NRHEG fall sports awards were presented at the annual ceremony Tuesday, Nov. 8.

They were, by sport:

Football

• Most Valuable Player — David Lassahn

• Most Valuable Offense — Sam Lundberg

• Most Valuable Defense — Lassahn

• Most Valuable Lineman — Seth Petranek

• Lunch Pail Award — Geoff Ramaker

• Captains — Lundberg, Ramaker, Lassahn, Petranek

• All-conference — Lundberg, Lassahn, Petranek, Carter Tollefson; honorable mention Ramaker, Jake Staloch, Brandon LeBlanc, Dillon Parpart

The 2011 Section 2A, Sub-Section South runner-up NRHEG Panthers. Front from left: Stormy Mulder, Tori Raimann, Anna Schlaak, Harlee Vokoun, Amy Thompson and Rachel Ledding. Row two: Jade Schultz, Kalana Shurson, Noelle Bartness, Paige Bolduan and student manager Hannah Lundberg. Back: head coach Joe Kuechenmeister, assistant coach Onika Peterson, Carlie Wagner, Raelin Schue, Jenika Jongbloedt, student manager Kayla Lindell and assistant coach Trevor Janich. (Star Eagle photo by Chris Schlaak)

A SEMI-RETIRED BEE — City Clerk Nancy Cornelius springs into action at Geneva’s monthly city council meeting held November 8. (Star Eagle photo by Rachel Rietsema)

By RACHEL RIETSEMA

Staff Writer

Nancy Cornelius loves Geneva, and it shows.

Because, for the past 30 years or so, Cornelius’ impeccable city clerk duties have not waned one bit.

“When asked if I would take this position almost 30 years ago, I figured why not,” Cornelius said. “I love secretarial and bookkeeping work and figured it would be a great way to give back for all the good things Geneva has done for myself and my family.”

Within the last three decades, there have been many duties to accomplish, all of which she has tackled with pizzazz. No longer working other full-time jobs, she can kick back a little and enjoy the privilege of arranging her own schedule.

“I am basically the secretary for the city, so I handle all the mail and letters the council requires. I also do all the paper work required of the city by the county and state,” Cornelius said.

Are our troops overseas in all those locations for more than one reason? Might one be to protect the companies that have moved there and taken away jobs here?

Turn on the light. No one questions the advantages of the light bulb. Come January 1, incandescent bulbs will be no more. But why did GE move to China, where most of the new bulbs are made? How long has this plan been "blowing in the wind"?

A bit of advice: say nothing often. There is a vast difference between putting your nose in other people's business and putting your heart in other people's problems.

My 3-year-old niece is quick to say, "Sssh - talk quietly - use inside voices inside and outside voices outside.” People tend to listen if you talk softly. Try to only holler if the house is on fire.

Richard Nixon said: "We cannot learn from one another until we stop shouting at one another. Until we can learn to speak quietly enough, then our words can be heard as well as our voices."

White bread, flour and other things are suspect as a possible cause for diabetes. On the other hand, fruits and vegetables that are pulp white and juices you can "see through" are good for you. Go figure.

Some very informative information regarding the human body:

• It takes your food seven seconds to get from your mouth to your stomach.

• One human hair can support 3 kg (6.6 lbs).

• Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.

• A woman's heart beats faster than a man's.

• There are about one trillion bacteria on each of your feet. It is proper to take off your shoes in anyone’s house so you don't spread bacteria.

• Women blink twice as often as men.

• The average person's skin weighs twice as much as the brain.

• Your body uses 300 muscles to balance itself when you are standing still.

• If saliva cannot dissolve something, you cannot taste it.

What is the greatest number of hits a baseball team can get in a single inning without scoring a run? I wasn't sure, but I received two answers.

The first reply: the first two batters get hits and are thrown out trying to stretch to extra bases or thrown out trying to steal. The next three hitters load the bases with singles. That's five hits with two outs and no runs. Here's where it gets tricky. The next batter hits the ball, but the ball strikes a baserunner before a fielder can get his glove on it. By rule, the batter is credited with a single, but the struck baserunner is out.

