By Jolene Farley
Hills-Beaver Creek Elementary students participated in Pennies for Patients, a program that benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

The program raises money for leukemia research and patient aid in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Students were encouraged to bring their pennies Feb. 6 through Feb. 23 to their classrooms at H-BC.

Student Council members presented information at Lift Off, the weekly school meeting, to help students understand the diseases the program helps combat.

H-BC students collected $321 in pennies. Sixth-graders qualified for a pizza party by collecting the most donations, more than $100.

In 2000, Minnesota schools collected more than $240,000 - all in pennies - for Pennies for Patients. These dollars helped several patients in Minnesota.

Sponsors of the statewide program are WCCO Radio and the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

On March 9, WCCO will announce on the air the 10 schools in the state that collected the most money.

Each school that collects more than $400 in pennies will celebrate with a pizza party for the room that contributed the most.

Each H-BC class set a goal, and those who reached their goals received rewards.

Council members pictured above are: (back, left) Brandon Boeve, Amanda Tilstra, Ashley Hoyme, Adam Finke, Thomas Scholten, Aleesa Arends, (front, left) Meagan Stueven, Rosie Aristeo, Leah Hup, Joel Van Batavia, Grant Hoogendorn.

By Jolene Farley
The architectural firms Group II Architects, Spitznagel Inc., and Hartman Architecture Inc., all from Sioux Falls, made presentations to the Hills-Beaver Creek Board of Education concerning the proposed locker room and fitness center addition Monday evening.

The board has been considering construction of a new locker room facility and community fitness center at Hills-Beaver Creek High School.

Current locker rooms in the basement of H-BC are not handicap accessible, have space limitations and present air quality issues.

Cost estimates for renovation of the current locker rooms ranged from $80,000 to $100,000, so the board decided to pursue new construction.

Superintendent Tom Knoll invited the firms to attend the meeting and sent them a list of pertinent questions the board would like answered during the interview.

Mayor George Langford and Councilman Jim Jellema, representing the city of Hills, also asked a few questions during the interviews.

The firms were asked to explain their business histories, to estimate their fees, provide insurance information, demonstrate their experience with similar projects, say what type of engineers they used in similar projects, explain what type of contracts they generally use and provide lists of references.

Group II Architects sent three representatives to Monday's meeting. They proposed a $3,500 fee for schematic services to establish the project scope and budget. Reimbursable expenses, estimated in the range of $1,000 to $1,500, including printing of bidding documents, mileage and long distance phone calls, would also be billed out.

In projects with construction costs in the range of $200,000 to $300,000 total fees are estimated at 12 percent of total construction cost, not including reimbursable expenses.

The Spitznagel Inc. representative proposed fees of $1,090 for pre-design and programming and a fee of $3,280 for the schematic design. He proposed total project fees of $21,850 for a $200,000 to $250,000 project. The firm would also bill for reimbursable expenses.

Specialty consultants such as surveyors, geo-technical and civil engineers would be billed directly to the school or separately through the firm.

Hartman Architecture proposed they handle not only the design of the addition but that they contract for construction management. They stressed they could save some general contractor markups on materials by providing construction management services themselves.

"We watch construction dollars closely; we make sure what you get is what you are paying for," said firm owner Roger Hartman. Hartman Architecture designed the last addition at Tuff Memorial Home and listed Administrator Dana Dahlquist as a reference.

They stressed their "hands-on approach to projects." Their fees for a $200,000 project would be in the 8-percent range for architecture alone, and in the 15-percent range including general contractor services. Reimbursable expenses would be $50 per set of plans with an estimated 35 sets needed, according to Hartman.

The board asked each candidate the minimum square footage needed for a locker room. Answers varied depending on if the district built individual showers or group showers and the materials used for construction.

"We need to find out what is totally necessary and what we can cut back on," said School Board member Ann Boeve. "We don’t need gold pipes in the walls."

Board members Boeve, Lloyd DeBoer and Dave Roozenboom had traveled to two area schools and toured their locker rooms. They had "no frills," according to Roozenboom.

"Budget will drive what you can do," said the Spitznagel representative.

"I don't see any way we can get away from construction costs of $100 per square foot," Knoll said after the firms left.

Since the board plans to pay for this project out of the general fund balance, Knoll advised the board not to go over the $200,000 mark for the project.

Using the $100-per-square-foot construction estimate, $200,000 will build a 2,000-square-foot locker room addition.

After much discussion, board member Gary Esselink made the motion that $200,000 is the maximum amount the district can spend on the locker room facilities. Lloyd DeBoer seconded and the motion carried.

