Hills-Beaver Creek Dist. 671Minutes5-10-04The Hills-Beaver Creek School Board met for its semimonthly meeting at 7:30 pm in the library in Hills. Board members present were Harnack, Larson, Leuthold, Boeve, DeBoer, Baker and Esselink. Superintendent Deragisch and Principal Holthaus were also in attendance.The meeting was called to order by Chairman Harnack. Chairman Harnack recognized as the visitors to the meeting. Jolene Farley of The Crescent, and staff member Wilma Bengtson.Patriot Pride: The high school art students Lee Jackson, Greg Van Batavia, Jessica Arp, Jessie Leenderts, Diedre VandenBussche, Aaron Aristeo, and Kelly Mulder The elementary music concert Mr. Deragisch completed his superintendent’s licenseElementary report was given by Mr. Holthaus.High School report was presented by Superintendent Deragisch. The minutes of the last meeting were approved as sent out.Motion by DeBoer, second by Baker, and carried to approve the bills.Motion by Boeve, second by Esselink, and carried to participate in the Minnesota State High School League. Motion by Esselink, second by Boeve and carried to table proposed cuts until the next meeting. Motion by Leuthold, second by Baker, and carried to change the June 28 meeting to June 24th at 7:30 pm.Motion by DeBoer, second by Larson, and carried to accept the VEBA Retirement Options for retiring teachers.Motion by Esselink, second by Leuthold, and carried to reduce education program and position.Motion by DeBoer, second by Esselink, and carried to place Jil Vaughn on .5 FTE unrequested leave.Legislative update was given by Esselink. Request by New Life Celebration Church was dropped. An insurance update was given by Superintendent Deragisch.Update on teacher vacancies.Dates to Remember: May 19 Awards Night May 19 8:30 Personnel committee meeting May 23 Baccalaureate at 2:00 pm May 24 School Board meeting May 28 Graduation at 7:00 pmMeeting adjourned at 8:45 pm.Ann Boeve, Clerk(5-27)

Member DeBoer introduced the following resolution and moved for its adoption:RESOLUTION PLACING JIL VAUGHN ON .5 FTE UNREQUESTED LEAVE OF ABSENCEWHEREAS, the School Board of Independent School District No. 671 adopted a resolution proposing placement of Jil Vaughn on .5 FTE unrequested leave of absence on May 10, 2004, on the grounds of discontinuation of cooperative agreement with Ellsworth, andWHEREAS, said written notice of the proposed placement on .5 FTE unrequested leave was received by Jil Vaughn by personal service on May 17, 2004, andWHEREAS, said written notice of the proposed placement on .5 FTE unrequested leave contained a statement setting forth the reasons for the proposed placement as well as a statement that she was entitled to a hearing before the school board provided she make a request in writing within fourteen days of receipt of said notice, and that if no hearing was requested within said fourteen day period it constituted acquiescence by Jil Vaughn to the school board’s proposed action, and WHEREAS, no written request of any kind was received by the school board or superintendent of school from Hills-Beaver Creek District 671 for a hearing as of June 5, 2004, andWHEREAS, said failure to make written request for a hearing within fourteen days after receipt of notice of proposed placement on .5 FTE unrequested leave constitutes acquiescence by Jil Vaughn, to her placement on .5 FTE unrequested leave. BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED, by the School Board of Independent School District No. 671 that Jil Vaughn be and hereby is placed on .5 FTE unrequested leave of absence as a teacher effective at the end of the 2003 – 04 school year on June 30, 2004 pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Sec. 122A.40 11B, with prorated pay and fringe benefits.The motion for the adoption of the foregoing resolution was duly seconded by Member Esselink and upon vote being taken thereon,the following voted in favor thereof: Baker, Esselink, Larson, Leuthold, DeBoer, Harnack, Boeveand the following voted against: nonewhereup said resolution was declared duly passed and adopted. Member Esselink introduced the following resolution and moved for its adoption:RESOLUTION DISCONTINUING AND REDUCING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS AND POSITIONSWHEREAS, the School Board of Independent School District No. 671 adopted a resolution on May 10, 2004, directing the administration to make recommendations for reductions in programs and positions, andWHEREAS, said recommendations have been received and considered by the school board, BE IT RESOLVED, by the School Board of Independent School District No. 671, as follows: That the following programs and positions, or portions thereof, be discontinued:1. SpeechThe motion for the adoption of the foregoing resolution was duly seconded by Member Leuthold, and upon vote being taken thereon, the followingvoted in favor thereof: Baker, Esselink, Larson, Leuthold, DeBoer, Harnack, Boeveand the following voted against: nonewhereupon said resolution was declared duly passed and adopted.(5-27)

