Trinity Lutheran recognizes graduating seniors

On May 1st at Trinity Lutheran ELCA in Cordova, the Lutheran Youth of NE (LYON) group hosted a cake reception for it's two graduating seniors, Amanda Larsen, left, and Kelsey Moore, right.

Exeter G.F.W.C. Woman's Club Welcomes New Babies

 Exeter-Milligan second graders wrote and performed an informative presentation on Arbor at the Exeter G.F.W.C. Woman's Club Arbor Day Baby Celebration.

 Exeter G.F.W.C. member, Suzanne Johnson, presents gifts to Brenson Brandt from the club.  Brenson is held by his mother, Morgan who was honored at the first Exeter G.F.W.C. Woman's Club Arbor Day Baby Celebration.

 

Honorees at the annual Exeter G.F.W.C. Woman's Club Arbor Day Baby Celebration are pictured from the left T.J. Mueller holding son Gavin Mueller, Shelli Mueller holding son Adrian Mueller, Morgan Brandt holding son Brenson Brandt and Kay Due holding granddaughter Tylie Due. Other grandmothers attending are pictured in the back row, Donna Mark (left) and Lori Brandt (right).

Every year the Exeter G.F.W.C. welcomes the babies in the old Exeter School district to the community.  This year was their 26th annual Arbor Day Program.

 

Each year the Woman's club contacts the families of all new babies born in the old school district and welcomes them to the community. The event combines the welcome with a celebration of the Nebraska-born holiday, Arbor Day.

 

Attendees were welcomed by the Exeter Club President, Karen Chapman followed by a welcome from the Exeter Mayor, Alan Michl.  Michl read an Arbor Day Observation Proclamation he had signed.

 

Exeter-Milligan Superintendent Paul Sheffield also participated in the event bringing gifts from the district and welcoming the families to "the wolfpack family."

 

Sheffield emphasized to the families that the district "is available to provide services for your children from birth to age 21.  Please come anytime to visit and take a tour. It's your school, it's all of our school."

 

Following Sheffield were the committee members of the Exeter G.F.W.C. who originated the event 26 years ago. They shared how the event began and how it has been funded and continued.  They presented books, certificates, a copy of the Mayor's proclamation, seedling trees with planting instructions, flowers for the moms and "our best wishes."

 

Jill Schmidt of Fillmore County Good Beginnings shared about the WHALE project co-sponsored by the Geneva Rotary and Good Beginnings to place vital information on children's car seats.

 

This event marked the first time that the group has seen a second generation in a family honored.  This year Morgan Brandt, who was welcomed to the community in 1985, had a son welcomed.  This year the Exeter G.F.W.C. welcomed these four babies: Xander Thomas Whitford, son of Shane and Deena Whitford, Gavin William Mueller, son of T.J. and Shelli Mueller, Brenson Keith Brandt, son of Morgan Brandt and Tylie Marie Due, son of Anthony Due and Jordin Stride.

 

After presenting the gifts to the families, the Women's Club members and families planted a flowering crabapple tree with a jar containing the names of the babies.

Soukup signs with University of Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture

Exeter-Milligan Senior standout Cody Soukup signed a letter of intent to play basketball at the University of Nebraska, Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis on Wednesday afternoon.

 

Soukup who also helped lead the Timberwolf football team to district play off for the last several years will pursue a degree in agronomy along with his basketball duties.

 

Athletic Director and Basketball Coach Jeremy Sievers was on campus at Exeter-Milligan to welcome Soukup to the team, "Cody will be a welcome addition to our program."

 

Also present at the signing was Exeter-Milligan Coach Dean Filipi.  He congratulated Soukup on his success and wished him well in the future.

ODEGO Class Session

FILLMORE COUNTY - The Odegeo…Leadership for Fillmore County class attended an

Business and Industry session on April 19th, 2011. 

 

The class members met at M-C Industries/Sunflower Marketing in Geneva, where the

group enjoyed rolls and coffee and was welcomed by Plant Manager, Pam Turner. The

members enjoyed a tour of the facility given by several staff members.

The members traveled to Barbur Floral Co in Geneva. Owner Charles Barbur took

the group on a tour of the 1926 greenhouse.

