By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track teams made there debut as a program during the Class B Version of the Dan Lennon Invitational at the Dakota Dome in Vermillion, S.D., Tuesday.

After competing against each other for years in the Tri-County Conference, H-BC and Ellsworth have joined forces in track for the first time.

Considering Tuesday's results, which featured H-BC-E racking up a combined nine top 10 performances at a meet that attracts 1,315 athletes, the sharing agreement will be a success.

"We had a great showing," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "All the relays at this meet had 50 or more teams, and there were between 60 to 80 kids in each running event. Considering we’ve only had a little more than one week of practice, we had a great meet."

Brad Haak came up with the top individual performance for H-BC-E. A two-time state qualifier for H-BC, Haak got off to a strong start this season by winning the 800-meter run with a time of 2:05.6.

Haak also was a member of H-BC-E's medley and 800-meter relays, which placed second and third with respective 3:50.21 and 1:39.59 times.

Chris Reed, Chris Fransman and Chris Willers ran with Haak in both relays.

Fransman and Willers came up with seventh-place performances individually.

Fransman cleared 5-10 in the high jump. Willers ran 400 meters in 55.24.

The Patriot girls secured four top 10 performances during the opening meet.

Cassi Tilstra and Janelle Jenniges came up with the top individual efforts for H-BC-E.

Tilstra finished sixth in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:06.99. Jenniges ran 1,600 meters in 6:00.62 to place sixth.

Erin Boeve and Brittney Olson placed ninth in individual events.

Boeve covered 14-10 1/2 in the long jump. Olson ran 800 meters in 2:43.31.

By John Rittenhouse
Two Hills-Beaver Creek players were selected to the 2001-All-Tri-County Conference Boys' Basketball Team last week.

The league officially disbanded at the end of the regular season, so Patriots Lance Crawford and Matt Buck will be the last H-BC players to grace an All-T-CC roster.

Crawford, a senior, and Buck, a junior, both are posts.

The All-T-CC Team consisted of 10 players.

Conference champion Southwest Christian and runner-up Edgerton shared the other eight positions on the roster.

Eagle seniors Reed Mesman, Kyle Van Dyke and Justin Snyder and junior Jeff Schaap made the roster.

Edgerton seniors Jeff Evink, Jonny Kooiman and Eric Elgersma and sophomore Zach Hadler represent the Flying Dutchmen on the team.

Five more players drew honorable mention from the league's coaches.

Southwest Christian seniors Tony Schnyders and Nick Bork and junior Daniel DeWitt, and Edgerton senior Chase Schelhaas, and Ellsworth senior Dean Moss were so honored.

By John Rittenhouse
Three Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots graced the roster of the 2001 All-Tri-County Conference Girls' Basketball Team.

H-BC, which placed third in the final season of the league, claimed three of the 10 all-conference positions when the list was released last week.

Senior wing Shanna Tilstra, junior guard Becky Broesder and freshman post Erin Boeve are the Patriots who made the squad.

H-BC gained more all-conference selections than Ellsworth, a team that finished ahead of the Patriots in the league standings.

Ellsworth is represented by seniors Connie Lewis and Holly Timmer.

League champion Southwest Christian drew five selections to the All-T-CC Team.

Seniors Lesa Holleman, Renita Buys and Tosha Top and junior Christa Kuipers made the team for the E-Gals.

Edgerton junior Angela Hulstein caps the 10-player roster.

Ellsworth and Faith Christian players secured four of five honorable mention selections to the All-T-CC Team.

Ellsworth senior Janelle Jenniges and sophomore Jenna Groen were so honored, as were FC juniors Annette Bosma and Andrea Teerink.

Southwest Christian junior Brigette Schelhaas also drew honorable mention.

By Lori Ehde
This year's ninth-graders are the first Luverne High School students who will have to meet all 24 of the state's graduation requirements to get their diplomas.

During his report on staffing needs, Luverne High School Principal Gary Fisher told School Board members the new requirements are creating scheduling challenges.

"For some kids, study halls will be a thing of the past," Fisher said.

He said the push to improve high school science and math standards is shifting a disproportionate number of students from other elective courses to the required ones.

