Congratulations to Shannon and Melanie Tatge, Beaver Creek, on the birth of a boy, Riley Richard, weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce, on Wednesday, Dec. 14, at Sioux Valley Hospital, Sioux Falls. S.D. Riley joins a sister, Lauren, who is 3. Riley’s grandparents are Rick and Lila Tatge, Beaver Creek, Paul and Marlene Stueven, Welcome, and Rod and Linda Rath of Sanborn. His great-grandparents are Ruby Feucht and Vivienne Tatge of Hills, Dick and Leah Doorneweerd, Beaver Creek, and Wilfred and Evelyn Stueven, Luverne. Congratulations to Melanie and Shannon and all the family on your little miracle!Steve and Irene Ruzich, Dawson, have taken up residency at Tuff Village. Irene will be remembered as a former resident of the Hills community when she was Irene Rortvedt living on the farm east of Hills. When you see them, be sure to welcome them to Hills.June and Marvin Albers had visitors for the day on Sunday, Dec. 18. Avor (Sam) and Lucille Boeve of Dell Rapids, S.D., spent the day visiting with the Albers. They are also long-time friends and go back many years together. Sunday, Dec. 18, Kathryn and Wendell Erickson had lunch with their daughter Kirsten Erickson of Sioux Falls and granddaughter Nicole Anderson of Portland, Ore. Nicole, a student at Lewis and Clark College in Portland, was home in Sioux Falls for the weekend, so Kathryn and Wendell were able to visit with her while she was here. They had a very nice time and hadn’t seen Nicole for several months. Twila and Bob Kirsch traveled to Heron Lake on Sunday, Dec. 18, to attend the Sunday School program of two of their grandchildren. On Wednesday, Dec. 21, Ellie Sandager celebrated her birthday with a surprise "High Tea" party hosted at the home of her daughter-in-law, Shirley Sandager. The idea of a "High Tea" party was put together by Jo Wulf and carried out with the help of Shirley, Dawn, Nancy and Beth Sandager. The "High Tea" consists of several courses which make up a whole meal and, of course, tea. There is a savory course, a sweet course, etc. And of course, all the ladies (no men, please) wear hats and gloves. Approximately 25 people attended, and a great time was had by all. Congratulations on your birthday, Ellie, and I applaud all of you who put this together and came up with this idea. It’s very original and sounds like lots of fun!

MINUTES OF THE HLLS ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITYDecember 13, 2005Linus Svoboda, President of the Hills EDA called the meeting to order at 6:09 P.M. with the following board members present: Linus Svoboda, Keith Elbers, Jim Jellema, Pete Hoff, and Ross Metzger. Others present: Connie Wiertzema, EDA Secretary, and Lexi Moore, Reporter-Hills Crescent. Motion by Jellema, seconded by Elbers to approve the minutes of November 7th. Motion carried. Motion by Elbers, seconded by Hoff to approve payment of the November expenditures. Motion carried. Motion by Elbers, seconded by Hoff to transfer the apartment/pet security deposits for unit #506 to the new owner. Motion by Elbers, seconded by Metzger to transfer $40,300 from EDA checking into a three month CD at 2% interest. These funds will be used as reimbursement to Kuntze, Bundesen, Hyink and Brandt/Kerkhove for the 10% per year new housing reimbursement planNo further business, meeting adjourned at 7:20 P.M./s/ Connie J. WiertzemaConnie J. WiertzemaEDA Secretary(12-22)

Phyllis C. Nelson, 69, Beaver Creek, died Sunday, Dec. 18, 2005, at Sioux Valley Luverne Hospital in Luverne. Services were Wednesday, Dec. 20, at First Presbyterian Church in Beaver Creek. The Rev. Bill Davis officiated. Burial was in the Beaver Creek Cemetery. Phyllis Nelson was born to Jens and Evangeline (Gran) Nelson on July 25 1936, in rural Rock County. She graduated from Beaver Creek High School in 1954. After graduation she began working at John Morrell Company in Sioux Falls, S.D. She worked on the line for John Morrell for 42 and one-half years before retiring in 1998. Ms. Nelson enjoyed playing softball and bowling in her younger years. She later enjoyed crossword puzzles. Survivors include two sisters, Janet Nelson, Beaver Creek, and Norma Gunderson, Valley Springs, S.D.; nieces and nephews; great-nieces and nephews and a great-great- niece and nephew.Ms. Nelson was preceded in death by her parents, one sister, Betty Muller, one nephew, Keith Muller, a great-nephew, Dylan Albers, and a brother-in-law, Harold Gunderson. Hospice of Sioux Valley Luverne Hospital will dedicate a tree in memory of Phyllis Nelson.Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Joyce Ellen Keizer, 49, Luverne, died Friday, Dec 16, 2005, at Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center. Services were Tuesday Dec. 20, at Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne. The Revs. Maurice E. Hagen and Dell B. Sanderson officiated. Burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne. Joyce Keizer was born to Sam and Darlene (Krause) Keizer on Aug. 4, 1956, in Hudson, S.D. As a young girl she moved with her family to Luverne in 1961. She attended special education classes at Luverne Public School. She worked at the Rock County DAC.Ms. Keizer was a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Luverne and the Luverne Friendship Class. She enjoyed collecting key chains. She loved animals, especially cats. Survivors include her father, Sam Keizer, Luverne; one sister Deb (Wes) Fuerstenberg, rural Luverne; and four nieces and nephews, Keri Fuerstenberg, Kenneth, Jean (Stuart) Soehl, Marshall; Daryl (Amy) Fuerstenberg, and Wayne (Stacy) Fuerstenberg, all of Beaver Creek.Ms. Keizer was preceded in death by her mother and an infant sister, Darlene.Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian girls’ basketball team was put to the test of playing three games in a five-day span before entering the Christmas break.The Dragons beat Wabasso before falling to Worthington during the Red Rock Central Holiday Tournament in Lamberton Friday and Saturday respectively. Pipestone bested the Dragons in Adrian Tuesday.Adrian, 2-5 overall, returns to action by hosting Southwest Christian Jan. 3.Pipestone 77, Adrian 38The visiting Arrows dominated play during Tuesday’s 39-point win in Adrian.Pipestone outscored AHS 32-15 in the first half before using a 44-21 scoring cushion in the final 18 minutes to win handily.The Arrows, who never trailed in the game, raced to a 6-1 lead early before opening an 18-8 advantage at the 6:00 mark of the first half.Adrian closed to within seven points (18-11) when Emily Thier hit a three-point shot, but Pipestone ended the first half with a 14-6 surge to lead by 15.The Arrows iced the game by scoring with 11:20 left to play.Samantha Lynn paced AHS with nine points, six assists and four steals. Brittany Bullerman snatched eight rebounds for the Dragons.Box scoreEr.Thier 0 0 0-0 0, Em.Thier 2 1 0-0 7, Tjepkes 0 0 0-2 0, N.Lynn 0 0 0-0 0, S.Lynn 1 1 4-5 9, Reisdorfer 0 1 2-2 5, K.Bullerman 1 0 3-4 5, Ky.Wiertsema 0 0 0-0 0, Block 0 0 0-0 0, B.Bullerman 1 0 3-4 5, Weidert 0 0 0-0 0, Kt.Wiertsema 1 0 0-1 2.Team statisticsAdrian: 11 of 47 field goals (23 percent), 12 of 19 free throws (63 percent), 29 rebounds, 32 turnovers.Pipestone: 29 of 71 field goals (41 percent), 16 of 21 free throws (76 percent), 32 rebounds, 10 turnovers.Worthington 69, Adrian 50The Dragons came up empty in their bid to win the weekend tournament when they lost a 19-point decision to the Trojans in Friday’s championship game in Lamberton.Adrian led 18-13 in the first half, but Worthington countered with a 17-3 run to open a 30-31 halftime lead.Worthington led by as many as 24 points and by as few as 10 points before prevailing by 19 in the second half.Samantha Lynn scored 12 points, grabbed eight rebounds, passed for five assists and charted four steals during the game for AHS.Brittany Bullerman recorded a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Kayla Bullerman charted four steals.Box scoreEr.Thier 0 1 2-4 5, E,Thier 1 0 0-0 2, N.Lynn 4 0 1-2 9, S.Lynn 3 1 3-4 12, K.Bullerman 1 0 0-0 2, Block 1 0 0-0 2, B.Bullerman 4 0 4-6 12, Kt.Wiertsema 3 0 0-1 6.Team statisticsAdrian: 19 of 49 field goals (39 percent), 10 of 19 free throws (53 percent), 36 rebounds, 22 turnovers.Worthington: 22 of 72 field goals (35 percent), 15 of 19 free throws (79 percent), 40 rebounds, 15 turnovers.Adrian 69, Wabasso 46A solid defensive effort in the second half carried the Dragons to a 23-point win over the Rabbits during Friday’s tournament opener in Lamberton.After yielding 32 points to Wabasso in the first half, Adrian limited the Rabbits to 14 points in the final 18 minutes to post its most one-sided win of the campaign."We did a good job defensively," said AHS coach Randy Strand. "After scoring 17 points in the first half, we held their top scorer to seven points in the second half."Katlin Wiertsema had a big second half for the Dragons, scoring 14 of her team-high 20 points to help AHS outscore the Rabbits 33-14 in the final 18 minutes. She also charted seven rebounds in the game.Samantha Lynn scored 16 points, nabbed seven rebounds and passed for six assists. Kayla Bullerman finished the game with seven rebounds and six assists. Natalie Lynn added six assists to the winning cause.Box scoreEr.Thier 0 0 1-3 1, Em.Thier 0 0 0-0 0, Tjepkes 2 0 0-1 4, S.Lynn 5 1 3-4 16, Reisdorfer 0 0 1-2 1, N.Lynn 4 0 0-0 8, K.Bullerman 4 0 0-0 8, Ky.Wiertsema 2 0 0-4 4, Block 0 1 0-0 3, B.Bullerman 1 0 2-2 4, Kt.Wiertsema 8 0 4-5 20.Team statisticsAdrian: 28 of 66 field goals (42 percent), 11 of 21 free throws (52 percent), 44 rebounds, 21 turnovers.Wabasso: 15 of 76 field goals (20 percent), 13 of 28 free throws (46 percent), 25 rebounds, 14 turnovers.