The next stop was Metal Tech Partners in Geneva where plant manager Sam Scott took the group on a tour of the plant. The group was shown how metal is powder coated.

At Heritage Crossings in Geneva Jason Rippe from Bioiberica Nebraska & Bio-Tee USA and Kenton Moore from Horizontal Boring & Tunneling in Exeter gave an overview of the businesses they represented. HB & T is a locally owned company started in 1983 while Bioiberica Nebraska is a Spanish company that came to Geneva in 2000 and Bio-Tee USA is joint venture with Spanish and Dutch owners that began in Geneva in 2009.

Traveling to Shickley the group ate lunch at Geneva State Bank, compliments of Alfs Well Drilling, Lichit Oil & Norder supply.

Tim Alfs from Alfs Well Drilling, Tim Lichti from Lichti Oil, Ted Norder and Justin Pope from Norder Supply, talked to the group about what their businesses offer Fillmore County.

After traveling to rural Grafton the members enjoyed popcorn and ice cream at Bar B Que Specialties. Owner John Burt talked to the members about his business and stores that carry his product. He also sells this product through his website.

The members meet Neil Ely at Ely Farms by Grafton to tour the Ely Farms food processing plant. Ely Farms produce pickled peppers and pickled asparagus.

The final stop of the day was at Erdkamp Motors in Exeter. Erdkamp Motors is an authorized Chrysler dealership. Adam Erdkamp who spoke to the group told them that his grandfather started the business. They offer new and used cars and service vehicles in the greater Exeter area. The group took a tour of the shop and enjoyed the new cars in the showroom.

The May session of the Odegeo. . . Leadership for Fillmore County will focus on Legal and Law Enforcement.

Persons interested in learning more about Odegeo…Leadership for Fillmore County may contact the Fillmore County Development Corporation at 759-4910 or email lentfer.fcdc@genevamail.com or go to www.fillmorecountydevelopment.org.

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Exeter Public Library New Titles

For Adults:
I'll Walk Alone by Mary Higgins Clark
Miles to Go by Richard Paul Evans
The Fifth Witness by Michael Connelly
Mystery by Jonathan Kellerman
Night Road by Kristin Hannah
Once Upon a Time There Was You by Elizabeth Berg
Sixth Man by David Baldacci
Chasing Fire by Nora Roberts
44 Charles Street by Danielle Steele
Save Me by Lisa Scottoline
Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
Plains Bound:Fragile Cargo-The Reavealing Orphan Train Reality by Charlotte Endorf

For Teens:
Runaway Twin
The Red Umbrella

Village Spring Clean Up on Saturday

Don't forget that the Village will make a dumpster available on Saturday morning at the Village Shop starting at 8 a.m. until it is full.  Take this opportunity to get rid of junk and trash around your house to make the Village a better place to live!

Orphan Train Presentation at the Exeter Senior Center

Lela Newcombe, left, at 97 years old shares the story of her experiences on the Orphan Train at the Exeter Senior Center along with Charlotte Endorf, who has written multiple books on the Orphan Train riders.

Roma Rhodes, left, visits with Lela Newcombe who rode on the Orphan Train. Roma has preserved the Orphan Train story of her husband Robert's great, great aunt Henrietta Wiens.

It stopped at a town near you, it stopped in almost State.  Over 250,000 children rode on the “Orphan Trains” that traveled all across the United States for 75 years.

It stopped in Exeter, Neb. as well.  Records and family history list at least three members of the Exeter community who became residents after debarking a train from New York.

Charlotte Endorf, a Norfolk resident, has embraced a passion for the stories of the quickly disappearing riders of the Orphan Trains and shared that in Exeter.

She recently gave a presentation at the Exeter Senior Center sponsored in part by the Nebraska Humanities Council. Accompanying her to the event were one of the Orphan Train riders, Lela Newcombe, a 97 year-old who after three different stops ended up in Lincoln, Neb. at the age of 6.

