By John Rittenhouse
Proven talent and solid rosters have Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth golf coach Tim Lange feeling optimistic about the 2001 campaign.

Lange, who is heading the program for the second straight year, likes what he sees on both sides of the ledger.

With 14 boys, including three letter winners and a pair of section qualifiers from the 2000 season back with the team, the Patriot coach expects improved team play.

Ten athletes, including three returning letter winners, have been preparing for the season on the girls' side of the roster.

With a nice blend of experience and potential, both H-BC-E teams could surprise some opponents this spring.

"What is nice about both teams is we're dealing with younger kids who will be around for a while," Lange said. "There are seven seniors overall, but most of the these kids are freshmen and sophomores."

Lange feels especially good about H-BC-E's boys' chances this season.

The Patriots are coming off a 3-8 2000 season that didn’t end with a seventh-place finish as a team during the Sub-Section 10 Tournament in late May.

For the first time in program history, two boys advanced to the Section 3A Tournament individually last spring.
"'I'm really excited about this group of boys," Lange said. "We've got some good scorers coming back, and we've got depth. I think we definitely can improve over last year’s 3-8 season."

H-BC-E’s 14-player boys' roster consists of two seniors, six sophomores and six freshmen.

Missing from the mix are Nic Walraven, Nick Wassenaar and Matt Feucht, who were the senior members of the 2000 team.

Walraven and Wassenaar lettered for the Patriots last season and were members of H-BC-E's sub-section squad. Feucht missed most of the campaign due to injury.

Three returning letter winners, including two section qualifiers, are expected to form the nucleus of the 2001 squad.

Senior Dean Moss and sophomore Blake Brommer are the players with section exposure.

Moss tied for third individual qualifying position at the sub-section tournament as a junior and went on to shoot a 96 at the section meet.

Brommer was involved in a deadlock for the fifth and final qualifying spot for the section tournament during sub-section play. He won a one-hole playoff to advance to the section event, where he shot a 99.

Rounding out the returning letter winners from 2000 is freshman Tom Janssen. Janssen turned in his team's third lowest score during the sub-section meet.

Seven more Patriots senior Josh Bosch, were members of the program last season and are back in the ranks.

Sophomores Clint Roozenboom, Dustin Bonnema and Kyle Sammons return to the team, as do freshmen Adam Lange, Jared Herman, Tyler Elbers and Jordan Scott.

Four first-year players cap the roster.

Senior Tom Beener, sophomores Aaron Blank and Brant Deutsch, and freshman Ryan Ranschau round out the list.

"Moss should give us some good rounds this year, along with Tom (Janssen) and Blake (Brommer). Then we have guys like Clint (Roozenboom), Jordan (Scott), Kyle (Sammons) and Adam (Lange) who show good potential. I haven't had the chance to take a good look at the guys like Brant Deutsch, Tom Beener and Ryan Ranschau, but they seem to have solid swings. Once we get outside and are able to practice, we should be OK," Lange offered.

The Patriot girls will not be as experienced as the boys this spring, but their coach is optimistic about the team.

H-BC-E's 10-player roster consists of three seniors, one junior, three sophomores, one freshman and two eighth-graders. However, seven of the 11 athletes are first-year performers.

Like the boys, H-BC-E's girls lost three seniors to graduation from a team that went 1-12 and placed seventh in the sub-section meet last spring.

Becky Mulder and Kristy DeBoer were seniors who produced the team’s third and fourth lowest scores respectively during last year’s sub-section competition.

Valerie Roozenboom was a senior who didn't complete the season with the team.

The good news is three younger Patriots are returning as letter winners, which is something that could help the program now and in the future.

"We have a lot of potential," Lange said. "The returning ninth- and 10th-graders show a lot of promise. They really picked up their games at the end of last season, and I think they'll come around even more this year."

Sophomores Melissa Fagerness and Jessica Martens and freshman Jessica Wassenaar are H-BC-E's returning letter winners.

Martens and Fagerness turned in the team's No. 1 and No. 2 lowest scores during the sub-section event.

Wassenaar also was a member of the sub-section team.

With the exception of senior Kari Jansma, who is a veteran member of the program, the balance of the roster is made up of first-time golfers.

Seniors Jamie Arp and Rachael DeHaan and junior Becky Broesder top the list.

Sophomore Jody Rentschler, and eighth-graders Marla Groen and Ashley Buck cap the roster.

Lange plans to field varsity and B squad teams for each meet this season. The returning letter winners are the leading candidates to play varsity golf. The remaining varsity positions are up for grabs.

