Saturday, June 2, 2012

Exeter Alumni Banquet


The class of 1957 posed in front of Larry and Bonnie Cudaback’s 1957 Buick.  They are pictured from the left, Judy (McCabe) Dinneen, Suzanne (Barkmeier) Johnson, Jane (Erdkamp) Petersen, Vernon Thomsen, John Miller, Janice (Engle) Miller, Agnes (Becker) Loukota, Leonard Chlup, Larry Cudaback, Melvin Motis andDonna (Engle) Repenn.



The Exeter Class of 1977 are pictured front row from the left are Betty (Pracheil) Buerer, Denice (Moor) Kovanda, and Julie (Luzum) Erdkamp.  Back row from the left are Alan Michl, Shari (Nicholas) Michl, Mark Leif, Charles Trauger, Dale Erdkamp and Sarah (Marek) Burnette.



The Exeter-Milligan class of 2007 are from the left, Keegan Johnson, Lindsay Filipi, Logan Harre, Lindsey (Moore) DeBoer, Jenna Rhodes, Sage Jensen, Allee Kuska, Rachel Manning, Matthew Rocole, Dani Erdkamp, Austin Waldron, and Tony Yound.



The Exeter Class of 1952 is pictured from the left Cene (Becker) Sackschewsky, LaVonne (Ruhl) Guthrie, Bob Rasmussen, and Don Crowder.



The Exeter Class of 1947 from the left are Lea Ann (Morgan) Votipka, Tom Manning, Marilyn (Murphy) Manning, Virgil Condon and Eyvonne (Plettner) Clayton.



The Exeter Class of 1962 front row from the left are Norm Bristol, Anita (Anton) Jensen, Judy (Briggs) Pherson, Jean (Ethington) Stock, Bill  Murphy, Jim Taylor, Dean Beecher and Wayne Barkmeier.  Second row from the left Lonnie Dinneen, Jim Rouch, Linda (Farstrup) McKay, Pat Burns, Paul Hansen, Pat Hassler and Ron Perkins.



The Exeter Class of 2002 invited the Exeter-Milligan class of 2012 to the Alumni banquet.  Members from the class of 2012 who were present were from the left Jalen Maxson, Brady Bristol and Nate Bigelow.



The Exeter Class of 1982 are from the left Stanley Krause, Rhonda (Ruhl) Maxson, Sandra (Evans) Gergen and Dacel (Vlcek) Thomsen.


The Exeter Class of 1987 was represented by Ranell (Ruhl) Odvody (left) and the Exeter class of 1967 was represented by Jerry Volkmer.


The Exeter Class of 1942 are pictured seated at left Darleene (Taylor) Becker, Betty (Plettner) Jurgensen and standing is Pat (Erdkamp) Biegert.
 


The Exeter Class of 1972 are pictured from the left Wayne Hall, Mark Becker, Krista (Erdkamp) Egging, Cheryl (Becker) Beavers, Pat (Leif) Rocole and Cliff Jensen.


The Exeter Class of 2002 was the honor class, planned the banquet, dance and other activities throughout the week and also did the setup and cleanup.  They are pictured from the left Lindsey Waldron, Morgan Brandt, Kendall Gloystein, Dana (Miller) Myers, Mike Mika, Willie Dumpert and Ryan Betka.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Family Donates New Ballfield Scoreboard

The Exeter Ball Association recently received a very generous donation. In honor of Lori Ruhl Walford and Gary Ruhl, their families have donated a beautiful new scoreboard which was recently mounted at the ballfield.

Speaking for the family, Jerry Walford, Lori’s widower explained that, “We wanted to honor the memory of Lori and her dad, Gary.”

“A couple of years ago Lori and I were watching Cayden (grandson) play ball and I remembered her making the comment that you could barely see the sign out there and she was the one running the scoreboard.”

The community rallied around Lori during her illness, holding a benefit in her honor when she was in the late stages of cancer, “When she was sick and the community held the benefit we decided we could use some of that money for a scoreboard along with the memorial money.  We wanted to give back to the community. Lori thought that was a good gesture in her and her dad’s name and to the whole Ruhl family.”

“The whole Ruhl family has played ball up there, Lori’s brother Bob has coached, it’s a dedication to their family,” said Walford.

