The Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team came up with a great pair of performances on the road Thursday and Saturday.

H-BC won its second straight league match of the season with a 3-0 win over Faith Christian in Bigelow Thursday, and it went 3-1 while finishing second during the Central Lyon Tournament in Rock Rapids, Iowa, Thursday.

The Patriots completed the stretch with a 5-2 record.

CL tourney

The Patriot girls turned in a strong showing while finishing second during Saturday's five-team tournament in Rock Rapids.

The event was played under a round-robin format, and H-BC went 3-1 during the day to secure second place.

"The girls played pretty well," said Patriot coach Nicole Fey. "Playing four matches makes for a long day, but our girls did well overall."

H-BC lost a 15-13 decision to Ellsworth during the first game of the opening match before bouncing back to post 15-9 and 15-5 victories to win the battle.

Becky Broesder led the Patriots at the net with five and four kills respectively against the Panthers, and Shanna Tilstra was 11 of 11 serving with eight points. LaDonna Sandstede completed all 50 of her set attempts and registered 16 set assists. Tonya Leenderts was 12 of 14 digging.

H-BC met host Central Lyon in the second round and posted another 2-1 win. The Lions took the opener by a 15-8 count, but the Patriots notched 15-9 and 15-7 wins to claim the match.

Boeve, who was 12 of 12 digging against the Lions, completed all 12 of her spikes and registered nine kills. Becky Broesder was 11 of 12 serving with two aces, and Sandstede was 33 of 33 setting with 15 assists.

Eventual tournament champion Rock Valley handed the Patriots their lone match setback in the third round. The Rockets topped H-BC by 15-9 and 15-3 tallies.

Broesder was seven of seven serving and nine of 10 digging against Rock Valley. Boeve was seven of seven spiking with three kills, and Sandstede pitched in four set assists.

The Patriots regrouped to best West Lyon 15-13 and 16-14 in the final round.

Tilstra, who tied Boeve with a team-high five kills in the match, was 11 of 13 serving. Sandstede had 12 assists, while Leenderts was 10 of 11 digging.

H-BC 3, FC 0

The Patriot girls ran their Tri-County Conference record to 2-0 with a three-game sweep of Faith Christian in Bigelow.

H-BC had to battle to pull out a 16-14 victory in Game 1 of the opener before taking control of the match and securing 15-10 and 15-6 wins in Games 2 and 3.

Although Fey was pleased with the way things turned out for H-BC, one aspect of the game bothered the Patriot coach.

"We had trouble with our serve receive, and that helped FC come back on us in the first game. We came back and played strong volleyball in the other two games. We are at about 65 percent in receiving. That usually is one of our strengths, but we had trouble with it in this match," she said.

Becky Broesder led the Patriots at the service line by completing all 17 of her attempts and recording six aces. Tonya Leenderts was 11 of 11 with five aces. Shanna Tilstra was 11 of 13 with one ace.

Rachael DeHaan completed eight of 10 spikes and shared the team lead with Erin Boeve in kills with three. Boeve was five of seven spiking, and Tilstra was five of eight with one kill.

LaDonna Sandstede was 26 of 27 setting. Brittney Olson was eight of nine.

To the Editor:

I was extremely disappointed to read Lori Ehde's column about my At Home Child Care Program in the Thursday, Sept. 7, Star Herald issue. Not only was her research sketchy, but she chose to write about a topic that she apparently does not understand. I'm not sure which is more unfortunate.

I created the At Home Child Care Program, which pays mothers to stay at home with their newborn babies for the first year of the child's life, for one key purpose: to provide families with a better environment in which babies' brains can develop during that crucial first year. Allowing a parent to nurture and monitor that progress can make a substantial impact on the rest of that child's life. Thirty-two years as a family physician have given me ample proof of that.

If Lori Ehde's column is based on her dislike for my personal political stance as a Republican I would like to point out to her that this legislation received overwhelming support from Democrats as well, However, we passed this bill while Democrats were the majority in the House, which is why I was unable to pass a bill setting the limits at a $5,000-per-year reimbursement for the first three years of a child's life as I had originally intended.

But no one can rightfully claim that people aren't taking advantage of this first-of-its-kind program because they won't be guaranteed a job after taking a year off. Unemployment is virtually nonexistent in my legislative district; those parents who are committed to devoting a year of their time to their newborn child's life should have no trouble returning to the workforce.

