By Lexi MooreThe city of Hills will remodel a portion of the Hills American Legion building.For years, City Council members have been discussing options for making the Legion’s meeting room brighter. During October’s meeting they decided to look into installing a drop ceiling and fluorescent lights.Councilman Ross Metzger told the council, "We’ve got to do something."Councilman Elbers agreed. "We haven’t spent money on that building in years and we should try this solution and see if it works."Council members asked Connie Wiertzema, city clerk, to request bids from area electricians and contractors.The deadline for submitting bids was the start of the council’s regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday.Although the city had contacted a number of businesses, they had only received three bids at the start of the meeting. Bids from DeHaan Construction, Verhey Construction and RB Electric were presented to the council.Keith Elbers made a motion to accept the bid from RB Electric, since it was the only one, and DeHaan Construction because it was the lowest submitted. The motion was seconded by Pete Hoff and approved by the council.When budgeting for 2006, the city added money to the capital outlay fund to cover the costs of the remodel.In other city business:
Christmas tree pickup in the city of Hills will begin on Jan. 8 and run through Jan. 10. Christmas trees placed on the curb will be picked up by the city.
The city of Hills contracted their garbage and recycling with Town and Country for another two years.Town and Country Sanitation will charge the city an additional three percent each year during this period. The increase is largely due to the rise in gasoline prices.The city made the decision to increase the amount residents pay for garbage and recycling service to help cover the additional cost.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne girls’ hockey team was unable to break into the win column after playing two home games over the weekend.The Cardinals lost a one-goal decision to Morris-Benson Friday before falling to Waseca by seven goals Saturday.Luverne, 0-8 overall, hosts Redwood Valley (5:30 p.m.) Friday and travels to Windom Monday.Waseca 8, Luverne 1A five-goal first period from the Blue Jays was too much to overcome in Saturday’s game at the Blue Mound Ice Arena.Waseca, which outshot LHS 31-20 in the game, received goals from seven different players during the contest.Amy Selvik scored twice and Paige Snow and Jenna Sopkowiak added one goal each as the visitors gained a 4-0 lead 14:44 into the game.Luverne’s Paige Olson scored after being set up by Katie Dahl with 2:02 remaining in the first period, but Waseca’s Emily Arnfelt found the net with 58 seconds left in the stanza to make it a 5-1 game.Waseca’s Beth Buenzow scored in the second period before Kristen Muotka and Megan Foels capped the scoring with third-period goals.Alison Brands made 23 saves in net for LHS.M-B 3, Luverne 2Luverne turned in its best performance of the season during Friday’s one-goal home loss to the Storm.Olson gave the hosts a 1-0 lead after being set up by Mikki Fitzer 3:06 into the game, but the Cards couldn’t recover from a three-goal run by M-B in the first and second periods.Brittany Sharstrom tied the game at one with 11:40 remaining in the first period. Sharstrom and Sarah Kolden gave the Storm a 3-1 lead with second-period tallies.Luverne’s Fitzer picked up her second assist of the game when she set up a goal by Dahl, which capped the scoring with 11:05 remaining in the game.M-B outshot the Cards 27-14 in the game. Brands charted 245 saves.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ hockey team opened the home portion of its 2005-06 schedule by dropping a pair of home games at the Blue Mound Ice Arena.Morris-Benson skated to an 11-goal win over the Cardinals Friday. Waseca bested the Cards by six goals Saturday.Luverne, 1-3 overall, hosts Redwood Valley Friday (7:30 p.m.) before skating in Windom Monday.Waseca 9, Luverne 3The visiting Blue Jays received two goals each from Andy Meyer, Kelvin Nelson and Brandon Johnson to down the Cards by six goals Saturday in Luverne.Luverne received goals from three different players, but it wasn’t enough to stay with Waseca.The Cards tied the game at one when Casey Krueger netted a short-handed goal after being set up by Chris Fitzer at the 13:14 mark of the first period, but the Blue Jays scored twice in the final 8:27 of the period to gain a 3-1 lead.Jordan Siebenahler netted a power-play goal with an assist going to Dylan Anderson 2:26 into the second period as Luverne trimmed the difference to one (3-2).Waseca, however, went on a 5-0 run in the second and third periods to open an 8-2 lead before Siebenahler set up a goal by Aaron Altman with 7:38 remaining in the game to snap Waseca’s run.The Blue Jays, who outshot the Cards 39-22 in the game, capped the scoring with 6:37 left to play.Tanner Skattum made 30 saves as Luverne’s goalie.M-B 11, Luverne 0The visiting Storm dominated play during Luverne’s home opener Friday.M-B outshot the Cards 44-4 on the way to an 11-0 win.The Storm scored 10 goals in the first two periods of the game.Tony Schultz found the net four times for M-B. Jake Erickson and Josh Griffith added two goals each.Adam Ossefoort stopped 33 shots in net for LHS.

