The 56th Annual Tri-State Band Festival continued this year with another very successful event. Following last year, this year the weather made up for all that we went through. We could not have asked for a more perfect day! With many new plans in place for arrangements for “stormy” weather, we did not have to implement these and are thankful for that. Every year I am awed by the improvement of the bands that have appeared at Tri-State and thank each and every one of the students, directors, parents and all those who are in any way connected with the bands for the excellent performances both in the parade and in the field competition. Many hours are spent in practice and each performer showed pride in their school and town as they marched in Luverne.The Tri-State Band Festival appreciates each band, its members and staff for participating in this year’s competition. Without all the bands, we would not be able to keep up the tradition for having one of the premier events in Luverne each year.We would also like to recognize Luverne and the surrounding communities for continuing to support the Tri-State Band Festival with the donations and encouragement as we continue the dreams of the founders of the Festival to develop an educational experience for band members and music in general.Equally committed are all the volunteers who make the Tri-State Band Festival the longest-running band festival. As Chair of the Tri-State Band Committee, I would like to recognize the Luverne Chamber staff, the Tri-State Committee, the many volunteers that are recruited each year for the “behind the scenes” jobs, Luverne School District staff, Music Boosters, Law Enforcement, Lions Club, Luverne City staff and everyone who came to the events and encouraged all the band members.With continued community support, the Tri-State Band Festival will continue for many years to come for the enrichment of the musicians, their families and the community.Margaret Cook Chairman, 2006 Tri-State Band Festival Committee

Richard W. Lund, 70, Fairmont, formerly of Valley Springs, S.D., died Friday, Sept. 29, 2006, at his home.Graveside services were Monday, Oct. 9, at Flower Field Cemetery, Hills, with full military honors by the Charles R. Doman American Legion Post 131 of Valley Springs.Richard Wayne Lund was born Nov. 2, 1935, in Sioux Falls, S.D., to Gustav and Mabel (Nelson) Lund. He attended school in Hills and graduated from Hills High School. After graduation he entered the U.S. Air Force in Sioux Falls. He retired after twenty years at the rank of Master Sergeant. He lived in Valley Springs for twenty-eight years and moved to Fairmont in 2004.Mr. Lund enjoyed crossword puzzles and reading.He is survived by one son, Richard (Leonor) Lund, Fairmont; two daughters, Kimberly Kerstanski, Milner, Ga., and Samantha Lund-Hillmer (John Hillmer), Fairmont; three grandchildren, Ryan League, Ian Kerstanski and Wil Hillmer; one brother, Robert Lund, Sioux Falls; two sisters-in-law, Irene Lund and Louise Lund, both of Sioux Falls; and several nieces and nephews.He was preceded in death by his parents, four brothers and two sisters.Memorials are preferred to Sertoma Club’s Hearing Program through local Sertoma Clubs.Zaharia Family Funeral and Cremation Service was in charge of arrangements.Condolences may be shared at www.zahariafamilyfuneral.com

Food for thought: What economic and social impact does the farming community have on the city of Hills? Are we a community or is it the farmers vs. the city?My roots in the Hills community go very deep as my ancestors settled here before there was a city of Hills. They started as farmers and I have continued on with that profession. I am now trying to help my son come home to follow his dream of farming in the Hills area. He served his country in the Marines and will finish his college education in December. My family has proven themselves as good farmers, stewards of the land and supportive community members.I guess these are reasons for the extreme disappointment in the Hills City Council’s decision on September 26 to rescind their original agreement, made on Sept. 13. The agreement was to allow a variance of 250 feet (less than the length of a football field) so that we could build the proposed hog confinement unit close to water, electricity and driveway access as well as using the existing grove for protection and to block the view from the highway. The law allows us to build a mile from the city property line. However, for cost savings, convenience and ascetics, I asked for this small favor.I feel that the decision of the Hills City Council shows the lack of a desire to support business in the Hills rural community. The economic impact could be debated but a farmer’s economic success definitely impacts the city.This hog confinement unit will be sitting a mile west of Hills. There should be little or no odor due to confinement, prevailing winds and plans to use responsible manure application. How much odor does the city of Hills sewage lagoon produce?Mark SandagerHills, MN