By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek boys’ basketball team wrapped up its pre-Christmas schedule by playing three games in a six-day span.The Patriots lost a 13-point home decision to Southwest Christian. H-BC lost 12- and three-point road games to Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin and Murray County Central on Saturday and Tuesday respectively.H-BC, 0-5 overall, plays in the Luverne Holiday Classic Dec. 29-30.MCC 70, H-BC 67The Patriots forced the Rebels to play an overtime session before falling by three points in Slayton Tuesday.The game was tight from beginning to end, with the Rebels using a 7-4 scoring cushion in overtime to win the game.MCC led 34-32 after 18 minutes of play. H-BC battled back to tie the game at 63 in the second half."Our kids played hard," said H-BC coach Steve Wiertzema."We just got to learn how to eliminate the little mistakes and we’ll be all right. We gave up too many offense rebounds and had too many turnovers."Adam Finke and Aaron Esselink netted 17 points each for H-BC, while Halden Van Wyhe chipped in 11 counters. Cody Rozeboom, who dished up seven assists, and Jason Hup charted eight rebounds each.Box scoreVan Wyhe 1 1 6-9 11, Rozeboom 1 1 0-2 5, Finke 3 3 2-2 17, Scholten 0 1 3-4 6, DeBoer 1 0 0-1 2, Hup 4 0 1-1 9, Esselink 6 0 5-11 17.Team statisticsH-BC: 22 of 44 field goals (50 percent), 17 of 30 free throws (57 percent), 26 rebounds, 20 turnovers.MCC: 29 of 65 field goals (45 percent), five of nine free throws (56 percent), 24 rebounds, 12 turnovers.ML-B-O 72, H-BC 60The Patriots couldn’t break through for their first win of the season when they challenged the Wolverines in Mountain Lake Saturday.H-BC remained within striking distance of ML-B-O most of the night, but they couldn’t overcome 22 turnovers in what ended as a 12-point loss.ML-B-O led 37-33 at halftime before outscoring the Patriots 35-27 in the second half to win by 12.Esselink led H-BC with 18 points. Finke, who hit four three-point shots, finished with 15 counters. Rozeboom charted six assists, six rebounds and three steals. Hup led the Patriots with eight rebounds.Box scoreVan Wyhe 0 1 2-2 5, Rozeboom 4 0 1-1 9, Finke 1 4 1-2 15, Scholten 0 0 2-2 2, DeBoer 0 0 0-2 0, Hup 3 0 2-5 8, Sandbulte 0 1 0-0 3, Esselink 6 0 6-9 18.Team statisticsH-BC: 20 of 43 field goals (46 percent), 14 of 23 free throws (61 percent), 25 rebounds, 22 turnovers.ML-B-O: 27 of 55 field goals (49 percent), 12 of 20 free throws (60 percent), 25 rebounds, five turnovers.SWC 59, H-BC 46The Eagles rallied from an eight-point deficit in the second half to deny the Patriots a win in Hills Thursday.H-BC, which received a field goal from Darin DeBoer with two seconds remaining in the first half to sport a 21-18 halftime advantage, led 29-21 when Rozeboom sank a shot at the 14:25 mark of the second half.The Patriots led 35-29 with 10:27 remaining, when SWC started its comeback by going on a 14-3 run to move in front 43-39 with 5:35 left to play.H-BC trimmed the difference to two points (43-41) before being outscored by the Eagles 16-5 in the final five minutes to lose by 13.Esselink scored 14 points to lead the Patriots. DeBoer paced H-BC with nine rebounds and three steals. Rozeboom collected seven rebounds and netted 11 points. Finke passed for five assists during the contest.Box scoreVan Wyhe 0 1 1-3 4, Rozeboom 4 0 3-5 11, Finke 0 0 0-0 0, Scholten 0 0 0-0 0, DeBoer 4 0 1-1 9, Hup 3 0 0-0 6, Sandbulte 1 0 0-0 2, Esselink 5 0 4-8 14.Team statisticsH-BC: 18 of 50 field goals (36 percent), nine of 17 free throws (53 percent), 30 rebounds, 32 turnovers.SWC: 25 of 63 field goals (40 percent), eight of 20 free throws (40 percent), 27 rebounds, 19 turnovers.