"We have some girls who show a lot of promise, and there is some scoring potential here. Hopefully, we can get the new gals to grow to love the game. I think they will come around in their own time," Lange concluded.

Chad and Jason Rauk grabbed the reins of Rauk's Convenience Store in September 2000, making them the fourth generation of Rauks in the business.

Chad and Jason purchased the business from their uncle, Ron Rauk, who built the current building on the edge of Beaver Creek in 1995.

Rauk's long history began in 1917, when Ron's grandfather, A.J. Rauk, opened general stores in Beaver Creek, Hardwick, Jackson, Woodstock, and Colman, S.D.

Although the stores were lost during the Depression, A.J. Rauk was able to purchase the Beaver Creek store back, and he continued to run the business until he died in 1964.

After A.J.'s death, Ron's father, Edward, immediately stepped in. Edward died in 1969, leaving Ron's mother, Betty, with a business to run and three children still in high school. Ron returned home to help his mother with the store.

Rauk's Convenience Store is still a family affair with an all-Rauk employee line-up of Jason and Chad, Ron and his wife, Marlys, and Jason and ChadÕs mother, Mary.

Rauk's offers all types of convenience items. At noon they serve hot dogs, brats and a featured hot sandwich. During winter months, soups and hot dishes are also served. During the summer, subs and carry-out pizza are added to the menu.

For added convenience, Rauk's also offers a propane exchange and Buhl's Dry Cleaning Service.

The best part of the business is meeting people, according to Chad Rauk. He has been associated with Rauk's, first downtown, then in the current location, since high school and said it is "kind of second nature."

"The majority of the people coming through the door you know," he said. "We've grown up in this town, and we know the majority of the people we are doing business with. It is a good feeling that we can provide a service for the community."

The busiest period for Rauk's is April through August. Ballgames and traffic off the interstate increase summer business, according to Chad Rauk.

In the future, Chad and Jason hope to update their pumps so gas can be purchased 24 hours a day by credit card. A car wash is another project in the planning stage.

Rauk's Convenience Store is open Monday through Friday 6:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday 7 to 9 p.m.; and Sunday 8 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Chad and his wife, Tami, and Jason all live in Beaver Creek. Jason is also head custodian at Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary School.

By Jolene Farley
At a Monday evening meeting the Hills-Beaver Creek Board of Education accepted the resignation of elementary principal Kim Grengs effective June 30, 2001.

Grengs has been employed at Hills-Beaver Creek since mid-August of last year, according to Tom Knoll.

Grengs and her family are returning to Farmington where Kim taught fifth grade before accepting the job in the Hills-Beaver Creek district.

In other board business:
oGrengs shared data compiled on the current kindergarten class.

The class went from three out of 19 knowing letter sounds at the beginning of the year to all students knowing letter sounds. "I am excited to have them take their assessment this spring," said Grengs. She attributes the improvement to the all day class schedule.

oFifteen families attended Kindergarten Round-up and 81 percent of the children attending beginning kindergarten next fall are currently enrolled in Little Patriot Academy.

oSuperintendent Knoll advised the board that lightning rods should be added to the elementary building. The school took another hit this spring, according to Knoll.

oThe April 23 School Board meeting was canceled.

By Jolene Farley
The city of Steen has filed an application with United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development for financial assistance with the intent of building another wastewater treatment pond.

Steen currently has two ponds located southwest of town with 14,000 gallons capacity in each pond. The new pond the city hopes to construct will hold 27,000 gallons of wastewater, according to Steen Mayor Melvin Van Batavia.

Steen would continue to use the two original ponds even after construction of the new pond, almost doubling wastewater capacity.

"Twenty years ago Steen was all retired people," said Van Batavia. "Now with more families we are using more water."

The first step toward acquiring funds from Rural Development is ordering a preliminary estimate of the work to be done and coming up with a preliminary plan. The Steen City Council retained the services of the engineering firm Mateffy Inc., Minneapolis, for this job.

The city is hoping Rural Development will award half of the $294,000 price tag of the project in a grant and will loan the balance of the cost of the project at 4.5 percent interest.

Interest rates on Rural Development loans are based on ability to pay. Consequently Steen could be forced to pay a higher interest rate because the city has little debt.

Sewer rates on the 74 hookups in Steen could be raised an additional $10 to defray the cost of the loan, according to Van Batavia.

He stressed there are many steps in the funding process. Construction of the pond could be at least two or more years away.

