Milligan's June Jubilee another success!

Blackhawk opened up for Phil Vassar on Friday night.  They played all of their big hits including “Goodbye Says It All” and “Every Once in a While.”

If you don’t like great country music, a good dose of polka served with kolache’s, then you weren’t in Milligan, Neb. for their 30^th June Jubilee this weekend.

The weekend started with country music band Blackhawk who had several big hits in the early 90’s before Phil Vassar, who topped the charts with his number one country hit “Just Another Day in Paradise,” took the stage.

Saturday’s events included the annual Rooster Run, volleyball and softball tournaments.  The highlights of the afternoon included the annual pork rib and chicken wing cook off in the beer garden along with the car show downtown.

Pink Kadillac played great dance tunes from the fifties through today in the beer garden Saturday night.

Sunday started with a Polka Mass and breakfast before the grand parade which had a theme of “Sowing Seeds of Greatness for 150 years.” 

With the hot temperatures the crowd was ready to cool down in the beer garden and listen to the Milligan Czech Brass Band before the Czechlanders took the stage.  

The weekend concluded with the annual auction and drawing for a new pick  up.

 Phil Vassar was the headliner at Milligan’s 30^th June Jubilee on Friday, June 9.

 What a beautiful day for a car show and my there were some really nice cars, there.

 Great polka music!!

 Roger Becker and team made a good showing in the BBQ ribs and wings contest in Milligan.

 Milligan Auxiliary member Diane Jansky passes out packets of flower seeds at the June Jubilee parade to go with the parade theme “Sowing Seeds of Greatness for 150 years.”

 Three generations of Capek's on one float - Arnie, Roger and Braden.

 Landri found some candy her sisters and friends missed.

 Millgan Czech Brass Band

  The kids always enjoy testing their skills at the pedal tractor pull.  Ensley Stahl was giving it her full effort on Sunday afternoon.

 Kolache eating contest for the under 8 crowd!

 Lilly Kassik put a giant kolache in her little mouth to win the kolache eating contest for the 8 and under age group.

 The stage crowd was pretty thrilled with Tom Pribyl was the champion kolache eater for 2017.

 Pink Kadillac was the entertainment for Saturday night

 Lots of fun getting your face painted at June Jubilee!

Exeter host Nebraska Tractor Rally

“You can see all the best country at 12 miles an hour,” explained Darrell Fisher of the nine day trip across Nebraska on his antique tractor.

Fisher, the past president of the Nebraska Antique Farming Association (NAFA), is one of 182 registered tractor drivers who started their trip in Holyoke, CO on June 3 and will end in Plattsmouth, NE on June 11^th.

The group has an important stop on Friday when they will drive around the state capitol in Lincoln.  The event has been recognized as part of the 150 celebration of Nebraska and they hope to have 150 tractors present at the capitol.

Members of the tractor relay are from all over the state as well as surrounding states.  This is the 6^th year in a row NAFA has driven across Nebraska traveling a different route each time.  When asked what was the hardest part of the trip no one had a negative response. All Fisher could think of was, “It’s been enjoyable with our good friends.  We had one cool morning and no rain yet, but all good.”

Rich Wilton and his wife, Donna, are taking their fourth trip border to border. They too have enjoyed the friendships they have formed with the group, “Our best friends here are like family, they are more than just friends,” she explained. “We do have breakdowns.  When you have old tractors and old people driving them, somethings are going to break.”

And it’s not just old people driving, although one of their drivers who had taken a few days off before joining them in Lincoln, is nearly 90, the youngest driver on the trip is 18.

Wilton, who is the current President of NAFA, explained that anyone can join the trip for a half day, all day or the whole trip for the $35.00 fee (as long as they are a registered member of NAFA).  The registration deadline is May 1^st with more information on their website www.antiquefarming.org .

Both the Wilton’s emphasized that the trip isn’t just for fun.  “We drive for a cause.  We collect donations along the way for the Operation Comfort Warrior.”

In the past four years over $20,000 has been raised by the event with 100% of donations going to military veterans and their families.