Southern Hills Condominium bids set for June 8Association, are accepting sealed bids until 6:00 P.M., Tuesday, June 8, 2004 for:Maintenance Work for Outside Building and Groundsfor Southern Hills Condominium Duties include: snow removal from driveways & sidewalks, mow & bag grass and leaves as needed, fertilize lawn in spring & fall, thatch lawn in spring, remove tree limbs & trash from lawns, clean landscaping, trim bushes & trees, clean gutters, clean outside dryer & sewer vents. Bids must be securely sealed, and clearly marked on the outside of the envelope as follows: "Bid for Condo Maintenance", deliver to Hills City Office, 301 South Main, P.O. Box 172, Hills, MN 56138. Bidding limited to residents of Hills only.Bids will be opened publicly at the Hills City Office at approximately 7:00 P.M., Tuesday, June 8, 2004. The Southern Hills Condominium Association reserves the right to reject any and all bids, and to accept any bids deemed most advantageous to the Association. Connie Wiertzema, SecretarySouthern Hills Condominium Assoc(5-20, 5-27, 6-3)

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne softball team had a three-game winning streak snapped when it hosted Pipestone for a doubleheader Friday.Pipestone, the lone team with an unbeaten record in Southwest Conference play (10-0), proved during the twin bill it has a solid squad.The Arrows outscored the Cardinals 30-0 in two games that ended by the 10-run rule after five innings of play.Pipestone blanked the Cardinals without giving up a hit in Game 1.The Arrows scored 19 runs in the first three innings and added another counter in the top of the fifth to win 20-0.Sarah Wynia pitched in the opener for LHS. She walked four batters and recorded five strikeouts.Game 2 wasn’t much better for the Cardinals.Pipestone scored one run in the first and fifth innings, two in the second and three in the third and fourth frames on the way to a 10-0 win.Luverne did get two hits in the finale. Jessy Behr and Jessa Dahl stroked one single each.Stacy Lorenzen pitched the nightcap for the Cards. She walked nine batters and fanned four.Luverne slips to 5-12 overall and 3-7 in the conference with the losses. The Cardinals play a doubleheader in Worthington today before ending the regular season with a game against Murray County Central in Slayton Monday.

By Lori EhdeMost Rock County farmers wrapped up the 2004 planting season just in time for last weekend’s nourishing rain.According to agronomists in both the north and south ends of the county, corn planting is done and soybeans are about 90 percent complete.In the Hardwick area, that means farmers are a good two weeks ahead of schedule."A lot of them should be just getting started planting corn, and it’s already up," said Randy Johnson, part owner of the Hardwick Grain Company.He said he expects the biggest challenge for the upcoming growing season to be hot, dry weather, if weather forecasters are right.Hardwick and much of northern Rock County received about an inch of rain Sunday night, but Johnson said the entire area is behind on moisture."It was enough to get us started, but it’s not going to last," he said.Regional Extension ag specialists estimate subsoil moisture is an inch to two inches below normal.Meanwhile, Johnson said, fledgling plants could use a little sun. "As long as it stays warm for awhile, we’ll be all right."Dave Leenderts, agronomist for New Vision Co-op, Hills, agreed warm weather is needed for now, especially after last week’s frost."It didn’t hurt things too bad," Leenderts said about the frost. "It just turned colors a bit. Cold weather will do that."Along with some damage to plants, a cool start to the growing season can cause concern for some insects and root rot.Leenderts said crops in the Hills areas received six to nine tenths of rain over the weekend. "This last rain helped tremendously."He said farmers there are about a week ahead of schedule, with most farmers planting corn done and most nearly done with soybeans.