Another way starts off the same as the first five batters, then the batter hits a grand slam, however; the guy on third base, the front base runner, doesn't touch home plate.

Time and things take time. Most of us aren't patient enough to make use of our time. If we don't know the answers, are we smart enough to ask questions?

Are we always really doing the best with what we have? Sometimes it seems like we fall back on the things we don't "think" we are capable of or smart enough to do or know, failing before we even try.

According to University of Michigan research, those who regularly lend a helping hand live significantly longer than those who don't. Ever wonder how much time and money is spent on research of such statistics and who does them?

Some of our Star Eagle readers have commented that they like to read about the local happenings and family events such as family and school reunions, birthday and anniversary celebrations, and birth and wedding announcements.

In order to read about these important things, we need our faithful readers to pass along the information to us, so we can then pass along the news to you. If you have news to share, please contact me.

Also, if our NRHEG Star Eagle readers would like to share birthdays and anniversaries of your family and friends, or you know of some that should be deleted, or names have changed, please contact me via e-mail, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.; by postal mail, P.O. Box 192, Geneva, MN 56035 or telephone, 507-256-4405.

• Thursday, November 17th: Presley Ann Broskoff, Mikayla Sue Brouwers, Stuart Kubat, Nathan Larson, Milton Wayne, Gloria Jensen, Nathan Schmidt, Elvern Holland, David Kasper, Jim Olson, Daniel Ingvaldson, John Nelson, Trisha Cyr, Brad & Donna Borchert.

• Friday, November 18th: Edrea Marae Kubista, Toni Wayne Smith, Stella Langlie, LeRoy Peterson, Kim Lehmberg, Ernest Anderson, Paul Groth, Allen Schewe, Gordy & Karol Carroll.

• Saturday, November 19th: Sidney Ellen Schultz, Kolby Dale Boverhuis, Deb Schmidt, Ruth Dunn, Roger Dulas, Jennifer Kycek, Chanelle McCamish, Darrin Peterson, Mandi Wobschall, William Conley, LaShawn & Gretchen Ray, Jeff & Julie Cornelius.

• Sunday, November 20th: Chuck Pence, Howard Pence, Eric Simon, David A. Hanson, Angie Blouin Sikel, Dennis Blouin, Scott Brekke, Malinda Fennert, Alisha Waalkens, Heather Crabtree Krenke, Kristine Kelly, Rachel Nelson, Holly Mattson.

• Monday, November 21st: Paul Wallace, Angie Johnson, Paul Kasper, Desirae Farr, Cheryl Harpel, Greg Schimek, Leah Leak, Leah Maddox Larson, Abby Underland, Dustin Burshem, Robin & Jan Jepson.

• Tuesday, November 22nd - Mallory Luhring, her 8th; Whitney McCamish, Jodell Hanson, Keven Larson, Donna Maixner, Jane Tappe, David L. Hanson, Jason Peterson, Jacki Shadden, Elzo Peterson.

• Wednesday, November 23rd: Amy Hunnicutt Kromminga, Lisa Holmes Rietsema, Margaret Loven, Marietta Sommers Rupe, Rick Thompson, Sara Anderson, Joyce Ditlveson, Amanda Farr, George & Diana Ritz.

May God bless you with a beautiful year to enjoy!

With the threat of winter looming just around the corner, there’s still time to do a little fishing (I just can’t quite let go). This past Wednesday I suppose we were all waiting, shovels in hand, for that big snowfall. Don’t get me wrong, I know the weathermen are always right. But with all that sun we had on Wednesday, I found it pretty hard to spot a snowflake anywhere. I have to say that I was not disappointed at all.

The deer hunting opener is pretty much a wrap with only the archery and muzzle loader seasons remaining. The high winds we experienced on the first weekend had to make it hard to hunt. It seems the deer usually lay low when it’s windy because there is no way for them to pick up a scent. I did hear a report of an Albert Lea man who shot a 12 point buck in the Bricelyn area. Now that’s one nice deer.

