By John RittenhouseThe Luverne girls’ hockey team opened the 2005-06 campaign by dropping a seven-goal decision to St. Peter Saturday in Le Sueur.The Cardinals were scheduled to play their home opener by hosting Sioux Falls Blue Tuesday, but the game was postponed due to inclement weather.Luverne travels to New Ulm for a Friday contest.SP 8, Luverne 1The Cardinals opened the 2005-06 campaign by taking on St. Peter in Le Sueur Saturday.The home-standing Saints controlled play by outshooting the Cardinals 42-7 on the way to a seven-goal victory.St. Peter scored seven goals in the first two periods of the game, including the first five counters of the contest, to open a commanding lead.Rebecca Studer scored the game’s first goal early in the first period before Abby Sunderman added two more counters to give the hosts a 3-0 lead at period’s end.The Saints received goals from Kayleigh Sesmo and Meghan Monahan in the second period before the Cards netted their first goal of the season.Luverne’s Natalie Morgan netted an unassisted counter with 7:01 remaining in the second period to make it a 5-1 game.St. Peter’s Monahan and Sunderman scored one goal each to make it a 7-1 game before the second period was complete, and Saint Erin Seaver capped the scoring with a third-period tally.Alison Brands and Kaylee Smook shared time in the net for LHS. They stopped a combined 34 of 42 shots.

By John RittenhouseThe 2005-06 winter sports season will bring three coaching changes involving Ellsworth and Hills-Beaver Creek high schools.New leaders will be in charge of both EHS basketball programs. H-BC will have a new girls’ basketball coach.After Tom Goehle stepped down from the girls’ basketball position to end a 10-year run at the post, H-BC officials selected Jason Blosmo to replace him in late May.Blosmo brings 10-plus years of coaching experience to the program, including four years of head coaching experience.Blosmo, who was hired as a fifth-grade teacher at the H-BC Elementary School prior to the 2004-05 year, served as one of Goehle’s assistant girls’ basketball coaches last season."Working with Coach Goehle last year was pretty valuable for me," Blosmo said."It gave me an opportunity to get to know the girls personally and athletically. That will be extremely helpful this year, when we hope to continue the H-BC tradition."Blosmo attended Bison High School, which is located in northwestern South Dakota.A three-sport athlete (football, basketball and track) during his high school days, Blosmo was a three-year starter as a shooting guard for the BHS basketball team before graduating in 1988.Blosmo furthered his education at Dakota State University in Madison, S.D., and South Dakota State University at Brookings, S.D., graduating from the latter in 1994.After teaching one year at Central Elementary School in Brookings, Blosmo spent a year at a consolidated school named Deubrook (near Brookings) for one year, where he coached junior high football and served as an assistant boys’ and girls’ basketball coach.Blosmo worked for the Britton, S.D., school district for the next two years, where he continued to serve as an assistant coach.From 1999-2002, Blosmo was employed in Garretson, S.D., where he took over the head coaching positions of the girls’ and boys’ basketball programs.After working in Wyoming the next two years without coaching, Blosmo found his position at H-BC."I got away from coaching for a couple of years, and I started to miss it," he said. "Now I’m excited to get back into it (coaching), and I’m looking forward to taking over the head coaching position here at H-BC."Like H-BC, Ellsworth school officials hired a pair of assistants to fill their head coaching positions for the upcoming seasons.J. (Jeremy) Fisk will replace Dean Schnaible as the head girls’ basketball coach.Schnaible resigned from the position after a five-year stint at EHS last March.This is Fisk’s second year as a kindergarten-12 physical education and health instructor at EHS, where he’s gained his first coaching experience.Fisk served as the assistant volleyball coach the last two years and worked under Schnaible as an assistant basketball coach last season."It really helps to know the girls," Fisk said."I know what to prepare for. I’m really excited about this opportunity and to see if we can improve throughout the season."Fisk graduated from North Branch High School in 1994, where he started for one season as a member of the basketball program. He also played football in high school.He attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls after high school, graduating from the institution in 2001.Fisk’s first teaching and coaching jobs came at EHS, and he plans to preach the fundamentals to the Panther girls this winter."I want them to do the little things right. If you add all the little things up and do them well, they can win you some ball games," he said.Like Fisk, Markus Okeson is in his second year as an employee of the Ellsworth School District.Okeson is a sixth-grade teacher who has been selected to replace Ken Kvaale as the head boys’ basketball coach.Kvaale resigned as the EHS coach after a six-year run last spring.Okeson served as Kvaale’s assistant coach last year, which was his first coaching experience."It was nice to get to know all of these kids last year," Okeson said. "We should be all right this year, and I’m looking forward to the challenge of it all."Okeson is a 1999 graduate of Frazee High School, where he was a two-sport competitor.Along with playing baseball, Okeson was a three-year starter as a point-guard for the Hornets’ basketball team.Okeson attended Bemidji State University after high school, where he graduated in 2003.The first-year EHS coach will stress defense to the 2005-06 Panthers."I’ll be a defensive-minded coach. The boys will learn how to defend," he said.