Newcombe shared her experience, which was not a pleasant childhood after debarking the Orphan Train.  Children were often placed on the trains because there were so many homeless and orphans in larger cities, however, the majority of the time they were not adopted by the family because of the $75 cost to adopt. Newcombe was moved several different times because of abuse observed by the agent who monitored her situation.

Audience members at the presentation were able to share the stories of their family’s members who had been on the Orphan Train and were brought to Exeter.  Two came together, Thelma Bernhardt and Victoria Geyger, arrived in Exeter in September of 1901.  They were claimed through New York City Foundling Home’s program through the Catholic churches.

Bernhardt became a member of the Michaely family, became a teacher and married John Leif and eventually raised her six children near Exeter. Her family members still live in the Exeter area.

Geyger was taken in by the Barkmeier family, which included seven boys and one girl.  Despite health setbacks and struggles she eventually found her calling as a sister with the Dominican Sisters of St. Catharine of Siena in Kentucky. She taught school all over the States.  Geyger, later known as Sister Mary Raphael Geyger, also has a number of relatives still living in the Exeter area.

The third Orphan Train rider, Henrietta Maynard Weins, was adopted by the Maynard family.  They were an older couple and she was just five years old. They had no children of their own but had raised a niece and nephew.  Weins had a wonderful childhood with them and went on to graduate from college and teach for a time.  She eventually found her birth mother discovering that she herself had been born in Germany and come over on a ship with her young widowed mother. Eventually Weins’ mother lost her sister who had been caring for Henrietta and placed her in what she thought was a  “Children’s Nursery for Working Mothers.”  She never did see her little girl again despite an extensive search.

Weins and her husband took a trip to New York City and visited the orphanage and were shown the only records that existed for her stay.  She was able to find her mother’s name and no more.  However, she wrote down all of the names out of the New York City phonebook that matched her own.  When she arrived back in Nebraska she wrote to all of the names eventually finding and being reunited with her mother and stepbrothers in New York.

Newcombe has made it her life’s work to record the stories of the children on the Orphan Train’s in multiple books and media presentations.  She is constantly looking for more riders to interview and try to preserve their experiences on this historical journey. She enjoys sharing her program with school students as this part of the history of the United States is often overlooked.

For more information on Sister Geyger or Thelma Leif click here
you will be directed to the Creighton University website

Exeter-Milligan Fourth Graders help dress bunnies

So do the bunnies multiply on their own? Mary Ellen Blatchford crochets over 600 bunnies every year for her family to give away.

Everyone loves the bunnies that Mary Ellen Blatchford crochets every evening while watching Wheel of Fortune. Her granddaughters have enjoyed her bunnies for years.  Picture from the left are granddaughter, Rita Smith of Omaha, granddaughter Rhonda Veleva of Grand Island, Blatchford and daughter Beth Vavra of Milligan.

 

Mary Ellen Blatchford, an 89-year-old York resident keeps her hands busy every day reading, emailing on the computer, but most of all crocheting.

Every year for the last 30 years she has made over 300 crocheted bunnies for her daughter and grandchildren and now great-grandchildren. Her family figures she has made over 12,000 bunnies so far and continues to give them all away. This year and for the past 10 years Exeter-Milligan fourth graders have helped her accomplish this goal.

It all started when “a neighbor gave me one. I made a few and gave them to Beth (her daughter). Beth asked for a few more to take somewhere and I decided I better make 100. Thirty years ago when my granddaughter was born when people came to visit her we gave them a bunny,” explained Blatchford.
Blatchford loves to crochet and every evening during Wheel of Fortune she crotchets five bunnies; “I do quite a few more when I watch Lawrence Welk on Saturday evenings.”

During the winter months Blatchford likes to crochet blankets and her specialty, prayer shawls. These are prayed over and then donated to those in need of extra prayer, usually those suffering with an illness.
Blatchford sends about 35 bunnies to each of her five granddaughters. Her granddaughter Rita Smith, of Omaha, was visiting and asked for “just a few more.” Of course, Blatchford encouraged her to take what she needed. Granddaughter Rhonda Veleva of Grand Island asked Blatchford to send her "naked" bunnies this year.  She and a young lady she mentors got to "dress" the bunnies together.