Yes, my program won an award for being innovative. But every innovative idea requires some tinkering, and my program is no different. How anyone could say that providing parents with the means to better care for their newborn children is an impractical idea is completely beyond me.

Rep. Richard D. Mulder
State Representative

Habitat for Humanity will have an introductory
meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, September 11, in
the American Reformed Church on north Highway
75 to see if there's interest in starting a local chapter

By Lori Ehde

A group of Luverne residents are organizing an introductory meeting to gauge interest in starting a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

The national organization uses volunteer labor and donations to build affordable homes. Families benefiting from the new homes contribute with their "sweat equity."

Merlin Cleveringa, who works with Van Aartsen Construction, has volunteered with Habitat for Humanity projects in Sioux Falls, and he says there's a chance local families could benefit from Habitat homes.

"Sometimes it felt really unorganized and I wondered why I was there," Cleveringa said of his Sioux Falls Habitat experience.

"But then you'd see the dad and mom walking up the sidewalk with their little kids to put in their sweat equity, and you forget all that."

The average Habitat for Humanity home is built for about $35,000 to $40,000 with donated funds, equipment and labor.

For every local home built, the national organization gives 10 percent of the total value to projects in other needy parts of the world.

"For example, if it costs us $40,000 to build a house here, Habitat gives $4,000 to projects in Mexico where they can build three or four houses for that money," Cleveringa said.

He said an informal needs assessment, based on the number of people in the county and average income, showed a need for affordable housing here.

"Habitat for Humanity could be one solution for that need around here," he said. "That's why we're going to have a meeting - to see if others recognize that need."

If organizers are successful in forming a local chapter, the group would likely serve both Pipestone and Luverne. He said efforts would also focus in outlying towns in Rock and Pipestone counties.

"It's going to take a lot of work to get it set up," he said. "We'll be lucky if we build a house next summer."

In the end, however, he said the work will be worth it. "You always want to help someone, but you can't just say it with words. You have to let it show in your actions," he said. "The organization is for everyone, regardless of race, color or religion. We're all God's people."

Need for natural fires

Despite all the resources dedicated to fighting forest fires, Mensen and other environmentalists say fires are nature's way of keeping wildlife habitat in balance.

"It's kinda good to let some go," Mensen said, adding that fires in many parts of Montana were overdue.

"After years of preventing forest fires, there's so much fuel (flammable foliage) that the fires now are burning hotter and faster than if they'd burned years ago," he said.

Mensen said there's a push within land management agencies to recognize the need for natural fires, and in wilderness areas where no lives or structures are threatened, the forests are allowed to burn.

He said it's hard for people to see the value in losing century-old majestic pine trees, but Mensen said under the right conditions, these sturdy trees will survive a natural forest fire. "On these old trees, you can see the fire scars of forest fires that have occurred in the past."

Certain trees, such as white pine or ponderosa pine, rely on fires to clear out competing trees. Lodgepole pines need fires to survive. "Their cones pop open and release seeds under the heat of fire," Mensen said.

He said eventually Superior National Forest in Minnesota will have to take its turn at a wildfire, too. "We're due pretty soon," he said.

In spite of the staggering numbers of acres burned in the Northern Rockies, Mensen said it's important to keep things in perspective. "There's so much public land out there, it's not like it's all burning up," he said. "This is creating pretty good wildlife habitat by getting rid of the heavy fuels."

Friday night, Sept. 1, he nursed his swollen, blistered feet and dragged his aching bones to bed for a well-deserved 10-hour nap.

Crickets chirping outside his window sounded almost foreign after he'd grown accustomed to the constant background roar of the insatiable flames.

For awhile that weekend, Mensen found himself instinctively glancing upward to warn his crew of falling timber.

As a three-year veteran of the U.S. Forest Service, fighting forest fires isn't new to Mensen. He'd been called to fight blazes throughout the Rocky Mountains, and this is his third year as a certified smoke chaser.

But the magnitude of the blaze consuming Flathead National Forest makes his previous battles look like pesky bonfires gone awry.

"Overall it was an awesome experience," Mensen said of the Montana blaze. "Quite a bit happened in those two weeks."

While there, he saw some of the most horrific fires he'd ever seen, while at the same time catching breathtaking glimpses of Mother Nature's most scenic landscapes.

All in a day's work

Fighting forest fires is seasonal work for Mensen, whose regular job with the Forest Service is patrolling the Minnesota Boundary Waters in Superior National Forest.