"They not only have to prepare for life after high school, but they have to meet standards the state says they have to meet," Fisher said.

"I'm real concerned about our elective areas. I feel like we're getting tunneled in, and not giving them a chance to explore their options."

Fisher said he agrees with the concept of improving math and science skills, but he said the tight schedules force students to choose career paths early on.

He used the example of a student who planned to go to a four-year college, then dabbled in graphic arts and decided instead to go to a two-year college.

"I just think they need to be able to explore their options," Fisher said.

Heating, cooling and ventilation bids
In other business Thursday, the board accepted bids on the upcoming heating, cooling and ventilation project in the high school-middle school.

Bids came in on March 13, and the low bid was submitted by Midwestern Mechanical, Sioux Falls, for $932,400. That amount doesnÕt include $69,500 for work in the cafeteria kitchen.

The work, to be done this summer, will include a new heating, cooling and ventilation system and upgrades to the 50-year-old electrical service.

At the same time, lighting and ceiling panels will be replaced in first-floor corridors.

District bills
The board reviewed bills for the month. According to district financial officer Marlene Mann the bills totaled $917,000 for the month.

Of that total, $632,000 goes for payroll.

Mann said fuel costs remain high. It cost $26,786 to heat the school this month, which is twice what it cost last year at this time.

In related fuel costs, it takes $5,000 to run the buses for one month.

In other business, the board:
oDecided to schedule a meeting with area schools to discuss annual pairing and sharing agreements.
oHired Amanda Fongemie as a part-time management assistant for Discovery Time.
oHired spring coaches. Amber Mollberg will be assistant track coach at $1,787, Todd Oye will coach seventh-grade softball for $951, Wade Hiller will coach seventh-grade baseball for $951, and Joe Roberts will coach eighth-grade baseball for $951.
oApproved a leave of absence for Deb Vogt to chaperone the Luverne choir trip to New York. She will take one personal day and three days unpaid. The leave was approved based on finding a suitable substitute for family science.

oTabled action on a hockey request to discuss family passes.

Lou and Eleanor Sargent, Luverne, take Dr. Nate Rud's dog, Micah, for a walk Monday afternoon along Highway 75. The weather hasn't been spring-like necessarily, but above-freezing temperatures are slowly clearing sidewalks of ice and snow, making scenes like this one more common in the area.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By Sara Quam
Census 2000 tallies leave Rock County - like most others in southwest Minnesota - with fewer people than 10 years ago.

The county's final count was 9,721. That's 85 fewer than the 1990 census. The population is largely an adult one, too, with 7,163 ages 18 and older.

Luverne is still the largest city in the county with 4,617, up 5.36 percent from 1990.

Luverne's population was one of a few bright spots in the census. Steen, Magnolia and Beaver Creek were other Rock County towns experiencing a plus rather than minus in their populations.

Most of Rock County felt a population dip in either 2000 or 1990. Steen, however, holds the honor of being the only town to steadily increase its population since 1980: going from 153 to 176 in 1990 and to 182 in 2000.

Marlin Elbers, Steen councilman, joked that the city will have even more bragging rights if its population reaches the 200 mark.

"It's just a nice little town to live in. The last number of years there's been more families coming and going. IÕve lived in Steen all my life, and there are some people I donÕt know," Elbers said.

He guessed that some people find less-expensive housing and the strong church good reasons to move to Steen. The proximity to Sioux Falls and Luverne are also positives for the small community.

Overall, Minnesota's population rose by 12.4 percent during the decade to 4,919,479. The largest growth occurred in the suburbs around the Twin Cities, taking up almost 45 percent of the state's entire population.

Rock County is still a homogeneous corner of the state, with 97 percent of the population being white. Statewide, the number of minority citizens doubled, rising to 582,336 or 11.8 percent.

A population plus in Luverne
Considering that Luverne lost a few businesses during the '90s, gaining 235 people is a good sign. But better signs are found across the border in South Dakota, where Brandon, for instance, grew by the thousands instead of hundreds.

Luverne Mayor Glen Gust said the news for Luverne is good, but he's not ready to celebrate just yet. He said creating job opportunities will make the city even better by the next census.

"By creating jobs, you bring people to town, and it trickles down through the community to places like retail," Gust said.