After an environmental assessment is done, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency must approve the plan.

After MPCA approval and several other steps, Steen will be placed on a waiting list. Allocation of money could change subject to the dollars given to the program by the Minnesota State Legislature.

Cities higher up the waiting list using more funds than anticipated could force an even longer wait.

In the meantime, the city is unable to comply with the MPCA regulation of discharging only six inches a day of wastewater after April 15 for 60 days and again after Sept. 15 for 60 days.

"If we did that we would never get caught up," said Van Batavia. "The ponds would overflow."

Steen began pumping April 11, about two weeks before the regulation specifies with permission of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency.

An Easter Egg Hunt was held at Tuff Memorial Home on Saturday, April 14, for kids of all ages. Kids were divided into three age categories before combing the grounds for candy. Parents and kids were served cookies and juice while they waited their turn. (Above) A clown paints the face of Mallory Edwards, while she waits to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt. For more photos, see page three of the Crescent.

Photo by Jolene Farley

By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne girls' golf team posted an important win to open the season Tuesday.

Hosting Worthington in a Southwest Conference match at the Luverne Country Club, the Cardinals made a statement by beating the defending league champions.

Trojan standout Ingrid Rickers shot a medal-earning round of 39 strokes, but it wasn't enough to keep LHS from posting a 197-209 victory.

Melissa Kopp led the 1-0 Cardinals with an 11-over-par 47.

Gabe Van Dyk and Amber Top shot 49s and Cara Wynia added a 52 to Luverne's winning team tally.

Kim Bennett and Emily Oksness shot 52s without influencing the scoring.

The Cardinal B squad opened the season with a 224-274 win. Trisha Gonnerman and Sandy Gertz shot 55s for Luverne.

Luverne, which played a makeup match in Adrian Wednesday, hosts Tracy-Milroy and Pipestone-Jasper today and Tuesday respectively. The Cardinals play in Westbrook tomorrow and in Windom Monday.

By Sara Quam
The Luverne City Council met Tuesday night with the Planning Commission to review the 1994 Comprehensive Plan.

The purpose of the session was to determine if the document needed tweaking, an overhaul or neither.

"Is this or is this not a sound document?" City Administrator Matt Hylen said in introduction to the group.

Ultimately, the bodies informally said they thought the concepts of the plan were valid and that new statistical data should be updated by city staff.

"I don't think our goals have changed in seven years," Councilman David Hauge said.

Councilman Jim Kirchhofer said, "I think it speaks to the current situations."

Council and planning commission members paged through the report and discussed various topics that might need revisiting for the city's changing needs. Housing and economic development, as usual, were the main topics of conversation.

Luverne Economic Development Director Tony Chladek said, "We need to put on our trend glasses and see what's going on here and around the state. We need to step back and look at what the trends are saying to us, and then we can refocus on the Comprehensive Plan."

Chladek said that cities are getting more involved in housing and economic development than ever before.

Luverne has been aggressive in both but hasn’t always met with total approval from citizens who would like to see more private control and investing.

Luverne has built homes that were all sold. The theory of building these homes, using local contractors and supplies, was to create housing for some families to "move up" into.

By moving to higher-cost homes, their homes were freed up for others who couldn't afford as high a price or a newly built home.

The city hasn't made definite plans to repeat what it did before in building homes.

Zoning issues
Curt Gacke from the Planning Commission said he wondered where some new businesses could operate based on current zones and building availability.

"If a credit card company wanted to come to town, where would it locate?" he said.

It wouldn't fit into an industrial zone and couldn;t find adequate space in most downtown buildings.

Ideal locations for those types of businesses are specifically mentioned in the Comprehensive Plan as "protected areas" similar to Tri-State Insurance Company's location.

Attractive, out-of-the-way properties are usually highly regarded in insurance, information and real estate companies.

Mayor Glen Gust said zoning limits the city's potential for growth in some areas. The Comprehensive Plan refers to continuing growth on Highway 75.

Gust said, "Why limit yourself to Highway 75 south of the lights?"

He said that north of the stoplights is still a main corridor of town and should be allowed to be developed as such.

Hauge added to the zoning discussion. "We need to also look at preservation of assets. And not all assets we have are economic."

He said he knows the older, well-maintained homes on North 75 make a good impression on travelers, and that is a different kind of asset to Luverne.

The group said it would like to continue to market Luverne as a small town with a lot to offer.