No decision was made concerning which architecture firm to hire. The board plans to make a decision on this issue at their next meeting.

The board previously tied up about $200,000 of the $590,000 fund balance when it passed a motion requiring a fund balance of $500 per pupil at all times during its Feb. 12 meeting.

The board added that private donations could increase the amount allotted for the project.

The city of Hills had verbally agreed to help with the fitness center project, according to Boeve, but needed concrete information about the project to proceed.

By Lori Ehde
The past few mild winters are mere memories by now as area residents dig out from yet another storm system that moved through region over the weekend.

The storm, which meteorologists had predicted a week in advance, made its first appearance in Rock County Friday late afternoon.

By nightfall, snow accumulations totaled only an inch, and Saturday dawned quiet but gray.

With sure predictions of more to come, area residents planned evening events "weather permitting."

By about 4 p.m. Saturday, those predictions started coming true in the form of pouring rain, which eventually turned to snow.

When the winds came up around 7 p.m., flakes fell horizontally, causing near-zero visibility for motorists.

Saturday’s accumulations came to about 3 inches.

Interstate 90 was closed that evening first from Mitchell to Chamberlain, S.D., and as the storm system moved eastward, all lanes were closed all the way to Blue Earth. In addition, all state and county highways in southwest Minnesota were also declared closed.

Sunday church services were cancelled, and area residents and highway workers spent most of the day digging out.

The sun shone brightly most of the day on Sunday, and when the winds died down, the Interstate opened after stranded vehicles were removed from ditches and shoulders.

Many area residents went to bed Sunday night thinking their hard shoveling efforts would allow them clear passage to work the next day, but, as if to add icing on the cake, Mother Nature delivered another healthy inch of fresh snow during the night.

For rural ditches that are already piled high with snow, it doesn't take much for remote township roads to plug, and area schools were forced to start two hours late Monday morning.

The weekend's storm brings the total snowfall this year in Rock County to more than 50 inches - about three times what the area receives in a normal winter.

Forecasters topped off their weekend reports with the happy news that spring is only a few weeks away.... But they also warned that March is typically the snowiest month of the season.

Photo by Jolene Farley

Tyler Crawford (front to back), Katrina Gillaspie, Kyle Rozeboom, Karic Wiertzema, Andrew Scholten, Brittany Buss and Brooke Tilstra listen attentively as their teacher, Diane Vanden Hoek, explains what the class will do for Reading Works Tuesday. Hills-Beaver Creek Community Education offers Reading Works to help students in Grades 2-5 review basic skills in reading.

By Lori Ehde
On a recent stormy morning, Dr. Darrel Siebert looked out his bedroom window, saw a blizzard howling outside and decided to go back to bed for awhile.

He's still getting used to the idea that retirement has afforded him that luxury. "Right now I still feel like I'm on vacation," Siebert said from his home Tuesday.

Lounging in his sweat pants with the TV remote control nearby, he's the picture of retirement.

So far he doesn't miss work. He doesn't miss 12-hour work days, Sunday morning hospital rotations and taking his turn on call.

"The fact that you know you don't have to be available is such a relief," he said. "It weighs on you without you even realizing it. Our home life has changed drastically."

His wife, Eleanor, who retired from nursing three years ago, has been looking forward to this day. "It's great to have him home," she said.

The couple started easing into his retirement three years ago when he dropped out of the on-call schedule. "I can't believe how much more he was home when he stopped taking call," Eleanor said.

His last day seeing patients was Friday, Dec. 8, and the clinic and hospital hosted an open house retirement party for him Dec. 10. About 250 people stopped that day to wish him well, and Siebert said he will miss the daily contact with patients.

"It's a real reward to make a diagnosis," he said. "I'm not going to say I always did the right thing, but you do the best that you can at the time.... Trying to help people - that's what medicine is all about. Every day is a challenge."

Many of his patients won't forget the role he played in their lives. Since announcing his retirement, Siebert has accumulated a sizeable pile of cards and letters wishing him well.

One 10-year-old girl wrote, "Dear Dr. Siebert, thank you for making me well when I'm sick. I would always be sick if it wasn't for you. Thank you."

In 35 years, Siebert said patient care has improved with advances in modern medicine. "We have a lot more resources today," he said.

For example, when he started there were no heart monitors, and doctors had to only guess how serious a heart condition was.

Tools like ultrasound machines weren't used until about 15 years ago, and many of the medicines he prescribed in 1965 have been replaced with more effective solutions.

His job has gotten easier, too, considering he used to make house calls as far away as Kenneth and Ellsworth. "Those were the days..." Siebert said, rolling his eyes.

