10 years ago (1996)"Rich and Sue Roste recently opened their fifth funeral home in the Tri-state area. They are licensed in Minnesota, Iowa and South Dakota. Roste Funeral Home of Hills is a full-service funeral home." 25 years ago (1981)"On Thursday, Sept. 10, the H-BC varsity volleyball team traveled to Chandler-Lake Wilson and was defeated 2-0. Scores of the games were 18-7 and 18-4.Leading scorers were Bette Van Driel and Twila Elbers, each with 3 points. Kerri Demuth did a fine job of receiving serves and passing. Brenda Goehle led the team with 8 for 8 setting." 50 years ago (1956)"Two hundred eighty-six students completed registration in the Hills Public School the first day of school Tuesday, Sept. 4. Enrollment in junior-senior high school is 141. Enrollment in elementary school is 145. Enrollment by grades is as follows: senior class 24; junior class 25; sophomore class 40; freshmen class 18; eighth grade 28; seventh grade 16; sixth grade 23; fifth grade 14; fourth grade 28; third grade 28; second grade 24; and first grade 28." 75 years ago (1931)"Carl Ruud, Melvin Kolsrud and Arnold Roen returned home Sunday evening from attending the State Fair. Carl assisted district agent W. D. Stegner in 4-H Club work while Melvin and Arnold acted as ushers in the grandstand."100 years ago (1906)"A Crescent reporter made a visit to the home of H.P. Sandbo two miles east of Hills the first of the week. Mr. Sandbo has one of the finest improved half section farms in this vicinity. Besides a large modern residence, a barn and the other small outbuildings, he has one of the most up-to-date granaries the reporter has seen for some time. The building is equipped with an elevator, a feed grinder and a corn sheller, which in the past have been driven by horse power, but Mr. Sandbo has recently purchased a twelve-horse power traction engine which will be used in the future. Mr. Sandbo’s farm is worth visiting."

It seems to go in this world that the more intelligent you are and the more money you have, the smaller size balls you use in your game of choice. Not so. It is a social stigma that I would like to see abolished because I am a bowler. I bowl on a Wednesday evening ladies league designed for fun. We are mildly competitive but, as it is not a money league, there is not much at stake. The best part of my being involved in this sport is that I am on the same team with my mom, my sister-in-law and some of my dearest friends. Bowling is just an excuse for me to socialize with some of my favorite people for two-and-a-half solid hours every week. We laugh, replay moments from our diverse week’s activities and take a stab at solving the world’s problems. All while taking turns rolling a fourteenish-pound ball down a 60-foot alley toward ten three-and-a-half-pound plastic-coated maple wood pins that stand fifteen inches tall. We just started a new thirty-week season with a splash. D is our most serious team member. (I’ll not use her full name, as she has relatives that get the Crescent.) She maintains a healthy average and has good, updated equipment. We were just beginning our second of three games (a series) when, taking her approach to roll the ball, D swung her arm back and her ball fell right off her hand. It made a loud thud and just sat there on the floor, stunned. Heads turned from all over and much amusement followed. The funniest part of this whole incident is that she continued in her approach and carried her arm forward as if the ball were still there. Her form was impeccable and her face turned every shade of red from embarrassment. We all had a good laugh but it was nothing like what was to come.A few frames later, I took my turn and sat down. I picked up my lemonade and attempted to take a sip. I’m not sure how it happened, but the entire contents of my glass ended up in my lap. As I am a very conscientious bowler and everyone knows that liquid on the floor is a bowling shoe’s worst enemy, I resisted the sudden urge to stand up and dump it all on the floor. Instead I waited for a towel to arrive and attempted to mop myself off. Unfortunately, most of the drink soaked into my jeans and it looked like I had had the sort of accident that a two-year-old might have. My options at this point were slim, as I did not happen to have a change of clothes with me. It was either continue to bowl with uproariously comical wet pants or leave in shame and let my team finish with a dummy score. I chose the first option and much hilarity followed. There was no hiding the situation, so I clowned it up pretty well. Luckily we were on the end lanes closest to the wall, but between walking like a child with a load in its pants and dancing around like I had to go, we had some pretty good chuckles.Sometimes it is very hard to determine if people are laughing with you or at you.What would you do in a similar situation? I wonder even what my own teammates would have done? When faced with a situation like this, I figure that God created laughter for just such an event and so I try not to take it personally or too seriously.

