Sheffield's Host Student From Munich, Germany

There’s nothing like moving from a community of 2.5 million to Exeter, Neb. population, 600.

Late this summer Felix Richter made that trek from his home in Munich, Germany to his home for the year in Nebraska with the Paul Sheffield family.

On his way to Nebraska, Richter spent two weeks in Rhode Island at a prep camp for foreign exchange students, “I got out of school in Germany and decided I wanted to go to the camp.”

There have been some adjustments for Richter, the biggest is “being at school the whole day and sports, having them at school instead of club teams.  Sports is so much bigger here and there is so much corn here.”

“I like the way that people live over here. There is so much school stuff here.  It’s all different in some ways.  Friday night football is a big deal and I like that.”

Richter, 16, misses his 17 year old sister and his parents back in Munich. Since he arrived in Nebraska he has been able to Skype with his family, “I don’t really miss anything yet.  I am happy to have a host brother and sister and am really enjoying that.”

The Sheffield’s have been pleased with the way Felix has adjusted, “Felix has been a great fit into our family.  We enjoy having him and he has already been labeled the "good" son - it seems he knows how to load/empty a dishwasher without being told. We hope he is enjoying his time as being a part of the Sheffield family and also his time as a Timberwolf.” 

He hopes to go back to Germany after his year here and finish one more of school there before returning to the United States to pursue a medical degree, “I like Nebraska but there are other cool states, I have no idea where I would go to school.”

Richter is enjoying the food, “there is just a lot of it.  We don’t eat lunch at school.  We get out at 1:30 p.m. and eat at home.”

Although his school work in Nebraska doesn’t count back in Germany he is enjoying it.  “I could have graduated last year and gone to work but since I want to go into the medical field I will go back for two more years before college.”

At Exeter-Milligan Richter is taking American History, English, Math and science and likes it all so far. “I really like having computers at school to keep all of your notes together, that’s good.”

He started playing on the football team but switched to being a student manager when a past injury haunted him.  He’s really looking forward to basketball season which was his sport in Germany.

So far Richter has taken a trip to Minnesota with the Sheffield’s to go pheasant hunting.  “I didn’t hunt here in the U.S. because I didn’t have a license but that was pretty fun.”

The Sheffield’s are planning to include Richter on some of their travels through the United States while he is visiting with them and Richter is definitely looking forward to seeing the beauty of the country firsthand.

Exeter Man Marks One Off His Bucket List

Dave Erdkamp shows the gap in the bear skull where they pulled the teeth to send into the State of Minnesota.

Dave Erdkamp stands next to the bear he shot in Minnesota last September.  The bear rug recently arrived in Exeter after almost a year at the taxidermist.

 Dave Erdkamp with the bear he shot in Minnesota last year.

Dave and Pat Erdkamp had to clear some wall space in their home recently for a new addition.  The delivery they had been anticipating for over a year arrived recently, Dave’s bear trophy.

In August of 2012, Dave and Pat headed to Minnesota where Dave had contacted a guide to make his dream of hunting a bear a reality.  They drove to the town of Grand Marais and Dave finally got to do something “I have wanted to do since the 1970’s  It was on my bucket list and I just started at the top and worked my way down.”

“We had been to Canada before twice for other trips but this time we were about 6 miles south of the border.  We applied as a group but a friend couldn’t get the vacation time off of work so I figured, why not take the wife along?”

Bear season opened on September first and Dave headed out with the guide.  “There was a lot the guide told me.  He told me the bear would like right at me in the tree stand and told me the bear would make a death moan.  He told me I had to stay up in the tree stand no matter what until he came back to get me.”

Staying in the tree stand proved to be a challenge the first evening when, while it was still light, a terrible thunderstorm came in.  “I was 16 foot up in the air in a metal tree stand which is about the worst place to be in a storm like that.  I could see the wind coming through the trees so I just tied myself in and rode it out.”

It was on the fifth day that Dave shot the bear.  “I had seen him the night before and he looked right at me then.  This time he looked at me and went back in the woods.  He did that a couple of times and finally the third time he started feeding on the bait.”

Once the bear moved around Dave had a shot at the bear.  “I knew I had gotten him and heard him make a death moan three times.  I shot him about 7:40 but I had to stay in the stand until 8:15 when the guide came.  The guide had already found the bear.  We had to pull his teeth to give to send off to the State for research.”

Dave and the guide pulled the bear back to the bait area and loaded him on a four wheeler with a sled. They skinned the bear and put the hide in the freezer and checked the bear in with the state of Minnesota the next morning. 

As they left the hunting area Dave got a cell phone out and waited until he was in a service area so he could call Pat and tell her his news , “I hadn’t used a cell phone before. I was a little excited.  We stopped to show her at the motel.”

He and Pat cut up the meat (as a child Pat’s parents owned the locker in Cordova and so she is no stranger to butchering).

Before leaving the area they also enjoyed some fishing on Lake Superior, where they pulled in some lake trout and a King Salmon they packed up to enjoy later with their kids.

They iced down the fish and the bear meat and headed to Duluth where they dropped off the hide at the taxidermist before leaving for Nebraska.  The hide was just finished recently and Dave also received the bear’s skull.  The bear appeared to be about four years old and they estimated that it weighed about 250 pounds.

They both agreed the bear meat was delicious.  Most of what they cut was more roasts as they had problems with their grinder, but they have enjoyed it anyway.

Dave regularly hunts and traps during the season’s and his home is filled with beautiful birds, geese, and other examples of his lifelong passion.  Now, the bear is without a doubt the first thing anyone will notice when they enter the Erdkamp’s home.

It was at the top of his bucket list for a reason, it was a trip of a life for him and according to Dave, “If it wasn’t so expensive I’d go again in a heartbeat.”

Exeter-Milligan Update:Lee National Denim Day

31 Exeter-Milligan staff members participated in the Lee National Denim Day on Tuesday, October 9.  This was held in conjunction with the volleyball team's Pink Out game.  Staff members contributed $5 in exchange for wearing jeans to work that day.  $155 was raised and will be sent to the American Cancer Society via Lee National Denim Day.  This was the eleventh year the school has participated. They have raised $1750 in those eleven years.

Top: Pictured dressed in pink at the Exeter site are (L-R):  Vicki Klemm, Lori Ruhl, Angie Murphy, Lisa Soukup, Mary Lou Vossler, Mary Kay Pribyl, Brian Murphy, Rachel Haider, Anita Mueller, Sharon Lott, Judy Kassik, Kara Myers, Matt Nicholas, Marla Weber, Sara Linocln, Tyler Hinton, Rhoda Wahl, Jordan Marr and Phyllis Severson.  Also donating, but not pictured were Dean Filipi, Darcy White, Sherry Dumpert, Jackie Yound, Lorie Sliefert, Lin Schlueter and Dixie Krejci --

Bottom:

Pictured dressed in pink at the Milligan site are (L-R Row 1)  Shelli Mueller, Allison Brahm, Rachel Lucas, Audrey Betka (Row 2)  Bob Mahoney, Casey Pohl, Beth Vavra. Not pictured, but donating to the cause was Chris Harre.