Earlier in the day the group drove through Fairmont and briefly stopped at the nursing home, Fairview Manor. Their afternoon break was planned to tour the Opera House in Friend along with Tuttle, Inc.

At their stop in Exeter, the Exeter Chamber of Commerce, Exeter Legion Auxiliary and Exeter G.F.W.C. Woman’s club provided lunch.  During the noon hour the relay coordinator, Donelle Moormeier of Cortland, NE announced that the group raised $1100.00 on Wednesday.  There are often free will donations taken by local tractor associations or other sponsoring groups and then the profit is donated to the relay collection.

Each day the support vehicles go ahead and the group travels down the highways and sometimes the byways of Nebraska.  At times they travel on highways like this year, on Highway 6, but sometimes they take gravel roads, whatever works out. The Wilton’s trade off driving a 1952 Allis Chalmers WD or a 1942 John Deere A.

The association puts a different person or group in charge of planning the events for each day.  The group always stops at points of interests along the way.  So far this year they have seen tractor collections, a barn moved and turned into a home, Whelan Energy Plant in Hastings, and the Hrauska Animal Research Center in Clay Center along with visiting nursing homes.

The night stops are based on where there are motels for the group to stay.  Some days are shorter with just 42 miles while others are longer driving up to 80 miles.

Bob Golding of Stratton, Nebr. Won’t stop his 1953 Super H when he gets to Plattsmouth.  He and many of the other Case/ International Harvester owners will drive on to Des Moines, IA for Big Red Days, the 28^th Annual National Red Power Round Up.

As Golding began talking about different makes and models on the trip he couldn’t give a number of how many red tractors he had left at home, “If you know how many you have, you don’t have enough.”

Many of the drivers are driving tractors that have been in their family for years and almost all of them have significant memories tied to both their tractors and the trip.  All of them agreed that, “We eat good and we have a great time.”

Sheffield receives PEO Star Scholarship

The prestigious P.E.O. STAR Scholarship, for the 2017-2018 academic year, was presented to Haylee Sheffield, a 2017 graduate of Exeter-Milligan High School. The scholarship was presented at the Exeter-Milligan Honor's Night by Carmen Sealock, the current president of P.E.O. Chapter AM.

Haylee is the daughter of Paul and Karla Sheffield and was recommended for this scholarship by Chapter AM of Fairmont.  She has been accepted to, and will attend, Fort Hays State University with a major in Communication Sciences and Disorders. 

The P.E.O. STAR Scholarship is a $2,500 scholarship based on excellence in leadership, extracurricular activities, community service, academics, and potential for future success.  The program is open to young women who are citizens or legal permanent residents of the United States or Canada and who are graduating high school seniors at the time of application. A student must be recommended by a P.E.O. chapter.

The P.E.O. Sisterhood, founded January 21, 1869, at Iowa Wesleyan College, Mount Pleasant, Iowa, is an international philanthropic and educational organization which promotes increased educational opportunities for women.  There are nearly 6,000 local chapters in the United States and Canada with almost 250,000 initiated members.  The P.E.O. Sisterhood has provided nearly $283 million in financial assistance to almost 99,000 recipients.  The P.E.O. Sisterhood also owns Cottey College, a fully accredited, private liberal arts and sciences college for women, with two-year and selected four-year programs, located in Nevada, Missouri.

For additional information on the P.E.O. STAR Scholarship, please contact Angie Murphy at 402-266-4651 or visit www.peointernational.org.

Exeter/Exeter-Milligan Alumni Class of 1967

The Exeter High School class of 1967 had a ball celebrating their 50^th class reunion.  Pictured in the front row from the left are Gayla Wellman Drake, Nancy Tauriella Ruhl, Betty Barkmeier Russell, Mary Tieso Stuhmer, Elaine Pracheil Nielsen and Elaine Krejdl Oldehoeft.  Back row from the left are Kenny Krasser, Gerry Geiger, Jerry Volkmer, Jim Knudsen, Gary Dumpert and Larry Becwar.