The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team remained winless in Red Rock Conference play after dropping a 3-0 decision to Southwest Christian in Edgerton Tuesday.The Patriots played competitive volleyball in two of the three games, but it wasn’t enough to keep the E-Gals from recording a sweep.“We struggled with our serve receive,” said Patriot coach Mandy Kor.“Our communication was a little better, but it wasn’t at a level of where we want it to be.”H-BC played with SWC in Games 1 and 3, when the Patriots lost 25-18 and 25-20 decisions.The E-Gals coasted to a 25-11 victory in Game 2.Chelsi Fink led H-BC with six digs and three kills, while Kaitlyn Bos notched two ace blocks.Kilee Baker served seven points and Amanda Tilstra recorded six set assists for the Patriots.H-BC, 0-15-1 overall, hosts Adrian tonight.

A Luverne High School junior captured a singles title during the Southwest Conference Tennis Tournament played in Pipestone Thursday.Kaitlyn Deragisch posted three consecutive victories to win an individual title at No. 3 singles.Deragisch handed MACCRAY’s Caylee Hagemeyer 6-2 and 6-3 setbacks in the first round before advancing to the finals with 6-4 and 6-1 wins over Marshsll’s Danica Louwagie in the semifinals.The LHS athlete squared off against Redwood Valley’s Beth Maland in the title match, where she fell 7-5 in the first set before bouncing back to secure 6-4 and 6-4 victories in the second and third sets.Luverne’s Alyssa Klein advanced to the championship match at second singles. Klein placed second with a 1-1 record.Samantha Gacke went 2-1 and placed third at first singles, and Tabitha Sanderson placed sixth at fourth singles with an 0-2 mark.Amy Herman and Krista Van Dyk went 1-1 and placed fifth at first doubles, and Whitney Maine and Maleeka Sandager finished fifth at second doubles with a 1-1 mark.Anissa Hanson and Kelby Robinson went 0-2 and placed sixth at third doubles.

The Luverne volleyball team dropped a pair of matches to slip to 4-13-2 for the season.The Cardinals lost a three-game match in Marshall Thursday before falling in four games to Edgerton in Luverne Tuesday.The Cardinals travel to Jackson tonight.EHS 3, Luverne 1The Cardinals made a bid to win their homecoming match against the Flying Dutchmen before coming up short in the end.After the teams split the first two games of the contest, Luverne sported late leads in both Games 3 and 4. Edgerton, however, prevailed in both of the games to claim the victory.Luverne fell behind 6-2 early in Game 1 before battling back to take an 11-9 edge after Erin Hoiland delivered a service point.With the score tied at 12, EHS put together a 13-2 run to secure a 25-14 win in the opener.Luverne led by as many as six points in the early stages of Game 2 before Edgerton tied the game at 12.The Cards moved in front 22-14 with a 10-2 run ending with Hoiland delivering a service point, but the Flying Dutchmen trimmed the difference to three points (23-20) before Meghan Cronberg iced a 25-21 win for the hosts with an ace block.Hoiland served the Cards to a 4-0 lead that swelled to a 10-5 advantage when Kerrie Xaisongkham delivered a service point in Game 3.Edgerton battled back to take a 14-10 lead before the Cards answered with an 11-4 spurt capped by an ace serve from Diana Hanson to move in front 21-18.Edgerton settled the issue with a 7-1 run to capture a 25-22 victory.With the Flying Dutchmen leading 7-6 in Game 4, Luverne used a 9-3 run ending with a kill from Cronberg to gain a 15-10 advantage.The Cards led 19-17 as the game progressed, but Edgerton rallied to score eight of the next 11 points to end the match with a 25-22 victory.Hoiland, Luverne’s leading passer in the match, charted eight digs, eight kills and four ace serves. Lindsey Olson and Rajanee Phommaracksa notched seven digs each, while Dinah Xaphakdy chipped in six digs, two blocks and two ace serves.Crongberg led the Cards with 10 kills. Hilary Hanson charted two kills and two blocks.Marshall 3, Luverne 0The Cardinals remained winless in Southwest Conference play when they dropped a three-game home match to the Tigers Thursday.Marshall coasted to 25-9 and 25-5 wins in the first two games of the match. Luverne put up a better fight in the third game, but the result was the same as MHS notched a 25-17 win.“Marshall is a fantastic team, but we didn’t put up much of a flight .We looked like we were scared,” said Cardinal coach Kristin Schomacker.Hoiland, who Schomacker said played well defensively, charted four kills and two blocks for the Cards.Hanson and Cronberg charted four kills each. Xaphakdy served one ace and registered 12 set assists.