By John RittenhouseThe 2005-06 winter sports season will bring two coaches to Luverne High School programs.Craig Schneider will be the fourth new head wrestling coach the program has seen in the past four years.Chris Medill will take over as the head boys’ hockey coach this winter.Schneider has been hired to replace Tim Homan, who headed the wrestling program for one year before resigning last spring.A sixth-grade social studies instructor from Wisconsin, Schneider can’t wait for the mats to be rolled out and practice to begin."I’m really excited about getting the season started," he said."This will be an educational year for myself and the kids. We’ll make some mistakes, but we’ll work to improve and let the chips fall where they may at the end of the year."Schneider, who served as the freshman coach in the LHS football program this fall, attended Brillion (Wis.) High School for his freshman through sophomore years, but he graduated from Hilbert High School in 1999.He attended Lawrence University for one year before spending the next three years at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, where he graduated in December of 2004.Schneider wrestled in high school and in college before a knee injury sidelined his college career.During his college days, Schneider served as volunteer assistant coach with the Hilbert High School program. He also was the head coach for La Crosse’s Park and Recreation youth wrestling program.Luverne offered Schneider his first full-time teaching position. He served as a long-term substitute teacher for the Port Edward (Wis.) School District last spring.Prior to taking the job, Schneider was made aware of the dwindling numbers that hampered the LHS wrestling program in recent years. Still, he accepted the job with no hesitation."That’s part of the challenge," he said."I want to see if we can increase the numbers in the program and see the wrestlers experience success on and off the mat.""It will take a while," Schneider continued."It will take a commitment not only from myself, but all of those who help out by volunteering their time to the youth program in Luverne. I want to rebuild the program to the way it once was."In Medill, the boys’ hockey program gets a coach with past playing experience in Luverne.Medill replaces Nick Nafziger, who resigned from his head coaching position after a two-year stint in September.A 1994 LHS graduate, Medill played goalie for Luverne’s Junior Gold team before the Cards joined the Minnesota State High School League in the late 1990s.Medill, who said he skated in Luverne’s hockey program since he was six years old, played one year of Junior B hockey for a team based in South St. Paul after high school.He also played club hockey for three years at Northern State University, Aberdeen, S.D.Medill moved to Sioux Falls in 2001, where he started a business (Medill Plaster & Drywall) with his father, Tim Medill. Tim Medill was one of two coaches Chris played for during his days as a Junior Gold player.Luverne’s new coach said he served as an assistant coach in the lower level of the local hockey program for one year. When he discovered the head coaching position in Luverne was open on the MSHSL’s Web site in September, he decided to throw his hat into the ring of consideration."I wanted to get involved in the program again ever since I moved back to this area," Medill said."I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time. When I noticed there was an (coaching) opening here the last time, I wasn’t sure I was going to stay in this area, so I didn’t consider it. Now I know I’m not going anywhere else, so I decided to try it."Medill will be living a dream when the Cardinals take the ice for the first time Nov. 26 in Mankato.As a Junior Gold skater, Medill and his teammates considered playing high school hockey in Minnesota as being the ultimate experience."I remember being excited when I heard Luverne was getting a high school program. I know things have gone down hill since then. Hopefully, we can do something about that," he said.Medill has been precise in his preparation for the season, carefully jotting down his drills in a practice plan for the first six weeks of the season.The coach will instruct the players on the game’s fundamentals, while placing an emphasis on scoring by taking advantage of opportunities."It’s hard to put a label on the type of game we’ll play," he said."I have an idea how I want the kids to play, but it’s hard to place an offensive or defensive identity on the style we’ll be playing. We’ll try to take advantage of all the situations we face," he concluded.