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ basketball team raised its record to 6-0 with a pair of weekend victories.The Cardinals recorded a 16-point home win over Edgerton before winning by 15 points in Fulda Saturday.Luverne will attempt to win its seventh straight game tonight in Jackson.Luverne 72, Fulda 57A big second half by the Cardinals proved to be the difference during Saturday’s 15-point win in Fulda.The Raiders received good scoring from their guards during a first half that ended with LHS sporting a 36-32 lead.The Cardinals clamped down on Fulda’s guards defensively in the second half, helping LHS outscore the Raiders 40-29 and win handily."We had trouble containing their guards in the first half," said Cardinal coach Tom Rops."Overall we shot the ball well, made some threes and were able to maintain our lead in the second half.Jake Hendricks, who led LHS with 21 points, seven assists and five steals in the game, netted 16 counters in the second half. Derek Boeve added 11 of his 20 points in the second half. Nick Heronimus chipped in 12 points and Marc Boelman added 10 rebounds to the winning cause.Box scoreBoelman 3 0 1-2 7, Miller 1 0 0-0 2, Hendricks 2 4 5-8 21, Clark 3 0 0-0 6, Haakenson 0 1 0-0 3, Boomgaarden 0 0 1-2 1, Boeve 6 1 5-5 20, Heronimus 5 0 2-3 12.Team statisticsLuverne: 26 of 53 field goals (49 percent), 14 of 20 free throws (70 percent), 18 rebounds, 11 turnovers.Fulda: 22 of 53 field goals (42 percent), 10 of 14 free throws (71 percent), 30 rebounds, 24 turnovers.Luverne 72, Edgerton 56The Cardinals gained control of the game early and never looked back during Friday’s 16-point home win over the Flying Dutchmen.Luverne hit some timely shots to open an 11-point lead early in the game, then iced the contest by converting turnovers into easy points the rest of the night."They opened the game in a zone defense, and we hit some threes to jump to an early 13-2 lead," said LHS coach Rops."We pretty much controlled the rest of the game by getting some easy baskets by pressuring them."Luverne led 40-26 at the break before using a 32-30 scoring edge in the second half to win by 16.Hendricks netted 16 points and passed for four assists in the game, while Boelman added four assists and 14 points. Boeve finished with 10 counters.Box scoreBruynes 1 0 0-0 2, Ward 1 0 2-2 4, Boelman 6 0 2-4 14, Miller 2 0 0-0 4, Hendricks 3 1 7-11 16, Clark 2 1 2-2 9, Sawtelle 1 0 0-1 2, Boeve 2 2 0-0 10, DeBoer 1 0 0-0 2, Heronimus 3 0 0-0 6, Haakenson 0 1 0-0 3.Team statisticsLuverne: 27 of 62 field goals (44 percent), 13 of 20 free throws (65 percent), 23 rebounds, eight turnovers.Edgerton: 22 of 60 field goals (37 percent), 12 of 18 free throws (67 percent), 30 rebounds, 17 turnovers.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne girls’ hockey team recorded its first win of the season when it topped Redwood Valley by eight goals Friday in Luverne.The win was followed by a two-goal loss Monday in Windom.Luverne, 1-9 overall, hosts Marshall at 5:30 p.m. tonight.Windom 5, Luverne 3A four-goal effort from Windom’s Alex Potter proved to be too much for the Cardinals to overcome Monday in Windom.Potter scored the game’s first two goals and teammate Shaina Caviness added another counter to give the Eagles a 3-0 lead in the first period.Luverne’s Natalie Morgan netted an unassisted goal and Stephanie Steensma scored in a power-play situation to trim Windom’s lead to one goal (3-2) in the second period, but Potter netted two short-handed goals before the period was complete to make it 5-3.Cardinal Katie Dahl scored the lone goal of the third period after being set up by Mikki Fitzer.Windom outshot the Cards 29-22 in the game.Luverne 10, RWV 2The Cardinals broke through for their first win of the season when they entertained Redwood Valley at the Blue Mound Ice Arena Friday.Fitzer led the way with a three-goal, one-assist effort as the Cardinals snapped a nine-game losing skid with an eight-goal victory.Morgan finished the game with two goals and two assists. Dahl and Paige Olson contributed one goal and three assists each to the winning cause.Fitzer scored twice and Olson and Morgan chipped in one goal each when the Cards opened a 4-0 lead in the first period.Fitzer completed her hat trick at the 12:44 mark of the second period to make it 5-0 before RWV’s Katie Kuehn scored her first of two second-period goals.Liz Solma and Dahl scored in the final five minutes of the second period for LHS to make it a 7-2 game.Kelsey Theesfeld, Morgan and Steensma tallied third-period goals for the Cards.Alison Brands stopped seven of nine shots in goal for an LHS squad that outshot RWV 40-9 in the game.Heather Kruse, Amanda Niessink and Natalie Willers finished the game with one assist each.

