Damn de lions, potty trains and desserts … words are seldom as they seemMaybe it’s because I make a living from words, or maybe it’s just because I’m a mom, but when kids make innocent mistakes with the English language, I especially appreciate it.This spring, when a crop of yellow weeds reared their obnoxious fuzzy heads, Carson (then 3 years old) wanted to know why I didn’t like those "damn de lions."How appropriate.That was about the same time he started asking questions about "potty trains" at Jo’s house. Apparently some toddlers were learning this at Jo Mann’s daycare.Carson wanted to know, "Mom, do they have toilet paper on potty trains?" and "Mom, how fast do the potty trains go?"Thank goodness that ride was already over in our house.STRESSED spelled backward is DESSERTSKids aren’t the only ones who do interesting things with words.An e-mail document circulating the office last week showed what happens when you rearrange certain words of the English language.The outcomes are remarkably appropriate:
When you rearrange the letters in DORMITORY, you get DIRTY ROOM.
PRESBYTERIAN rearranged can be BEST IN PRAYER. (Sorry, Lutherans and Baptists. Nothing that interesting happens with your letters.)
DESPERATION rearranged becomes A ROPE ENDS IT.
GEORGE BUSH can be rearranged to say HE BUGS GORE.
When you rearrange the letters in MORSE CODE you get HERE COMES DOTS.
The letters in SLOT MACHINES can also say CASH LOST IN TIME.
ANIMOSITY can be rearranged to say IS NO AMITY.
The letters in MOTHER-IN-LAW can also say WOMAN HITLER.
SNOOZE ALARMS can be rearranged to say ALAS! NO MORE Z’S.
The letters in A DECIMAL POINT can also say IM A DOT IN PLACE.
EARTHQUAKES can also read
ELEVEN PLUS TWO can be rearranged to say TWELVE PLUS ONE.
And, my personal favorite: STRESSED spelled backward is DESSERTS.

Recently my daughter and son-in-law, James Bond, visited us in Luverne. We had fun visiting some of the local sites. While visiting the Pipestone National Monument, a visitor from Germany was walking the trail. James began to speak to him in German, since he was stationed in Germany recently, and the warm feeling was evident as a person from another country felt welcomed There is an old story about Mama Mouse who was introducing her offspring to the ways of the world, when they were confronted by a cat. Mama immediately began barking like a dog. The cat took off. Turning back to her young, Mama Mouse announced, "That shows the importance of learning a second language!"How many languages do you and I need to know? Quite a few. Mothers and dads, for example, need to know how to speak the language of love and security to their children. They need to also know how to speak the language of discipline and guidance. They need to know how to speak loud and soft — stern and kind — happy and sad. This is part of what makes our communication with our children so incredibly difficult. When confronted by a crisis, how easy it is to accidentally speak the wrong language at the wrong time!Good communication within our families is very important. Let’s try to take the time necessary to develop the "languages" we need to communicate with one another in our families.

I believe I have found a significant correlation between leeches and fast food burgers. It came to me when the loving husband and I took a brief respite from the rigors of daily living to go fishing for a few days. Always on a quest for the elusive walleye, the loving husband decided to purchase some leeches. They came in four sizes: small, medium, large, and jumbo. The bigger the leech, the bigger the price. It is my understanding, based on decades of research, that the fish is very low on the evolutionary scale. A hungry fish that comes upon a leech will never say to himself, "Oh, I’m not going to waste my time with a medium leech. I want a jumbo leech." No, a hungry walleye is going to nab the first tasty snack he sees. The four sizes of leeches made me think of Hardees. They offer four sizes of burgers, the 1/3-pound thickburger (small), the l/2-pound thickburger (medium), and the 2/3-pound thickburger (large). Then there’s the monster double bacon cheese thickburger (jumbo) that is big enough to feed a family of four. The bigger the burger, the bigger the price. One difference: The hungry human will say to himself, "I’m not going to waste my time with the medium thickburger, I want the jumbo thickburger." (Even though it has 1,410 calories, 107 grams of fat, and 2740 mg of sodium, and is big enough to feed a family of four.) After more deliberation on the subject, I believe there is a correlation between leeches and everything, including books. Our library books come in small, medium, large, and jumbo, too, except they are all the same price, FREE. A good medium-sized book on the new shelf is "Lifeguard," by James Patterson. The danger isn't in the water. When a lifeguard in a Florida resort, Ned Kelly, meets the woman of his dreams, it feels perfect except that she prefers caviar and Manolo Blahniks and he is used to burgers and flip-flops. So when Ned's cousin offers him a seemingly risk-free role in a painting heist that will make them all millionaires, Ned can’t turn him down. Then, bang, it all explodes: Tess is brutally murdered and all his co-conspirators are massacred, leaving guess-who as the leading suspect? Also new on the shelf is Danielle Steel’s new book (small) "Miracle." It is New Year’s Eve when the storm of the century hits northern California. In a quiet neighborhood in San Francisco, amid the chaos of fallen trees and damaged homes, the lives of three strangers are about to collide. Maggie, still grieving a loss, slowly comes alive again, and Jack finally shares a painful secret he has hidden for years. But at the center of the friendship is Quinn. A man who has scaled heights of success in business, Quinn is now adrift, waiting as builders put the finishing touches on his newest passion, a 180-foot yacht he plans to sail around the world. Looking back at all he missed with his family while he built his empire, Quinn is consumed by guilt, focused only on escaping to the sea. But as his plans near completion and his friendship with Maggie begins to change, Quinn faces a choice, between a safe haven and an adventure of the heart. The choice he makes will affect other lives as powerfully as his own. And it will take him on an extraordinary journey, and into a second, terrifying storm, one that will bring him danger or deliverance.

