Issue 2: November 2008 Editor: Alicia Gartner

By: Pastor Schultz A recent poll in the La Crosse Tribune reported that the season of fall is the favorite season for most people. I am one of them. Many of the things I enjoy most are in the fall, such as hunting, football, cool weather, and good fishing. Fall is also the time of year that we are reminded of the Lord’s abundant goodness as we see fields being harvested, and as we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving. It is fitting that we pause to give thanks to the Lord, not only during this time of Thanksgiving, but each day as we live under the grace of our God. It is during this time of year that we are often encouraged to “count our blessings” and remember all we have to be thankful for. That sounds easy enough, but is quite that simple? As we are reminded that we are living in an economy filled with more questions than answers, in a world where there is far more instability than stability, and as we struggle in getting along with people that we thought were our friends, we might wonder, “What do I have to be thankful about!?!” Sometimes the blessings just aren’t always so obvious. Yet, we still give thanks. Consider what the prophet Habakkuk says, in chapter 3:17- 18... 17 Though the fig tree does not bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, 18 yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will be joyful in God my Savior.

Habakkuk points out that sometimes the reasons to be thankful are not always evident. The crops might fail, the stock market might collapse, cancer might be in the future, friends might desert us, and we might lose that job. Yet…I WILL REJOICE IN GOD MY SAVIOR! Our thanksgiving attitude, our peace and contentment is not founded on the blessings that we can count on our fingers and toes. Our thanksgiving rests on the unchanging good news that the Lord is good, and he is my Savior. Few hymns capture this truth more powerfully than the hymn that many of us will be singing on Thanksgiving Day, Now Thank We All Our God.

Now thank we all our God With hearts and hands and voices, Who wondrous things hath done, In whom the world rejoices; Who from our mother's arms Hath blessed us on our way With countless gifts of love, And still is ours today.

This hymn is especially meaningful when we consider the circumstances under which it was written. Martin Rinkhart wrote this hymn in Germany during the Thirty Years War. The Thirty Years War was a long, complex, and devastating war that touched most of Europe.

Rinkhart was a good musician and entered ministry as a Lutheran cantor, then as a deacon in Eisleben. In 1617, he returned to his home as archdeacon of Eilenburg. The next year, the horrors of the Thirty Years War began. At one and the same time, Eilenburg was a good place to be and a bad place to be. It was a good place to be because it was a walled city that became a refuge for the war-ravaged population. It was a bad place to be because in a fortified city, disease can run rampant.

For some time, Rinkhart was the only pastor in Eilenburg because the others had fled or died. It is reported that in 1637 a great pestilence swept through the city that left 8,000 dead, including Rinkhart's own wife. In the midst of his own grief, Rinkhart conducted nearly 5,000 funerals, sometimes leading as many as 40 or 50 per day. During the closing years of the war, Eilenburg was overrun or besieged three times, once by the Austrian army and twice by the Swedes.

How is it that this man could write the words of this famous hymn - "Now Thank We All Our God" - published in 1636, in the midst of such great suffering? He understood the message of Habakkuk. Our own gratitude and thanksgiving rests on the Lord, who is our Savior. We rejoice in the unchanging grace of God, knowing that the Lord Jesus went to the cross and secured the greatest of all victories – the forgiveness of sins. It fills us

with humble joy to know that our many sins have been washed away by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus. What grace! We find peace in the all powerful arms of our Savior, who holds us in our life, and shields us in his grace.

This season of fall as we are sitting in a tree stand, watching the Packers, or enjoying turkey and stuffing with the family; may it be primarily a time for us to “be joyful in God our Savior.” Let this be our thanksgiving not only in fall, but each day as we live in God’s grace in Christ. “Now thank we all our God!”

By: Alicia Gartner

Kial Rushlow has been talking about abortion to freshman for the past 6 years here at Luther. She was a counselor at the New Life Resource Center. Kial talked about abstinence, human conception, and abortion to the freshmen religion classes. Some reactions to the information presented were, “Sad” (Morgan Nofftz), “Wrong” (Haley Rieck), “It’s a disgrace to mankind that they would do such a thing.” (Jerad Cary) As you can see our freshmen value life.

