Remember When Feb. 23, 2023

10 years ago (2013)
•Luverne High School choir member Kira Graber joined an all-star cast of choral students from across the state when she performed at Benson Great Hall at Bethel University for the Minnesota Music Educators Mid-Winter Conference last week.
Graber, a junior, tried out for the All-State Choir last March. Her audition included singing a solo, vocal memory exercises checking for range and sight singing.
Graber received information that she had been chosen to sing in the Girls’ All-State Choir in May. She attended a weeklong camp in August at St. John’s University when choir members spent about seven hours a day rehearsing the music. …
Graber was the only student from Luverne to receive the honor of being chosen for the All-State Choir performance.
She is the daughter of Keith and Seana Graber, Luverne.
 
25 years ago (1998)
•With boosts from private businesses, volunteers, an extra city donation and a possible no interest loan, Luverne baseball players could set their spikes on an irrigated, freshly sodded, new baseball diamond this spring.
Jerry Buss of McClure Plumbing and Heating volunteered to acquire at cost and help install sprinkler equipment for the Luverne Baseball Association and the city diamond. Buss said he did not have an exact estimate from his suppliers, but it would probably cost less than half of earlier estimates. The Association would provide labor for the installation, under supervision of his son, to help reduce the cost.
Mike Reker, representing the Association, had approached the council Jan. 26 about adding sprinklers to the baseball diamond being reshaped from a softball diamond located near the BMX track.
The council had already committed $20,000 to the project in October 1997 and has spent $17,932.13 of the total. Reker estimated the cost for sprinklers, using a firm specializing in such work, to be in the $10,000 to $12,000 range.
 
50 years ago (1973)
•Fire tore through Leonard’s DX Service Station in Hardwick Friday night leaving an estimated $7,000 in damage.
The Hardwick Fire Department was called on the scene around 11 p.m. and by 11:30 p.m. the fire was under control. Luverne firemen were also called at 11:30 p.m. to assist in fighting the blaze, but the fire had been all but extinguished by that time.
Leonard Staeffler, who leases the station from Ray Frick, Luverne, reported that his shop equipment was salvageable, but everything in the small office portion of his station was destroyed. In just 30 minutes, the fire had completely gutted the interior of the station.
A cousin to the operator, Alfred Staeffler, reported the fire. Staeffler resides across the street from the station and told firemen he heard small explosions around 11 p.m. He noticed flames erupting and immediately called in the alarm.
 
75 years ago (1948)
•The KELO Barn Dance Gang, sponsored by Luverne’s American Legion Post, play in the Luverne armory this Saturday, February 28. The complete line-up of the show, which has been a success in many near Sioux Falls towns, includes a show, amateur contest, broadcast and dance. Members of the group include Dave Rogers, Pee Wee Krause, Lyle Cobb, Verne Morgan, and Roddy Bristow, who are heard daily over radio station KELO (1230 on the dial). Other members of the troupe are Edythe Mack, The Arizona Cowgirls, and Master of Ceremonies Dick Creswell.
 
100 years ago (1923)
•Purchase and presentation to the Luverne high school of a silver cup as a trophy for which the Senior and Junior classes will debate, was authorized at the Monday noon luncheon of the Luverne Kiwanis club.
This trophy is to remain in the possession of the Luverne schools from year to year, and the two classes above named will annually compete for it under conditions to be outlined by the superintendent of the schools.
A committee was named to purchase the silver cup, and it is hoped to secure one large enough so that the names of the winner and the year may be engraved upon it from year to year.