By John RittenhouseThe Ellsworth girls’ basketball team put together a pair of wins against quality opponents.The Panthers edged Tracy-Milroy-Balaton with a last-second shot in Tracy Friday. Ellsworth returned home to best Southwest Star Concept by six points Monday.Ellsworth, 3-2 overall, plays in Tyler tonight and hosts Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster Monday.Ellsworth 64, SSC 58A big game from Amy Tiesler carried the Panthers to a six-point home win over the Quasars Tuesday.Tiesler, who led EHS with 12 rebounds and three steals, pumped in a career-high 30 points in the contest. She scored 21 of her points in the second half, including the conversion of her final seven free throws to help the Panthers ice the win."It came down to free throws at the end," said EHS coach J. Fisk. "We led by three to five points most of the way. They closed to within two points in the second half, but we made enough free throws to win."EHS led 37-33 at the intermission before using a 27-25 edge in the second half to win by six.Rosie Lewis recorded a double-double by scoring 12 points and collecting 10 rebounds for the Panthers. Rachel Kvaale pitched in three assists.Box scoreTiesler 11 0 8-9 30, Connors 1 1 2-6 7, Kramer 2 0 2-3 6, Mann 1 1 0-0 5, Kvaale 0 1 0-1 3, Kix 0 0 1-2 1, Timmer 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 4 0 4-6 12.Team statisticsEllsworth: 22 of 48 field goals (46 percent), 17 of 27 free throws (63 percent), 35 rebounds, 29 turnovers.SSC: 23 of 61 field goals (38 percent), nine of 15 free throws (60 percent), 30 rebounds, 26 turnovers.Ellsworth 57, T-M-B 55Late-game heroics from Brooke Kramer clinched a two-point win for the Panthers Friday in Tracy.With the game tied at 55 with less than 10 seconds left to play, EHS set up an inbounds play involving Tiesler and Kvaale. When the pick-and-roll play didn’t create an open shot, Tiesler delivered a pass to Kramer, who drained an 18-foot jumper with less than two seconds remaining to seal the win.Ellsworth, which led 33-32 at the intermission, needed to rally from a seven-point deficit in the final six minutes of the contest to set up Kramer’s game-turning shot."Our defense was the key," said EHS coach Fisk. "We got some steals by playing aggressive defense late in the game."Tiesler turned in an 18-point, eight-rebound, seven-steal, four-assist effort for EHS. Lewis and Kvaale chipped in 12 and 11 points respectively. Amanda Connors nabbed six rebounds.Box scoreTiesler 8 0 2-3 18, Connors 1 1 1-1 6, Kramer 1 1 0-0 5, Mann 1 1 0-0 5, Kvaale 4 1 0-0 11, Timmer 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 6 0 0-0 12.Team statisticsEllsworth: 25 of 52 field goals (48 percent), three of four free throws (75 percent), 22 rebounds, 28 turnovers.T-M-B: 21 of 57 field goals (37 percent), nine of 16 free throws (56 percent), 42 rebounds, 24 turnovers.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne gymnastics team opened the 2005-06 season by competing in matches on consecutive days early this week.The Cardinals won their home opener against West Central Monday. Luverne lost a Southwest Conference match to Redwood Valley in Redwood Falls Tuesday.Luverne’s next match will be in Pipestone Dec. 22.RWV 127.175, Luverne 123.075The Cardinals couldn’t string together back-to-back wins when they traveled to Redwood Falls Tuesday.Less than 24 hours after winning their opener, LHS slipped to 1-1 for the season with a