Bob Collins
LeRoy Luitjens and Helmer Haakenson had a bittersweet sip or two as the last two members of Luverne’s Last Man Club opened a ceremonial bottle of bourbon.
Mr. Luitjens died on Sunday. Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Tag: Luverne
Luverne’s famed bottle of bourbon is no more. Neither is the famed Glen’s Coffee Clique Last Man Club. The last two living members — World War II veterans — opened the bottle and toasted their dead friends, the Globe of Worthington says. Read more →
It’s time for the Last Man Club of Luverne, Minn., to drink up. Warren Herreid, one of its most noteworthy members, died yesterday. He was 96.
Read more →
It’s too late to know now how many of the last men of Luverne wanted to be the last one living.
When their club started in 2010, they bought a bottle of hooch and 24 mugs. When there was only one left, he’d toast the other 23, all veterans of World War II.
Only the aged can reveal the loneliness of losing all of your friends, and nobody really likes drinking alone anyway.
So the three remaining vets aren’t going to wait.
Read more →
There is an enormous disconnect in this country on the subject of teachers and educators. They are attacked as a group. But individually, they are beloved. Tim Christensen’s obituary shows it. Read more →
He provided free cake, ice cream, and coffee for the vets and, we suspect, regularly contributed to the booster clubs, and yearbooks and school functions. He gave scholarships to graduating seniors. He sponsored local youth sports teams, and provided all the reasons local residents should shop at a local grocery, even if the prices might be a little cheaper at the big chain at the edge of town. Read more →
The Monarchs, bison, milkweed, upland sandpipers, and meadowlarks in Blue Mounds State Park in Luverne, Minn., didn’t care that a 90-degree heat wave had hit the region today. On the prairie, it’s their time of year. Read more →
his is the sort of flooding we see in March in western Minnesota but this time it’s because of 6 inches of rain that fell overnight in Luverne. Read more →
There are only nine left in Glen’s Coffee Clique Last Man Club. Read more →