The Rev. Daryl Schubert, husband of Jane Sandager, was installed Sunday, Sept. 10, at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Madison, S.D., by the assistant to the bishop of the ELCA Lutheran Church. Their two children, Isaac, fourth grade, and Clare, sixth grade, are getting settled in their school and loving it. Attending the service Sunday were Fran Sandager, Mark and Karen Sandager, John Sandager, Colorado Springs, Colo., Jim and Louisa Sandager and Molly, West Des Moines, Iowa, Ronal and Barb Cragoe, Eva Cragoe, all of Beaver Creek, and Leona Goehle, Tyler.Rodney Arendson, husband of Gail Nelson of Freeport, N.Y., stopped by at the home of Ray and Lois Nelson last week on his way to Gillette, Wyo. There he attended a memorial service for his father and also visited his sister, Sandy Arendson. He stopped in at the Nelson home again on his return to New York. On Friday, Bob and Twila Kirsch helped their great-grandson, Brenan Runge, celebrate his first birthday. The party was hosted by his parents, Breann and Todd Runge, Lakefield. Gladys Benson, who had been a resident at Prince of Peace Nursing Home in Sioux Falls, S.D., is now a resident of Tuff Memorial Home. Her husband, Nelson Benson, resides in Morningside Apartments. Lois Nelson participated in presenting the Municipal Sioux Falls Band Concert Saturday morning at Veterans Memorial Park in Sioux Falls.Enrollment for the 2006-07 school year at Hills-Beaver Creek is 164 students in high school and 148 students in K through 6th grades. This number for the high school is four more than last year at this time. The enrollment at the Hills Christian School stands at 30 students, the same as last year. Instructors at the Christian School are Amy Haan, primary room; Wendell Buys, intermediate room; Erick Kiers, upper grades; and Harriet Jordan, kindergarten and aide teacher.

The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board met for its semimonthly meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the elementary school for a walk-through and then reconvened at the high school library in Hills at 7:30 p.m.Board members present were Leuthold, DeBoer, Harnack, Boeve, Esselink, Fransman and Baker. Superintendent Deragisch and Principal Holthaus were also in attendance.The meeting was called to order by Chairman Esselink.No visitors were present at the meeting.Motion by Boeve, second by Baker, and carried to approve the agenda with the addition of 6.2 H.B.C.A report on the workshop was given by Mr. Holthaus and Superintendent Deragisch. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as sent out.Motion by Leuthold, second by Harnack, and carried to hire Andrew Kellenberger as half-time 3rd grade teacher. Motion by Boeve, second by DeBoer, and carried to add a half-time position for 1st grade.Motion by Leuthold, second by Boeve, and carried to hire Haley Tollefson as half-time 1st grade teacher. Walk-through was completed at the elementary.Dates to Remember:August 29 & 30 Teacher workshopAugust 30 Open houseSeptember 5 First day of schoolSeptember 11 School board meetingAgenda items for next meeting: MSBA convention report.Meeting adjourned at 8:14 p.m.Lloyd DeBoer, Clerk(9-14)

The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team traveled across the Iowa border Saturday to compete in the Central Lyon Tournament in Rock Rapids.The Patriots came up empty in three attempts to register their first match victory of the season.H-BC, however, did earn an emotional victory by posting its first game win of the campaign during an event Patriot coach Mandy Kor described as being a success."It was the best volleyball we played all year. I hope we can use it to our advantage and get things going from here," she said.H-BC met CL to open the event. The Lions topped the Patriots by 21-18 and 21-16 tallies.Kerri Fransman registered five digs and four kills against the Lions, while Kilee Baker and Chelsi Fink charted five digs and four kills respectively during the match. Fink also served eight points and two aces. Amanda Tilstra added six set assists and Ashley Hoyme four blocks to H-BC’s cause.H-BC met West Sioux in the second round of the event.After falling 21-14 in the first game, the Patriots posted their initial game win of the season by the score of 22-20 in the second contest. WS rallied to win Game 3 by a 15-12 margin.Fink had seven digs, three kills and three ace serves in the match. Fransman led the way with eight digs, and Hoyme charted a team-high three blocks. Tilstra finished with eight set assists for the Patriots, who received eight service points and four aces from Kaitlyn Bos.West Lyon upended the Patriots by 21-16 and 21-11 scores in the tournament finale.Fransman served eight points, three aces and charted eight digs against the Wildcats, while Sonya Elbers contributed seven digs to the cause. Bos notched three kills and two blocks. Tilstra chipped in three set assists.The Patriots may not have won a match, but H-BC coach Mandy Kor liked what she witnessed on the court.