He stopped delivering babies several years ago, and toward last, his practice focused more on elderly patients.

"That tends to happen," Siebert said. "You start out with young families and your families grow up with you, and you end up with geriatrics."

As much as he's enjoying his new-found freedom, Siebert said he will miss his coworkers, who have become his close friends through the years.

"It's been 35 years. It's done. It's time to go on to something else," he said.

Now, he and Eleanor are just looking forward to Christmas with their family - their three children and four grandchildren.

Their son, Alan, lives in Fairmont and has two teen-age children. Ann lives in Seattle, Wash., and has two preschool children, and Amy lives in Lincoln, Neb.

In addition to spending more time with children and grandchildren, the Sieberts are planning frequent golf and fishing trips and a trip to Alaska next year.

"I've been telling people I'm going to turn a page and it's a new chapter. The sad thing is it's the last chapter, but I'm going to make the chapter as long and interesting as I can," he said.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne School Board members made the unpopular decision of scheduling class on Easter Monday, a day previously scheduled as a vacation day.

The move during the Thursday, Feb. 22, meeting was prompted by six snow days so far this winter, not counting late starts and early dismissals.

"If we knew Mother Nature wasn't going to cancel anymore school days, we wouldn’t have to discuss this," said Superintendent Vince Schaefer, "but we all know there are still six weeks of prime snow time left this winter."

Since the school calendar called for snow days to be made up at the end of the year, the last day of school is now Thursday, June 7.

With any more snow days, that last day could be Friday, June 8, or into the second week of June.

When Schaefer recommended the board approve Easter Monday as a school day, he did so with quality of learning in mind.

"We're so programmed to end school early in June that productivity falls greatly the longer you go," Schaefer said.

He said he'd go so far as to recommend school on Good Friday, but he said he knew there was little support among staff for that option.

"There are people who have plans in place that allowed for a four-day weekend on Easter break, which is typically a strong family time," Schaefer said.

"As superintendent, I work anyway on June 11, but this is a decision that needs to be discussed tonight."

Before deciding on the matter, board members asked for input from staff members at the meeting.

High School Counselor Craig Nelson didn't hesitate to share how he felt about making up a snow day on Easter Monday.

"You wrote a calendar that said they'd be made up at the end of the year. I don't think it's fair practice to go back on that now," Nelson said, pointing out that some staff have purchased airline tickets for the long weekend.

"I feel pretty strongly about this. I haven't made plans myself, but a lot of people have."

He told board members he believed the majority of staff members opposed scheduling class during Easter break.

"It’s not a perfect world," board member Steve Tofteland said. "Even if we had snow days built in, someone was going to have plans disrupted."

Board Chair Don Bryan agreed. "People make plans for June 6 and 7, too," he said. "There are likely some staff who would just as soon have school on Easter Monday than go longer in the summer."

Board member Cary Radisewitz sympathized with staff members but hoped they'd understand the board's predicament.

"This is an uncommon situation," he said, referring to the harsh winter.

Knowing the decision would be unpopular with staff, Schaefer still recommended the board make up a snow day on Easter Monday, April 16.

"I don't want to take on 102 staff members who have made plans," Schaefer said, "but educationally, I think it's better to go to school on Easter Monday than to extend the school year into June."

Radisewitz made the motion, Tofteland seconded it, and it passed unanimously.

Trees on campus
In other snow-related business, board members decided to extend tree-planting plans to include a row of more mature trees along the base of the hill just west of the elementary school.

"We have one heck of a drift to the north of the school. It took two days just to dig through to get the door open," Schaefer said, pointing out that the buried playground equipment is suffering under the weight of the snow.

"We need to find some way to impede the progress there."

The district has long been considering a plan to plant seedlings around the periphery of property west of school, but at their Thursday meeting they also agreed to plant trees on school property to act as a snow break.

Initial tree plans last year called for a single row of seedlings around the ball diamonds and agriculture/prairie land to the west.

Now, in addition to the snow break trees on school property, plans call for a double row of seedlings with biodegradable matting, plus trees along the ball fields driveway for shade.

The decision to expand the project was driven by state and federal funds to help cover expenses. Plus, Tofteland said, "Funds in the farm fund are more than sufficient to cover it."

Expenditures for the project are estimated at $12,000. Board members approved the first half of that expense Thursday night.

By Lori Ehde
Saturday dawned sunny and calm in the Blue Mounds State Park. It was cold - with temperatures barely climbing above zero - but conditions were perfect for another session of animal tracking in the snow.