Josh and Kami Jo Lipps, along with their son Samuel, have been visiting Luther for 3 years. They talked with students in Pastor Bilitz’s Old Testament Survey classes about suicide and the many warning signs . Josh and Kami Jo are marriage and family therapists at Living Well Christian Family Clinic in Onalaska. We thank them for coming and hope they continue to do so. By: Sarah Krajewski

About 400 kids were brought to an island inhabited by a group of wacky “hooky spooky” pirates. These pirates were living the life, until they discovered a stowaway aboard. They had to figure out what to do with this imposter. They delivered him to the King of the High C’s. He easily solved the problem by sending this pirate wanna-be to the brig with the rest of the prisoners. Life was good again, or so they thought. They were on their way to the big pirates’ gathering in the big pirate sea. Their goal was to win the singing contest with the King as their lead singer. However, just before the competition, their king acquired laryngitis. BLIMEY! They were in trouble now. They were not going to win their bottle of sarsaparilla. All hope was lost until they heard a beautiful singing voice. Who was it? It was the Stowaway! Whitebeard, the oldest pirate, declared him a full blown pirate of the briny sea, and the stowaway helped them win the singing contest. Hip Hip Hooray!!!

Pirates Sarah Krajewski Sara Rieke Karl Schwedler Elizabeth Dorn Eric Sand David Grokowsky Matt Rieck Abbie Schultz King Dan Grokowsky Stowaway Jerad Cary Prisoners Cassie Wierschke Paul Riediger Molly Brueske Tech Crew Stage Crew Alicia Mendel Emily Brueske Erik Precht Brianna Schulze

By: Deanna Marquardt

Ethan Woodliff: Ethan is in a volunteer service called Civil Air Patrol. He has been in this service for three years and started because a friend of his was in the Air Force and died. Ethan joined Civil Air Patrol be- cause they are associated with the Air Force. He feels that it is the best way to remember his friend. In the three years he has been in Civil Air Patrol, he has learned several different things like drug control, search and rescue, air traffic control, disaster relief, community service, flying, model rocketry, and leadership. He enjoys everything about this service, but mostly the military setting. When he was 16 years old, he won several awards, including the Blue Berett, Red Service, and Unit Citation. He has gone to Volk Field Wisconsin for a competition, and they received third place out of nine in a military color guard competition. He finds it easy because of all the time he spends practicing. He plans to stay in Civil Air Patrol and to take the experience into his military career.

Stefanie Cox: Stefanie has been in Karate for more than two and a half years. She started when she was thirteen years old and started because her little sister was involved in it. In karate she has learned about weapons, form, sparring and leadership. She also has performed demonstrations at local events and helped teach younger kids some basic karate skills. She enjoys karate because it has many physical and mental benefits. It keeps her active when she isn’t in and also helps her with self discipline. She was fourteen when she received an award in a tournament, and she has won five first place awards in the forms division. She has participated in two Diamond Nationals’ tournaments which were held in St. Paul. She is one belt from being a black belt and plans to continue her training in karate in the future. One of her goals is to earn a second degree black belt. Karate is both easy for her and a challenge; it helps her get better at what she does and also teaches her to do her best in all aspects of her life. It takes a lot of effort and endurance, but she enjoys it and has fun in karate.

Dan Fehr: Dan has been in orchestra for five years and plays the violin. He enjoys playing the advanced music they per- form because it is the music that professionals play. The only thing that he doesn’t like is the driving time and hav- ing to go long distances to play. In the orchestra, they ana- lyze each note and dynamic and study the composer to see how he would play the song. They also memorize all their songs, so that they don’t need sheet music. Each semester they memorize two or three songs, which is about thirty or forty pages total. He considers it a challenge because it takes a long time to learn all the music, but he likes the challenge because it motivates him to practice and get bet- ter. He plans to continue being in orchestra through col- lege and plans to go from violin to yellow cello and learn to play that instrument as well.

By: Sarah Krajewski

Grandparents and “adopted” grandparents of Luther students joined together on October 9th to spend the day with their grandkids. They attended chapel, 1st and 4th hour classes, and relaxed during a Sound Foundation performance. All of this was followed by a delicious Salisbury steak and mashed potatoes lunch. After the final totals were counted, we hosted 187 grandparents! What a blessing to have so many caring people who support their grandchildren and Luther High School. The students who did not have grandparents attending went down to the practice field for an exciting game of mat ball.