‘North Country’ at the Palace this weekendThe movie "North Country" will be shown at the Palace Theatre this weekend.Show times are 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.The Web site Internet Movie Data Base, or www.imdb.com, described it as a "fictionalized account of the first major successful sexual harassment case in the United States -- Jenson vs. Eveleth Mines, where a woman who endured a range of abuse while working as a miner filed and won the landmark 1984 lawsuit."The Eveleth in question is Eveleth, Minnesota.The movie stars Charlize Theron, Woody Harrelson, Francis McDormand and Sissy Spacek.IMDB reviewers gave the movie a 7.2 out of 10 review, and Ebert and Roeper both gave it a "thumbs up."2006 tree programRock County farmers, if you want to get involved in the Rock County LMO/SWCD tree program, your time is running out.The Land Management Office/Soil Water Conservation District can assist you with the design of tree planting, as well as selecting appropriate trees for whatever needs you may have.The trees are on a first-come first-serve basis.According to the Rock County Ag News, trees planted in crop ground may be eligible for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) in which cost-share is available as well as an annual payment on the set aside acres.The newsletter goes on to say that fall site preparation contributes to a much better survival rate for the trees once planted in the spring.If you have any questions about the program, phone 283-8862, ext. 3.The deadline for the program is November 30th.Farmers, can you spot a meth lab?Or anyone else, for that matter?Meth labs are popping up all over rural America, and if you know what to look for, you could help keep them out of our neighborhood.Last year 237 meth labs were discovered in Minnesota alone.If you would like to help keep them out of our area, here’s what to look for:
strong odor of chemicals in the area
heavy fortification, such as surveillance camera, bars on windows or covered windows, "beware of dog" signs
suspicious automobile traffic and visitors to the site
unusual hours of activity
chemical cans or drums in the yard
people leaving the building to smoke
open windows in cold weatherIf any of these activities sound familiar, contact Rock County Law Enforcement at 283-5000.SHARE gears up for Christmas ’05Sharing Hearts Are Everywhere (SHARE) is beginning to get ready for their annual Luverne Christmas tradition.A few weeks ago letters went out from the group to local businesses to reintroduce themselves and ask them to start thinking about their contribution for this Christmas season.The program, which was started in 1985, was originally run by the Rock County Family Service Agency.As it grew, a stand-alone organization was created to handle the responsibilities.For those unfamiliar with the program, the 21-year-old effort collects and distributes food, clothing and toys to families who may not be able to provide those items for themselves.In 2004, SHARE provided 150 families with donated items at Christmastime. Those families consisted of 220 children and 222 adults.The donated items come from all quarters, including individuals, churches, organizations and businesses.If you would like to donate items, collection times will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 7, and from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday, Dec. 8, at Sharkee’s.IF you would like to make a cash donation, mail it to SHARE, P.O. Box 792, Luverne, MN, 56156.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

One of our family’s favorite table prayers goes this way: "By your hand we all are fed. Thank you, Lord, for daily bread." Our family prays those words, then each individual names one "daily bread" for which he or she is thankful. Then we end the prayer by repeating the words, "By your hand …" It serves as a reminder to us that the daily bread that God provides for us is far more than just the stuff we fill our stomachs with.In this our family’s prayer, many things have been named over the years. God has been thanked for dogs, cats, butterflies, school, family, butterflies, rain, safe trips, butterflies, bicycles, fun days, butterflies (Hannah, our youngest, used to really appreciate butterflies), our home, thunder, lightning and, yes, even food. Daily bread consists of all that which God provides for our sustenance each and every day. The list could never be completed, for God’s providence is