By Katrina Vander Kooi, summer intern
Tuesday night the Hills-Beaver Creek Board accepted the resignation of the vocal and instrumental teacher, Dawn Griepp.

The vote was five to one with Alan Harnack being the only dissenter. Board Member Rollie Crawford was not present for the vote.

Many concerned parents came to the meeting to show their support for the music program.

Bob Sandbulte was the spokesman, and he voiced concerns about the quality of the music department. Sandbulte interviewed 19 band parents concerning this, and he "got an ear full" of information.

Among those 19, only one parent was pleased with the Griepp. Sandbulte handed out a sheet full of comments from the survey.

The survey showed that the parents were not just blaming the teacher. They were also blaming the school district.

"My kids are artists not athletes," one parent wrote. Sandbulte expressed his concern about the district's lack of support for the music program.

"We are losing students this year partly because of the music program," Sandbulte said.

One parent recalled an incident last year at homecoming when the band students were not acknowledged with the rest of the sports activities. "We need to draw more attention to our band," she said.

Parents also brought up scheduling problems that students have with band. "To do industrial arts, you have to drop band," one parent said.

Board member Ann Boeve suggested that band be a zero-hour class that would meet before school, but this idea was not well-received.

Another suggestion was that Hills Beaver Creek share a band director with another school district in order to keep a more qualified teacher.

"You get a good program, and you get pride and students will want to participate," one parent said.
Overall, the group emphasized the need for a stronger commitment to music by students and the administration.

In other business, Monday the board:
oApproved Jolene Hannett as the new area school psychologist. She is contracted to work in the Ellsworth and Adrian school districts along with Hills-Beaver Creek for the 2001/2002 school year.

oVoted 6-1 to cancel a dance taking place in the high school gym this Friday. The dance was being put on by a group of students in order to help pay for the damage the students had done on a school track trip to Sturgis, SD.

Many of the Board members believed that this was an improper use of the school's facilities.

oAdopted the negotiations settlement for the 2001/2002 and 2002/2003 school years. One of the main changes in the contract was the severance plan. The district is now using an investment system instead of severance packages. The current retiring teachers will have a choice whether to use this system or not, but "for new teachers this is this only option," said Board member Gary Esselink.

oDiscussed OSHA violations. "On a scale from 1 to 10, our district is in the middle," said Superintendent Tom Knoll. The concerns by the agency ranged from machine hazards to air quality problems.

oSet the next board meeting for June 12. One item on the agenda will be a possible dress code for students for graduation.

Memorial Day services were held at the Beaver Creek Community Hall on Monday, May 28. The program featured music by the Hills-Beaver Creek Band and included guest speakers. Everyone moved to the Beaver Creek Cemetery for a tribute from Post 2757 Veterans of Foreign Wars and Taps.

Pictured above, a representative from Post 2757 Veterans of Foreign Wars places flowers on the veteransÕ memorial in the Beaver Creek Cemetery.

By Katrina Vander Kooi, summer intern
Rick and Lori Scholten arrived at the Hills-Beaver Creek School Board meeting Tuesday night hoping to discuss the alleged assault by Superintendent Tom Knoll.

He is accused of assaulting a their son, 19-year-old Derek Ehde, on Thursday, April 26.

In a letter sent to all of the Hills Beaver Creek School Board Members, Lori Scholten asked for Knoll's suspension.

"This serious indiscretion on the part of Mr. Knoll warrants serious review and action on your part," she wrote.

"Although we are pursuing criminal charges against Mr. Knoll, we believe that our school board also needs to take appropriate action. Mr. Knoll's actions merit immediate suspension by the board.

"We are sure that you appreciate your duty to provide a safe learning environment for our children and one where they do not have to be fearful of physical assault."

Rick Scholten said he'd requested at a previous meeting to be placed on Tuesday's agenda, but it was not, and the school board declined to comment on the issue. "The school board is not doing their job," said Rick said.

The couple left before the meeting began.

He called the Crescent office Wednesday to say that he wonders who's working for whom.