By: Alicia Gartner

Marit Henckel – Sophomore – Cross Country

Marit had an outstanding week as she finished as the top Luther runner in both the G.E.T. meet and the Onalaska meet. She continues to improve her time and is currently running at a 17:15 clip for two and one half miles. In the Onalaska meet, Marit ran against the area’s best and did not back down. She is steadily working her way towards becoming one of the area’s best runners.

Charlie Harter – Senior – Football

Charlie’s fine defensive play continued this past week as he was involved in nine tackles – including two for losses. Charlie continues to lead the Knight’s defense with 26 tackles, including six of them for losses. Charlie has also forced three fumbles. His work ethic and leadership have been invaluable to the Knight’s gridiron warriors.

Sam Black/Paula Zietlow - Senior - #1 Doubles

These girls helped the Lady Knights win their 4th straight Coulee Conference Tennis Championship by winning the championship of the #1 Doubles flight 6-4, 2-6, 10-4 against Sierra Fox and Sierra Johnson of Black River Falls at the Coulee Conference Tennis Tournament on Saturday at Black River Falls. It is the 2nd straight conference doubles championship for the duo, and it ex- tended the Lady Knights doubles record in Coulee Conference tournament play to a perfect 24-0. The win against Black River Falls gives Sam and Paula 22 wins as a doubles team in their careers, which places them 4th on the All-time list in Luther’s history.

Kurt Stratman – Senior – Football

Stratman’s late-game heroics lifted the Luther Knights to their first win of the season, and propelled the mighty gridiron warriors to a come-from- behind, homecoming victory over the Cardinals of Lewiston-Altura. With just nine seconds remaining on the clock, Stratman booted a 13 yard field goal sending the Luther faithful into a frenzy and giving the Knights a 31- 29 win. Following a Luther score, the Cardinals regained the lead with a touchdown and a successful two point conversion putting them up 29-28.

2008 Lady Knights Team

The Lady Knights knocked off arch-rival and top-seeded West Salem, 3 games to 1, in front of a capacity crowd at Luther High School Tuesday evening. In a playoff-like atmosphere, the Lady Knights fired on all cylinders in playing their best match of the season to secure the victory. The win earned the Luther netters a chance to secure a Coulee Conference championship with a victory over Arcadia. The Lady Knights did just that as they swept the Raiders 3 games to 0.

Todd Korthals – Senior – Cross Country

This Cross Country runner is putting an amazing finish on a wonderful career at Luther High School. At this year’s Coulee Conference meet held in West Salem, WI., Todd became only the second runner in the eleven year history of Cross Country at Luther High School to run his way to first-team, All-Coulee Conference honors. Todd also used this meet to record his personal best time of the year, completing the course in 17:45. By: Jesse Nofftz

FOOTBALL TENNIS CROSS COUNTRY VOLLEYBALL

This season the Luther The Luther High Tennis The Luther High Cross The Lady Knights Volley- High Football Team team had another very Country team continued ball team had a very faced a few new chal- successful season. Finish- their run of strong sea- successful season, finishing lenges. Entering into a ing with an overall record sons this year. As this sea- with an overall game new conference with a of only 8-9 but ending son began, a new group record of 57-21. Among lack of background the season 4-0 in confer- of faces emerged and the highlights was a 3-1 knowledge on their new ence matches, the Lady stepped up to the plate win over rival West Sa- opponents was one of the Knights were awarded to replace the seniors the lem, helping them clinch most difficult challenges their fourth consecutive team lost last year. Over- a share of the Coulee they faced. While only Conference Champion- all, the team performed Conference Title. The finishing 1-8, the Knights ship. Those Lady Knights admirably. Some high- Lady Knights also ad- continued to play their winning individual con- lights of this season in- vanced to the Regional hardest throughout the ference championships cluded a meet at UW Championship game entire season. This shows this season were Leslie Parkside in Kenosha, WI after sweeping Necedah good sportsmanship and Klinski (#2 singles), and the La Crosse and Viroqua in their a strong work ethic. With Samantha Black/Paula Chileda Classic, which playoff matchups. Unfor- the knowledge they Zietlow (#1 doubles), was hosted by Luther at tunately, the Lady gained this season, they Sheridan Burmeister/ Drugan’s course. Knight’s were defeated are perfectly positioned Olivia Krause (#2 dou- Coulee Conference hon- by Aquinas in the final for a possible playoff run bles), and Amanda ors were awarded to match, ending their sea- next year. Congratula- Beckendorf/Katelyn Paul Todd Korthals, 1st team, son. Despite this difficult tions on a hard fought (#3 doubles). These ladies Marit Henckel, 2nd team, loss, everyone is very season! have used their abilities and Amber Sommer- proud of the success of to glorify both their school feldt, honorable mention. our Lady Knight’s Volley- and their Lord. Congratu- Senior Todd Korthals also ball Team. Keep up the lations on your amazing qualified for the State good work next season. season…again! Finals in Wisconsin Rap- Congratulations Coulee ids. He ended his career Conference Champs! with a 56th place finish at the state meet. Way to go Luther Knights!! By: Jesse Nofftz