Palace TheatreThe following appeared in the Rock County Star-Herald on April 12, 1945:Artist who Decorated State’s Biggest Theatres Does The Jochims’ Interior WorkThe Palace Theatre, hailed as "Southwestern Minnesota’s most beautiful movie house" is even more beautiful today than ever before. Again it is Herman and Maude Jochims, whose efforts to make motion picture entertainment more enjoyable who are known throughout the entire middle west, who are responsible for giving Luverne the finest interior decorating to be found anywhere. When the theatre patrons in this area attend the re-opening of the Palace tonight, they will see the results of an eight-week repair and beauty treatment given by Harold Larsen & Son, Inc., interior decorators of Minneapolis, whose artistic work is throughout the entire northwest. Their choice of color and design must be seen to be appreciated to the fullest extent. Those who have admired the interior designing of such places as the Minnesota Theatre, Curtis Hotel and Charlie’s Exceptionale café in Minneapolis; the Paramount Theatre, St. Paul; the Chateau Theatre, Rochester; Hibbing High School, Hibbing, and too many more of equal importance to mention, will see art work by the same man, Harold Larsen, the minute they enter the lobby of the Palace. While Mr. Larsen himself is a very capable artist, he has also an excellent staff of workmen. A.A. Baumgart, artist exceptional, is responsible for the big painted mural, the wall designs and the beautiful artistic hand work on the lights. He was ably assisted by Andrew Lundmark and Paul Nielsen,Glenn Adams, and his helper, Elmer Skyberg, and B.S. Hinkly, and his staff of workmen, were locally employed and lived up to their usual high standard of workmanship. The management of the theatre also wishes to compliment all other helpers who so ably supported the big undertaking, and have expressed the hope that the final results will meet with the approval of the entire community. Donations to the Rock County Historical Endowment Fund can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, P.O. Box 741, Luverne, MN 56156. Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.

It’s been a long time coming. The new Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center is almost ready to take on patients and is giving the public a sneak peek during a special open house from 1 to 8 p.m. Sunday, July 17.We could all snoop around on our own, but we’re encouraging people to attend the open house and take in all the newness of this beautiful, state-of-the-art facility.From the open layout, to the bright lighting, to the peaceful décor, to the handy labeling of corridors — this new hospital and clinic is wonderful.Patients, whether they need the emergency room or just an annual physical, will feel comfortable and private there.And additions like the chapel and a homier hospice room are treasures for the community.Outside the facility, we all know the new building is changing Luverne’s landscape forever. Where there used to be alfalfa or patchy weeds, single-family and group homes are already cropping up. New homes and businesses probably will follow the lead of Sioux Valley, filling in the blanks of northern Luverne.While Sioux Valley gets glory for designing and building the structure, community leaders and donors also deserve thanks in helping to achieve this goal. The Star Herald has highlighted new features and those involved in the project in this week’s special section of the paper.The traffic flow of the city, and how passersby view Luverne will also change with the striking facility on Highway 75.While the outside is an obvious change, the inside is worth a tour, too. Again, it’s important to attend the open house to get a close-up look at all Sioux Valley Luverne Hospital and Sioux Valley Clinic-Luverne have to offer.

Sunday, July 17, through Saturday, July 23, will be observed nationally as Probation, Parole and Community Supervision Week. For more than 100 years, officers have been supervising offenders to make our communities a safer place to live. These unsung heroes dedicated their lives to serving crime victims and holding offenders accountable for the wrong they have committed to our families, friends, and our communities. It is through their care, their concern, and unselfish commitment to public safety that our communities are a safer place for our families.At the end of 2003 there were more than 4.8 million adults and more than 600,000 juveniles being supervised in our communities by these officers. They are responsible for more than two-thirds of the nation’s offenders under supervision or custody, yet they receive only one-third of the money allocated for custody and supervision of these offenders. The challenges they face are tremendous, yet they continue to make a difference. They make a difference thorough mentoring, interventions, rewards and sanctions, treatment, partnerships with other agencies and community groups, and by assisting offenders in their efforts toward leading a law-abiding lifestyle. They are professionals who constantly acquire knowledge of what motivates offenders and apply that knowledge in the most effective way possible. The work they do has become multifaceted — their work goes beyond supervision and surveillance of offenders — it has expanded to include working with victims in a much more involved capacity to ensure that restorative justice principles are addressed. All of this is done in an effort to ensure the highest level of public safety. Since the days of John Augustus, the "Father of Probation" who started probation in 1841, the atmosphere in which these dedicated professionals work has become more violent. The rise in the number of offenders under community supervision the impact of drugs, the availability and use of weapons and the increase of violent behavior contribute to the danger these officers face each day. During this week, honor and recognize the work these professionals do for us each and every day of the year. Rock/Nobles Community Corrections Executive BoardDon Basche Mike Harmon Jane WildungDavid BensonKenneth HoimeMike Winkels