"He's an employee of the school district," he said. "If this would have been a school bus driver, or a teacher or a student, they would have been out of there. Who's supposed to be responsible for whom?"

Cody Harr (second from left) shares "Max" with his second-grade classmates Mitchel Anderson (left), B.G. Xaisongkham and Cody Benson at Luverne Elementary School Friday afternoon for show and tell. Harr's parents, Roger and Kathy Reu, raise about 30 registered miniature horses on their farm west of Luverne. The horses fall into A class, which includes horses under 34 inches tall, and B class, which includes horses 35 to 38 inches. Max is in the A classification.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
The 2001 baseball season came to an end for Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth team members after they took a pair of losses during the Section 3A Tournament over the Memorial Day weekend.

No. 5 Ortonville saddled the 12th-seeded Patriots with a 9-3 setback during SaturdayÕs first round in Benson.

H-BC-E's 3-11-1 campaign ended Monday in Adrian, where the Patriots dropped an 11-1 decision to the sixth-seeded Dragons.

The Patriots were outscored 7-0 in the first three innings of Saturday's game against Ortonville and couldnÕt recover while falling by six runs.

H-BC-E did trim the difference to four runs (7-3) by scoring two runs in the third inning and one in the fifth.

Ortonville, however, capped the scoring by plating two runs in the bottom to win by six.

The Patriots loaded the bases with a single by Justin Van Maanen and walks to Matt Buck and Zach Wysong during the fourth inning. Tyson Metzger singled home a pair of runs to make the difference 7-2 at the time.

Darin DeBoer singled and made it a 7-3 difference when he scored on an error in the fifth inning.
Wysong had two hits and drew a walk to lead the Patriots at the plate against Ortonville. David Top went the distance on the hill and took the loss.

Adrian scored nine unanswered runs in the final three innings to best the Patriots by 10 runs during MondayÕs elimination game in Adrian.

The game had the look of a tight match when the Patriots scored one run in the top of the third to cut the 2-0 AHS lead in half. The Dragons scored two runs in the bottom of the third, four in the fifth and three in the bottom of the sixth to win by the 10-run rule.

Vlad Pastushenko walked and Tyson Metzger singled to set the table for the Patriots during the third inning. Pastushenko scored what turned out to be his team's last run of the season when Paul Jess singled.

Lyle DeBoer worked the first three and one-third innings and took the pitching loss for H-BC-E. Top finished the game on the mound.

By John Rittenhouse
Nineteen Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth athletes qualified for section competition during the Sub-Section 10A Track and Field Championships in Pipestone Thursday.

Ten Patriot boys and nine girls accomplished the feat of placing in the top four during individual or relay events at the sub-section meet, which is what needs to be done to advance to the sectional.

The Section 3A meet will be staged in Benson today. Meet time is 4 p.m.

H-BC-E's boys placed second in the sub-section in team competition for the third straight year. The Patriots scored 135.5 points, finishing behind champion Luverne (176).

The Patriot girls tallied 119.5 points to place third in a six-team field.

"This definitely was a very good meet for us," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "Whenever we perform well as a team at this meet it's a bonus."

H-BC-E will be sending three boys to the section meet as sub-section champions.

Chris Fransman cleared 6-0 to win the high jump competition in Pipestone, and Chris Willers ran 400 meters in 52.9 to take top honors in that event.

Brad Haak, who placed fourth in the high jump by clearing 5-6, won the 800-meter run in 2:05.58.

The three champions also helped form section-qualifying relay teams for H-BC-E.

Haak and Willers teamed up with Lee Walraven and Lee Jackson to place second in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:40.71.

Haak, Fransman, Walraven and Chris Reid finished third in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:37.33, and the 400-meter squad of Reid, Jesse Leuthold, Lyle DeBoer and Fransman placed third in 47.67.

Willers, Tyler Bush, Matt Buck and Jackson placed fourth in the 3,200-meter relay in 9:01.55.

Reid had a good day individually for H-BC-E, placing second in the 100-meter dash (11.66) and third in the long jump (19-11 1/2).