As a trained smoke chaser, he's often called to out-of-state assignments to fight fires in late summer. This time the call for help came from Flathead National Forest in western Montana where fires have been burning since early July in an area that hasn't seen rain all summer long.

Mensen flew out Thursday, Aug. 17, and returned home Friday, Sept. 1. During his 14 days of work on the job he logged almost 200 hours of fire fighting and racked up a sizable paycheck.

"The money's good and it's pretty exciting work," Mensen said when asked why he got involved in forest fires.

Mensen was in charge of a 10-person Minnesota crew. As a crew leader, he said one of the most important parts of his job was to keep everyone motivated.

"It's hard to get up in the morning," he said. "When you're putting in 12- to 18-hour days you get pretty drained."

The primary job of a smoke-chaser is to squelch spot fires that flare up from burning embers carried by the wind - sometimes as far as a quarter mile.

It involves backbreaking labor from 4 or 5 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m. "We'd burn 4,000 calories a day, no problem," Mensen said.

"At the end of the day, it's probably your feet that hurt the worst. You get blisters from hiking around the steep slopes and rough terrain. It's probably a 60- to 70-degree grade."

Hand tools and human strength

Armed with nearly 70 pounds of survival gear and fire fighting equipment, smoke chasers serve as an initial attack, battling flames by clearing burnable foliage.

Much of their work is done with a specialized hand tool called a pulasky. The combination of an ax and a hoe is used to clear brush and hand-dig a line of dirt to serve as a fire break.

Often roads and rivers are used as natural breaks, and bulldozers clear ground on either side to prevent the flames from jumping.

But in mountainous terrain, the only line of defense is a hand tool and human strength.

In addition to the pulasky, the standard gear pack includes a chainsaw, headlamp, fuel, water and lunch - often food comparable to Army rations.

Always heads up

A critical piece of equipment in every gear pack is a silver emergency fire shelter. If used properly, the small fire-proof tent is designed to protect a firefighter trapped in a blaze.

"You always make sure you have your fire shelter, but you never want to get in that position," Mensen said. "I never felt I was in that position, but it was always a heads-up situation."

He explained that while working on a fire on Cyclone Ridge, a burning tree fell and split his crew in half.

As a crew leader in charge of rookie firefighters, Mensen said a big part of his job involved constantly being on the lookout for falling timber and rear spot fires that could close off planned escape routes.

He said he enjoyed working on the spot fires - apart from firefighters battling the main fire. "The bigger fires get kinda crazy," he said. "With the smaller fires, at least you know who you're working with.

Despite his long hours and hard work, Mensen keeps his labor in perspective by observing people who do it full-time.

"Some of the people I worked with in Montana get two days off every month, and they've been working for two months," he said. "It's a totally different world for these guys. It's hard to explain. It's almost like a weird subculture."

Priceless rewards

Though his blisters are still healing, Mensen said he's ready to go back and do it again, because the work has priceless rewards.

For example, in between battles with spot fires, he and his crew would have brief opportunities to enjoy nature at campgrounds several miles from the fire.

"It's the first time I'd been in Montana, and it's just such beautiful country," Mensen said. "The mountains and lakes are just gorgeous. - The scenery's just something else."

In addition to the striking mountain peaks emerging from an endless sea of pine trees, Mensen also described a rare opportunity to cast his line in a scenic fly fishing hole.

He said the best rewards came in the form of thanks from local residents.

"When we'd go into town at night to eat, people would see us and smell the smoke and they'd know we were fighters. They'd come up to us and say thanks. It's pretty amazing," he said.

"It's just a pretty good feeling to get that kind of pat on the back."

Mensen said it's that kind of response that will keep him interested in fighting forest fires.

"It's definitely rewarding," he said. "You feel you're doing something good. You're saving lives and protecting resources. I can see myself doing this for years to come."

Mensen makes career out of hobby

By Lori Ehde

Cory Mensen, son of Mike and Karen Mensen, Luverne, graduated from Luverne High School in 1990.

He majored in sociology and minored in environmental studies St. John's University, Collegeville, earning his bachelor's degree in 1995.

He began working for land management agencies in Colorado in 1995 and began working with the U.S. Forest Service in 1998.

He's currently employed with the Kawishiwi Ranger District in Superior National Forest in Minnesota, but since he works for a national agency, he gets called to wherever he's needed.

In addition to fighting occasional forest fires, Mensen has also worked on a snowmobile in the Rockies looking for stranded skiers.

