse 0 0 0 0
Tr.Eernisse 0 0 0 0
Reisch 3 0 0 0
Irish 3 0 1 0
Winkels 3 1 1 0
Schneider 3 0 0 0
Walgrave 2 0 0 0
Weber 1 0 0 0

Luverne 5, Windom 0
A strong pitching performance by Travis Arends carried the Redbirds to their only win of the week against Windom Sunday in Luverne.

Arends tossed a four-hit shutout over seven innings. Arends fanned nine opposing batters.

Luverne scored one run in the top of the first inning and four in the sixth to make Arends a winner.

Derek Ohme singled and scored on a single by Wenninger to give the Redbirds a 1-0 cushion in the first.

Mike Boen delivered a two-run single and Terry Eernisse singled home another run to highlight Luverne's four-run sixth inning.

Box score AB R H BI
Boen 4 0 2 2
Ohme 4 1 2 0
Schneider 3 0 0 0
Wenninger 4 1 3 1
Arends 1 0 1 0
Schmidt 3 0 0 0
Eernisse 4 1 1 1
Fick 4 1 0 0
Weber 3 1 0 0
Reisch 2 0 0 0

Hadley 3, Luverne 1
The Redbirds spent part of their Fourth of July holiday dropping a two-run decision in Hadley Thursday.

The game was tied at one after three and one-half innings of play, but the hosts scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to gain the margin of victory.

Hadley opened the scoring with a run in the bottom of the second only to have Luverne tie the game in the top of the third.

Redbird Isaac Schmidt singled and scored on Ohme's single.

Jon Jarchow took the pitching loss.

Box score AB R H BI
Iveland 4 0 1 0
Ohme 4 0 2 1
J.Sehr 4 0 1 0
M.Sehr 3 0 0 0
Te.Eernisse 3 0 1 0
Weber 3 0 0 0
Fick 2 0 0 0
Jarchow 3 0 1 0
Schmidt 2 1 1 0
Arends 1 0 0 0

By John Rittenhouse
A former Luverne High School football player has been chosen to replace Joel Swanson as the program's head coach this fall.

During a recent meeting, School Board members approved Todd OyeÕs contract for the head football coaching position.

Oye, a 1990 LHS graduate, will accept the post and will take over the program starting next month.

"History is kind of repeating itself," Oye said from his home Sunday. "My senior year of high school was the first year Swanny became the head coach. Now heÕs going, and I'll be head coach for my first year. ItÕs kind of neat."

Considering his past playing and coaching experience, Oye is the logical choice to take over for Swanson, who accepted a teaching and coaching position at North Branch High School after serving as the head LHS coach for the past 13 years.

When Oye was a varsity player at LHS, he received the opportunity to play under two successful coaches who helped make the program competitive.

As a junior in 1988, Oye played for the last Cardinal team to be led by then head coach Bob Osterday. He played the same positions as Jim Remme, one of Southwest Minnesota's top players who enjoyed an outstanding college career at South Dakota State University, so OyeÕs playing time was limited as a junior.

That changed in 1989 when he was a senior member of Swanson's first team.

Oye was a starting member of Luverne's offensive and defensive lines that season, earning all-conference, all-area and all-state honorable mention honors for his performance in the trenches.

The son of rural Hardwick's Bruce and Marilyn Oye continued to play football at two different colleges after high school.

Oye attended the North Dakota State College of Science in Wahpeton in 1990 and 1991, starting as an offensive lineman in all of the games the Wildcats played during his two years at the school.

After graduating from NDSCS in 1992, Oye attended Southwest State University in Marshall. He was a starter on the offensive line in all of the games the Mustangs played in 1992 and 1993.

Oye graduated from SSU in the spring of 1994 and returned to Wahpeton, where he coached the NDSCS offensive lineman that fall.

In 1995, Oye served as the freshman coach at Rochester Mayo High School before moving to Rochester Century the next year, where he served as the varsity football program's offensive assistant coach for three seasons.

