It will be three months before the ice is in place at the Blue Mound Ice Arena, but there’s reason for area figure skaters to be excited right now.A new piece of equipment was installed at the indoor arena last week, and it will benefit the members of the Blue Mound Figure Skating Club this winter and well into the future.It’s called a jump harness, and it will be used as a training tool at the facility by club members and their instructors.According to BMFSC skating director Mary Tilstra, the jump harness will help take Luverne’s skating program to a higher level."It’s a step we needed to take to get our kids past the next barrier," she said.The harness, which was purchased from Jump-Ease, a company based in Minneapolis, will give students an opportunity to practice difficult maneuvers without the risk of getting hurt.With volunteer technical assistance from Verlyn Van Batavia and equipment from Gacke Construction, local volunteers Steve Schneekloth and sons, Brian and Wes, and Brian McCarthy and son David, attached brackets to the ceiling of the BMIA.The brackets serve as a support system for a cable that runs the short end of the building. A pulley system is attached to the cable, and one of two harnesses will be operational from the pulley system."It actually works as a bungee cord," Tilstra said. "The skaters will be attached to the harness, and they will be able to practice their jumps and spins without the fear of slamming into the ice."As members of the Ice Skating Institute, leaders of the local skating club have seen demonstrations of the jump harness at training seminars in the past. Club member Marian Schneekloth thought a harness would be an asset to Luverne’s skating program, and she took the initiative to work out a joint venture with the Luverne Optimist Club to bring a jump harness to the BMIA. The BMFSC and the LOC will share a bill of between $6,000 to $7,000 to complete the project. The piece of safety equipment can be used one of two ways. Skaters in the upper tiers of the program attach themselves to the harness and practice their maneuvers on their own. Another option will leave the instructors in control of the harness, which will help the younger skaters in the program with the timing aspect to their routines.All of the instructors will be trained on how to use the new piece of equipment by a representative of the Jump-Ease company when the ice is in place this fall.Once their training is complete, the local instructors will have a safety tool that could make the BMIA one of the best training facilities in this part of the state."We’re the only rink in the immediate area that has a jump harness," Tilstra said. "Our kids will be able to practice their jumps and spins without the fear of injury. Not only that, the status of our rink just went up one notch."Dream Team lives!As billed in last week’s column, the Dream Team (Rick Peterson, Don Bryan, Todd Oye and myself) made an appearance at the Luverne Country Club Monday night to compete in the Million Dollar Hole in One Shootout.I’m happy to report that half the team qualified for Saturday’s semifinals by striking shots that found the 10-foot circle from 130 yards away.Team captain Peterson and Oye didn’t get the job done.Mr. Peterson’s recent string of good luck appeared to run out when his 27 attempts at the target couldn’t find the mark. Although his swing wasn’t true on Monday, he should have received a consolation prize for his efforts. If there was a way to measure the distance of the turf he dug up during his qualifying attempts, I’m sure he would have compiled enough yardage to reach the target area.Mr. Oye entered the competition with a built-in excuse. Oye carded a career-low 85 (42-43) at the Bouix De Sioux Country Club (an 18-hole course with nine holes in Wahpeton, N.D, and nine more in my home town of Breckenridge) earlier in the day. The Luverne High School football coach simply didn’t have enough good swings left to qualify for the semifinals on Monday.Mr. Bryan, a man who once registered a hole in one at the LCC, placed three balls in the intended target area.Personally, I didn’t see any of his shots land in the circle, but I’m not surprised Bryan qualified for the semifinals. You all know what they say about bankers and the hours they keep. After witnessing Mr. Bryan’s sweet swing, I’m convinced he spends as much time playing golf at the LCC as he does crunching numbers at work.Adding bite to the phrase that even a blind squirrel will find an acorn every once in a while, the world’s worst golfer was fortunate enough to advance to Saturday’s semifinals.Like Bryan, I found the target area three times with 27 chances. Although the Hardwick banker was disgusted with my club selection, I was able to roll two balls into the circle with my 7-wood and one more with a 5-wood.Sorry, Don, but everyone can’t strike an iron as crisply as you do. But, you have to admit, there’s nothing wrong with being able to finesse a ball into a 10-foot circle from 130 yards away with any club.