By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth boys’ basketball team raised its record to 6-0 after posting a pair of convincing wins on consecutive nights last week.The Panthers rolled to a 24-point win over Lincoln HI in Ivanhoe Thursday before winning a showdown with Russell-Tyler-Ruthton in Ellsworth Friday.EHS plays in Minneota tonight before competing in the Mitchell (S.D.) Tournament Friday, Tuesday and Wednesday of next week.Ellsworth 81, R-T-R 69In what could be a preview of the Section 3A championship game in March, the Panthers picked up their biggest win of the season when they toppled the Knights by 12 points in Ellsworth Friday.R-T-R, Minnesota’s two-time defending Class A champion, entered the clash as the state’s top-ranked Class A team on Friday.A young EHS team didn’t appear to be intimidated. The Panthers canned 51 percent of their shots and handled R-T-R’s pressure defense (EHS turned the ball over three times in the game) during a convincing win."We shot the ball well and we took care of the ball," said EHS coach Markus Okeson. "Not turning the ball over is the key against R-T-R because they have a team that plays good defense."Ellsworth led 38-33 after 18 minutes of play before outscoring the Knights 43-36 in the second half to win handily.Cody Schilling recorded a triple-double (24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists) to lead the Panthers to victory. Ben Herman scored 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds. Aaron Van Der Stoep, Bryan Kramer and Weston DeBerg netted 12, 11 and 10 points respectively for EHS.Box scoreDeBerg 3 0 4-6 10, Kramer 5 0 1-1 11, Schilling 4 1 13-15 24, Van Der Stoep 1 2 4-4 12, Herman 7 1 1-1 18, Chapa 3 0 0-1 6.Team statisticsEllsworth: 27 of 53 field goals (51 percent), 23 of 28 free throws (82 percent), 32 rebounds, three turnovers.Ellsworth 87, LH 63An outstanding shooting night by the Panthers set the stage for a 24-point win in Ivanhoe Thursday.Ellsworth cashed in on 52 percent (36-70) of its shots, including an 87-percent effort (13 of 15) from two-point range in the second half, during a rout of the Rebels."We shot the ball really well," said EHS coach Okeson. "That’s what it boils down to. We could have put up a lot of points if we wanted to."LH opened the game with a triangle-and-two defense. Ellsworth’s Kramer, who snatched seven rebounds of the game, took advantage of openings in LH’s defense to score 16 of his 20 points during a first half that ended with EHS sporting a 49-31 lead.Ellsworth, which led by as many as 35 points in the second half, received a 23-point, 11-rebound, five-assist effort from Schilling. Nick Deutsch charted six assists for the Panthers.Box scoreDeBerg 2 0 0-0 4, Deutsch 1 0 1-2 3, Kramer 7 2 0-0 20, Schilling 10 0 3-4 23, Van Der Stoep 2 1 0-0 7, Herman 4 0 0-0 8, Klaassen 0 1 3-4 6, Chapa 2 0 0-0 4, Lindemann 0 0 0-1 0, Kix 3 0 0-0 6, Jansma 1 0 4-4 6.Team statisticsEllsworth: 36 of 70 field goals (52 percent), 11 of 15 free throws (73 percent), 49 rebounds, 10 turnovers.