His full-time job centers on patrolling the boundary waters of Minnesota's Superior National Forest in what he describes as a law enforcement position.

He goes on canoe excursions - eight days camping, six days off, every two weeks - patrolling the campgrounds, making sure visitors are treating nature with respect.

He also spends time "prescribing" hiking trails, surveying them for future maintenance projects.

Essentially, his job amounts to a lifelong camping trip in some of the most beautiful nature areas the country has to offer.

While the work isn't easy, Mensen agrees he's living quite a life. "I wanted to find something I enjoy and figure out a way to get paid for it," he said.

Fires take their toll but may
serve natural purpose

By Lori Ehde

Since Cory Mensen returned home last weekend, nearly an inch of rain fell in Flathead National Forest, giving firefighters an edge and reducing further flare-ups.

Prior to the weekend sprinkle, the fires have been burning since mid-July in an area that hasn't had any rain to speak of all summer long.

As of Aug. 30,

More than 713,000 acres have burned

More than 300 buildings have been destroyed, including 75 homes.

Costs of fighting fires in the Northern Rockies have reached more than $118 million.

So far, fighting the blaze has required 2.75 million feet of fire hose.

More than 32,350 fire retardant jeans have been issued (at more than $50 each).

The effort has enlisted the use of 143 aircraft. These include 111 helicopters, 12 air tankers (to drop liquid fire retardant) and five C-130s.

Firefighters have used 665 fire engines from all over the country (including one from Minnesota's Superior National Forest).

Fire prevention efforts have included 229 bulldozers.

The human effort has included 11,003 firefighting personnel including those from 27 other states and three other countries (New Zealand, Australia and Canada).

Luverne native works as smoke chaser
battling blazes in Northern Rockies

By Lori Ehde

Luverne native Cory Mensen spent Labor Day weekend on paid R and R in his northwoods Ely home after a two-week stint fighting forest fires in Montana.

By Sara Quam

With concern for the city of Hills, Rock County Commissioner Wendell Erickson brought up the subject of assessment fees at Tuesday's board meeting.

Erickson said this year's proposed 80-percent increase in assessment fees is unfair to impose on the city at once. Luverne will also see an 80-percent increase.

"I kind of checked my own real estate taxes, and 34 percent goes to the county already. We shouldn't really be assessing cities a portion of that, in my mind," Erickson said.

Commissioner Ron Boyenga said the city of Hills has the option to find another assessor if it doesn't want county services.

Erickson said he would like to see the board implement the fee increase over two years instead of at once.

The actual per-parcel fee of $13.22 is in line with other counties in the area, which average about $10 to $15 per parcel.

County Administrator Kyle Oldre said the increase was set based on costs of assessments and the budget committee's recommendation.

Oldre and Erickson attended the Hills City Council meeting Tuesday night to further discuss the issue with the city.

Hills Councilman Wendell Bengtson said, "We thought we might investigate some private assessors. - We are talking about taxpayers' money, and it's a big jump."

The city will look for private assessors to make sure it is getting the best deal from the county.

Bengtson said he understands how the county came to the large increase for the cities of Luverne and Hills. "It seems that the assessor was working for Luverne and Hills more than the county with all the time he was putting in."

The Luverne cross country squads competed as teams for the first time this season during the Sioux Falls Lincoln Quadrangular Tuesday in Sioux Falls.

Luverne's girls tallied 29 points to place second to Lincoln, which won the team competition with 16 points. Harrisburg was incomplete.

Lincoln made it a clean sweep by winning the boys' team title with 19 points.

Flandreau Indian School and the Cardinals placed second and third with 63 and 70 points respectively. Harrisburg was incomplete.

Hannah Dietrich led the LHS girls to their second-place finish as a team by placing fifth with a time of 17:16.

Sadie Dietrich (ninth in 18:08), Amanda Saum (13th in 18:55), Victoria Arends (16th in 19:38) and Nicole Cronquist (21st in 21:16) contributed to the team score.

Suzanne Gluf placed 23rd in 21:56 without influencing the scoring.

Jesse Kuhlman paced the LHS boys by placing 12th in 19:40.

Tony Kopp (13th in 20:25), Nick Otten (15th in 21:02), Kyle Bitterman (17th in 21:07) and Jeff Luethje (20th in 20:25) padded Luverne's team cause.

Ruston Aaker and Kevin Klay placed 21st and 34th in 22:29 and 25:20 without contributing to the team tally.

The Cardinal runners will compete at the Worthington Turkey Trot Saturday.