The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton cross country teams competed at a meet in Iowa Monday.The Patriots attended the West Lyon Invitational staged at Meadow Acres Country Club near Larchwood.H-BC-E-E fielded a complete boys’ varsity squad that placed fourth in an 11-team field with 99 points. The Patriot girls’ team was incomplete.Tyler Paulsen and Halden Van Wyhe led the boys by finishing eighth and 12th with respective 16:41 and 16:49 times.Dustin Verhey (18th in 17:02), Brent Kramer (24th in 17:11) and Tom Scholten (37th in 18:05) also ran in the varsity race.Amanda Tilstra placed 15th in 16:09, Jill Weitgenant 23rd in 16:32 and Ashley Bucher 27th in 16:42 for the Patriot girls.H-BC-E-E’s varsity teams run at the Minnesota Cross Country Classic at St. Olaf College in Northfield Saturday.Junior varsity girls: Heather Esselink, fourth, 16:42; Heather Kerner, 23rd, 18:01.Junior varsity boys: Andrew Scholten, 10th, 18:37; Heath Van Wyhe, 14th, 18:53; Andrew Hoyme, 19th, 19:15; Derek Drenth, 23rd, 19:24; Ryan Weitgenant, 26th, 19:27; Karic Wiertzema, 38th, 20:17; Terence Reid, 39th, 20:19; Sam Luze, 46th, 21:00; Tyler Larson, 58th, 21:51. The boys placed fifth as a team with 73 points.

The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth football team evened its record at 1-1 after posting a 42-7 victory over Lincoln HI-Lake Benton Saturday in Hills.Senior running back Jon Klaassen carried the ball for 194 yards and four touchdowns during the contest, which H-BC-E controlled from beginning to end.The Patriots opened a 21-0 lead by scoring touchdowns with three of their first four offensive possessions of the game. When H-BC-E outscored the Rebels 21-7 in the second half, the rout was complete.According to H-BC-E coach Dan Ellingson, striking fast against the Rebels made things easy for the Patriots."Scoring early was the key," he said."Scoring right away without having to struggle to do so was big."The Patriots didn’t waste any time in assuming control of the contest.After forcing LH-LB to punt four plays into the game, the H-BC-E offense moved the ball 51 yards in five plays with Klaassen scoring on a 17-yard run to cap the drive. Klaassen carried in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 at the 8:35 mark of the opening period.Patriot lineman Aaron Esselink, who turned in a fantastic defensive effort by registering five sacks, came up with his first one to force the Rebels to punt four plays into their second offensive series of the game.H-BC-E offense took over on its own 29-yard line and moved the ball 71 yards in eight plays with quarterback Adam Finke scoring on a two-yard run with 3:40 remaining in the first quarter. Finke added the extra point to give the Patriots a 15-0 cushion.The Patriots lost a fumble during their third offensive possession, but they made up for it the fourth time they controlled the ball. On the first play of H-BC-E’s fourth possession, Klaassen raced 84 yards for a touchdown at the 8:13 mark of the second quarter.The ensuing extra-point attempt was blocked, but the Patriots sported a 21-0 advantage they would carry into the second half.Klaassen iced the contest by scoring on runs of 11 and 15 yards in the third quarter.The first touchdown was followed by a missed extra-point attempt, but Finke’s boot was true after the second touchdown of the period, making it a 34-0 difference.Casey Van Midden Dorp found the end zone at the end of a 12-yard run in the fourth quarter for H-BC-E, and Finke carried in the two-point conversion to cap the scoring for the hosts.LH-LB’s Clint Schindler kept the Rebels from being shut out by scoring the final touchdown of the game in the fourth period."We were really happy with the way we played. We thought we were very aggressive. It was a great game to play well in," Ellingson said.H-BC-E plays Cedar Mountain-Comfrey in Ellsworth Friday. The contest will be Ellsworth’s Homecoming contest.Team statisticsH-BC-E: 293 rushing yards, 58 passing yards, 351 total yards, four penalties for 32 yards, four turnovers.LH-LB: 77 rushing yards, 106 passing yards, 183 total yards, three penalties for 30 yards, three turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Klaassen 16-194, Tom Leuthold 6-29, Finke 7-22, Van Midden Dorp 9-40, Jonah Lingen 3-9, Kale Leuthold 2-4, Chris Luze 1-minus 1.Passing: Finke 7-12 for 58 yards, Luze 0-1 for zero yards.Receiving: Cody Rozeboom 1-18, Adam Van Der Stoep 1-18, K.Leuthold 2-17, Klaassen 3-5.Defense: Esselink five sacks, T.Leuthold 13 tackles and one and 1/2 sacks, Klaassen one sack and one fumble recovery, Jordan Hinrichs one-half of one sack, Rozeboom one fumble recovery, Van Der Stoep one fumble recovery, K.Leuthold eight tackles.