DeBoer placed third in a pair of events, clearing 5-8 in the high jump and covering 38-9 3/4 in the triple jump.

Walraven and Bush placed third in the 200-meter dash and 3,200-meter run with respective 25.47 and 11:27 efforts.

Leuthold and Clint Roozenboom qualified for the section meet by placing fourth in individual events.

Leuthold ran 100 meters in 12.37. Roozenboom tied for fourth place by clearing 8-6 in the pole vault.

The Patriot girls will send a pair of individual sub-section champions to Benson.

Erin Boeve, who placed third in the long jump (16-2 1/2) and fourth in the 200 (29.39), won the 100 in 13.56.

Bev Wurpts won a sub-section title by running 1,600 meters in 5:47.13.

Wurpts and Boeve also were members of a pair of section-qualifying relay teams for H-BC-E.

Wurpts, Janelle Jenniges, Brittney Olson and Brittney Rozeboom placed second in the 3,200-meter relay in 10:39.49, and Wurpts, Jenniges, Cassi and Shanna Tilstra placed third in the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 4:24.67.

Boeve, the Tilstras and LaDonna Sandstede placed fourth in the 800-meter relay with a time of 1:55.81.

The Tilstras and Patriot Connie Lewis just missed winning sub-section titles while placing second in individual events.

Lewis covered 30-8 1/2 in the triple jump, and Cassi Tilstra ran 400 meters in 1:07.28.

Shanna Tilstra, who cleared 4-6 in the high jump to place third, was second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:37.95.

Jenniges and Olson also qualified for section competition as individuals.

Jenniges cleared 6-6 in the pole vault, and Olson ran 400 meters in 1:09.29.

Here is a look at the team standings and the rest of H-BC-EÕs top eight finishers from the sub-section meet.

Boys' standings: Luverne 176, H-BC-E 135.5, Southwest Christian 123, Pipestone-Jasper 108.5, Murray County Central 100, Edgerton 33.

Girls' standings: Luverne 177.5, P-J 138, Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth 119.5, Murray County Central 107, Edgerton 65, Southwest Christian 54.

H-BC-E boys
Fifth place: Buck, 35-3, triple jump.
Sixth place: Jackson, 1,600, 5:12.57.
Seventh place: Buck, shot, 35-0 1/2; Fransman, long jump, 18-4; DeBoer, 110 hurdles, 19.71; Kevin Van Batavia, 1,600, 5:20.74; Bush, 400, 58.67; Nathan Fick, 3,200, 11:46.95.
Eighth place: Leuthold, discus, 93-5; Bush, triple jump, 30-11; Willers, shot, 35-0; Roozenboom, 300 hurdles, 50.02; Leuthold, 200, 25.95; Buck, 3,200, 11:49.65.

H-BC-E girls
Fifth place: Jenniges, 800, 2:44.13; Sandstede, 200, 30.11; 400 relay (Sandstede, Olson, Lewis and Melinda Feucht). 57.18.
Sixth place: Lewis, long jump, 30-4; Feucht, 110 hurdles, 19.73; Brittney Rozeboom, 3,200, 14:31.6.
Seventh place: B.Rozeboom, triple jump, 28-2; Sarah Rozeboom, 110 hurdles, 19.8; Kelsey Hansel, 400, 1:13.91.
Eighth place: Lewis, shot, 30-4; Feucht, 300 hurdles, 57.71; Stacy Bush, 3,200, 15:25.77.

By Jolene Farley
Investors in a proposed golfing facility near Beaver Creek expect to hear about financing for the project by the end of next week.

"From all angles so far it looks good," said investor Mike Blank.

Things will happen fairly quickly after that, according to Blank. Eighty-six acres of land will be purchased for the development. Dirt work is scheduled to begin in early June.

Plans include a 7,000-square-foot entertainment facility including a restaurant, bar and banquet hall. Thirty-four lots, surrounding a nine-hole golf course, will be available for new home construction.

Seven lots are sold, and the remaining 23 are listed with a Sioux Falls Realtor.