BASKETBALL - BOYS - GIRLS POMS The 2008-2009 Luther The 2008-2009 wrestling The Lady Knights of This year’s Basketball Knight Boys Basketball squad will return this 2008-2009 are prepared Poms Squad will be team will be facing season with about a for yet another season. made up of about 7 girls. many, many challenges. After a great run last dozen experienced wres- This season will be a first The team lost a solid core year, the Knights are of players due to tlers. In wrestling, experi- looking to continue their for some new faces, as graduation, there will be ence is a big advantage. dominance and claim well as their new coach, a new coach, there will The Knights will again be the Coulee Conference Kelly Arneson. Kelly has be new players, there under the watchful eye title for the second 4 routines planned for will be a somewhat new of Coach Jon Benrud. straight year under the this basketball season. system, and experience is With a State Champion direction of Coach Joel Coach Arneson is a limited. Returning to the Babinec. The Lady on the squad last year, graduate from UW- Knights will be sopho- Knights will be opening more point guard, Joey the Knight’s have a lot to their season on Novem- Whitewater, where she Leibl and senior forward, live up to. But with the ber 20th here at Luther competed in several Jordan Podella. Both hard work they do every against Bangor High dance competitions. Kelly players will be heavily day, they are very confi- School. Although the has been dancing since counted on to lead the dent in their chances to team has 7 players re- she was 3 and plans to Knight attack. The have another successful turning to the roster this teach the girls a few new Knights hope to be very season, only 1 of them competitive in the tough season. The Wrestling was a starter last season, moves to add to their Coulee Conference. The Knights will open up senior Toni Walters. Be- arsenal. Good luck to the team has high expecta- their season with a cause of their relative Poms Squad and Coach tions and is willing to match on December 4th inexperience this season, Arneson on their 2008- work hard to reach for @ Whitehall High School. the Lady Knights may be 2009 performances! them. Along the way, Good Luck Wrestlers! facing some big chal- the Knights will form a lenges this year. But con- spirit of togetherness as fidence is key, and in the they unite to accomplish past few seasons, the great things on and off Lady Knights Basketball the court. The Knights Team has shown exactly hope to use their full- that, confidence. court up-and-down style of play to wear out their Bangor opponents on November 25th. Al- though not the tallest team in the area, the squad hopes to use their athleticism to be com- petitive in each and every game. The team has set some lofty goals. Through hard work, dedication, and desire, they can accomplish anything that they want. By: Emilee Germanson

Dustin Uhlenbrauck Andrew Haag Mr. Uhlenbrauck is from North St. Paul in Min- Mr. Haag is from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He is nesota. He now lives in New Ulm, Minnesota staying with the Babinecs in Onalaska while with his wife. Mr. Uhlenbrauck attended Christ student teaching here at Luther High. Mr. Lutheran in North St. Paul, and went to St. Haag went to Winnebago Lutheran Academy Croix Lutheran High School. Mr. Uhlenbrauck for high school. He has two brothers and one has one brother and two sisters. He is staying sister. He goes to Faith Lutheran Church in with the Baders in Onalaska while he is stu- Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. He enjoys staying dent teaching at Luther High. MLC has given here at Luther because the teachers and the Mr. Uhlenbrauck plenty of opportunities to students have been very friendly and wel- practice classes on how to teach different coming to him. MLC has given Mr. Haag subjects. He is very thankful for everything plenty of opportunities to teach in different MLC has to offer him. He really enjoys the stay classes and in a variety of experiences. He here because the students and the teachers also enjoyed that MLC has some wonderful are a lot of fun. His dream of teaching would professors that are very knowledgeable and be in the west somewhere in the mountains. If caring. If teaching was not for Mr. Haag, he teaching was not for Mr. Uhlenbrauck, he would go for something in mathematics, would want to be an Actuary, which is deal- sports, or Law Enforcement. Mr. Haag hopes ing with insurance. Mr. Uhlenbrauck looks up to end up teaching somewhere in California to his dad the most. He enjoys snowboarding, or out west. He is willing to go wherever the Frisbee golf, and playing the Wii to relax. Lord sends him. His role models would be his Something unique that the student body does parents and his grandparents. He looks up to not know about Mr. Uhlenbrauck is that in them a lot. In his free time he likes to hang high school, he liked being in plays, and he out with friends and watch sports to relax. loves reading comic books. If he could Something unique about Mr. Haag that the choose any kind of super hero power, Mr. student body does not know is that he loves Uhlenbrauck would like to fly. to listen to Rap. If Mr. Haag could have any super hero power, he would choose to tele- port himself to different places. By: Emilee Germanson

