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Remember When March 25, 2021

10 years ago (2011)
•Blue Mounds State Park manager Rick White has been retired since December, so he’s had some time to reflect on his 34 years in the state park system.
“I enjoyed the buffalo,” he said. “If you have a prairie and no buffalo, you really don’t have a natural prairie.
Under White’s tenure at the Blue Mounds, the buffalo herd grew from 40 to more than 100 animals, and their grazing area grew from 100 to 550 acres of prairie.
“So it was a real natural setting that allowed the buffalo to interact with the prairie,” he said. …
He also said he enjoyed springtime at the Blue Mounds and the enthusiastic return of park visitors.
“That spring interaction with families as they came back to the park…” he said.
“Especially the kids – and with a name like ‘Ranger Rick’ how could that not be fun? The kids were always enthused about nature.”
 
25 years ago (1996)
•Several of the guidance counselors surveyed for this comparison of local schools’ ACT test scores for 1994-95 said ACT test scores are a very poor analysis of how well a school district academically challenges its students.
Luverne High School Guidance Counselor Craig Nelson said, “The ACT is not a very good judge of your school system. It’s a voluntary group of students who take the test, not the entire graduating class. It would be better to use a test that all students take. Also, score results can vary greatly from year to year. A five-year analysis would give you a better picture of a school’s performance.
“I would agree with Craig,” said H-BC Guidance Counselor Dan Ellingson. “There are two groups of students who can take the ACT test. The group of students who are college-bound is called the ‘core’ group by the ACT program. Sometimes only the college-bound kids in a school take the ACT. Sometimes students not intending to go to college take it, so the scores might go down. It depends on which group of students takes the test and which set of results is announced. The ACT is intended to measure a very specific thing. It’s not a very accurate measure if the students taking it are not college-bound.”
 
50 years ago (1971)
•A Luverne high school team this week will be playing basketball in a state tournament for the eighth time since 1913.
In those eight appearances in state competition, Luverne won the championship once, in 1964.
Planning for this year’s tournament, the first where separate meets are held for Class A and Class AA schools, was in marked contrast to the first meet in the state in 1913, in which Luverne also had an entry.
 
75 years ago (1946)
•Among students at the University of Minnesota school of agriculture to win the gold letter “A”, the school’s highest awards were Ruth Lowe, Beaver Creek, Curtis Gibson, Beaver Creek, and Donald Gewecke, Jasper.
Only 14 members of the student body received the award, it being given on a point basis for participation in extra-curricular activities and for scholastic standing.
 
100 years ago (1921)
•A comparison of taxation figures of cities in southern Minnesota of approximately the same size as Luverne discloses that while taxes in Luverne are high, they are not as high as in some other cities in this section. In fact, of five cities in those of the fourth class section — Luverne, Pipestone, Worthington, Marshall and Fairmont — the per capita tax for Luverne is next to the lowest, and there is not a lot of difference between the lowest and Luverne.
A municipal reference bulletin issued by the extension division of the University of Minnesota gives a table on comparative taxation in Minnesota cities and furnishes the data for the comparison referred to.
Complaint is made by Luverne taxpayers that the assessed valuation is too high, but a comparison of valuations fails to bear out the charge. This is particularly evident when one considers the apparent and recognized wealth of Luverne. Of the five cities named, Marshall has the lowest assessed valuation, and Luverne comes next.

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