Blank says approximately 35 individuals are interested in lifetime memberships. However, none has been sold to date. The lifetime memberships cost $4,000, and that includes the children until they are 21.

Investors Mike Blank, Rodney Scholten, Leonard Scholten and Tim Lange are not relying on membership sales to finance the initial project.

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne girls' track team captured its fourth consecutive Sub-Section 10A team championship during the annual post-season meet staged in Pipestone Thursday.

Luverne racked up 177.5 points to race past second-place Pipestone-Jasper, which tallied 138 points.

Considering the fact Craig Nelson didn't think LHS was the favorite to win the meet, the Cardinal coach was a happy man after the meet.

"We didn't go to this meet confident that we were going to win it," Nelson said. "The girls rose to the challenge and performed very well. We're equally excited about having 17 girls qualify for the section meet. That's very good representation for our team.Õ

The top four individuals and relay teams qualify for section competition during the sub-section meet.

The Section 3A meet will be staged in Benson today. Meet time is 4 p.m.

Luverne will be led in Benson by three individual sub-section champions and one champion relay team.

Jenni Christensen and Sadie and Hannah Dietrich won the 200-meter dash, 400-meter dash and 800-meter runs with respective 27.89, 1:06.07 and 2:29.78 times.

The Dietrichs also were members of Luverne's 3,200-meter relay, which won a sub-section crown with a time of 10:19.74. Patricia Willers and Victoria Arends are other members of the team.

Luverne's 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays earned trips to Benson by placing second at the sub-section level.

Callen Bosshart, Nicole Willers, Maggie Vanden Hoek and Amanda Dooyema ran 400 meters in 55.76, Bosshart, Danielle Cook, Vanden Hoek and Christensen teamed up for a time of 1:55.15 in the 800, and Dooyema, Christensen and the Dietrichs ran 1,600 meters in 4:21.52.

Cook, Tracey Scheidt, Amanda Aning and Serena Franken will compete in Benson after placing second in individual events Thursday.

Cook, who was third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 51.86, was second in the 100-meter dash in 13.59.

Aning, who cleared 4-6 to place third in the high jump, came in second after clearing 9-6 in the pole vault.

Scheidt cleared the 100-meter hurdles in 17.62 to place second, and Franken was second in the discus with a toss of 90-8.

Bosshart, Arends, Nicole Cronquist and Adria Sherwood placed third in individual events to advance to the section meet.

Bosshart, Arends and Cronquist ran 200, 1,600 and 3,200 meters in respective 29.35, 5:52.5 and 13:44.07 times.

Sherwood whipped her discus 89-10 to place third.

Andrea Drost, Patricia Willers and Cassie Pap round out Luverne's section-qualifiers.

Drost placed fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:42.97, Willers was fourth in the 300 hurdles in 52.33, and Pap placed fourth in the triple jump with a distance of 29-0.

Here is a look at the team standings and the rest of LuverneÕs top eight finishers from the sub-section meet.

Girls' standings: Luverne 177.5, P-J 138, Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth 119.5, Murray County Central 107, Edgerton 65, Southwest Christian 54.

Fifth place: Abby Klosterbuer, 400, 1:09.59; Scheidt, 300 hurdles, 53.27; Allana Gacke, pole vault, 6-6; Marissa Stewart, shot, 31-4 3/4.

Sixth place: Dooyema, triple jump, 28-9 1/2.

Seventh place: N.Willers, 100, 14.23; Chelsea Park, 1,600, 6:59.08; Maggie Kuhlman, 3,200, 15:08.9; Pap, long jump, 14-0 1/4.

Eighth place: Gacke, triple jump, 27-7; Jessica Willers, 100 hurdles, 19.92; Kuhlman, 400, 1:14.56; Christina Smidstra, 100, 14.28.

Kristin Anderson and her 2-year-old son, Robert Hawley, stroll through Maplewood Cemetery Monday after visiting the graves of her grandparents, Elmer and Esther Anderson, and her friend, Corrine Skyberg. Anderson was among many local residents and visitors to stop at area cemeteries for Memorial Day, which saw beautiful weather conditions.