The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on April 3, 1958.
 
Free Movies For Children Saturday
         A free movie extravaganza of cartoons will be enjoyed by Luverne area youngsters Saturday at the Palace Theater here at two special matinee movies.
         There will be one youngster who is going to be made especially happy. A shiny $40 bicycle will be won by a lucky boy or girl.
         The first show will begin at 1:30 p.m. and will end at 3 p.m., when the second show will begin. Drawing for the bicycle will be held between the two shows.
         Several cartoons will be shown to the children in a program entitled “Cartoon Parade.” Each showing will be the same, so town and country children may choose the one they can best attend. The bicycle goes to the child whose name is drawn first.
         Tickets to the free shows were obtained by almost 1,000 children 5 to 12 inclusive who got free bags of Easter candy last Saturday. Enclosed in the bag of candy were coupons with the name of a store on them and the children simply exchanged the signed coupon for their free ticket and their coupon gives them a chance at the bicycle.
         Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on March 27, 1958.
 
Frick Elected To Head New Business Corp.
Officers and committee heads were elected by the Luverne Industrial Corporation at a meeting here last week.
Named as president of the newly incorporated group is Ray Frick. Larry Brinkman is vice president; Magnus Christensen, secretary-treasurer, and Merle Geving, executive secretary. All are members of the board of directors, but Mr. Geving, who is city administrative assistant.
Other directors appointed to head various committees of the organization are Lloyd Rapp, new industry; Lester Tollefson, existing industry; W. J. (Bill) Brakke, attracting new residents; Gene Blair, housing; Rodger Jensen and Mort Skewes, legal, and Jack Smith, Civic and Commerce association.
Committee charimen will choose assistants to help them develop their particular phase in the corporation.
Purpose of the new organization is to promote and develop business and industry in Luverne to benefit the entire community. It is a non-profit group.
Membership to the corporation is open to anyone who wants to help promote and develop the progress of the community. Minimum membership fee is $25, but larger amounts may be contributed to the work of the corporation.
The organization will supply prospective residents and businesses with complete information on the facilities that they can find here, and will endeavor to do what it can to provide special needs for an industry that would consider moving to Luverne.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on March 27, 1958.
 
Telephone Rate Increase Goes Into Effect Tuesday
         A telephone rate increase, granted by the Minnesota Railroad and Warehouse commission last week, will go into effect here Tuesday, April 1.
         The rate increase, which will affect 134 Northwestern Bell Telephone company exchanges was requested by the telephone company to help offset higher cost of operation.
         In Luverne, the rate increase ranges from 35 cents for two-party residence telephones to $1.20 for one-party business phones. Present rates have been in effect since February 1, 1954.
New Rates
         New rates for customers of the Luverne exchange, with the old rates in parenthesis are:
Business, one party—$8.90 ($7.70).
Business, two party—$7.50 ($6.50).
Residence, one party—$4.35 ($3.85).
Residence, two party—$4.35 ($3.85).
Rural residence—$3.85 ($3.40).
Rural Business—$5.40 ($4.85).
         Northwestern Bell, which has some 937,700 phones in the state and employs about 10,000 persons, filed its application for rate increases October 15, 1957, and lengthy hearings were held in December.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on March 27, 1958.
 
Merchants To Hold Annual Easter Bunny Day Saturday
 
Free Candy For Children Ages 5 Through 12
Luverne’s second annual “Easter Bunny Day” will be held here Saturday, under the auspices of the Luverne Civic and Commerce Association promotion committee.
Free bags of Easter candy will be provided for youngsters ages 5 to 12, inclusive, and plans have been made to make the candy available to about 1,000 children from the Luverne trade area.
Two life-size Easter Bunnies will be on hand to help with the distribution of the candy, and to visit with the small fry, according to Stan Remme, promotion committee chairman.
In each bag of candy will be a slip of paper, or coupon, bearing the name of a Luverne business firm. These coupons should be signed by the child and brought to the business firm whose name is printed on it. In return for the coupon, the child will receive a ticket good for the Saturday afternoon matinee at the Palace Theatre the following Saturday.
Special Prizes
         There will be special prizes too – about 75 of them in all – which will be given by the participating business firms to the children who get the special coupons in their bags of candy.
         In addition, all the coupons will be collected and a drawing will be made between the afternoon shows on April 5, and the person whose name is drawn will receive a new bicycle.
         “Last year, when we tried this for the first time, everybody had a lot of fun,” said Mr. Remme, “and we hope to have the same kind of good time this year. We expect to have plenty of help so that children won’t have to wait in line too long for their bags of candy, and we’re planning on having some real good children’s movies the following week for those who come to get their free candy this week. Details as to the time of the movies will be announced next week.”
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on March 20, 1958.
 