The Adrian volleyball team split matches with a pair of Red Rock Conference foes.The Dragons secured a four-game win over Westbrook-Walnut Grove in Adrian Thursday. Adrian lost a four-game decision to Red Rock Central in Jeffers Tuesday.Adrian, 5-15 overall, plays in Hills tonight.RRC 3, Adrian 1The Dragons drew first blood during Tuesday’s match in Jeffers before dropping three straight games to the Falcons.Adrian grabbed RRC’s attention by handing the hosts a 25-20 setback in the opener.The Falcons bounced back to win the next three tilts by 25-21, 29-27 and 25-17 tallies.“Although we did lose the match, we did a lot of good things,” said AHS coach Mary Jo Graphenteen.“It was a well-played match by both teams, and there were times when we were hitting on all cylinders. We had our chances to win, and being competitive is all I can ask for.”Courtney Thier and Hayley Vaske turned in 24-and 16-dig efforts for AHS, while Katlin Wiertsema registered 15 kills. Megan Graff notched three blocks, Bridgett Block served 15 points and two aces and Kayla Bullerman recorded 23 set assists.Adrian 3, W-WG 1The Dragons registered their second conference win of the season when they bested the Chargers in a four-game match played in Adrian Thursday.AHS secured a 25-16 win in Game 1 before the Chargers knotted the match with a 25-10 victory in the second game. The Dragons settled the issue by posting 25-18 and 25-22 wins in the final two games.“It was a very good match for us,” said AHS coach Graphenteen.“W-WG has a team much like ours, but we were able to get a few more service runs than they did.”Kayla Bullerman charted 14 set assists and six tip kills for the winners. Kelsey Tjepkes, who served 12 points, and Briana Niebuhr had 13 digs each. Block served 13 points and four aces, Jessica Loosbrock served four aces, Vaske charted five kills and two blocks, and Graff and Kelsey Wiertsema chipped in two blocks each.

The Luverne Cardinals threw a wrench into Worthington’s homecoming celebration by thrashing the Trojan football team 32-7 in a Southern Minnesota Alliance contest Friday.In a game between a pair of 2-2 teams entering the contest, Luverne dominated the contest by building a 25-0 lead in the first half that Worthington couldn’t recover from in the second half.“As far as the three aspects of offense, defense and special teams, this was our best game up to this point,” said Cardinal coach Todd Oye.“It was nice to see us put together a complete game.”The Cardinals have displayed improvement on a weekly basis, which has helped LHS climb out of a 0-2 hole to start the season by reeling off three straight victories.LHS shoots for its fourth consecutive victory when it hosts 0-5 Mound-Westonka for homecoming Friday night.If the Cards resemble the team that dismantled the Trojans in Worthington, M-W might be in for a long night.Luverne scored two touchdowns in each of the first two quarters against the Trojans and led 32-0 before yielding a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter.After the teams exchanged punts to open the game, Luverne moved in front 13-0 before the first quarter was complete.Luverne’s second offensive possession turned into a five-play, 53-yard drive that ended with quarterback Jeremy Hoff scoring on a 13-yard run. Chris Engesser added the extra point following the touchdown to make it a 7-0 difference.The LHS offense turned its third possession of the contest into a six-play, 50-yard march. Derek Elbers, who carried the ball 27 times for 151 yards in the game, scored his first of three touchdowns with a 12-yard run. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving the Cards with a 13-0 cushion.Luverne’s defense came up big in the second quarter when Jake Clark registered his first of two interceptions on the LHS 23-yard line.The offense took the field and advanced the ball 77 yards in 10 plays. Elbers, who ran the ball for 60 yards during the drive, capped the march with a two-yard plunge. The two-point conversion attempt failed, leaving LHS with a 19-0 advantage.The Cards capped their 25-point first half with a four-play yard drive that was set up by a 15-yard punt return by Weston Sawtelle.Hoff tossed a 28-yard touchdown pass to Andrew DeBoer to end the drive.WHS did move the ball deep into LHS territory late in the first half, but Clark intercepted a pass in the end zone to thwart the threat.After the teams exchanged turnovers to start the second half, Luverne’s offense moved the ball 54 yards in five plays with its second possession. Elbers completed a three-touchdown effort with a 15-yard run, and Engesser added the extra point to make it a 32-0 game.“It was a combination of our offensive linemen establishing themselves and our backs running hard that led to our success. Our defense did a good job, too,” Oye said.Worthington scored its lone touchdown in the fourth quarter, when Nate Stoll found the end zone at the end of a two-yard run and John Mead booted the extra point.Oye said he knows little about M-W, Luverne’s homecoming opponent.M-W has been outscored 137-25 in five games.Team statisticsLuverne: 244 rushing yards, 91 passing yards, 335 total yards, 17 first downs, three penalties for 30 yards, one turnover.Worthington: 164 rushing yards, 64 passing yards, 228 total yards, 16 first downs, five penalties for 25 yards, four turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Elbers 27-151, Phil Paquette 5-48, Hoff 3-21, Mitch Bauman 3-14, Clark 1-8, Matt Fodness 2-0, C.J. Xaisongkham 1-2.Passing: Hoff 5-7 for 91 yards.Receiving: Clark 1-38, DeBoer 1-28, Derek Boeve 1-11, Bauman 1-7, Sawtelle 1-7.Defense: Clark two interceptions, Hoff one interception, Erik Stegemann one interception.