With late fall weather like this, I think back to my youth when a warm sunny day in the late fall meant a game of backyard football. As a kid I attended Hammer School which was a little 2-room schoolhouse that sat where Hammer Field is now. I can remember daydreaming about heading home and trying to get a backyard football game together after school. Sometimes there would only be four or five of us, but we still had fun

It seemed like we made up a different set of rules almost every time. There didn’t seem to be all that many nice days this late in the late fall back then, but whenever there was, we took advantage of it. I actually think that it didn’t really matter what the weather was; we always managed to find plenty of things to do in the outdoors.

There is always something that seems a little sad about this time of the year, especially on a cold cloudy day. This seems to signal the end to another season, like reading the final chapter in the book of summer. It’s kind of funny how many things in nature change with the seasons. 

Take late fall fishing. You won’t always find fish in the same areas that you did in summer. In the summer, fish are usually pretty predictable. But in fall after the lakes turn over, you can pretty much find them anywhere.

I was watching an In-Fisherman show a few years ago when Al Linder was fishing a lake in the Brainerd area. It was the first part of November. He broke through a thin layer of ice with his boat to get to his fishing spot. Dressed in a snowmobile suit, he fished in about 20-ft. of water jigging a 5-inch sucker minnow. He managed to haul in a few walleye in the 8-lb. plus range. As I was watching the show I thought to myself, “you really gotta love to fish to be out there in that weather”.

I’ve fished pretty late into the fall before, but I have never have given any thought to turning my boat into an “icebreaker.” I usually don’t watch fishing shows in the summer or fall because I think they have a definite purpose for me. And that is to help ease the symptoms of cabin fever. Late January and most all of February are the times when I start looking for fishing shows to help get me through until spring.

The late fall fishing reports that I’ve seen are pretty good for the whole state. The walleye bite seems to have been pretty good the last couple of weeks. From most of the reports that I’ve seen, a jig and minnow combination seems to be working the best. Any time you are into the late fall and are still able to fish open water, minnows are the best bet. It is always the rule of thumb (somebody’s) that live bait works best when fish are actively looking to bulk up for winter.

A few of the area lakes where fishing has been the best are Mille Lacs, Rainy, Lake of the Woods, Winnie and Leech. All of these report success using jig and minnow combinations. Here are some of the other areas reporting good fishing:

BRAINERD/NISSWA - Not much has changed this week with good walleye action coming off North Long Lake, Gull Lake, and Pelican Lake in 15 to 40 feet with minnows. There hasn't been many people fishing them, but crappies can be had over 20 to 35 feet at Upper Gull Lake, Round Lake, and North Long.

BEMIDJI - Walleye action has been pretty consistent with minnows in 15 to 20 feet at Lake Plantagenet, Lake Bemidji, and Lake Andrusia. Panfish action has been minimal, but muskie action remains strong with large sucker minnows on the Cass Lake Chain and Plantagenet.

FARIBAULT - Minnows are producing walleyes at French Lake in 10 to 20 feet. Anglers fishing from shore at Cannon Lake are catching plenty of perch, although you'll have to sort through numbers of small fish, and Shields Lake is kicking out northern pike in 10 to 12 feet.

RED WING - Anglers working hair jigs and minnows are catching more saugers than walleyes below the dam on the Mississippi River in 16 to 24 feet. You'll hit more walleyes in the rip/rap areas towards Lake Pepin on crankbaits. Panfish also continue to hit at a good pace on most wing dam locations of the river. Archery hunters are starting to see and take some bigger bucks.

Until next time, hunt safe and enjoy the outdoors before the weather turns harsh.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers during the coming year. They are the reason we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.

Echoes from the Loafers Club Meeting

"I got up on the wrong side of the bed this morning."

"Is that why you are in such a bad mood?"

"No, I'm in a bad mood because I walked into a wall where I thought the door was."

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: society will ignore almost anything except someone getting in the express line with two extra items.

Marital bliss 

Bill Egar of Bozeman, Montana told me that he snores loudly but his wife never hears it. She takes her hearing aids out when she goes to bed. He has to yell sweet nothings in her ear.

He does what he cane

Cheryl McRoberts works at the American Bald Eagle Foundation in Haines, Alaska. She has been troubled with fluid on the knee. A visitor to the Foundation forgot his walking stick there. When he returned to retrieve his cane, he saw Cheryl limping. He gave her the cane, saying that she needed it more than he did.