Oye returned to Luverne with his wife, Carrie, for the 2000-01 school year. The Oyes have two daughters. Madilyn is four and Jocilyn is 2. Todd has instructed seventh-grade geography while working as a defensive coach for the Luverne football program's sophomore team for two years.

"When I was in Rochester, I really wanted to come back to Luverne and coach with Swanny," Oye said. "It definitely was one of my goals to become head coach some day, but I'm surprised it happened so fast. I thought I would work under Swanny for 10 years or so and take over whenever he wanted to get out of it."

Unlike Swanson, who will be surrounded by strangers when he begins his North Branch coaching job, Oye will have the benefit of working with a familiar coaching staff.

Terry Althoff will remain as the program's defensive coordinator, a position he manned when Oye was a player.

Being in the program the last two years gave Oye the opportunity to work with Al Brinkman and Mike Wenninger, who have been LHS program assistants longer than Oye has. Wenninger will work with the quarterbacks and defensive backs. Brinkman will work with the running backs.

Like Swanson, Oye will work with the offensive and defensive linemen. He also will be calling the offensive plays.

Cardinal fans can expect some changes in LuverneÕs on-field strategies this fall, while other things will remain the same.

"I'm pretty excited about this," Oye said. "We'll be doing some things noticeably different than we have in the past, but weÕll also be running a lot of the offensive and defensive sets we have been. There is a lot of pride in the football program here, and we hope to keep that going."

By John Rittenhouse
A man who has closely followed the Luverne High School boys' and girls' tennis programs will get an inside look at the sport starting this fall.

Greg Antoine, a teacher in the Luverne School District since 1984, has been named the new head coach of both tennis programs.

Antoine takes over for a good friend and golfing buddy, Dave Svingen, who retired as a teacher-coach in June.

Svingen, a 34-year district employee, was head coach of the boys' tennis team for the last 33 seasons and was the only coach of the girls' program, which started in 1974.

In recent years, Antoine became one of the program's biggest backers. He and his wife, Barb, who works as a management assistant for the Luverne School District, have had three of their children compete under Svingen.

Dan, now a sophomore at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, advanced to the state tournament as a doubles player during his senior season.

Becky will be a senior member of the girls' team this fall, and Dusty, a sophomore, will play for his Dad next spring.

Growing up nearly right across the street from the high school tennis courts created an interest in the Antoine children. Being a tennis dad, and his desire to see the sport offered at LHS gave Greg Antoine interest in the head coaching position.

"The main reason why I decided to become the head coach is that I wanted to see the program continue. With all the cuts and things going on, I wanted to make sure the program would go on," he said.

"If the school would have hired someone coming out of college who wanted to coach tennis, I probably wouldnÕt have applied for the job."

Although he has no prior experience as a tennis coach, Antoine has held several coaching positions during his 20-year career as an educator.

He played tennis as youngster growing up in Madelia, where he graduated from high school in 1975.

Antoine then earned his bachelor's degree from Southwest State University, Marshall, and later earned a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from South Dakota State University, Brookings.

Antoine received his first teaching experience in the Amboy-Good Thunder School District in 1982 and 1983. He also held the head girls' volleyball and softball coaching positions at A-GH, and served as assistant girlsÕ basketball coach.

Antoine came to Luverne in 1984 as a freshman science teacher and served as an assistant girls' basketball coach for one year before taking the head coaching job for four years.

Antoine stepped down from the head coaching slot after the 1988-89 campaign and has been the eighth-grade girls' coach ever since.

Being familiar with the sport and having past coaching experience will work in Antoine's favor as a tennis mentor.

"I've been playing the game since I was little, and all of my kids have been in the tennis program here. I've been at a lot of matches over the last six years," he said.

Antoine is looking forward to the challenge of serving as a coach in a sport that places a lot of importance on individual performances.

"Tennis is competitive, but the pressure of coaching sports like basketball and football does not come with it. What I like about it is tennis is more of an individual sport. You compete as a team, but it's one player against another in singles, and one team against another in doubles. I also like tennis because it's a lifetime sport. You can teach a kid to play tennis, and it's a game they can play the rest of their lives," he said.

