Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees include Luverne man
The South Dakota Rock and Music Association recently inducted a Luverne man to its 2023 Hall of Fame.
Robert Wratz was a guitarist, lead vocalist and songwriter with the band named Star Child. Wratz and others will be inducted Sept. 30 in Sioux Falls.
Star Child originally began as a three-piece rock band in 1973 and introduced the area to artists such as David Bowie, REO Speedwagon and early Fleetwood Mac.
When the fourth and fifth members were added, the band played hits from Queen, Led Zepplin, Foreigner and Tommy Brolin’s James Gang.
“They were in their own world playing off-the-wall music by artists who were relatively unknown at the time in their rockin’ corner of the Midwest,” wrote the South Dakota Rock and Roll Music Association on its website.
“It was an ambitious and memorable six-year ride that had them holding on to the edge of their respective seats from beginning to end.”
Other band members over the years included Mark Olson (drums), Chuck Salisbury (bass, vocals), Allen Hanson (lead vocals), Clint Kennedy (guitar, vocals, songwriter), and Keith Myhre (guitarist).
Menning pens autobiography
Former Rock County resident and state legislator Marion “Mike” Menning has published an autobiography, “Becoming Ambassadors of Jesus.”
The book chronicles his childhood growing up in a poor dairy family and struggling to graduate from high school. After achieving a college education and starting a business, he served two terms in the late 1970s and early 1980s representing southwest Minnesota in the state Senate.
He then entered full-time ministry for 34 years in the Christian Reformed Church and the CRC World Relief in eastern Europe. He is a former pastor of Mountain Springs Community Christian Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he currently lives.
“Becoming Ambassadors of Jesus” is available on Amazon.
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