The mail must go through

Our rural mail carrier is Brad Spooner. Each morning he bundles our mail. He bundles the mail for each of the owners of a mailbox on his substantial route. He ends up with a car filled with bundles of mail. He drives the route, stopping at each mailbox. Driving from the wrong side of the car, he opens a mailbox, grabs its bundle of mail, and stuffs it into the mailbox. He closes the box and moves onto the next mailbox. There, he repeats the process by putting the next bundle in it. He arranges the bundles so that they are in an order matching the sequence of mailboxes. There is no truth to the rumor that if someone on Brad's route gets no mail on a particular day that the mail for everyone down the line is one mailbox off. No truth at all.

Tis the season

The snow hit hard overnight. Eighteen inches of white stuff fell. Snow tumbled from the roofs of buildings as if they were glaciers that were calving. Glacier calving is when ice disruption causes the breaking away of a mass of ice from a glacier. Piles of snow slid from house covers, eliciting responses such as, "Did all that come from one roof? I was in a small town in Alaska and needed to move my car so that the snowplow could do its job. My car was no longer visible. It had been completely enveloped in snow. It was a rental car that did not come equipped with a shovel or a snowblower. It was a snow of sufficient depth that a fellow could get a leg stuck in it. Three fishermen (two wiry guys in their early twenties and a gentleman twice their age) from Whitehorse in the Yukon employed two shovels. They freed the car from the grasp of snow and then pushed it free from the spot I had become mired in. The snow doesn't like to let go.

In the movie, It's a Wonderful Life, we learned that every time a bell rings, an angel gets his wings. My wish for these three Yukoners is that they live long, but I know that when they do shuffle off this mortal coil, three bells will ring.

You can bank on it

I spoke with a banker. He plied his trade in a small town. In an attempt to make small talk, I asked what CD rate his bank was paying.

He replied, "We are paying 0%, but the good news is that rate is not likely to go down."

Housing by Sears

I stayed in a 1912 edition of a Sears house in Haines, Alaska. In 1908-1940, over 75,000 Sears homes were built. Sears kit homes contained 30,000 pieces, 750 pounds of nails, 27 gallons of paint, and a 75-page instruction book. They were not prefabs, but precisely cut kits that homebuyers built themselves or hired a contractor to build. The Sears home kits were shipped from Cairo, Illinois to their destination by train.

Nature notes

The winter color of the European starling is a glossy iridescent black with purple and greens, with the tips of the feathers having white stars. By spring, the white feather tips have worn away and are no longer noticeable by the breeding season. The starling in winter has a dark brown bill that changes to yellow as breeding season approaches.

Meeting adjourned

"Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness."--Seneca

For $20, you can treat yourself or someone else to a neat Christmas activity. On Saturday, December 3, you can board a coach bus behind Slumberland in Albert Lea at 3 p.m.

The bus will arrive in Clear Lake, Iowa at about 3:45 p.m. You can tour the Christmas activities on Main Street — a petting zoo, Santa Claus, strolling Dickens characters, carriage rides, even antique shopping, plus many other activities.

The lighted Christmas Parade starts at 5 p.m. on Main Street. This is followed by fireworks over the lake (you can view the parade and fireworks from the bus if you wish.) The bus will take us to Kentucky Fried Chicken in Clear Lake for a chicken buffet.

Once back in Albert Lea, the bus will drive through a live outdoor Nativity, from there, back to Slumberland about 9 p.m.

Deal or No Deal will be played on the bus en route to Clear Lake for prizes. Reservations are required. Contact Bob or Genie Hanson at 373-8655 or Darryl or Karen Flim at 373-9268. (If you plan to attend, dress warmly.) This event is sponsored by F.R.O.G. (Fully Rely On God) of Central Freeborn Lutheran Church. (My church.)

Mid-morning on a Saturday I stopped in at First Lutheran Church in Ellendale. A youngish lady blew me away with her “Minnesota Nice” as she met me at the door. She explained to me that she was just a volunteer doing some altar work, however she would help me. I told her why I was there — her “Minnesota Nice” solved my wanting to put up a “Christmas By The Lake” flyer.