Unlike most coaches taking over a new program, Antoine has some certain advantages. He can tap the outgoing coach, as well as his youngest son and daughter, for information on staging productive practice sessions.

"I want to continue the coaching style Dave had going, which I call a laid-back competitiveness," Antoine said.

"As far as practices go, I really don't know how I'll run them right now. I'll be learning right with the kids, and they'll probably teach me how practices are run. Just like any other sport, we'll work on the fundamentals. Once you get the fundamentals down, the rest of it should come around."

Virginia Ann Bode, 73, Luverne, died Saturday, July 6, 2002, in Luverne Community Hospital.

Services were Tuesday, July 9, at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. The Rev. Gerald Kosse officiated. Burial was at St. Catherine Catholic Cemetery in Luverne.

Virginia Demunck was born to Arthur and Lucy (DeToy) Demunck on June 25, 1929, in Jasper. She attended school in Jasper. She worked at McKennan Hospital in Sioux Falls after her schooling.

She married John Jacob Bode on June 29, 1950, at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Jasper. After their marriage they lived on the farm for two years before moving to Luverne. She worked at George's Bakery, Ohlen CafŽ and also LambertonÕs CafŽ.

Mrs. Bode was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne. She enjoyed fishing and playing cards.

Survivors include four children and their spouses, Mary Arp (Leon) Pick, Pam Bode (Gary) Abell, all of Luverne, Pat (Ron) Raabe, Hartford, S.D., and Michael (Rita) Bode, Brandon, S.D.; 10 grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; five stepgrandchildren; six stepgreat-grandchildren; and one sister, Ruby (Harold) Steuck, Pipestone.

Mrs. Bode was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, John Bode on May 31, one sister, Doris, and one brother, Arthur.

Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Proposals for BMT remodeling set for July 8
June 19, 2002
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS
The Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Luverne, MN (Blue Mound Tower) is requesting proposals for Architect/Engineering services in connection with certain HUD financed modernization improvements.

Professional services will include, but not necessarily be limited to: planning and designing the Project; architectural services; site planning; structural, mechanical and electrical engineering; civil engineering; cost estimating; preparation of bidding and construction documents; drawings and specifications; assistance in contract award(s); preconstruction conference; assistance in meeting labor standards requirements and wage determinations; and periodic site inspections and supervision of contractors and materials.

Work items will include;
1) Remodeling of 68 apartment units with emphasis on kitchens and bathrooms.
2) Conversion of 8 units into 4 fully handicapped accessible units.

Written proposals will be accepted until 12:00 noon on Monday, July 8, 2002. Brief oral presentations may be conducted at a later time before the Housing AuthorityÕs Board of Commissioners.

Please include in your proposal a description of your firmÕs experience with HUD projects; qualifications and licensing of key individuals who would be working on this project; the time in which you estimate specifications could be prepared and the project ready to bid; and your estimated professional fee.

Please feel free to contact Roger Henderson (Maintenance Supervisor) at (507) 283-9347 if you have questions regarding this project or to arrange a time to visit the building.

We hope you will have an interest in submitting a proposal for our project.

Mary Guhin, Executive Director
Housing & Redevelopment Authority of Luverne, MN
216 N. McKenzie
Luverne, MN 56156
(6-27, 7-3)

County Commissioners meet June 18
Community Room 9:00 A.M.
Rock County Human Services Bldg
June 18, 2002

Commissioner Wildung called the meeting to order with all Commissioners present.
Motion by Jarchow, seconded by Erickson, to approve the June 18, 2002 County Board agenda, declared carried on a voice vote.

Rod Spronk and Dennis Healy of Lincoln-Pipestone Rural Water presented a program update as well as the 2001 audit results. They also stated that information can also be accessed at their Web site of: www.lprw.com.

LMO Director Eric Hartman and Assistant LMO Director Doug Bos presented the (3) conditional use permits:

1. A telecommunications tower for Western Wireless located in section five of Luverne Township; motion by Erickson, seconded by Hoime, to approve the conditional use permit for a telecommunications tower, declared carried on a voice vote.