Organization Of Industrial Group Completed
 
Corporation To Promote New Business Here
Articles of incorporation for the Luverne Industrial Corp. were completed this week and sent to the Minnesota Secretary of State for filing, it was reported yesterday.
The  new corporation is the group that will spearhead this community’s drive to obtain new industry and business. It will become an active, functioning body as soon as the secretary of state signs the certificate of incorporation.
Meeting Today
A meeting for members of the corporation and anyone else who is interested in promoting the community will be held at 4 p.m. today in the room above the city hall.
Membership to the new organization, which is strictly a non-profit group, is $25. That is a minimum but the top is “wide open.” All funds will be used for the betterment and development of the city of Luverne and for benevolent purposes.
The articles of incorporation point out that the organization is designed to encourage and promote development of industries and business, commercial and otherwise, to benefit the community. Income will not benefit members or directors.
Nine Directors
There are to be nine directors in the new corporation. The first directors, which are included in the articles, are Ray R. Frick, L. R. Brinkman, Lloyd Rapp, W. J. Brakke, Mort Skewes, Rodger Jensen, L. U. Tollefson, Magnus Christensen and Jack Smith.
Eight of the directors are elected by members, while the ninth director will automatically be the president of the Luverne Civic and Commerce Association, during his tenure in office. If he cannot accept the position, he may delegate it to another C & C officer.
Pilot Committee
Early interest in forming the corporation was initiated by the C & C’s business development committee, with Ray Frick and Larry Brinkman as co-chairmen. The committee has already contacted various business and industrial firms about the advantages of moving to Luverne.
Members who signed the articles of incorporation, besides the directors, are: R. H. Creeger, C. H. Hatting, W. J. Estenson, Dr. D. M. Odland, L. A. McClure, William J. Wendt, H. S. Hansen, Chester Holm and Donald Hanson.
Benefits that a city and its surrounding area receive from added industry and business has been outlined in talks here and has been a factor in the origination of industrial development corporations in many Minnesota cities.
Support Necessary
Strong support of Luverne’s corporation is the key to success, members of the group emphasize, and everyone is invited to join the group and contribute as much as they can.
The non-profit corporation will not subject its members to personal liability and no corporate stock will be issued. If it should dissolve at any time, funds left in the corporation’s treasury will revert to the C & C or its successor, and if there is no such group as that, the city of Luverne will inherit the funds.
Directors will elect their officers at a meeting as soon as the articles of incorporation are approved by the state. That is expected in a few days.
In the meantime, the public is invited to attend the meeting today to help chart the progress of the city and the surrounding community.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on February 25, 1954.
 
Board Sets Mar. 26 To Vote On School Bonds
 
To Cost about $22.30 For Each $1,000 Assessed Valuation
Continued from last week. 
New School, Two Stories High
The new building will be two stories high with the shops housed in one story units. Besides the regular classrooms, there will be special departments such as science, laboratories, economics rooms, FFA, etc.
The present high school building will be remodeled into an elementary building and will include two kindergarten units each consisting of two rooms, changing of several walls to increase the size of the rooms to adapt them to elementary needs, hot lunch facilities and remodeling of heating and ventilating.
The kindergarten rooms will have their own lavatories.
The elementary grades will include kindergarten, and grades one through six while the new building will include grades seven through 12. The new building will be approximately 554 feet long and 340 feet wide at its widest portion. It will be constructed of glass blocks with three foot aluminum windows at the base.
Calling for the bond election capped many months of research and fact finding on the parts of many persons, both in the rural districts and the city of Luverne.
The architects feel that this is the best possible school that the Luverne board can have built. State department officials were most enthusiastic in their approval of the preliminary plans for the new school and the remodeled elementary school.
It was on the suggestion of the state department of education that the Luverne school board consider converting the present high school to an elementary unit and constructing a new junior-senior high school.
Interested Groups Work
Throughout the fact finding and laying of preliminary plans, many interested persons voiced their opinions on the school set-up. Many questions and suggestions have been presented at countless school board, consolidation and other meetings.
Even after the bond issue is approved by the voters, the state department of education will have to okay and study each of the final plans with specifications.
During the time of construction a building inspector will be at the site on a full-time basis.
Next step following the okay of the bond issue would be for the architects to complete the final school plans with specifications and secure the approval from the state department of education.
The Luverne school board would then have to approve the final plans and then call for bids on the actual construction.
If construction were to start in September 1954, the new school would be ready for occupation sometime in the fall of 1955, school officials said.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.
 