By Sara StrongA small, pioneer cemetery on the northwest side of Luverne made history … and continues to interest local historians.At Monday’s Rock County Historical Society meeting, Vance Walgrave told the story of relocating the lonely old graveyard to Maplewood Cemetery.The task marked the first time the state of Minnesota declared dead bodies wards of the state so they could be moved without family members’ permission. The moving project that started back in 1904 was finally finished by Walgrave in 1997.Walgrave, who was working as superintendent at Maplewood at the time, said, "At first when I started asking questions, we were told there was nothing we could do."He was assigned caretaking duties for both cemeteries, even though the old one was north of the American Reformed Church and Maplewood is a distance away, on West Warren Street. The old cemetery became Maplewood’s responsibility in 1949.The cemetery association actually started procedures to move the cemetery in 1904. But so many of the dead were travelers or pioneers with no surviving family members and the process just didn’t get completed.Luverne founder Philo Hawes was an early advocate of moving the cemetery. His daughter (Luverne’s namesake) Eva LuVerne, died of tuberculosis in her ‘20s. She was moved to Maplewood with her husband, who also died young. Philo is buried in Maplewood, too, but Walgrave thought it was ironic that the man who wanted all the remains moved, had three bodies in his family plot that had to be moved in 1997.Six feet under"Exactly 100 years after the last burial, we got permission to move them out," Walgrave said.Local attorney Ben Vander Kooi and then lobbyist Andy Steensma were big players in the move. Local legislators sponsored bills to give special permission for moving the bodies. Walgrave had to testify before both House and Senate committees, who he said were uneasy about the process, since it hadn’t been done before."No one ever [legally] moved a body without permission from family members," he said.The cemetery board had to have a hearing, and publish legal notices in case any surviving family members objected to a move. "We didn’t hear anything in three weeks of publications, so we could do it," he said.Walgrave knew the cemetery was used for only about 20 years. "I thought it’d be a piece of cake," he said of the research portion of the reinternment. He spent hundreds of hours on research.Some bodies had already been moved by earlier families, and with the lack of care over the years, finding grave sites took detective work. He used metal detectors to find stakes marking lot lines. Then, by scraping a layer of grass and dirt with a grader, clear signs of disturbed dirt were revealed. Walgrave and his crew used a back hoe to dig a few feet deeper and then hand dug the remains.Walgrave was concerned about diseases like smallpox that could still be active in the graves. He couldn’t find any research on the topic, even after contacting many state agencies."They didn’t know if the disease would be viable after that long," he said.Bodies were buried anywhere from 2 and 1/2 feet to 7 feet deep. Many times the wooden caskets rotted, leaving skeletal remains in piles in the dirt. Walgrave had to put skeletal remains in bags to be transferred to Maplewood.He said that throughout the entire process, he kept respect for the dead and their descendents a priority."I didn’t let it bother me; I just thought of it as an archeological expedition," he said. "Some people wonder if it was morbid, but it wasn’t."He measured and recorded all the facts about each site, and was able to pair people to known names of the buried in some cases when other identification wasn’t provided.At the time the cemetery was used, the newly settled county didn’t keep death records, and early papers didn’t print obituaries for everyone. So there are still some that can’t be identified.In all, Walgrave dug up 149 graves, finding remains of 89 1/2 people. He’s still mystified that the upper half of one man’s body was missing. That same body faced west while others were buried facing east, to greet "the rising sun."The number of remains was a surprise to Walgrave, who was told to expect to move between 16 and 35 bodies.He took notice of each of the remains — who probably chewed tobacco, judging by stained teeth; who was young; who was old; who was buried together as husband and wife. Walgrave noted that only one had a filling in his teeth, probably a traveling salesman since it was a gold filling. One woman had a cloth over her hair, like a nightcap. "We didn’t find eyeglasses, rings, jewelry. Either they didn’t have them, or didn’t think they wanted to be buried with them."Walgrave said grave robbers of the day may have created a norm where people didn’t bury valuables.Walgrave refers to one man with size 11 shoes as "cowboy" because he stood out as one of the few buried with footwear.Anything found with the bodies was buried again with them when they were transferred to Maplewood. Sometimes, all that was left were coffin