2. A wind tower for Minn-Wind I located in Section 13 of Martin Township; motion by Hoime, seconded by Erickson, to approve the Minn-Wind I wind tower permit, declared carried on a voice vote.

3. A wind tower for Minn-Wind II location in Section 14 of Martin Township; motion by Hoime, seconded by Erickson, to approve the Minn-Wind II wind tower permit, declared carried on a voice vote.

MPCA Representatives Myrna Halbach, Mark Jacobs, Jerry Holien, LMO Director Hartman and Assistant Director Doug Bos and County Attorney Don Klosterbuer discussed a Feedlot Program Review along with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Mr. Holien presented the Feedlot Program Review and the results of the feedlot audit that was conducted in the winter of 2001 - spring of 2002.

County Attorney Klosterbuer and Myrna Halbach discussed the MOU and after discussion it was determined that Rock County and MPCA were in agreement in conducting a Level III inventory of all feedlots in Rock County.

LMO Director Hartman discussed Attachments A Ð D of the MOU, which stated the detail of the Feedlot Program Work Plan, the Level III Inventory Work Plan, Communications Plan for the Level III Inventory, and relevant pages from the Water Plan.

Administrator Oldre also presented funding issues regarding the Level III Feedlot Inventory. After discussion, it was determined that additional staffing would have to be discussed at a future date.

After considerable discussion from all representatives and a large number of producers in attendance, motion by Hoime, seconded by Erickson, to adopt the Memorandum of Understanding with the Attachments A - D. After discussion the question was called by Commissioner Hoime and a roll call vote was taken; motion to adopt the Memorandum of Understanding was declared carried on a unanimous vote.

Mary McLaughlin and Vonnie Nergaard of the Retired Volunteer Senior Program presented a program updated as well as the utilization of RSVP in Rock County. Also discussed was a funding proposal that requests an increase from $.96/capita in Y2002 to $1.01/capita in Y2003. This would reflect a 4% increase based on the population shift in Rock County. The County Board took action at this time.

Margaret Cook, Auditor/Treasurer, presented the fund balances; motion by Erickson, seconded by Jarchow, to accept the fund balance report, declared carried on a voice vote.

Motion by Jarchow, seconded by Erickson, to pay the claims as presented, declared carried on a unanimous vote. A complete listing of claims is available at the Auditor/Treasurer's office at no charge.

General $ 28,775.68
LEC 371.52
Road & Bridge 22,081.07
Judicial Ditch .00
Welfare 72,691.87
Landfill 2,033.55
TOTAL $125,953.69

Motion by Erickson, seconded by Jarchow, to pay a claim of $44,449.49 to Computer Professionals Unlimited for the purchase and installation of an AS 400 computer, declared carried on a voice vote.

Mark Sehr, Engineer, presented Resolution No. 21-02, a resolution establishing eligibility for bridge bonding funding as required by MnDOT; motion by Boyenga, seconded by Hoime, to adopt Resolution No. 21-02, declared carried on a voice vote.

The engineer informed the County Board that only (1) bid was submitted for Unit #, for the amount of $509.11. Motion by Jarchow, seconded Boyenga, to accept the bid, declared carried on a voice vote.
The Engineer also presented a Luverne Street construction update; no action taken.

The County Board discussed gravel tax issues as a follow up to the Public Meeting held on June 10th. After discussion, it was determined to table action until the July 2nd County Board Meeting.

Motion by Jarchow, seconded by Boyenga, to approve the June 4, 2002 County Board minutes, declared carried on a voice vote.

Motion by Boyenga, seconded by Erickson, to approve the following consent agenda items, declared carried on a voice vote.

1. Contract 22-533-02 with Pinnacle Programs Inc., to provide non-secure residential treatment for children. Rate is $117.13/day, and reflects a 10% increase from previous contract. Contract effective 7-01-02 to 6-30-03.

2. Foster Care relicensing Ð Rod and Lisa Rosin

3. Day Care licensing Ð Kammi Biber

4. Day Care relicensing Ð Kathie Hendricks

5. Voluntary Day Care closing Ð Crystal Tiesler

6. Resolution 23-02, implementing the Federal Transit Administration regulations on drug and alcohol misuse

The County Board acknowledged receipt of the Southwest Opportunity Annual Report with no action taken.