I would first like to say there are always two sides to every story. With that said, I would like to bring to discussion the subject of what is right and wrong when you live in a small community. In the last few years, Luverne has made strides to become a growing and prosperous community. As you look around you will see new businesses coming to town all of which will help the community in their own ways. And I’m sure it is safe to say that the most lucrative project / business investment has been the construction of the Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center. With 10’s of millions of dollars going into the project, thousands of dollars were donated from local families and businesses alike. That is what is great about a city like Luverne; with all the differences each individual has, it seems like every time someone is in need they can rely on someone or something within the town to help them out. The Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center is not excluded in this statement. They have benefited greatly from the generosity of each citizen and business that donated toward the cause of helping the community to stay healthy. So what is the issue here, one may ask? The issue is: How is the town of Luverne going to continue to be prosperous when generosity is paid back by individuals going out of town to do their business when it is quite obvious there are businesses in town that offer the same services? My point is that the recipient of each of your donations — Sioux Valley Luverne Medical Center — went out of town to buy most of their products, such as furniture and thousands of dollars in televisions and numerous other products. Let’s put it this way, your donation went to our hospital and clinic (who claimed this was a local project and as much business as possible will stay in Luverne), which then went out on a shopping spree that benefited the businesses in town very little. They went to Sioux Falls businesses, for instance Karl’s Home Audio and Appliance, who did not contribute to the project AT ALL. And for what, products that they could have bought here in Luverne.The natural reaction you may have is maybe the prices were higher here in Luverne. That would be a good question. However, that is NOT the case. I know the Furniture House as well as the local Sears store has Price Matching options in the case of product you see elsewhere is cheaper. To top it off, neither of these two businesses were even asked to bid on these products. Basically, that means each individual purchase would have been significantly cheaper than what our local medical provider actually spent on their purchases. So the question beckons, is Luverne’s prosperity going to represent each one of us losing our grip on what is right and wrong?Mike Miller, Rural Rushmore

A few weeks have passed since Rock County’s Relay for Life was held. It was a great event at our beautiful city park with great weather. There are many people who made the Relay possible, and I would like to mention them: oThe committee that worked so hard and took their part of the planning and got it completed.oTeam captains and members who had many exciting fund-raisers during the year, as well as all the sponsors that donated either cash of products for the supper.oThe Pork and Beef Producers who did the grilling and the Livewires 4-H Club who helped the team volunteers with serving of the meal. oThe entertainers who shared their talents, and Jerry Gladis, the DJ who provided the sound system and music throughout the night. oThe city and the employees who worked with us during the event, Ken Vos, John Stoffel and Ivan Kooiker. oBonnie Reu, who brought the many cords, lights and other supplies.oThe Star Herald for all the articles they publish regarding the Relay.oThe people who support the fund-raisers, purchase baskets and just come to the Relay for Life event.It was a very exciting night, and some of the things that I am thinking about still are the Survivors’ Lap and all those who walk that lap. It is such a special but a very emotional lap. Mike Van Der Brink, the honorary chair, was able to be there after having surgery in Rochester only 12 days before. Another thing is Tom Comsudes from Atlanta, Ga., who promoted Rock County’s Relay for Life all year by taking pledges for his 100-mile walk. He came to Luverne and started walking at the city park on Wednesday, walked on Thursday and Friday and finished on Saturday around 2 a.m. He brought a donation of $8,396. When asked why he does it for Rock County, he said, "Because Rock County cares." Thanks, Tom, and also to your family who came and walked with you and supported our Relay. I also really enjoyed the presentation by the Hardwick American Legion on the meaning of the different folds of the flag. The Luminary Ceremony was beautiful with bags all the way around the park. Congratulations to Jon and Kristin. That was the topping on a wonderful evening.In closing, I want to say that because of everyone who supported the Relay in some way, the total raised is more than $75,000. A BIG hats off to Nancy Kaczrowski for co-chairing with me for two years and her work for Relay before that. It has been fun to get to know and work with her. Also thanks to my family for supporting me during the planning stage and being there for me that night. God Bless you all.Glenda SchomackerLuverne

Monday, due to the 4th of July holiday, no regular activities occurred at the Village. Several tenants were given the opportunity to spend the day with their families. For dinner those who stayed enjoyed a picnic dinner consisting of hamburgers on fresh buns, potato salad, baked beans and watermelon. Wednesday afternoon tenants enjoyed watching a video and enjoying popcorn. Paul and Bertha Thompson observed their wedding anniversary on July 8.For breakfast on Friday tenants enjoyed waffles with various toppings. Later in the evening a group from Apostolic Christian Church in Lester, Iowa, conducted a hymn sing. We thank the group for their visit. The Village Library is located in the Garden Room on the lower level. The hours at the library are from 9 to 11 a.m. the first and third Saturday of the month.