unlimited. But there is one item that I suspect is all too often left off a person’s thankfulness list. Not because it is low in priority, but because it doesn’t occur to people that it is eligible to be included as an example of "daily bread." Each of us would properly refer to that item with the word "me."You are daily bread for others. You are one of the countless but important morsels of sustaining food that lies on the plates of more people than you realize. One of the regular exercises I do with my confirmation class is to ask, "How have you served others in your day-to-day lives?" The question is to get them to think about how it is that God has provided them as daily bread for others. And if daily bread is provided for others, it benefits us as well. For when others are fed, the community is fed, and we are fed with a healthy community. More and more daily bread. Around and ’round it goes merrily on.How have you been daily bread in another’s life? Here’s how. You have been such in doing your job responsibly, in your volunteering, in your play, in your relationships. So, when you thank God for the daily bread he so graciously gives, you can thank God for you.Moreover, thanking God for daily bread is thanking God not only for the daily bread you have been in someone else’s life, but for the daily bread which is precisely that opportunity to help, to love, to serve, to support, to cry with another. Your daily bread includes the opportunity to serve well that customer over the counter with a smile, or to pick up that barrel or bin full of trash, or to help change that tire and get them on their way, or to change that diaper, or to walk that neighbor’s dog, or to pick up that candy wrapper along the path, or just be that son or daughter, mother or father, grandpa or grandma.You are daily bread for others. The opportunity to be that is daily bread for you.For the broccoli, the steak, the spud and the cake, And the butterfly, which seems not much; For the chance to give as we have received, To help others in a clutch. … By your hand we all are fed. Thank you, Lord, for daily bread.

We are a FamilyFamilies are important. What makes that so is the fact that we are who we are because of their influences in life. No matter what kind of family we are exposed to, we are shaped and become our being because of that influence. We can become victims of negative behaviors or encouraged by love and respect. But no matter what we are surrounded by, we are a family.God is a member of our family. God sits at the head of every table. Now, whether God is recognized or not depends on the members of that family. God wants to be there. Do we want to have God there? If we consider this reflectively, we realize that the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords and the Almighty Savior is in our midst each day and we can reach out and touch the hand of God! Awesome, huh?I met a young woman recently who was bitter and denied my message that God was in every family. She said, "Yeah, well I am angry and lonely in my family and I cannot find a speck of love there. What a sorry God there is in my family!" I felt her loneliness and abandonment. I suspect there is a time in all our lives when we feel God has left the room! I told her to do me a favor. I asked her to put an empty chair at the table the next time her family was together for dinner. Tell everyone that God requested a meal with them tonight. Say nothing more. Continue to eat and converse with each other and let me know how the communication went. I had forgotten about my request of her and when I saw her a month later she smiled at me. "What happened at your family dinner?" I asked. "Well," she said, "no big rush of affection, but there was definitely a difference in our conversation!" "How so?" I asked."My dad complimented my mom on the dinner! That may not sound like a big deal to you, but that has never happened. I smiled at God’s chair and my sister did, too! God was really there! I know it!!"Since that time, God has a special chair at every meal she eats. Even in restaurants, she tries to steal a chair from the table next to her for God. God is like that, you know. A solid member of the family and deserving of a place of honor at the table! This Thanksgiving set a chair for God. Make a tradition of allowing God to join you in the times of your life when you need Him most. Little changes are important and will grow as you allow God to become part of your family. Amen.