I asked her if I could identify her in this article. She didn’t say yes and she didn’t say no. I’ll just say she married into the Langlie clan and North Freeborn Lutheran Church moved in by her.

In talking to the Steele County Sheriff, I mentioned what a boring, dull, no fun town Ellendale was after church on Sundays. He politely told me that it might be because of me! He suggested that I stop in at the Ellendale Café for breakfast/brunch after noon on a Sunday. Genie and I did just that. We learned that the Methodist Church crowd was not dull. They were not boring, and they led a fun life. I refer you to Larry Otto for “this is most certainly true” of the fun-loving Ellendale Methodists.

The following paragraphs are some of the interesting things we observed on our way out to Vermont and back, driving by way of Canada. The paragraphs are all fact.

Vermont freeways have a mile marker every two-tenths of a mile. Vermont traffic lights are placed higher than in Minnesota. Street signs and highway signs are few and far between. 

Vermont suffered a huge amount of water damage from Hurricane Irene, especially along the White River with roads, bridges, trees, homes and buildings washed away.

Upstate New York and south of Ottawa, Canada, fields were very wet with beans and corn still in the fields in late October.

While traveling along Canadian Freeway 401, we saw the ultimate in wayside rests which opened April 2011. I pulled off the freeway into this big parking lot for about 200 cars and parked my car. I entered a building with seating for about 300 people after purchasing food from a fast food place, a deli or Tim Horton’s Restaurant. There were recycling containers for everything except the food you didn’t eat. The restrooms all had two choices for flushing the stool. One choice button was for flushing just liquids. The other choice button was for flushing solids. After pushing a button you washed your hands under a self-starting and self-stopping faucet. You then put your hands inside a self-starting dryer. You could then sing, “O Canada.” 

— — —

Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. This is the Hanson’s 36th summer at Beaver Lake. They leave the lake in mid-October to go south — to Albert Lea — and return in April. Bob says if you enjoy his article, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of Wisdom: There is always room for God. 

The dry cleaning continues as the scurs predicted, although we did manage to scrape together a couple hundredths at the ranch on Sunday. Are we looking at any more rainmakers in the near future? Starting Wednesday, partly cloudy with highs of 35 – 40 and lows dropping to 20. Partly cloudy on Thursday and slightly warmer. Highs of 40 – 45 and lows of 30 – 35. The nicest day of the week should be Friday with partly cloudy skies becoming mostly cloudy by evening with a slight chance of a shower. Highs around 50 and lows of 35. Mostly cloudy Saturday with a fair chance of a rain. Highs around 50 and lows near 35. Partly cloudy on Sunday and colder. Highs of only 30 and lows of 20 - 25. Partly cloudy on Monday with highs of 35 and lows around 20. Partly cloudy and warmer on Tuesday with a slight chance of showers. Highs 35 - 40 and lows near 30. A sneak peak at Thanksgiving Day looks mild but mostly cloudy. Highs of 35 and lows of 30. The normal high for November 19th is 39 and the normal low is 21. The scurs are busy thawing their deluxe turkey from Wagner’s in the fridge. 

There is still some anhydrous ammonia being applied here and there, although the days for that are likely numbered. That and fields where it works adequately are becoming fewer and farther between. It has been a struggle this fall all the way around when it comes to tillage. With the dry soils, wear and tear on equipment has been ferocious. Snapped bolts, shanks, springs and plow lays wearing rapidly have been a hallmark of one of the driest falls in recorded weather history. Worst of all, there appears to be no relief in sight, making it likely that we’ll go into freeze up with very little moisture in reserve for next year’s crops. Counting on snowfall for much help is probably wishful thinking. Living from rain to rain with a crop teetering on the edge of starving for water is nerve-racking to say the least. Oh well, as predicted, it will rain again. Put your money on roughly 10” somewhere around April 14th.