handles among the bones. One grave had a whiskey bottle, either belonging to the dead or left by a grave digger. Walgrave said, "I felt like it belonged to him, so I put it with him again."In order to share the history and the newer story of the cemetery, Walgrave donated his scrapbook to the Rock County Historical Society Monday. He also donated the top of an infant’s coffin to display in the museum."This turned out to be a much bigger project than we thought, but I feel like it was my mission to do this," Walgrave said. Old Herald article tells of longtime concern for the buried Walgrave said, "If you jump back to 1867, when the railroad was about to be chugging along and the Homestead Act was in place, things were just booming."Walgrave said the population of the county reached almost 4,000 very quickly by about 1880, and not all of the residents were here to set up roots. People who traveled through died during harsh winters, or of diseases like diphtheria, typhoid fever or scarlet fever. They got proper burials, but their headstones wore and family members weren’t around to give the sites care.Even in the early 1900s, local concern grew for the unkempt cemetery.A headline in the Aug. 9, 1907 issue of the Rock County Herald read, "TIME FOR ACTION, Where are the relatives?"The article continues, "Considerable complaint is being made over the condition of Luverne cemetery, not only among those who have dead buried therein, but among the people in general who have taken any notice of this old ‘resting place’ of Luverne people who have gone before. In addition to the fact that thus far this summer the cemetery has been given no more attention than a vacant lot in a decadent village, it is charged that for a while the cemetery was used as a pasture for cattle, but whether by someone willfully pasturing their cattle therein or by the animals getting in though defective fences the Herald does not know. Evidence, however, that cattle were there is found in the damage done to tombstones, lot fences, etc.The fault for this condition of affairs is due in large measure, at least, to the negligence of the officers of the association, for while the cemetery fell into disuse far as new interments are concerned fully ten years ago. … The deplorable condition of affairs should not be tolerated. It is inexcusable. … It will be remembered that about a year ago a movement was started to have the dead buried in the Luverne cemetery removed to Maplewood and the Luverne cemetery vacated and the land sold to defray the expense of such removal."Finally, in 1997, the cemetery was sold to American Reformed Church and Maplewood was expanded, giving 89 former Rock County residents permanent rest in well-tended grounds. Nine are labeled with "unknown" grave markers.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ golf team prepared for a pair of big upcoming meets by participating in a pair of events since Saturday.The Cardinals placed fourth in an 11-team field at the Fairmont Invitational Tournament Saturday. Luverne posted a 15-stroke win over Tracy-Milroy in Tracy Monday.Luverne, 29-8 overall, plays at the Southwest Conference Tournament in Marshall Friday before competing at the Sub-Section 10 Championships in Tyler Monday.Luverne 160, T-M 175The Cardinals recorded their 29th win of the season by defeating the Panthers by 15 strokes in Tracy Monday.Colby Anderson and Andy Haakenson shot rounds below 40 strokes to lead the Cardinals to their win. Anderson secured medalist honors by recording a one-over-par 37. Haakenson finished two shots behind Anderson with a 39.David Nelson and Jesson Vogt contributed 40- and 44-stroke rounds to the team tally.Steve Berghorst and Kirk Oldre recorded 45- and 49-stroke efforts without influencing the scoring.Eric Peterson led T-M with a 38.Fairmont inviteThe Cardinals placed fourth in an 11-team field during Saturday’s tournament in Fairmont.Luverne finished the 18-hole event with a 337-stroke total, finishing six strokes off the pace set by Windom (331).Jackson County Central and New Ulm placed second and third respectively with 332- and 334-stroke totals.Redwood Valley (338), Worthington (343), St. Peter (346), Pipestone (348), Waseca (358), Fairmont (358) and St. James (397) capped the field.Anderson played well for the Cardinals, leading the team and placing fifth overall with an eight-over-par 80.Haakenson turned in an 81, while Berghorst and Vogt added 88-stroke totals to the team tally.Nelson shot a 45 without influencing the scoring.New Ulm’s Jim Herzog led all players by shooting a two-over-par 74.