Though many animals hibernate in the winter, Park naturalist Dave Rambow said the park is alive this time of year with animal activity - and the evidence is in the tracks they leave in the snow.

"Each set of tracks tells a story," Rambow said.

"Each animal has its own pattern. Rabbits run from tree to tree, from cover to cover. Deer follow established trails, moving from feeding area to feeding area, from bedding area to feeding area."

Some stories written in the snow are about life and death.

"Once I found a place where an owl pounced on a mouse," Rambow said. "Where the mouse tracks stopped, you could see the imprint of wings and tail feathers."
He said following tracks in the snow is a way to experience animals without actually being there to see them.

"It compresses time," he said. "You see the decisions the animals are making as they get to where theyÕre going."

When Rambow leads participants on tracking tours like the one Saturday morning, the most common tales are told by deer and rabbits, with an occasional mouse or pheasant pattern.

Before hunting season started last fall, there were about 180 deer in the herd on the Blue Mounds. Those numbers are down from previous years, when there were as many as 400 in 1996, for example.

While no formal count has been attempted, Rambow said coyotes are a constant presence on the Mounds as well.

Another tracking session is planned for 10 a.m. Saturday.

In a press release advertising the sessions, Rambow says, "We use tracking as a kind of tool to help people get back in touch with nature. It brings you down to earth and connects you to nature.

"When you get down on your knees following deer tracks, you see how the deer feels, how it sees things."

Trackers are advised to dress for the elements and bring their own snowshoes if they have them. A limited number of adult snowshoes are available on a first-come first-served basis.

Meet in the trail center building, formerly the park shelter house. The building was enclosed this summer for winter use, but it's not heated.

Rambow said Park Partners is working to locate a wood stove to make the building a winter warming house for the tracking sessions and other winter park activities.

By Lori Ehde
The Rock County Sheriff's Department has arrested an 18-year-old rural Luverne man, and another 17-year-old male may be involved with an attempted break-in at Scotty's.

According to the arrest report, Deputy Jeff Wieneke was dispatched to a 3 a.m. alarm sounding at Scotty's Bar and Grill Tuesday.

When Wieneke arrived, he found 18-year-old Dan Meinerts hiding under a pickup in the parking lot.

He arrested Meinerts at the scene, and Scotty's employees were called to assess potential losses.

Wieneke noticed pry marks on the front door, and a screen had been removed from a window that was not locked.

Meinerts' footprints were found on the ground outside the window, but it's unclear if he had actually been inside the building.

When questioned about the attempted break-in, Meinerts requested to speak with an attorney.

Scotty's employees did not notice anything stolen or damaged inside the building.

Meinerts has been released pending charges.

A 17-year-old juvenile has also been questioned in connection with the arrest and faces similar potential charges.

By Sara Quam
The nationwide concern of hospice-care funding hits home for many area families.

Fund-raisers are one way that Luverne's hospice program can help make up for benefits missed by Medicare or health insurance.

The annual charity auction and banquet is scheduled for April 20 this year.

Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health System purchased Luverne's hospital, but Helen Saum, volunteer and marketing coordinator, wants to make it clear that donations don't go to Sioux Valley.

"Any donation, memorial or fund-raiser stays in the Luverne Healthcare Foundation to serve local people," Saum said.

The foundation's money has gone directly to patients whose services aren't covered otherwise, to patients who may need to stay in The Cottage and pay room and board and to patients who have high prescription drug costs. The foundation also pays for some supplies and additional services like counseling.

The charity auction usually draws about 300 people and includes a meal, entertainment, a live auction and a silent auction.

About 35 area people donate their time to the hospice program. Those volunteers, from Rushmore to Hills to Adrian, are valuable assets to the program, Saum said.

"If we have a patient from a particular area, it's nice to have a volunteer from there see that patient," Saum said.

The hospice program includes patients who aren't living in The Cottage. They can be at home, in nursing homes or hospitals and still receive hospice care.

In 1993, 30 people entered the hospice program. That number increased to 59 last year, and stays in The Cottage have risen even more steeply - from 5 in 1998 to 40 last year.

As the number of hospice users rise, the proportion of Medicare funding has fallen.

When Medicare set hospice payments in the 1980s, prescription drug costs represented about $1 of the per diem reimbursement rate. Now the prescription drugs cost about $16 a day.

The average length of service has also dropped. More patients enter hospice very late in their illnesses, requiring intensive services.

"By the time they get here, there's a high cost to their care, and we're not fully reimbursed," Saum said. "It's a nationwide concern, and Congress is starting to look at it."

The effort to balance effective care and rising costs is aided by local fund drives.