He said he's hopeful because Luverne grew more than most neighboring cities its size.

Luverne Chamber Director Dave Smith would like to see countywide growth as well as continued growth in Luverne.

"I think the interesting thing for us was the growth of Luverne over Pipestone," Smith said.

Pipestone has steadily had a greater population than Luverne, but this census dropped to 4,280, compared with Luverne's 4,617.

The Luverne school system has been a solid draw for many of its residents. Superintendent Vince Schaefer said the population he most watches is for ages 0 to 5, which the district counts itself.

"We'll continue to be a good school academically as well as in the physical plant," Schaefer said. "We can be a good place for children and families in the community as well as for businesses."

Holly Mulder finishes up a floral wreath for her door. Mulder enjoys tailoring her creations to match any dŽcor.

By Jolene Farley
With prom and Mother's Day around the corner, it is time for a visit to Holly Mulder's Country Flowers and Crafts.

Country Flowers and Crafts, located two miles east and one and three-quarters miles south of Hills, opened in December 1995. Mulder had just completed floral arranging courses at Southeast Technical Institute in Sioux Falls, and she said everything just fell into place.

A friend of Mulder's knew of a cooler for sale and Mulder had previously purchased a counter and air conditioner on an auction. So Mulder and her husband, Dennis, began converting a single car garage on their farm place into Country Flowers and Crafts.

Country Flowers offers real or silk floral arrangements for weddings, funerals, or any special occasion.

They also sell balloons, which according to Mulder are the most popular with the high school students, and stock candles. They experiment with items to see what works and what doesn't.

Mulder creates arrangements to match any dŽcor. Her goal is to make affordable arrangements that are nice looking. "Our area is fairly conservative," said Mulder. "So I know if I do that customers will come back."

Mother's Day and Christmas are usually the busiest for Country Flowers and Crafts. Mulder says if someone misses Valentine's Day they usually let it slide, but they are more conscientious about Mother's Day and Christmas.

The most practical flowers customers order are carnations and mums because they last the longest. But Mulder really enjoys roses. "They are so different," she said. "There are so many varieties; every flower you get is different."

The most unusual arrangement Mulder created was for a 50th wedding anniversary gift. The arrangement contained 50 coins. She said she used a hot glue gun to fasten the coins to wire before arranging them.

Mulder doesn't have set business hours. Country Flowers and Crafts used to be open certain days but someone would usually stop by or call on the days she wasn't supposed to be open. So she remains flexible and plays it by ear. She encourages customers to leave a message on her answering machine if they cannot reach her at 855-2215.

Mulder said the best part of her job is "meeting people and seeing the expression on their face when they get flowers."

Although she runs the bulk of the business alone, Mulder gets help from her husband and four children, Jerry, Randy, Becky and Kelly.

"My whole family has done some deliveries at one time or another," said Mulder. Country Flowers and Crafts will deliver to the Hills, Steen and Beaver Creek areas.

By Jolene Farley
A feather in the cap of Carl Ruud, Blue Ribbon Hatchery started on the Ruud family farm southeast of Hills.

Blue Ribbon eventually moved into Hills and expanded to Luverne, becoming one of the most successful businesses in the area and a major employer.

In the fall of 1934 Ruud moved the hatchery business from his father's farm into Hills and started a partnership with Morton Kolsrud. In 1946 when Kolsrud decided to sell out, Bud Bush decided he wanted in, according to Bush.

Bush had worked at the hatchery during high school until being drafted into the Air Force to serve overseas. He arrived back from active duty and began working at the Hatchery again.

The original hatchery building in Hills was located north of Bethlehem Lutheran Church, according to Bush.

Eggs had to be turned every three hours so a house was soon constructed close to the hatchery building. This house is still standing.

After turning them for 18 days, the eggs were moved to the top of the incubator into hatching trays. Each tray held 200 chicks. On days 20 and 21 workers would break the shells on eggs that were not yet hatched.

After the chicks hatched, they were sexed. The sexers worked for the Hatchery from about January through June and guaranteed a 98% accuracy rate for the sexing of baby chicks. Each chick was picked up and looked at individually to determine whether male or female.