six-plus-point loss to RWV.Victoria Arends, who placed second on the beam with a 7.5 tally and placed third on the bars with a 7.5, won the vault title with her 9.075.Luverne controlled the vault competition as Brittany Mulder finished second with an 8.9, and Courtney Fodness, Brittany Boeve and Morgan Bosshart tied for third place with 8.75s.Fodness and RWV’s Kelsi Bielen turned in 7.55s to share top honors on the bars.RWV’s Casey Smith won the beam with a 7.9, Brittany Hagert the floor with a 9.0 and Becky Corbett took the all-around title with a 31.725.Vault: Arends, 9.075; Mulder, 8..9; Fodness, 8.75; Boeve, 8.75; Bosshart, 8.75.Bars: Fodness, 7.55; Arends, 7.5; Bosshart, 7.075; Mulder, 6.575; Boeve, 4.0.Beam: Arends, 7.5; Boeve, 7.0; Fodness, 6.8; Bosshart, 6.6; Mulder, 6.6.Floor: Fodness, 8.3; Mulder, 7.925; Bosshart, 7.775; Arends, 7.0; Boeve, 6.975.Luverne 129.05, WC 102.5The Cardinals opened the season by rolling to a convincing home win over West Central.Luverne athletes dominated the competition, securing 15 of 16 top-four finishes in the individual events.Arends and Fodness led the Cards to victory. Arends, who won the vault competition with a 9.0 effort, shared top honors with Fodness on the bars with a 7.9. Fodness locked up the all-around title with her 32.7.Bosshart and Mulder shared third place on the bars with 7.6 tallies. Bosshart, Mulder and Fodness tied for second place vault with 8.7 scores.Bosshart and Boeve shared top honors on the floor with 8.35 efforts. Fodness and Mulder finished third and fourth with respective 8.3 and 8.1 tallies.Boeve won the beam title with an 8.35. Fodness and Mulder placed second and third with 7.8 and 6.9 scores.Beam: Boeve, 8.35; Fodness, 7.8; Mulder, 6.9; Arends, 6.8; Bosshart, 6.2.Bars: Arends, 7.9; Fodness, 7.9; Bosshart, 7.6; Mulder, 7.6; Boeve, 6.75.Floor: Boeve, 8.35; Bosshart, 8.3; Fodness, 8.3; Mulder, 8.1; Arends, 7.85.Vault: Arends, 9.0; Fodness, 8.7; Bosshart, 8.7; Mulder, 8.7; Boeve, 8.3.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian girls’ basketball team broke into the win column by posting a 10-point victory at Edgerton Public School Tuesday.The win came after the Dragons dropped a 23-point game in Fulda Thursday.Adrian, 1-3 overall, plays at the Red Rock Central Holiday Tournament Friday and Saturday. The Dragons host Pipestone Tuesday.Adrian 56, Edgerton 46The play of two AHS reserves sparked the Dragons during their first win of the season Tuesday in Edgerton.Senior Jolene Reisdorfer and junior Kelsey Tjepkes came off the bench to score a combined seven points at crucial times."We got some great minutes from Reisdorfer and Tjepkes in the first half," said AHS coach Randy Strand. "They came off the bench and really played well."AHS led 33-27 at the intermission before outscoring the Flying Dutchmen 23-19 in the second half to win by 10.Samantha Lynn scored 29 points, grabbed eight rebounds and charted five steals for the winners. Brittany Bullerman and Katlin Wiertsema collected 12 and eight rebounds respectively. Tjepkes chipped in four assists.Box scoreEm.Thier 0 0 1-2 1, Tjepkes 1 0 0-0 2, N.Lynn 1 0 0-0 2, S.Lynn 6 3 8-10 29, Reisdorfer 1 0 3-4 5, K.Bullerman 2 0 2-4 6, B.Bullerman 3 0 3-4 9, Wiertsema 0 0 2-2 2.Team statisticsAdrian: 17 of 64 field goals (27 percent), 19 of 26 free throws (73 percent), 34 rebounds, 12 turnovers.Edgerton: 20 of 55 field goals (36 percent), four of eight free throws (50 percent), 34 rebounds, 