New snow Tuesday morning gives a different perspective to our landscape … I hope you can take the time to appreciate the form and texture of grasses, twigs, and matured flower heads, etc. That is the reason I didn’t encourage pruning earlier … you’d just be looking at a mound of stumps or less … for the next five months! Amaryllis bulbs are offered for sale this time of year, and they make an excellent gift plant. My father-in-law didn’t have an appreciation for houseplants, but the amaryllis was a plant he enjoyed because of the drama they gave in the growing process. Bulbs are normally dormant when you purchase them. We sell them potted so you don’t have to mess with that. If you buy the bulb unpotted, you need to select a pot that is one inch larger than the diameter of the bulb. Plant the bulb so that its widest part is at soil level … so after planting, half of the bulb will be visible above the soil. Water the soil lightly and set the pot in a warm place. Light is not an issue until the bulb begins to grow … but then it is a really big issue! When either flower buds or leaves begin to emerge from the bulb, you need to place the pot in very bright light … preferably in a sunny window. If the light is not bright enough, the bud stem will stretch and lean toward the light.Once the new growth begins, keep the soil uniformly moist … like a cake is moist … too wet will cause the roots to rot. The drama comes from how quickly the plant develops and comes into bloom. Flowers may precede the leaves, come at the same time, or come after the leaves have emerged … there is no set pattern. The size of the bulb will determine the number of flower stems and the number of flowers per stem. Our bulbs are the largest available and frequently produce two or three flower stems. When the flowers are finished, cut the flower stalk down to the bulb, but do not cut off the leaves. During the next several months, those leaves are building the flower buds in the bulb for the next season, much the same as our tulip and daffodil bulbs do in the spring. Therefore, it is important to use a plant food in the water you give the amaryllis and to keep it in bright light to insure blooms for the next year. After danger of frost in the spring, you can plant the bulb out in the garden, in a not-so-visible place, but don’t forget to dig it and replant it before frost in the fall!

I’m no June Cleaver, but bake sale makes me officially grown upI love being a mother, but I’ve always tried not to let it define me.By that, I mean I’ve resisted the urge to brag non-stop about my children’s accomplishments (though I’m quite sure they’re smarter and better-looking than any other children I know), I don’t drive a minivan (though I could use one) and I still socialize occasionally with grownups (outside of soccer and little league).But last week — Wednesday night in particular — was a defining moment in my life. I was in charge of a school bake sale, and every time I heard myself say it, I giggled. A bake sale, to me, was something that June Cleaver took charge of while wearing a tailored house dress and ruffled apron.It was something I never thought I’d find myself a part of, much less in charge of.But the fourth-grade accelerated reading program needed money, and at a parent meeting I found my hand in the air to help.A few weeks later, I found myself in my kitchen surrounded by pots and pans, ingredients and baking utensils that I hadn’t used in years – some of them ever. Suffice it to say I was not June Cleaver. My ratty old U of M sweatshirt was spattered with batter, and my bare feet were tracking through sticky spills on the linoleum.Because I had ventured so deeply into unchartered waters, I was a bit tense, especially when the kids ventured into my work space. They, of course, weren’t happy to learn that the fuss in the kitchen was for an end result they wouldn’t get to enjoy.But, despite my insecurities, there was something comforting about all the domestication. Did all this mean I’d finally grown up? As a little girl, I somehow imagined this to be a quintessential scene in my grown-up life — commandeering the kitchen and all its components. Of course, I also imagined myself running the country … but there’s still time for that.If nothing else, I can say I’m a better person for the learning experience.oI learned that a can of evaporated milk should be discarded if it’s been collecting dust for a decade.oI learned it’s good to review ingredient lists before starting. The boys and I made a trip to town for necessary items such as brown sugar, light syrup … and, of course, evaporated milk.oI learned that next time my children’s causes need a bake sale, I’ll write a check. For all my efforts in the kitchen, I figured my contributions would net a whopping $10 for the reading program.There’s still time to ‘play grown-up’The second night of our bake sale is tonight, and even if you’re not June Cleaver, you can still pretend you are.Bring your quarters to our table, which is set up just inside the elementary school front doors. If you buy enough stuff to spread on a dinner plate, you can set it out for dessert and feel very grown-up.