An 11-man crew arrived here this week to begin the construction of 84 miles of 161,000 KV transmission line for Northern States Power Company and Interstate Power Company.
The new line will serve as a connecting link between the two utilities lines, for standby service.
It will extend from a point north of Sioux Falls to Heron Lake.
According to L. W. Walentine, Lincoln, Nebr., superintendent of the project, the contract calls for completion of the line by August 31. The companies are furnishing their own materials. Construction will be done by Commonwealth Electric, Lincoln, and A. S. Schulman Electric, of Chicago.
Weather is Factor
The size of the crew will be determined by the weather, said Mr. Walentine. It will vary from its present size to possibly 40 men.
If there isn’t any more snow, there is a possibility that setting of the poles will begin as soon as the materials have been delivered to the grounds where the lines will be built.
There will be an average of seven “structures” per mile, Mr. Walentine said. A “structure” is an “H” type arrangement of two poles and a cross arm. The poles range from 55 to 85 feet in height.
For the most part, Luverne will be the headquarters for the working crew, Mr. Walentine stated. Materials have been unloaded at Magnolia and Beaver Creek in Rock county, and in other towns along the route. The Interstate portion, between Beaver Creek and Heron Lake, will be built first; that owned by Northern States leading from Beaver Creek to Sioux Falls last, according to present plans.
The contract calls for the use of union labor on the job, according to Mr. Walentine.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on October 30, 1952.
 
Street Banner Controversy Becomes Election Stimulus
 (This continues a story from last week about a political banner hung over Main Street bearing the words: “The Demos Say ‘You Never Had it So Good.’ Ask The Boys In Korea-Volunteers For Ike.” The banner, according to the 1952 story, provoked “more political comment, good and adverse, than has been heard here in a long time.”)
 
Motion Made, No Second
It appeared momentarily that they [the city council] might order it taken down, when Alderman Hinkly made a motion to that effect, after mayor Van Roekel told of how he had been “getting plenty of heat on the thing.” However, neither Alderman Rapp or Alderman Maxwell would second it, and Alderman Tuel was in no position to voice a second as he was presiding at the meeting in his capacity as chairman of the council. When it was apparent that a stalemate has been reached, it was recommended that the Civic and Commerce association, because it had been the organization which had originally been given permission to use street banners of this kind for publicizing their function, be given the responsibility of determining what should be done about the present banner, if anything, and to make recommendations as to future use.
The public affairs committee of the C and C, which consists of Dick Creeger as chairman, Otto Bierkamp, H.R. Cleland and Dr. C.L. Sherman, was then summoned to determine what should be done. All except Dr. C.L. Sherman were able to be present, and after discussing the matter, they formulated this statement:
“In as much as the Common Council of the City of Luverne have designated that any and all signs erected across Main street or any other street in Luverne shall be approved only by the Civic and Commerce Association.
“It is recommended to the Council that only public announcements of a civic nature be allowed. It is recommended that any announcements of a controversial nature such as political or religious, or events which will accrue profits to a private enterprise be prohibited.”
This recommendation was turned over to Mayor Van Roekel, who will submit it to the council for action at their next regular meeting.
Banner controversy article continues next week.

The following appeared in the Rock County Star Herald on October 23, 1952.
 
Area’s Biggest Ears of Corn And Largest Eggs Will Vie In C and C Contest Friday
 
Merchants To Offer Host Of Special Values
 
The largest ears of corn and the largest hen’s eggs raised in the Luverne trade area will compete for $50 in cash prizes in a special “Luverne Day” contest sponsored by the Luverne Civic and Commerce association.
The contest is one of the feature attractions during “Luverne Days” which are being noted today, Friday and Saturday, by Luverne merchants.
Merchants Offer Special Values
A glance through the “Luverne Days” section of the Star-Herald this week is all that is needed as proof that the business firms of the city have gone all out to offer bargains in almost every type of merchandise. Early shopping, especially today and tomorrow, however will offer the best selection of these values, according to U. J. Lodermeier, chairman of he C and C retailers committee.
With corn picking operations completed or nearly completed on many farms in the area, there shouldn't be any difficulty in finding big ears of corn to enter into the contest. It was pointed out that the ears will be judged on size only and not on beauty or conformity as is generally the case in corn shows.
Prizes are $15 and $10
First prize is $15 in cash, and second prize is $10. The longest ear will be awarded first prize and the second longest will be awarded the second prize. In cases of tie, the longest ears with the largest circumference will be declared the winners.
The prize winning eggs will be determined by their weight. Prizes for eggs are also $15 and $10.
Entries may be made any time between 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Friday at Smith’s Used Furniture store on Main street, and they will be on display for the public there all day Saturday and Saturday night. Owners need not return for their ears of corn or eggs, as those not called for will be given by the C and C to some worthy organization or institution. Prizes will be awarded to the winners Saturday night.
 
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.