The Blood Drive, run by the Red Cross, was held on Friday October 24, 2008. There were 39 successful donations. We had many first timers, and hopefully the next time Luther has a blood drive, they will come and donate again. Blood supplies are always low because the volume of units needed rises as the population grows, and the eligible donor pool has decreased. The Red Cross blood donations are used throughout the United States. Almost all of the blood donations are used within 3-4 days after it has been given. Eligible donors can give blood once every 8 weeks. To give blood, you have to be 17 years old or older, or when you’re 16 with parent’s consent. There were a few Pro-Life Knights of Luther High who volunteered in school for the blood drive. These were some of the stu- dents that helped: Sarah Krajewski, Abbie Schultz, Brooke Peterson, Beth- any Albrecht, and Chelsea Emmons. Every one person that gives blood will save three lives. Giving blood does not take a lot of time, and you get refreshments after it. Everyone should try to give blood at least once in their life. Give blood-the gift of life! By: Jessie Cross

Heidelberg is about as old as Luther itself. It was originally a thank you to the church asso- ciations with the music department as enter- tainment. Back then the buergemeisters themselves were in charge of running and decorating the whole festival. Now, the buergemeisters are honored at the festival and have no actual obligations to help or organize. This year’s buergemeisters were Dick and Irene Bakken.

Heidelberg is a German-themed festival that has something for everyone. There is Ger- man food and pies, games, and fun for all ages. There are even new additions of things like tacos and pizza for those not so excited about traditional German food. The new games this year were the inflatables. They were very popular, and we hope to have them back again next year. During the school week, the high school stu- dents hunt for the “mark”, a German coin that is hidden somewhere on the Luther High campus. Each day new clues are read, and it becomes more likely each day that someone will find it. This year there are two winners of this mark, Amy Dobrunz and Caleb Schultz!

By: Jesse Nofftz

With the results in and finalized, our new president has fi- nally been elected. Senator Barack Obama of Illinois has won a hard fought campaign with an overwhelming amount of electoral votes, including both Minnesota and Wisconsin. His opponent, Senator John McCain of Arizona, graciously gave his concession speech early that evening, around 10:15pm local time, thanking Obama for his hard fought cam- paign and pledging to make attempts at bi-partisanship. President-elect Obama and Vice-President-elect Biden will both be sworn into office on January 20th, along with many other Democrats, who this year gained in both houses of Con- gress. No matter what you think of this outcome, you must admit, this election has been historical and will be dis- cussed for many years to come. Among our local races, Democratic Congressmen Ron Kind has been re-elected to represent Wisconsin’s 3rd District in the House of Representatives with an overwhelming popular vote. Republican State Senator Dan Kapanke has been re-elected to represent the La Crosse area in the Wisconsin State Senate, and Mike Huebsch, also a Republican, has been re-elected to serve Wisconsin’s 94th District in Wisconsin State Assembly. On the Minnesota side of things, Democratic Congressmen Tim Walz earned his second term in Minnesota’s 1st district with a huge margin. The best race of the year though has been for one of Minnesota’s seats in the U.S. Senate. Incumbent Sena- tor Norm Coleman, a Republican, appears to have defeated De- mocratic Candidate Al Franken in an election where the can- didates were separated by less than 700 votes. This shows that despite what you may think, every vote does count.