The hatchery started out selling live chicks. Some were sold a day old, others kept until they were more mature. If farmers didnÕt want the chicks until warmer weather the hatchery would house them. Day-old chicks were put on rollers that held 1,000 chicks each and divided for their destinations.

Blue Ribbon Hatchery eventually housed more than 1,000 hens in a laying house on the business property. They supplied eggs for the hatchery, and soon the hatchery began to process eggs.

A 40-by-120-foot underground storage warehouse was built for egg storage. The warehouse, with the help of refrigeration, kept the eggs at the proper temperature until they could be shipped to various destinations.

"We shipped carload after carload to New York," said Bush. "The volume ... it was tremendous," said Bush. "You can't believe the thousands of eggs sold."

When the hatchery outgrew the original building, the business purchased the building next to present-day OrvÕs Station in Hills and installed new Jamesway Incubators that could each handle 100,000 eggs.
The hatcheryÕs egg business kept expanding, and soon it was shipping eggs to Luverne for processing. When a plant came up for sale in Luverne, Blue Ribbon purchased it.

The primary egg market for Blue Ribbon was in New York City, but they also sent eggs to Chicago, Denver and many other destinations.

The hatchery maintained egg buying stations in West Sioux Falls, Parker, Canistota, Salem, DeSmet, Lake Preston, Bushnell, Garretson, S.D., and Jasper.

The eggs would be shipped into Hills or Luverne to be processed, then shipped to the open market, according to Bush.

When the original laying houses couldnÕt produce enough breeding stock, Blue Ribbon contracted with area farmers to raise pedigreed chickens for them. The stock had to be blood-tested and state-banded.

Blue Ribbon eventually diversified into the seed and feed business, farm chemicals, and equipment sales.

They invested in bulk fertilizer trucks and liquid fertilizer tanks to spread fertilizer in the fields. They also purchased Hiboy Spraying equipment to apply chemicals to crops throughout the year. Grinder and mixer trucks were used to grind and mix feed for area livestock.

The Blue Ribbon Hatchery bought the International Harvester building and the Sjoseth Chevrolet building in Hills to house and work on equipment. A large warehouse was also built in northern Hills.

The business also constructed an 80-foot dry storage building on Main Street in Hills for storage of feed and farm chemicals.

By 1967, Ruud wanted to retire and the hatchery business had become increasingly complicated.

Big producers in the southern United States were growing, building bigger and bigger houses, and fewer and fewer farmers in the Hills area raised chickens.

"It used to be you couldn't drive down a road that (each farm) wasn't full of chickens," said Bush. "But the price got so bad everyone discontinued chickens."

All the property, equipment and vehicles the business amassed over the years were sold at auction.

Bush has fond memories of the Hatchery where he worked, then co-owned for 28 years. "It was just my life," said Bush. "I have such great feelings."

By Sara Quam
Census 2000 tallies leave Rock County - like most others in southwest Minnesota - with fewer people than 10 years ago.

The county's final count was 9,721. That's 85 fewer than the 1990 census. The population is largely an adult one, too, with 7,163 ages 18 and older.

Hills ended up with 565 people, down from 607 in 1990; Beaver Creek was up just one person for a final count of 250.

Steen's population was one of a few bright spots in the census. Most of Rock County felt a population dip in either 2000 or 1990. Steen, however, holds the honor of being the only town to steadily increase its population since 1980: going from 153 to 176 in 1990 and to 182 in 2000.

Marlin Elbers, Steen councilman, joked that the city will have even more bragging rights if its population reaches the 200 mark.

"It's just a nice little town to live in. The last number of years there's been more families coming and going. I've lived in Steen all my life, and there are some people I don't know," Elbers said.

He guessed that some people find less-expensive housing and the strong church good reasons to move to Steen. The proximity to Sioux Falls and Luverne are also positives for the small community.

Overall, Minnesota's population rose by 12.4 percent during the decade to 4,919,479. The largest growth occurred in the suburbs around the Twin Cities, taking up almost 45 percent of the state's entire population.

Rock County is still a homogeneous corner of the state, with 97 percent of the population being white. Statewide, the number of minority citizens doubled, rising to 582,336 or 11.8 percent.