The Adrian football team ran its record to 5-0 by posting a 28-0 homecoming victory over Murray County Central Friday.The Dragons opened a 21-0 halftime lead and never looked back the rest of the night during their 28-point win.Adrian’s defense played a key role in the victory.Along with shutting out the Rebels, the Dragons limited MCC standout Tony Falk to well below his season average in total offensive yardage during the game.“Our defense is playing really well,” said AHS coach Randy Strand.“Falk had been averaging over 200 yards each game. We held him to 50 yards on Friday.”Special teams also made a contribution to Adrian’s victory.After AHS fumbled the ball on MCC’s 15-yard line during the opening possession of the game, the Dragons forced MCC to punt moments later. Adam Diekmann fielded the punt and returned it 61 yards for a touchdown. Diekmann booted the extra point to give the Dragons a 7-0 lead at the 8:28 mark of the first quarter.Diekmann set up the first of two AHS touchdowns in the second quarter by recovering a fumble on the MCC 40.Four plays later, tailback Joey Bertrand scored on a six-yard run after a 35-yard pass from Cody Kontz to Tyler Wagner moved the ball deep inside MCC territory. The extra-point attempt after Bertrand’s touchdown failed, leaving the Dragons with a 13-0 cushion with 3:31 remaining in the first half.Back-to-back sacks by Adrian’s Will Lutmer forced MCC to punt late in the first half.The AHS offense moved the ball 56 yards in five plays with Kontz tossing a 16-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Lonnneman with 24 seconds remaining in the second quarter. The drive featured a 29-yard pass reception by Bertrand, and was followed by a successful conversion run by Kontz to make it a 21-0 game at the intermission.Adrian iced the contest by scoring the game’s final points with its first possession of the second half.The Dragons advanced the ball 61 yards in 10 plays with Bertrand scoring on a four-yard run and Diekmann adding the extra point with 2:02 left in the third period.Strand expects the Dragons to face one of their biggest challenges of the season when they host Minneota Friday.“Minneota’s 5-0 and is the highest-scoring team in the conference. It should be a good test,” Strand said.Team statisticsAdrian: 230 rushing yards, 80 passing yards, 310 total yards, two penalties for 20 yards, 15 first downs, one turnover.MCC: 153 rushing yards, seven passing yards, 160 total yards, two penalties for 25 yards, 10 first downs, two turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Glen Kruger 5-10, Jesse Brake 16-121, Bartrand 10-40, Brandon Diekmann 2-7, Kontz 9-30, Tony Thier 3-8, Brett Nowotny 1-12.Passing: Kontz 4-7 for 80 yards.Receiving: Wagner 1-35, Lonneman 1-16, Bertrand 1-29, A.Diekmann 1-0.Defense: Kruger 13 tackles, Zach Reker 12 tackles, Mitchell Cox 12 tackles, Lutmer 10 tackles and two sacks, Matt Gades one interception, A.Diekmmann one fumble recovery.