Exeter-Milligan Update: First Grade

The Exeter-Milligan first graders, along with teacher Sharon Lott, went to the senior center downtown last month. We will be visiting the senior center once a month on the 2nd Wednesday at about 2:30-3:20. Last month we performed our Grandparents day program for them. Then, the children introduced themselves and read their books about Grandparents that they had written and they spent time visiting with the seniors. The seniors provided snacks for the 1st graders. Next month, we will be reading stories from our reading books at the senior center and we will be providing the snacks. Pictured is Dravin Burkes reading his story to Evelyn Michl.

Tailgate TONIGHT!!

Don't forget that the Exeter-Milligan Booster Club will be sponsoring the Tailgate Hamburger Feed

TONIGHT!!

Exeter-Milligan plays Friend tonight - 

come support your Timberwolves.

Hamburger, Chips, Drink and Bar $5.00

Serving from 6 p.m. - Halftime.

Volkmer's Annual Pumpkin Painting Saturday

Don't miss the event of the season! 

The Volkmer's will host their annual Pumpkin Painting this Saturday from 9 - noon.  Following the signs on Highway 6
Paint a pumpkin (all Ages yes Adults have just as much fun) Cost as always is $2.50 per person that paints, paint as many as you want for that price we also have patterns and glue-ons and bows, at the end the painted pumpkins get a clear coat your pumpkin while you can head over for a FREE bag of Popcorn on your way home. Bring your own Pumpkin or (we will have about 30) Helpful Hints are to wear paint clothes, bring something to drink if you like, and if you are under 7 years of age remember to bring your Mom and Dad Grandma or Grandpa brother or sister with you!!! 

It sounds like they have lots of fun surprises in store for everyone. Don't miss this special event!

Exeter-Milligan Outdoor Ed Day

Learning about insects was the theme for this station at Outdoor Education Day.  Clockwise from the left are Olivea Swanson, Chase Vnoucek, second grade teacher Marla Weber, Toni Bossaler and Kylie Briske.

At the sensory station high school students lined up behind the second graders are from the left Brooke Manning, Logan Zeleny, Deidre Stevens, Alex Benorden while the second graders trying to figure out what is making a noise in the film canister from the left are Chase Vnoucek, Olivea Swanson and Cece Murphy.

Now blindfolded at the sensory station the second graders try something that happens to be chocolate.  Pictured clockwise from the left are Chase Vnoucek, Logan Zeleny, Deidre Stevens and Olivea Swanson.

A beautiful late summer day was the setting for the second graders at Exeter Milligan to learn about the outdoors from Exeter-Milligan high school students at the annual Outdoor Education Day.

This yearly event allows for the students in Lorie Sliefert’s Biology II class to spend several weeks choosing and planning different stations to present to Marla Weber’s second graders class during the all day event held at Gilbert’s Park in Exeter. Weber started the concepts for this project while in college and has held the event yearly since then.

Since the second grade class is very small, they could move through the stations more quickly but it also gave the Biology students time to teach more stations. Sliefert noted that, “They all worked hard in class to make sure that they were ready for their session.  I know that some of them were nervous but afterward they said that it was easier than they thought it would be.  They were amazed at how much the second graders already knew.”

Much of the learning goes both ways, as Sliefert commented that the high school students “need to develop leadership skills and be positive role models for the younger students.”

Both teachers commented that the new station, Oceans was a big hit.  The second graders created an “ocean” in a bottle with water, oil and food coloring.  Also new this year was “Eat the Earth,” a station using an apple to illustrate how much of the earth surface is available as farm ground.

Another fun activity for both classes was  a geocaching scavenger hunt.  Brandy VanDeWalle, the Fillmore County Extension agent, demonstrated the use of hand-held GPS units (Global Positioning System) to the high school students.  The biology students then plotted coordinates for use during the planned scavenger hunt and also used the units to help measure shadows more accurately.

During the day the students learned about the growth rings on a tree and then made the comparison to their own life, making a drawing of the different stages of growth in their own lives.  They found animal tracks and made plaster castings to take home, along with making rainsticks when they learn about the weather. 

New Social Hall at St Stephens

Local masons Travis Combs, of York,  and Jeff Combs, right, team up to do the brick work on the front of the new parish hall at Exeter’s St. Stephens Catholic Church.

The new parish hall at Exeter’s St. Stephens sits back from the church and once finished, the architecture at the social hall will complement the historic church.

Construction began this summer on the new social hall at St. Stephens church which will replace their current social hall which is located in downtown Exeter, quite a distance from the church.

“This will be easily used for wedding receptions and parish activities.  The other hall didn’t meet our needs anymore and we had accessibility issues there as well,” explained Father Tom Kuffel, "It has been a long desire for us to have a church hall on the property,”

Members of the congregation serve on the building committee to oversee the construction project.  Members of the committee are Bob Dumpert, George Erdkamp, Barry Murphy, Gerry Geiger, Mark Becker, Bob Mueller, Vicki Geiger and Ranell Odvody.

The congregation raised about one third of the cost for construction and the rest of the funds were donated through wills and bequests to the project.  Committee members Mueller and Vicki Geiger are thrilled with the new project, “It’s a much nicer facility with better spaces for our CCD classes, bigger bathrooms. . .it has a much larger capacity with better and more parking available.  Just not having to climb stairs will be a key for most people, along with the fact that the upkeep should be easier with a new building.”

“The building meets all ADA requirements and it is designed to match the church,” said Kuffel, “Two of the old stained glass windows from the school that once stood nearby have been refurbished and will be placed in the front entrance area of the social hall.”

The only part of the project that is left to plan is the kitchen.  The budget did not include finishing the kitchen so the congregation is still looking for donations to be able to complete that part of the building.

The exterior will have a brick and siding finish and Kuffel estimates that it  will hold around 150 but doesn’t have an official capacity yet.  The group also hopes to incorporate the bell from the school into the new building somehow.  The hall doesn’t have a name yet, but there is still plenty of time for that.

“We hope to be able to have coffee and rolls here after services.  We want to have pancake breakfasts, chili feeds and fish fry.  We want this to be a regular part of the community and host funeral dinners, prenuptial dinners and small wedding receptions,” said Kuffel.

The new construction is set back from the church to make sure that the church is prominent.  Kuffel explained that they hope to landscape the front of the hall to make a courtyard area connecting the two buildings.

The interior will have four classrooms, two of which will have a divider wall that can allow it to be a larger room, a very large kitchen and bathrooms.  Kuffel reports that much of the interior finishing work will be completed by volunteers from the congregation.

Rogge Construction out of Lincoln is the main contractor but many of the subcontractors are local.  “Rogge built the hall in Utica and they knew what we were looking for, They are using as many local contracts as they can.  Exeter Lumber has been a good resource for us,” said Kuffel.