Pipestone County Star

MARSHALL — Pipestone Area Schools’ Rhaelee Heidebrink clocked in with a time of 22:52.5 for 16th place at the Marshall Invitational on Monday, Aug. 31.  There were 34 varsity girls running at the event, which was conducted at Marshall Golf Club.  PAS’ Amelia Bucher was 20th (23:42.0) and Southwest Minnesota Christian/Edgerton’s Elia Van Dyke 31st (28:27.2).  On the boys’ side, Joshua Zupp was 20th...

Homecoming activities at Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) started the first day of school this year when members of the senior class nominated king and queen candidates. The candidates were announced on the second day of school, Wednesday, Sept. 2. The king candidates are Nickolas Bruns, Wyatt Corcoran, Griffin Smidt, Americ Suvandy, Matthew Swenson and Zayne Zollner. The queen candidates are Kaysa Do...

Rebuilding Together Minnesota, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps qualifying homeowners make repairs to their homes, now has office hours in Pipestone. Emily Ostercamp, Rebuilding Together Minnesota’s southwest project manager, will be in Suite 1 at the city of Pipestone’s municipal office building the first and third Tuesdays of each month from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. She said the intention i...

The 2026 to 2027 school year begins Tuesday, Sept. 1 at Pipestone Area Schools (PAS). The school year is beginning prior to Labor Day this year due to Labor Day being as last as it could possibly be, on Sept. 7. When the first bell rings on Sept. 1, approximately 1,128 students will head to class. That’s down from approximately 1,180 students at the start of last year. See the accompanying chart f...

Separation agreement approved for administrative assistant Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) Board members approved a separation agreement with former middle school/high school administrative assistant Kathryn Baker. Baker signed a resignation letter dated July 28 and will be paid for August, September and October. School Board member Daphne Liknes made a motion during consideration of the consent agen...

Separation agreement approved for administrative assistant Pipestone Area Schools (PAS) Board members approved a separation agreement with former middle school/high school administrative assistant Kathryn Baker. Baker signed a resignation letter dated July 28 and will be paid for August, September and October. School Board member Daphne Liknes made a motion during consideration of the consent agen...

Utility service locators have been painting and flagging yards all over Pipestone this summer. They’ve been followed by fiber optic internet service installers who have dug up boulevards and left piles of dirt and weeds growing where grass used to be. They’ve also left behind green plastic boxes, known as pedestals. One was placed in the boulevard in front of my house. Two others were added on my...

As we prepare to start the new school year, we know there will be a great deal of activity at the schools. On any typical school morning at the Pipestone Area Schools, the parking lot starts filling before the first bell rings. A bus pulls in. Parents drop off their children. Teachers walk through the doors carrying coffee, lesson plans, student work and the hopes they have for their students. Ins...

All Pipestone Area Schools activities information will now be found on a mobile application and website called BOUND.  “It was a decision made by (Big South) conference schools,” PAS activities director Rick Zollner said of the switch made last spring.    Zollner said slowly, but surely, most of the activities conferences in Minnesota are transitioning to BOUND.  What’s more, the Red Rock Conferen...

The Pipestone Area Schools’ girls tennis team began practices on Monday, Aug. 17. Eight days later, the Arrows were thrust upon the 2026 regular season with matches at MACCRAY (Clara City) and Yellow Medicine East in Granite Falls.  Three seniors will serve as leaders in state qualifier Jasmine Boeke plus Aleryn Brinkmeyer and Iva Witte.  Boeke played both No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles with now-...

The Pipestone Parks & Recreation Department is offering fitness classes Monday though Friday.  No membership is required; everyone is welcome to participate in these sessions.  At 5:30 a.m. Mondays, instructor Danielle Bauman will teach a class called total body toning. This is a group workout using light weights, resistance bands and bodyweight exercises to shape major muscle groups.  Instruc...

Pipestone Area Schools sophomore student Jack Goelz competed at the Minnesota State High School Rodeo Association meet in Pine River Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 22-23. Goelz participated in both the team roping and tie-down roping events. During the team roping contest, Goelz served as a heeler while Weston Feist of Jordan was the header. This marked the second straight week a Pipestone student comp...

The 2026 Minnesota/Dakota Slowpitch Softball League wrapped up play on Tuesday, Aug. 18 in Lake Benton, with the Anacondas coming out on top. The Anacondas, seeded second in the postseason tournament, defeated No. 1 seed Lake Benton Bar, 19-13. The Anacondas also defeated Lake Benton Bar II that night, which pushed them to the championship game. Here’s the team (from left to right), Jonah Johnson,...