The decorations on the bunnies have morphed a bit over the years. Originally she tried cotton balls for their tails and felt eyes. It was the bunny ears that troubled her the most, “I ironed them, starched them and just couldn’t get them to stand up. We finally started to put a small magnet on them to keep them from flopping over.”

These days Blatchford gets a little assistance putting on the pom pom tails and squiggly eyes. For the last ten years, her daughter, Beth Vavra, has brought a few of the Exeter-Milligan fourth graders to York to help with the embellishments.

Vavra, works as an aide at the Milligan campus and enjoys bringing the girls to meet and help her mother, “We come after school and glue the magnets on the back and then go eat supper while they dry. When we come back we turn them over and glue on the eyes and the pom poms. They get to pick out two to take home and they usually fight about which color pom pom should go on which color bunny. The fourth grade girls look forward to the outing every year.”

So far the bunnies have ended up all over the world. Through foreign exchange students and those donated to servicemen, the bunnies are world travelers. When her granddaughters were in school they took bunnies for each of their classmates and Sunday school classmates every year. Smith recalled that some of her classmates still have all of the bunnies they received throughout the years.

Blatchford’s favorite color is a light pastel bunny, “I don’t like the camouflage but the boys sure do.”

Although Blatchford makes them for Easter decorations, “People leave them up all year,” said Vavra. Blatchford has crocheted other holiday decorations including ghosts, spiders, pumpkins, and hot dogs as refrigerator magnets but only produces the bunnies in mass quantities. Lately she has been working on Oreos and butterflies for granddaughter Roxanne’s upcoming wedding.

Fortunately Blatchford had this year’s batch of bunnies complete before she fell and broke her arm although Vavra claims, “People have joked that she just makes two bunnies, puts them in a box and they multiply.”

Exeter-Milligan Elementary Students Enjoy Presentation from York College Traveling Children's Theatre

Asistant Director A.J. Wharton asks the first and second graders if he can sit with them.

 The White Rabbit (John Baker) reads the charges against the Knave of Hearts during Alice in Wonderland.

 

 The cast of the York College Traveling Children's Theatre at the end of the play helping Alice return to her world.

The York College Traveling Children’s Theatre made one of its 20 stops at schools and libraries in Exeter on Tuesday morning.

The group of 13 students who have volunteer for the activity performed “Alice In Wonderland” adapted from the Lewis Carroll novel by William Glennon with a prologue written by YC drama professor John I. Baker III.

One of the unique features of the production is the interaction with the audience. The Exeter-Milligan kindergarten through sixth graders laughed, helped point out the hidden items and asked questions at the end of the play.

This is the fourteenth year for the Traveling Children’s Theatre under Baker’s direction.  Alice did all of the typical Alice type things including following the rabbit down the rabbit hole, visiting the Mad Hatter’s tea party and playing croquet with the Queen.

The Queen of Hearts made her tarts and frequently spouted “Off with their ’eads,” to the students amusement.  Things kept turning up missing which involved many of the players chasing each other around the gym to the delight of the audience. 

It isn’t clear whether the players or the audience enjoyed themselves more.  After introducing themselves with a brief bio, the YC students opened up the floor for questions from the Exeter-Milligan audience.  The students wanted to know about the sound effects production, how the players change clothes so quickly and why they wore masks (it was explained that in the commedia dell’arte style of theatre masks are worn instead of make up).

 

Exeter-Milligan Update: Spanish I

MAKING BRACELETS IN EXETER-MILLIGAN
By: Taylor Erdkamp & Megan Zwickl

     The Spanish I Class of 2010-11 has learned mucho (lots)
of things this year. We have had fun while learning it too.
In the first semester we learned about articles of clothing
in a fun way by having a fashion show where we described
each other's clothes in Spanish. We've learned colors,
numbers, common greetings and how to tell the location of a
place. Most recently we've learned how to make traditional
Pamiente bracelets (name of the bracelets in Guatemala) by
tying a series of knots with yarn of multiple colors to
create a one of a kind bracelet. They are called Pamiente
bracelets because two are seldom alike, if you see someone
wearing one just like yours you are destined to be best
friends. We've learned so much and yet there's still
more to come this year.