Exeter-Milligan welcomes two new teachers

Haley Johnson, a Wilber native, will teach first grade in Exeter. 

After teaching sixth grade special education in North Platte, Neb. she and her husband Kolby decided to move back to Wilber to be close to family.  She graduated from Doane and is now pursuing a master’s degree from Donae. She has two toy Australian shepherds that she enjoys taking walks with.  Her hobbies include camping, playing tennis, reading and spending summers at the lake.

 

Noah Temme is a Fairmont native and is student teaching at Exeter-Milligan this fall.  He graduated from Fillmore Central and is currently a student at Peru State College with a 7-12 Social Sciences Education major.  Temme hopes to teach in a smaller school district.  His hobbies include fitness/exercise, sand volleyball, reading and playing video games.

 

EMF Softball Members

Exeter-Milligan-Friend members of the Fillmore Central/Exeter-Milligan-Friend softball team are pictured L-R- Shelby Lawver, LillyAnn Ellison, Megan Rumery, Georgia Meyer and Olivea Swanson.  

Georgia Meyer is the lone senior from Exeter-Milligan

 

 

 

Throwback Thursday

Week of August 17

Exeter-Milligan prepared to launch their one-to-one laptop in the 7^th-12^th grades at the beginning of the school year.

Most of the cost of the new program has been financed through a grant from the Rural Education Achievement Program (REAP). About $30,000 came from the REAP program that “was earmarked toward technology,” according to Sheffield.

The total cost of the program was around $45,000 and there will be “some stimulus money that carries over for special ed and that will come out of there,” said Sheffield. The rest of the funding will come from the school budget.

The Exeter-Milligan school district welcomes two new educators to the community. Casey Pohl joins the district in the third grade position at the Milligan campus and Jamie Ellis will be teaching High School English and Speech at the Exeter site.

The Exeter-Milligan school district is once again looking at a levy override on the November ballot.

The last levy override was on the February 2005 ballot and covered the years through 2011-12. The new ballot issue will start the same .30 per $100 override in the fiscal 2012-2013 year and will be for five years, in effect through the 2016-2017 school year.

Exeter-Milligan Superintendent Paul Sheffield states, “Our goal in renewing it (the levy override) is to maintain the quality of education and opportunities for our students.”

Although the district has the ability to go up to $1.35 currently they are using a levy of $1.22. Sheffield expects that number to go down next year as it has every year.

Milligan held a dedication ceremony for three Nebraska State Historical Markers for the family of 32 airmen involved in three midair collisions near Milligan, Neb.

Exeter-Milligan graduate Jenna Rhodes recently spent part of her junior year in college living in Heredia, Costa Rica. She lived with a Costa Rican family or tico’s as they’re called and totally immersed herself in the culture and language of the country.

Exeter Village Board Discusses Sewer Issues

 

Exeter Village Board met on Tuesday, August 4 at 7 p.m. at the Village office.

The board approved the minutes and invoices before moving on to the regular agenda items.

Chairman Alan Michl noted that the village “will save roughly $49,000 by refinancing the pool bonds.”

The board reviewed the one and six year road plan.  They noted a few corrections, “every block we get adds to our funding from the state,” according to Michl.

Village Cleck Becky Erdkamp noted that there were two property owners that haven’t paid their assessments from the last pavement.

In the absence of Village Maintenance Supervisor John Mueller, Michl explained that there had been some sewer issues on the west side of town due to tree roots.  The board reviewed an estimate for a foam root killer to be pumped in the sewer in one third of the village and approved a three year plan to deal with the tree roots in the sewer. The bid was for $7084.00 per year for three years which would come out of the sewer fund.

Clerk Erdkamp explained that the copier lease expires soon.  Currently the village leases a copier for $42 a month with a per copy cost, a new lease would be $100 per month with a lower charge per copy.  She noted that there is no cost for ink or toner with either plan.

The board briefly discussed the bid they received for a new camera surveillance system and tabled any action on the cameras.

Clerk Becky Erdkamp  reported that sales tax for May was $7737.18 and keno for June was $132.12.  She noted that the building inspector will be here in the next few weeks to look at the properties the city has marked to condemn.  One of the four properties on the list was sold and Clerk Erdkamp will contact the new owner about the condition of the property.

She informed the board that she will be working on the budget this month.  The pool is scheduled to close on August 12.  She presented a complaint from a resident about ag and construction equipment that has been parked in a residential area for several years.  The board asked her to contact the village attorney to get advice on how the situation should be handled.

The board scheduled the next meeting for Wed September 9 at 7 p.m.

Exeter-Milligan Update: View from the Front Office

 

Over the past few months, I have found myself sitting out on the front porch in my rocking chair, reading a book and enjoying the sounds.  I reminisced about one of our neighbors where I grew up in MN.  Not a night went by that Charlie wasn’t sitting in his lawn chair (more like lying down) enjoying the nice evening, listening to the MN Twins on the radio.  I never understood how someone could just sit there, night after night, doing absolutely nothing.  But now I get it…Charlie had it all figured out.  There is nothing more relaxing than sitting outside, enjoying a good book and just listening...to the birds, to the wind, to life. 

It also seems we have all lost our way.  The world is in such a different place now than it was back on March 1st.  At the start of 2020 we were worried and focused on how COIVD-19 was “ruining” our lives.  As we start getting back to “normal”, something else takes its place and now we have other things to worry about.

Life was so much simpler back when I was a kid.  We didn’t have to worry about what was being said on social media. We played baseball during the day and most of our parents didn’t come to the games - we were just tickled to play ball.  We tubed down the river and I am sure there were many other things we did that we were glad our parents never knew we did. At night, the biggest problems we faced were where we would play kick-the-can or who was bringing the bug spray to fend off Minnesota’s state bird - the mosquito.  As I age, I worry about the world where my grandchildren will live.  At times, I worry about the world where  my children live.  I’m afraid that my grandchildren will never get to experience many of the things we took for granted.  Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn’t be better to go back to a simpler form of life, the kind of life where we took the time to be a good neighbor, we took the time to live life to its fullest. We took the time to be like Charlie - to sit on the chair, listen to a game on radio and enjoy what nature (and life) had to offer. 

So, don’t be surprised when you drive by and see a guy enjoying a late summer evening in his rocking chair with a big smile on his face.  It’s just me, conjuring up an old memory of Charlie, sitting in his lawn chair, under the big redwood trees, listening to the Twins on WCCO radio and laughing at all the neighborhood kids as someone yells “1-2-3 on Jean over by the propane tank!”

Throwback Thursday

Week of August 10

Kelsey Moore, Tyler Manning and Amanda Dinneen, represented Exeter at the 2010 Nebraska Girls and Boys State Convention.  They gave a report to the Exeter Legion and Auxiliary members on their experiences.

Fillmore County voters spoke a loud YES to the new hospital in the special election on Tuesday, August 10th. The unofficial results of the election were a resounding 1200+ yes versus 415 no votes.

With the positive outcome on the election, voters can expect to see quick movement as the Hospital Board works with landowners to acquire the land and start construction.