By John RittenhouseThe Adrian and Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton track teams warmed up for the Red Rock Conference meet in Slayton today by participating at the Murray County Central Tournament in Slayton Monday.Adrian’s girls turned in a strong performance by placing third in a nine-team field. H-BC-E-E’s girls finished ninth.The Patriot boys placed sixth and the AHS boys tied for eighth place out of nine teams.Sarah Kruger won a meet championship to lead the Dragon girls to their third-place finish as a team.Kruger took top honors in the 400-meter dash with a time of 1:01.75.Morgan Lynn made a bid to win the 800-meter run for Adrian before placing second with a time of 2:27.12.Adrian’s 800- and 3,200-meter relays placed second with respective 1:53.46 and 10:07.87 efforts.Jolene Reisdorfer, Amanda Lynn, Emily Thier and Kruger ran the 800. McCall Heitkamp, Leslie Stover, Erica Thier and Morgan Lynn teamed up in the 3,200.The Patriot girls received a record-setting performance from Cassi Tilstra that served as the highlight of the meet for H-BC-E-E.Tilstra won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:39.86, which is a new H-BC standard. Lisa Conger had established the old record of 5:43 in 1987.The Patriot boys earned two meet titles on their way to a sixth-place finish in team competition.Todd Alberty won the 800-meter run in 2:09.98, and he ran a leg with the champion 1,600-meter relay team. Alberty, Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson and Tyler Bush won the race with a time of 3:34.54.Bush erased an H-BC record that lasted 24 years during the course of the race.Bush placed second in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:30.9, besting the old school standard of 4:31.6 set by Durant Kruger in 1980.Three second-place performances provided the highlights of the meet for the Adrian boys.Kyle Knips finished second in the 200- and 400-meter dashes with respective 24.32 and 52.78 times.Casey Knips placed second in the discus with a toss of 140-11.Here is a look at the rest of Adrian’s and H-BC-E-E’s top six finishers and the final team standings from the MCC Invitational.Boys’ standings: Southwest Christian 92, MCC 82, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton 73, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 72, Fulda 62, H-BC-E-E 55, Pipestone 46, Adrian 38, Canby-Minneota 38.Girls’ standings: T-M-B 166, Pipestone 87, Adrian 62, C-M 61, R-T-R 54, Fulda 40, SWC 34, MCC 30, H-BC-E-E 24.Adrian girlsThird place: Ameila Mulder, discus, 99-0 1/2; Kruger, 200, 27.72; Heitkamp, 1,600, 5:48.87.Fourth place: Er.Thier, 800, 2:32.59.Fifth place: Stover, 1,600, 5:51.22; 400 relay (A.Lynn, Em.Thier, Samantha Lynn and Reisdorfer), 4:27.93.Sixth place: Kruger, high jump, 4-8; 1,600 relay (Er.Thier, S.Lynn, M.Lynn and Reisdorfer), 4:27.93.H-BC-E-E girlsThird place: 400 relay (Amanda Connors, Rosie Lewis, Mya Mann and C.Tilstra), 54.11; 1,600 relay (C.Tilstra, Amanda Tilstra, Connors and Mann), 4:19.31.Sixth place: Lewis, shot, 31-4 1/2; Lewis, discus, 94-6 1/2 (new Ellsworth school record).H-BC-E-E boysThird place: Tom LeBoutillier, 110 hurdles, 16.58; 800 relay (Cody Scholten, Soren Trebesch, LeBoutillier and Alberty), 1:39.57.Fourth place: Scholten, high jump, 5-8; LeBoutillier, 300 hurdles, 44.63; 3,200 relay (Greg Van Batavia, Derek Haak, Robert Baker and DeAngelo Smith), 8:54.16.Sixth place: Scholten, 100, 12.11.Adrian boysFourth place: 800 relay (Billy Anderson, Pete Jensen, Jordan Brake and K.Knips), 1:41.04.Fifth place: C.Knips, shot, 43-8 1/2; David Brake, triple jump, 38-10; 400 relay (Jr.Brake, Chad Janssen, Jory Haken and Anderson), 49.34; 3,200 relay (Lee Stover, Jesse Brake, Paul Honermann and Jensen), 9:08.61.Sixth place: D.Brake, high jump, 5-6; 1,600 relay (Honermann, Jensen, Janssen and Stover), 3:53.06.

By John RittenhouseLuverne’s Scott Overgaard and Magnolia’s Josh Klay won feature races at Rapid Speedway, in Rock Rapids, Iowa, Friday.Overgaard secured a pair of wins in the late model street stock class. Klay won his feature title in the hobby stock class.Overgaard is one of four area drivers that raced in the street stock division Friday, where he won the first heat race and the feature event.Klay was joined by three other area drivers in the hobby stock class, where he placed fifth in the first heat before taking the feature crown.Adrian’s Mark DeBoer (second in the first heat and third in the feature) and Brad Klaassen (first in the second heat and second in the feature), and former Rock County resident Darrin Korthals (second in the second heat and ninth in the feature) competed in the street stock class.Kanaranzi’s Colter Deutsch (third in the first heat and seventh in the feature), Luverne’s Seth Stegenga (first in the first heat and 14th in the feature) and Ellsworth’s Mike Deutsch (second in the second heat and third in the feature) raced in the hobby stock division.Former Luverne resident Anthony Mann won the first heat and placed third in the feature in the sportsman class at Rapid Speedway. Ellsworth’s Greg Roemen finished fifth in the second heat and 14th in the feature in the same class.Luverne’s Brandon Buysse placed seventh in the first heat and fifth in the B feature in the 360 sprints at the Iowa track.Luverne’s Mike Steensma placed third in modified feature races at Murray County Speedway and Worthington Speedway Friday and Saturday respectively.Luverne’s Jeff Haubrich finished third in the feature race of the hobby stock class in Slayton.