When it comes to blind luck, I’ve always considered myself to be fairly fortunate.I’m still waiting for the day when my numbers come up in the lottery, but I’ve won more than my fair share of football and baseball pools to keep me content.My greatest triumph came as a little league baseball player in my hometown of Breckenridge.At the end of every season, the league’s coaches pulled names out of a hat and awarded a prize to the individual whose name appeared on the piece of paper.Some of the prizes were great (a lightly used bat, or a brand new ball), and others were gag prizes (cracked bats and tainted balls).The grand prize, however, was something every one of us there coveted. It was a whole watermelon.In my six years as a member of the little league, I’m proud to say I landed the watermelon once. It was a test of will to navigate the streets of Breckenridge on a bike while toting a watermelon that probably was half my size at the time, but I completed the trek without mishap.My triumph was a victory for all, as I shared the melon with some of my closest friends and family members. Looking back at the experience, it was a day of great fortune that I’ll never forget.In light of some recent events, I’m beginning to think my luck has run out. After consecutive weekends taking part in games involving playing cards, I write this column as a beaten man.I was all fired up when Tollefson Publishing manager Rick Petersen came up with what I thought was his greatest suggestion two weeks ago.With Adrian playing a playoff game in Springfield on a Friday night, and the state cross country meet being staged some two hours away in Northfield the next day, my plate was full for the weekend. When Rick said I should consider staying at Jackpot Junction near Morton after the Adrian game instead of driving back to Luverne, then driving all the way to Northfield the next day, it was an offer I couldn’t refuse.So, before Adrian took the field against Sprinfield, I talked business with Dragon coach Randy Strand. I revealed my plans for after the game and then shared some strategy with the coach. I told him to run the ball a lot on offense in order to keep the clock moving. That would lead to a quicker game, and I could find a position at the blackjack tables in the casino a little earlier than I anticipated.The game lasted a little longer than the average high school football game, but I was playing cards shortly after 10 p.m. That proved to be a bad thing. After a couple of early wins (I should have quit when I doubled my original $20), I found myself in a $40 hole.At that point, I retired to the snack lounge. The short-order grill was open, so I purchased a quick meal while telling myself it’s a lot cheaper being in this particular part of the casino.I returned to my room after my snack, knowing the Timberwolves were playing a late game on ESPN. I had no intention of staying there. After watching the Minnesota team fall in overtime, I returned to the casino and proceeded to lose $40 more before leaving with my tail between my legs shortly after 2 a.m.After sulking about my misfortune on the way to Northfield the next day, the outstanding performances turned in by our area runners re-energized me.Their efforts gave me hope, and I decided to enter my first Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament last weekend.The problem is, I know little or nothing about poker. Still, I threw my hat in the ring, thinking I could shock the field and win the tournament.After receiving no decent cards to play during the first four hands, my imagination ran wild when I found a pair of aces in my stable during the fifth hand of the event. After watching the table leaders exchange chips for the first four rounds, I decided to join them in a raising war until all of my chips were pushed into the center of the table.I was thinking, with one more ace, the pot would be mine. That ace never came, and I ended up bowing out of the tournament with the table’s third best hand of that particular deal.With those experiences being shared, I’m proud to say there will be no more poker tournaments for me. I’m cured.When it comes to playing cards, I now know I’ll never win the watermelon.