The new scoreboard is much larger than the old one – from a 3 x 9 to a 5 x 10.  Instead of regular light bulbs the new sign has LED lights in it which should, Walford hopes, make it easier to see and maintain.  The new scoreboard is also wireless.

The beautiful new sign features the maroon and white colors that are familiar to Exeter Eagles along with a very prominent eagle in the middle of the lighted score area.

“It took quite a while to figure out how to get the scoreboard ordered but a company in Lincoln helped us order one out of Minnesota. Lori’s Mom Deloris and sisters helped pick out the eagle for the middle of the sign,” explained Jerry.

Lori’s sister, Kay (Ruhl) Due repainted the backstop at the ball diamond after it was repaired to freshen the field for the year.  The Ruhl and Walford families have also established a  yearly scholarship fund in Lori’s name that will go to an Exeter-Milligan graduate who has been in nursing school for a year.


 Exeter Mayor Alan Michl, and Village Maintenance Supervisor John Mueller hang the new scoreboard at the Exeter ballfield.  The posts were also freshly painted.



Thursday, May 31, 2012

Cub Scouts Bingo at Exeter Care Center





Pack 218 Cub Scouts spent Thursday afternoon with the residents at Exeter Care Center playing Bingo.  The scouts brought the snacks, including homemade cookies, called Bingo and assisted any residents with watching their cards.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Exeter Celebrates Memorial Day



Exeter community members and guests remembered the fallen at the Exeter Cemetery on a beautiful Monday morning.

Members of Exeter Legion Post 218 formed the color guard, posted the colors and stood at attention while the Exeter-Milligan band played The Star Spangled Banner.

After an invocation from Pastor Ginny Adams and a reading of the “Gettysburg Address” by Claire White, the Exeter-Milligan band played several patriotic tunes and Brady Bristol read the poem “In Flanders Field.”
The featured speaker Tim Wilbeck opened with the thought, “Any American would feel honored today to speak about what our nation’s armed forces members have done for us.”

Wilbeck went on to talk about some of the members of our armed forces who have lost their lives recently reminding the crowd that, “sacrifice is meaningless without remembrance.”

He encouraged the crowd “to help a Vet because it’s the right thing to do. Take care of their families, take care of them, those who made our way of life possible.”

After Wilbeck spoke the Legion members gave a salute to the dead, Taps was played by Blake Papik and Taps Echo was played by Amber Pribyl.  The crowd was dismissed to enjoy coffee and rolls waiting at the Exeter Legion home. 

At the coffee, the Exeter-Milligan chorus performed an arrangement of “In Flander’s Field” by Shane Whitford, who joined chorus members Kimberlin Ruhl, Ashley and Meghann Miller in performing with guitars and voices.



 
Tim Wilbeck speaks at the Exeter American Legion Memorial Day Program.


 
Claire White reads The Gettysburg Address at the Memorial Day Program.

Brady Bristol reads In Flanders Field at the Memorial Day Program

 Exeter American Legion Members give the salute to the dead at the Memorial Day Program.

 
Blake Papik plays Taps at the Exeter American Legion Memorial Day Program.



The Exeter-Milligan Choir performs with their teacher Shane Whitford.  The students from the left are Meghan Miller, Kimberlin Ruhl and Ashley Miller.

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Exeter Care Center Remembers Those Lost

  Exeter Care Center residents wait for the start of their Balloon Release ceremony, holding tightly to their balloons in the wind.

 Activities Director Lori Bossaleer hands resident Wilma Murphy a balloon.

 Bernie Larsen and Rodney Larsen release balloons in honor of Ted Larsen, husband of Bernie and father of Rodney who passed away last year.



It was an emotional moment for residents, staff and family members at Exeter Care Center as they celebrated their annual Balloon Liftoff and release to honor those lost during the year.

Each year they take an afternoon to remember those who passed away while they were residents at the Exeter Care Center.  Staff member Bob Pagel led the service stating they wanted to “honor family and friends who had passed away in the last year.”

Pagel and the staff did more than just read the names, he read some very touching and funny moments about the residents that had been part of their family for a longer time.

