Did you hear?

WW II project moving alongWe recently received an e-mail from Megan Horvath, a project coordinator of the upcoming Ken Burns WW II documentary.According to Megan, the production team is in the middle of editing the seven- part PBS series. That process is expected to continue through the end of the year.She also commented that the story of Luverne during the war has come to be a significant element of the film and "… will be brought to life by spectacular archival material from Rock County. From the found reels of amazing home movies that were shot in Luverne and in Kodiak, AK, to the comforting works of Al McIntosh, (which will be read by award winning actor Tom Hanks), Luverne in some ways has been the most archivally rich of our four chosen towns."Megan would like your help in searching for photographs of events from 1930-1945. The following is a complete list:
The local Lutheran Church in Luverne
Private Russell Wilder, who was killed in action in France in late 1944
Mr. and Mrs. Albert Riss from Luverne liberated from Santo Tomas in the Philippines
Springtime in Rock County – people working in their yards, farmers getting into the fields
VE Day in Luverne/Rock County
VJ Day in Luverne/Rock County
Rock County men in uniform
Funeral/Memorial services of Rock County men killed in action
Photographs of the monument which was the
Honor Roll in Luverne
People from Rock County listening to radios
Herman Smook, who was killed in action in France, circa August 1944, his family: father, mother
Concerned-looking women, mothers, families
403 North Kniss Street (Al McIntosh’s house)
503 North Estey Street (Sherman Family)
The Pix and The Palace Theatres, preferably with people outside of them
The Omaha Railroad Bridge
War bond drives in Rock County
Private Charles Mann, from Luverne, was wounded by shrapnel in North Africa, circa May 1943
Snow fall in Luverne on Main Street
Coffee shop in Luverne/Rock County – lots of people inside
Luverne train depot at night (circa April 1944)
General shot of the Luverne train depot – anytime
Photographs of the countryside in Rock County, lilacs and other flowers in full bloom
Lt. John Stavenger and Lt. Howard James- both from Luverne
Photograph of Vernon Fremstand, who worked at Gimm and Byrnes’ Restaurant – also a photograph of the restaurant if possible
Civil Defense Wardens in Rock County
Scrap drives in Rock County
Blue and Gold stars in windows of homes
Kids collecting scrap, tin cans around Rock County
Saving fat
Thanksgiving dinners in Rock County
Maude Jochims with her husband HermanRememer, these photos must have been taken from 1930-1945, so don’t run down and take a picture of the depot this afternoon.Foreign-based scam artists are at it againForeign-based scam artists are hitting U.S. residents again, this time with counterfeit postal money orders, according to Luverne postmaster Chuck Egland.According to U.S. Postal inspectors, the counterfeit money order scam begins when a victim is contacted by someone through an internet chat room or on-line auction site claiming to have financial problems or needing help to cash domestic and/or international postal money orders. They usually claim to be from a foreign county, often Nigeria.What they want from U.S. residents is to cash the money orders and return the funds via wire transfer.U.S. residents are usually lured into the scam when they are told they can keep some of the money as a payment for their help.Victims learn the postal money order is counterfeit only when they attempt to cash it or when their bank accounts take a hit for the full amount when the bank refuses payment on the bogus deposit.The first organ transplant was 50 years agoLast December marked the 50th anniversary of the first successful organ transplant.The organ in question happened to be a kidney and was transplanted in Boston in 1954.Since then, almost every vital organ in the body has been transplanted, including kidneys, hearts, livers, lungs, pancreases and intestines.The list of donor items is now expanding to non-vital body parts including hands, and soon face transplants.Since 1982 over 416,000 people in the United State have received new organs, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.Although not all donating involves the death of the donor, such as partial liver donations, the donor is quite often not able to express his wishes at the time.Which leads me to my question: Are you a donor? And if so, have you made your wishes known to your family, who will ultimately be making that decision?Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com