LU VERNE - The Lu Verne Celebration brought out dozens of residents and visitors who gathered in the city park on Saturday to play volleyball, compete in the pedal pull, or just sit and visit with friends.
While the kids in the crowd were pushing the pedals to the pavement to see who could claim the pedal pull crown in each age division, seven community volleyball teams from Humboldt, Clarion and Lu Verne were vying for first place in the annual Blaine Hefty Memorial Volleyball Tournament.
Played on a sand volleyball court, the double elimination tournament was established about 20 years ago in memory of Blaine Hefty, a Lu Verne resident who died as a result of injuries sustained in an accident at his workplace in 1988. He was 26 years old.
Hefty's wife, Deb Hefty, said she had two small children and was pregnant with their third child when he died.
"It still brings tears," she said from the sidelines where she watched her son and daughter play in the tournament.
"My church circle wanted to do something to remember him," Deb Hefty said. "So they built this sand court in '89, and then the tournament got started."
Deb Hefty said she played in the tournament herself during the first few years, but now she watches and takes pictures.
The six-player teams pay a $30 entry fee to participate. Hefty's daughter, Brianne, collects the fees and schedules the teams, but other than that the tournament basically runs itself, she said.
"We don't keep any of the money," Brianne Hefty said. "It's divided up as prizes for first, second and third place."
As team members dove into the sand to make saves, cries of "I've got it" and "Someone" were punctuated by laughter, cheers, and some groans.
"It makes you feel good that we're remembering him," Deb Hefty said.
Corwith-Wesley-Lu Verne Middle School students were on hand selling concessions to raise money for their biannual school trip. Sixth-graders Becca Curtis, Darek Garman, and Tyson Halsrud were making walking tacos for the hungry crowd.
"Every other year the seventh- and eighth-graders go to Washington, D.C.," Curtis said.
Garman is hoping the students get to go to the Smithsonian while they are in the nation's capital.
"Because I like museums and history," he said.
Park Committee members Jenni Meyer, Sarah Banchs, and Esther Tripp were overseeing the goldfish throw fundraiser. The committee is raising money for playground equipment.
"Three tosses for a dollar," said Meyer as she explained the workings of the game.
"If they get a ball in, we give them the goldfish, the bowl and the food," she said. "That way the parents don't have to go right out and get food."
The three women agreed they had already had 70 to 80 participants.
"It's been a hoot," said Tripp.
"We picked the right thing this year," said Meyer.
The committee wanted to replace the aging playground equipment at the park, Banchs said. So far this year through donations and fundraisers the committee has raised enough money to purchase a tornado slide, she said.
Tripp said, "The park is a congregating area. Children of all ages come here and they need safe equipment."
"A lot of young people with small children have come to Lu Verne," Tripp said. "They consider small communities a safe place to raise their children, and we want the park to be a safe place for those children to play."
Contact Jo Vetter at (515) 573-2141 or editor@messengernews.net