The nice homes, well-maintained city, good school, hospital, high-tech infrastructure and recreation are all selling points to future businesses and families.

Vocalists achieving superior ratings at the Solo-Ensemble Contest April 9 are (front row, from left) Katie Jauert, Melissa Boeve, Laura Vogt, Dan Antoine, Emily Brandel and Brent Van Aartsen. Second row: Trevor Maine, Colby Anderson, Cara Wynia, Kim Thompson and Kyle Bitterman. Back row: Isaac Schmidt, Allana Gacke, Ashley Gacke, Darren Fransen, Justin Van Wyhe and Tim Boen.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne High School students competed in the solo/ensemble contest on Monday April 9, in Fulda. Eight schools participated including Luverne.

Choir
The following individuals received superior ratings on their vocal solo: Colby Anderson, Dan Antoine, Kyle Bitterman, Tim Boen, Melissa Boeve, Emily Brandel, Darren Fransen, Allana Gacke, Ashley and Allana Gacke (vocal duet), Katie Jauert, Trevor Maine, Isaac Schmidt, Kim Thompson, Brent Van Aartsen, Justin Van Wyhe, Laura Vogt and Cara Wynia.

The following individuals received excellent ratings on their solo: Daniel Amborn, Amanda Berghorst, Callen Bosshart, Hannah Breyfogle, Angie Cleveringa, Danielle Deragisch, Katie Kannenberg, Julia Lovett, Sonya Miller, Alisha Moeller, Jordan Papik, Alyssa Radisewitz, Leah Radisewitz, Morgan Rider, Joe Schomacker, Chris Thacker, Ruby Vanden Hoek, Jesson Vogt, Dan Voigt, Amanda Ward.

The following individuals received good ratings on their vocal solo: Sarah Lange and Jennifer Lovett.

Band
Students receiving superior ratings are:
Flute: Mary Brandel (perfect score), Cara Wynia, Rachel Tofteland and Nicole Fuerstenberg.
Clarinet: Emily Brandel (perfect score), Melissa Oeding, Morgan Rider, Susan Richters and Jocelyn Alschlager.
Alto sax: Isaac Schmidt, Patricia Willers, Alisha Moeller and Elizabeth Ennenga.
Trumpet: Dan Voigt, Megan Knips, Tom Sandager, Jordan Papik and Tom Bouwman.
Horn: Kendra Essman.
Trombone: Dan Antoine and Scott Boelman.
Multiple percussion: Bob Cook.
Woodwind Duet: Mary and Emily Brandel (perfect score).
Flute quintet: Mary Brandel, Nicole Fuerstenberg, Rachel Tofteland, Cara Wynia and Laura Vogt (perfect score).
Percussion ensemble: Bob Cook, Will Weber, Andrea Boler, Lexi Jauert, Becky Goehle, Chelsea Cronin, Becky Antoine, Chris Cook, Lindsey Van De Berg, Colby Anderson, Andy Stegemann and Nic Uilk.
Percussion ensemble: Tyler Scheidt, Ryan Goebel, Aaron Schmidt, Bob Cook, Will Weber, Lindsey Van De Berg, Lexi Jauert, Becky Antoine, Colby Anderson, Chris Cook, Andy Stegemann, Nic Uilk and Andrea Boler.
Those receiving excellent ratings are:
Flute: Becky Goehle and Kristin Miller.
Clarinet: Kristi Oeding.
Trumpet: Jessica Jessen.
Trombone: Tim Boen.
Trombone Trio: Scott Boelman, Tim Boen and Chris Vickery.

Instrumentalists achieving superior ratings at the Solo-Ensemble Contest April 9 are (front row, from left) Chris Cook, Tyler Scheidt, Ryan Goebel, Bobby Cook, Will Weber, Aaron Schmidt, Nic Uilk, Lexi Jauert, Jordan Papik. Second row: Kendra Essman, Elizabeth Ennenga, Lindsey Van De Berg, Andrea Boler, Nicole Fuerstenberg, Laura Vogt, Dan Antoine and Dan Voigt. Third row: Rachel Tofteland, Megan Knips, Isaac Schmidt, Becky Antoine, Becky Goehle, Colby Anderson, Andy Stegemann, Mary Brandel, Alisha Moeller and Emily Brandel. Back row: Morgan Rider, Susan Richters, Tom Bouwman, Tom Sandager, Scott Boelman, Patricia Willers, Cara Wynia, Jocelyn Alschlager and Melissa Oeding. Not pictured is Chelsea Cronin.