The County Board received a notice canceling the Rock County Pool meeting that had been scheduled for June 17th due to the receipt of no bids from the RFP. There were, however, two requests to delay the RFP process. The County Board took no action to these requests.

The County Board discussed Resolution No. 22-02, which sets a standardized amount for commodity rates: motion by Hoime, seconded by Boyenga, to approve Resolution No. 22-02, declared carried on a voice vote.

The County Board discussed the AMC Service Award for 2002; at this time no nomination was made.

Commissioner Hoime informed the County Board that he would be attending the NRCS meeting to be held in Slayton on June 19th.

Commissioner Erickson stated that he would be attending a meeting in Watonwan County involving the University of Minnesota Extension Service on June 25th @ 4:00 P.M.

The County Board discussed the notification process in regard to conditional use permits and the fees structure. After discussion, the Chair directed that the notification process should include a mail return receipt from all parties receiving the notification and to include that mailing expense in the conditional use permitting fee.

Motion by Boyenga, seconded by Erickson, to grant signature authority for the Water Plan to the County Administrator, declared carried on a voice vote.

The County Board of Equalization arose from recess; motion by Hoime, seconded by Erickson, stating that no business came before the Board of Equalization that was held on June 17, 2002, and no action was taken, declared carried on a voice vote.

With no further business to come before the County Board and the County Board of Equalization, the meeting was declared adjourned.

Jane Wildung, Chairman of the Board
ATTEST:
Kyle J. Oldre, Clerk to the Board
(7-3)

By Sara Strong
The dry weather caught up with the city of Luverne's water system this week.

As of Tuesday the city is imposing a water restriction. Lawns may be watered between the hours of 8 p.m. and 8 a.m., but residents are asked to limit their water use as much as possible.

Similar restrictions are in place in the surrounding area.

Despite the nearly 1 inch of rainfall late Tuesday and early Wednesday morning, the city's supply is still considered low enough to warrant restrictions.

There is an exemption to the watering restriction. The city will water the new sod just laid on the Freeman and Estey street project. The roots have to take hold before it can be left longer without water.

At Tuesdays Council meeting, members also:

Voted to amend the budget to include $37,000 for the new "Evergreen Park," or the former Christensen home, along North Blue Mound Avenue.

Most of the work will be completed this summer, with other additions, such as possible bathrooms, to be added later. The location is ideal, because Rock County is constructing a bike path along Blue Mound Avenue to Blue Mounds State Park this summer.

Discussed the possibility of banning parking on Freeman Street during the Rock County Fair. The street is typically crowded with parked vehicles and regular traffic during the fair, but the Highway 75 construction project this year will cause heavier traffic on main north-south streets such as Freeman Avenue.

The council directed staff to close the street to parking during the fair if the railroad crossing work causes both Highway 75 lanes to be closed. Staff will communicate with the local fire department, SheriffÕs Office and construction crews to determine if itÕs necessary to ban parking.

People interested in filing for elected city of Luverne or Rock County offices have until the end of the day Tuesday, July 16, to do so.

In the city of Luverne, the primary election ballot will show the north ward council seat, the south ward council seat and the office of mayor.

County offices that are open for election this year are county recorder, auditor/treasurer, sheriff, and county attorney.

County commissioner seats on the ballot are Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Soil Water Conservation District 2 and 5 supervisors will also be on the ballot.

Those filing for office as of Wednesday morning, July 3, are:

Luverne mayor, Keith Erickson
Rock County Auditor/Treasurer, Lisa Ahrendt DeBoer
Rock County Sheriff, Ronnal M. McClure and Michael Winkels
Rock County Attorney, Donald R. Klosterbuer
County Commissioner District 2, Richard D. Bakken
County Commissioner District 3, Ron Boyenga
County Commissioner District 4, Robert (Bob) Jarchow
County Commissioner District 5, Jane A. Wildung
SWCD 2, Vicky Smook, SWCD 5, Donald P. Reker.