The staff had shared their memories for Pagel to read and the crowd of residents and family and friends of those lost, laughed and cried together as they recalled their friends and loved ones.  Several of the staff members shared about a few of the ladies of Czech descent who like to teach the staff members words in the Czech language and were noted for teaching some inappropriate words to boot.

Some hesitated to release their balloons, but despite the high winds a few of the balloons rose and stopped for a few moments as if to acknowledge their remembrance before the wind caught them and carried them away.

Monday, May 28, 2012

Exeter Man Sacrifices During World War II



Above, Raymond Geiger receiving his Silver Star.
Jim Geiger recounted what families hear all the time, ”I don’t want to talk about it.”  His father, Raymond Geiger, never shared his experiences during World War II with him. 


It was the war that took the sight in his father’s eye. Raymond did, however, share some of his war stories with his brothers who retold the stories to Jim. 

After Raymond died in 1982 in a car accident Jim and his wife Carolyn found many of his father’s papers, medals and photos from his time during the war. Jim and Carolyn’s daughter put together several beautiful shadow boxes with the items they found. He learned how much his father had been through and the newspaper clippings gave him a glimpse into the hero he knew his dad really was.

When Jim heard about the veteran’s scrapbook project the Exeter American Legion was working on he knew that he wanted his dad’s story as a part of the book.  It was a story of heroism and bravery that needed to be preserved. Raymond Wendell Geiger had no idea what waited for him on the other side of the world when he enlisted in the Army in March of 1942.

He was assigned to the 161st Infantry as a machine gunner and served in the Guadalcanal and the Asiatic-Pacific Theater.

During his time in the Guadalcanal, Private Geiger and two other members of his machine gun crew stood their ground and stopped the Japanese in their tracks as they shut off a Japanese supply line.
A furious Japanese assault was under way and the three men not only maintained a river and trail block starting on January 19, 1943 but at times they were outnumbered more than 20 to one.
During the standoff they used their guns and grenades to prevent the enemy from evacuating their wounded and kept them from supplying their troops.

As the three men were fighting on the enemy trail, one of Geiger's companions was seriously wounded. Holding their own wasn't possible for long and shortly afterward, Geiger was also wounded.
“The stand made at the point of the enemy attack was an inspiration to the new troops and aided greatly in their reorganization, and the ultimate frustration of the enemy attack,” reads the official report.

Finally overrun after an extended battle of over a week, Geiger took action to save his own life. Being seriously wounded with no medics to transport him to safety he pulled two dead American soldiers over his body as the Japanese always bayonetted anyone who looked alive.  Since he was protected from discovery by the enemy it was several days before Geiger was found and received medical attention from U.S. troops.

Geiger was wounded in the eye and despite medical attention lost his vision in that eye.  He was awarded the silver star for his gallantry in action.  While recovering at O’Reilly General Hospital in Springfield, Missouri he was decorated with the Purple Heart. Geiger was the first man from Exeter wounded in action during World War II.

Geiger was honorably discharged September 17, 1943 and returned home to Exeter married Miss Magdalene Hassler in February of 1944 and continue farming until he died in car accident in 1982. His story and the tale of his bravery are now documented.

Exeter-Milligan Students Selected

Congratulations to Quinten Loontjer and Rebecca Vossler as the were chosen as members of the All-Area Academic Team by the York News Times.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

Memorial Day Services Monday 10 a.m.

Memorial Day services at the Exeter Cemetery will be held Monday, May 28th at 10 a.m.  Tim Wilbeck will open the service with the Exeter-Milligan School Band playing the National Anthem.  Invocation will be by Rev. Ginny Adams and Claire White will read the "Gettysburg Addreess."  The band will perform serveral numbers and Brady Bristol will present "In Flanders Field."  Wilbeck will present the address and the Exeter American Legion Post #218 will make its annual "Salute to the Dead." Blake Papik will play "Taps," with the Taps Echo by Amber Pribyl.  A vocal selection, "In Flanders Field," will be performed by the high school choir at the Legion Hall during the coffee hour.  In case of inclement weather, the service will be held at the Exeter-Milligan High School Gym.  The American Legion Auxiliary will be serving coffee and rolls until 11:30 a.m. at the Legion Hall following the service at the cemetery. Everyone is welcome to attend.