Funeral services were Saturday, Sept. 9, at First Christian Reformed Church in Hull. The Revs. Paul Hansen and Carl Klompien officiated. Burial was at Hope Cemetery in Hull.Charles Kroese was born to William and Minnie (Te Slaa) Kroese on Aug. 21, 1930, in rural Hull. He was raised in Hull and served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War. He married Nelvina Joan Elbers on Dec. 1, 1955, in Steen. The couple lived in Hull where they farmed his family’s home place most of the time. For four years in the 1980s he was involved in the Dordt College Agricultural Stewardship Center in Sioux Center. In 1993 he also drove a feed truck for the Hull Cooperative Association. They moved to Hull on Nov. 1, 1999, where he continued to deliver feed. Mr. Kroese was a member of First Christian Reformed Church where he served on the Consistory as a deacon and an elder, taught Sunday School classes and belonged to the Berean Society. He was also a member of the board of directors of Hull Christian School and the Wegman-Koele American Legion Post in Hull. He enjoyed singing, especially as a member of he Kroese Quartet. Survivors include his wife, Nelvina Kroese, Hull; five children, Wanda Folkerts, Sioux Falls, S.D., Brian (Pauline) Kroese, Connie (Joel) Heitritter, all of Hull, William (Karla) Kroese, Bellflower, Calif., and Joel (Sandra) Kroese, Powder Springs, Ga.; 16 grandchildren, Jason and Jarod Folkerts, Cinda (Brad) Van Der Zwaag, and Lora, Brandon, Kara and Ryan Kroese, Seth, Chad, Kate and Nicole Kroese, Thomas and Kimberly Kroese, and Jonathan, Justin and Joshua Heitritter; two great-grandchildren, Mason Van Der Zwaag and Levi Kroese; three sisters, Verna Moret, Essex, Ill., Hester Hogan, Silverdale, Wash., and Joan (Junior) Heitmeyer, Albert Lea; and several nephews and nieces. Memorials may be directed to the Christian mission or educational institution of your choice.Oolman Funeral Home, Hull, Iowa, was in charge of arrangements. You may express your sympathy at oolman.com.

Funeral services were Wednesday, Sept. 13, at St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Rev. Gary Klatt officiated. Burial was at Trinity Lutheran Cemetery near Steen.Minnie Neitzel was born to Albert and Minnie (Neitzel) Neitzel on Dec. 29, 1912, in Stanley, Wis. She was baptized on April 17, 1913, in Loyal County, Wis. As a small child she moved with her parents to Tulare, S.D., where she was raised and attended school. While living there, she was confirmed in the Lutheran faith on Sept. 1, 1926. After her graduation from Tulare High School in 1931, she continued her education in Mitchell, S.D., and received her associate’s degree in business. She moved to Sioux Falls, S.D., and worked there. She married Henry Groth Jr. on April 23, 1937, at her parents’ farm in Tulare. Following their marriage they moved to a farm near Steen. In 1967 the family moved to Luverne, where she worked as a cook at Blue Mound Inn for 17 years. Mr. Groth died Nov. 13, 1977. After his death she continued to live in Luverne until 1997 when she moved to Cokato to live with her daughter, Linda. She later moved to Cokato Manor Nursing Home.Mrs. Groth was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church in Steen until it closed. She then became a member of St. John Lutheran Church in Luverne. She was active in Dorcas Circle. She enjoyed quilting, crocheting and doing needlepoint. She also enjoyed gardening and playing pinochle and 500. Survivors include four children, Karen (Roger) Schroeppel, Spicer, Melvin Groth, Sioux Falls, Larry Groth, Hamel, and Linda Groth (Brian) Olson, Cokato; 13 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; and one sister, Dorothy (Jordan) Zillmer, Oconomowoc, Wis.Mrs. Groth was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, and four brothers, Albert Jr., Max, Herman and Robert. Hartquist Funeral Home, Engebretson Chapel, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.