15 turnovers.Fulda 66, Adrian 43The Dragons were unable to break into the win column when they traveled to Fulda Thursday.The home-standing Raiders controlled the paint area and took advantage of 21 turnovers by Adrian to secure a 23-point victory."Fulda is a good team," said AHS coach Strand. "Our young posts struggled, and our turnovers hurt us."The Raiders led 37-21 at the intermission. Adrian trimmed the difference to 10 points early in the second half, but Fulda pulled away to win handily.Lynn scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for the Dragons. Wiertsema collected nine rebounds and Kayla Bullerman charted seven assists.Box scoreEm.Thier 3 0 1-2 7, N.Lynn 3 0 1-2 7, S.Lynn 3 1 1-2 10, K.Bullerman 1 0 2-3 4, B.Bullerman 2 0 4-8 8, Wiertsema 1 0 5-6 7.Team statisticsAdrian: 14 of 53 field goals (26 percent), 14 of 23 free throws (61 percent), 31 rebounds, 24 turnovers.Fulda: 28 of 75 field goals (37 percent), six of 12 free throws (50 percent), 37 rebounds, nine turnovers.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ basketball team opened Southwest Conference competition by posting a pair of impressive wins.The Cardinals topped Pipestone by five points in Luverne Friday before rolling to a 29-point victory in Worthington Tuesday.Luverne, 4-0 overall, hosts Edgerton Friday and travels to Fulda Saturday.Luverne 60, Worthington 31A strong effort on defense carried the Cardinals to a 29-point win in Worthington Tuesday.Luverne’s man-to-man resistance created 31 turnovers, turning what was anticipated to be a close game into a rout."Give a lot of credit to the way our kids played on defense," said LHS coach Tom Rops."We were able to take them out of their offense, and we scored a lot of second-chance points off turnovers."Luverne led 33-19 at halftime before playing one of its best stretches of defense of the year in the second half.LHS limited Worthington to five points in the first 13 minutes of the second half, helping the Cards outscore the Trojans 27-12 in the final half.Jake Hendricks and Derek Boeve led the way for the Cards offensively by netting 14 points each.Box scoreBoomgaarden 1 0 0 2,Boelman 3 0 2 8, Miller 1 0 4 6, Hendricks 5 1 1 14, Uphoff 1 0 0 2, Sawtelle 1 0 0 2, Boeve 3 1 5 14, DeBoer 1 0 0 2, Heronimus 3 0 3 9, Haakenson 0 0 1 1.Luverne 55, Pipestone 50The Cardinals fought off a late challenge by the Arrows to win their conference opener Friday in Luverne.Leading 28-24 at halftime, LHS appeared to be in control of the contest when it opened a 12-point advantage in the second half.Pipestone, however, closed the gap to four points (54-50) with 16.2 seconds remaining before falling by five points at game’s end."I think this was the best game we’ve played this year, but we still need to improve on the mental mistakes we’re making," said LHS coach Rops.Marc Boelman led the Cards with 20 points, seven rebounds and four blocked shots. Boeve scored 10 second-half points and 17 in the game. Nick Heronimus passed for four assists and Jake Clark charted two steals.Box scoreWard 0 0 2-4 2, Haakenson 0 0 1-2 1, Boelman 8 0 4-6 20, Miller 0 0 3-6 3, Hendricks 0 0 1-2 1, Clark 3 0 0-0 6, Boeve 4 0 9-12 17, DeBoer 1 0 0-0 2, Heronimus 1 0 1-2 3.Team statisticsLuverne: 17 of 36 field goals (47 percent), 21 of 34 free throws (62 percent), 29 rebounds, 13 turnovers.Pipestone: 18 of 47 field goals (38 percent), 11 of 18 free throws (61 percent), 17 rebounds, eight turnovers.