The wind has also been a factor this fall. It is either dead calm or it’s gale force winds howling with not much in between. When it was calm, the maple lost its leaves in the road ditch and they cascaded down the road cut, giving the appearance of a lemon-colored waterfall. The wind has played to my advantage however. The leaves I was convinced needed to be ground up with the lawnmower have largely disappeared so there’s no need to do that. And of course, any that happen to bounce their way across the lawn into the sheep pasture are quickly devoured by the woolies.

It’s getting time for one last push to finish fall work at the ranch and to button things up for winter. The nice weather over the weekend presented a wonderful opportunity to change over to winter oil in the skid loader. It’ll be barn cleaning time any day, so it’s always a good chore to have done prior to that. Repairing the last of the storm-ravaged hay mangers was another activity to check off the list as well as piling up some of the storm-related brush that had accumulated. The perpetually burned out light in the barn caught my eye too. Up the ladder I went with bulb in hand only to discover another of the “Made in China” marvels was broken off at the base inside the fixture. Gee, what a shock. 

It also was a good time to harvest the winter radishes, some of which turned out about the size of pullet eggs. They were nothing compared to some of the baseball-sized bulbs raised by Shannon Schoenrock’s uncle, but they were adequate. What was disturbing though was the fact the rabbits had chewed the tops on some of them right into the ground. They had treated the snap peas rudely too, although since there was primarily foliage and not much for pods, it really didn’t hurt anything, yet. It did make me think about the new crabapple and pear trees we’d planted however. From those observations one could deduce it was time to wrap and water them before matters got away from us. Not much for green tissue to munch on so those little trees were apt to be first on their menu. The rabbits may be on our menu if they don’t knock it off.

Birds were more numerous at the feeders this past week. More goldfinches as their numbers have swelled to nearly a dozen. They are particularly fond of the sunflower at this point, probably because the wind doesn’t blow them off the feeders as easily as some of the thistle feeders that become parallel with the ground. Seems to be more blue jays and woodpeckers too, leading one to believe that wintertime is just around the corner.

Looks like we’ll be hosting Mom and Fudgie again for Thanksgiving. Should be a good time to relax, watch the birds at the feeders and do as little as possible other than gorge ourselves. It’ll be time for the tossing of the pumpkins as we ready ourselves for another Christmas holiday season. The Cheviots are always appreciative and make short work of the pumpkins and out of code squash, if they’re not too frozen that is. Of course, it’s not quite the same when auntie Mar Mar is absent. I think her activities in the Chaz Bono Fan Club must be taking up most of her free time these days. That’s too bad. Always looked forward to those blueberry bars... 

See you next week…real good then.

Elsie D. Stickley, lifelong resident of the Medford area, died November 11, 2011 at Pleasant Manor Care Center in Faribault.

Elsie was born April 4, 1922 in Merton Township, rural Steele County, the daughter of Herman and Anna (Meyer) Dunker. She was united in marriage to Glen Stickley on April 16, 1941 at Trinity Lutheran in Medford.  The couple made their home on a farm in Merton Township, raising two daughters.  Elsie was a farm wife and spent most of her life living on the family farm in Merton Township. Elsie enjoyed raising a large garden while working alongside her husband on the farm. She loved entertaining family and friends that visited the farm. Elsie moved into Medford in 1998. She was a member of Trinity Lutheran Church, where she taught Sunday school for more than 25 years.  Elsie’s life interest includes sewing, playing cards, listening to the Minnesota Twins and spending time with her family and friends.

Vernon Levene Swenson, age 92, of Wells, MN, died Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at Parkview Care Center in Wells, MN.  Funeral services will be held Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 11:00 AM at the United Methodist Church in Wells, MN.  Visitation will be Wednesday, November 16, 2011 from 4-8 PM at Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home in Wells, and will continue one hour prior to the service at the church on Thursday.  Pastor Paul Woolverton will officiate and burial will take place in Dunbar Memorial Cemetery, Minnesota Lake Twp., Faribault Co., Minnesota. Bruss-Heitner Funeral Home in Wells is in charge of arrangements. 

Vernon was born April 16, 1919 in rural New Richland, Waseca Co., MN, the son of Eddie and Alfreda (Youngberg) Swenson. On June 6, 1948 he was united in marriage to the love of his life, Harriet Miller at the Dunbar Church, rural Wells, MN.