The Pipestone Area Schools and 4-H shooting sports program are seeking youth interested in joining the trap team.  Interested youth must register on the school’s new Bound application. The Arrows compete in the Minnesota High School Clay Target League.  This fall, the squad will participate in the 4-H state shoot conducted by the University of Minnesota.  For information, email Robert Faber: rkfab...

EDGERTON — Southwest Minnesota Christian school will have soccer day on Saturday, Aug. 29.  The Eagles will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of the school’s only state Class A soccer title.  The day will begin with a soccer camp for fourth- through sixth-graders from 8:30-10 a.m. — a scrimmage will follow at 10 a.m. The alumni scrimmage will be from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Hot dogs will be served at...

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is planning three highway projects in Pipestone County over the next several years. MnDOT District 8 Planning Director Megan DeSchepper presented those plans to the Pipestone County Commissioners during their Aug. 11 meeting. The first project planned in Pipestone County is an unbonded concrete overlay resurfacing of U.S. Highway 75 from Hwy. 30 t...

INFORMATION CALENDAR Thursday, Aug. 27 Girls Tennis  1 p.m., Montevideo at Pipestone Area (Paulsen Athletic Complex) 4 p.m., Lac qui Parle Valley at Pipestone Area (Paulsen Athletic Complex)  Boys Soccer  4:30 p.m., New Ulm at Southwest Minnesota Christian (Edgerton)   Cross Country  1 p.m., Elkton-Lake Benton at John Collignon Invitational (Madison Golf & Country Club/South Dakota) Volleyball...

The Pipestone Country Club conducted club championships across seven divisions on Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 15-16.  And the overall men’s and women’s winners remained the same from 2025 — so those cushy parking spots will be unchanged.  PCC board of directors secretary Carrie Radloff reported 104 golfers participated in the event. “It was a great turnout,” Radloff added. “We also had a lot of spec...

INFORMATION SOFTBALL  Minn-Dakota Slowpitch Standings  Through Monday, Aug. 17 Team             Record Lake Benton Bar     16-0 Anacondas 14-2 Lake Benton Bar II 10-4 The Starfish   7-7 D&T’s Meat Market 7-9 Sluggers 7-9 Alcobolics   4-12 Staci’s Bar     3-13 Dirty Dairymen   2-14 Schedule   Tuesday, Aug. 18 Semifinals (All games in Lake Benton) 7 p.m., No. 1 Lake Benton Bar vs. No. 3 Lake Ben...

Necessity is the mother of invention.  That proverb perfectly describes why Pipestone-based Parlay Pack has become such a hit with golfers in a short amount of time. Parlay Pack owner Wade Newgard said he created this “premium” all-in-one golf travel system — alongside his wife, Megan — because it was difficult to carry luggage through airports.  “I couldn’t find anything to fix the problem,” Newg...

Landon Quist has returned to the Pipestone Area Schools football program as a volunteer coach. The Pipestone Area Schools board approved Quist at its Monday, July 27, meeting.  PAS head coach Scott Boomgaarden reported Quist will serve as both a quarterbacks and defensive backs coach.  “I asked him if he was looking for help,” Quist said in a telephone interview with the Pipestone County Star Mond...

Oh, so quirky. The Pipestone Area Schools football team opened practices this past Monday, Aug. 17. Monday is one of the few days during the week the Arrows won’t play on this season.  PAS opens the 2026 regular season with a home game versus Redwood Valley on Thursday, Sept. 3. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. at Paulsen Field. Head coach Scott Boomgaarden said the game will be “competitive.”  “Redwood...

On Aug. 4, Dave Boucher retired from the Pipestone Fire Department after 30 years of service. Boucher joined the Fire Department in August of 1995 at the age of 24. He and his wife, Jill, had moved from St. Cloud to Pipestone a few years earlier when he took a job with the city of Pipestone. Being new to town, Boucher didn’t know many people, but he knew some of the guys in the Fire Department and...

CANISTOTA, S.D. — The Elkton-Lake Benton football team will open the 2026 season Friday, Aug. 21 at Canistota.  Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.   The Elks began preparations on Thursday, Aug. 6, the first official date allowed by the South Dakota High School Activities Association.  “I like the early start to the season,” ELB second-year head coach Kaleb Haas said. “It allows us to get fall camp practic...

Pipestone Area Schools junior student-athlete Kenzley Pater competed at the Minnesota High School Rodeo Association state event in Buffalo Friday-Sunday, Aug. 14-16. Pater competed in several events: barrel racing, goat tying and breakaway roping. Jack Goelz, another PAS student, will be competing at an upcoming youth rodeo in Pine River — in both tie-down roping and team roping — Friday-Sunday, 2...