Lodine to perform at Holy TrinityEmily Lodine, Luverne’s mezzo soprano, will host a live performance at the Holy Trinity Episcopal Church in Luverne.The performance is titled "An Evening of Music and Reflection at Christmas."A press release from the Holy Trinity Church says, "Beautiful favorites and special renditions will provide a joyous interlude to the season."The performance will be at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 21.Joan Mork, the organist at the First Methodist Church in Worthington, will accompany Lodine.The church will collect a freewill offering. For more information, phone 227-9258.RSVP’s service to the communityRSVP recently sent out their newsletters with some statistics about their service to the community, and the number is quite amazing.The group, which has 410 registered senior volunteers in Rock County, recorded 6,200 hours of volunteer service in August alone, a new record, according to the director.From January through September 30, a total of 42,000 hours of volunteer service have been recorded.If they concluded that their time is worth roughly $8.50 an hour, that would make their contribution to various Rock County organizations a total of $52,770 in August alone.The activities the group can volunteer for are varied, with 52 registered sites. Members volunteered at 42 of the 52 sites in August alone.Although the majority of the volunteers are women, men are also need in the organization.In schools, some RSVP members serve as greeters on Wednesday mornings at both the high school and elementary, as well as helping students improve their reading skills.In various senior residential facilities around the county RSVP volunteers help with fishing and shopping outings, craft projects, lawn mowing, popcorn popping, mail delivery, bingo, serving coffee, or just visiting someone who would enjoy having someone to talk to.If you would like to volunteer your time to the Retired & Senior Volunteer Program, contact Greta Van Der Brink, Rock County RSVP coordinator at 283-5064.Don’t let fire ruin your ChristmasChristmas can be the greatest time of the year, but it can also be the most dangerous.According to fire officials, nine out of 10 fire deaths occur at night when people are sleeping.First, if you don’t have smoke alarms in your home, get some. They don’t cost a lot, but they can save a lot.If you have smoke detectors, when is the last time you checked the batteries?A lot of people like burning candles during the holiday season. Since they are a direct source of fire in your home, be extra cautious.Use non-flammable holders and place them a safe distance from your tree as well as the other holiday decorations you have up around the house.Candles can be a fascination to kids, so make sure they are out of their reach.Remember that your tree is drying up from the time it’s cut.If you’ve ever thrown your tree into a fire after the Christmas season is over, you know how flammable they can be.Check the water in your tree stand every day. The needles should bend, not snap between your fingers.In your home, find a cool spot for the tree, away from heater vents and the fireplace.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

Today, I hope I’m not too late to give some advice on protecting your trees for winter. When we have a complete snow cover like we just experienced last week, the sweet bark of young apple and flowering crab trees is a treat for rabbits. They will eat the bark from the snow line to as high as they can reach … good for the rabbit, not so good for the tree. Also, the smooth bark of young maple trees is very susceptible to damage from "sun scald." When we have the combination of cold temperatures, a snow cover, and bright sun, the sun reflects up off the snow and thaws the frozen bark on the southwest side of the stem. As the sun goes down or it clouds up, the bark quickly refreezes, and that strip of bark often is killed or severely damaged. You won’t notice until spring when the tree grows, and as the trunk expands with new growth, that strip of dead bark can’t expand, so it splits open, and then you know the damage has been done. Both of these potential problems can be prevented by wrapping the stem. We carry a white spiral plastic protector that goes on very easily and can be reused indefinitely, or you can wrap with a tree wrap paper. To prevent the sunscald, the tree should be wrapped from the base up to where the tree starts branching, and this should be done yearly until the bark of the tree is old enough to "furrow." To prevent rabbit damage, I don’t know how high you have to wrap … it depends on how deep the snow gets. Trying to convince the rabbit to go elsewhere for supper isn’t effective, so you just have to be ready to keep protecting that tree 18" above the snow line. When you consider the total circumference as 100 percent of the feeding capacity for the tree, damaging or losing the bark on one side of the trunk could easily amount to 1/3 or 1/2 reduction in growth capacity. Trees grow slowly … it’s easier to protect them than to try to repair damage that could be prevented. I appreciate your kind comments on "Know It And Grow It" … I’ll try to keep writing. For now, I wish you all the joy and peace of this season and sincerely say, "Have A Merry Christmas!"