Exeter-Milligan Trap Team Member Wins Junior Championship

 

Courtesy photo – Cohen Harre poses with his trophy and other awards after winning first place against 950 other shooters at the Cornhusker State Shoot.

 

There was a south breeze and it was just cool enough for a sweatshirt at Doniphan, Neb. for the Cornhusker State Shoot at the end of April.

Cohen Harre, an eighth grader at Exeter-Milligan and a member of the Exeter-Milligan-Friend trap team was ready for the shoot.  Juniors (participants through eighth grade) shoot 100 clay rocks to determine their position.

Harre just had “a feeling that day” as he shot a 25, 24, 25 and 24.  “I didn’t know right away I was tied for first.  In the past years a straight 100 had won the championship.”

He found out soon enough he was tied for first with a female shooter from the Norris team.  As they were tied, she could have taken the option to claim the top female junior shooter prize and they both would have finished on top.  Instead, she gave up the top female spot to engage Harre in a shoot off.

They had a 50 rock shoot off.  Harre recalls he missed the third rock and missed the first two on the next post but he ran the second box (all 25). His competitor also shot a 22 on the first box but missed one on the second box and finished with one rock under Harre.

He has been “shooting since I was eight. It hasn’t really set in that I’ve actually won one of the biggest shoots I’ll experience. ”

He ended up as the champion of the 951 participants and received a trophy, an engraved leather shell bag along with a flat of shells.

He comes from a long line of shooters as his grandfather Kenny Harre helped start the Exeter-Fairmont trap team in the mid 90’s, which later formed into Exeter-Milligan-Friend team for years before his son, Justin (and Cohen’s dad) took over as head coach in 2010.

“This season the Junior team (Carly Uffelman, Conner Uffelman, Jaxson Brandt & Grady Bresson) that Cohen shot with all year had great success, they shot in some really difficult conditions and always came out on top at Conference. It was great to finally get a day at the State shoot where the kids could just go out and shoot and not worry about a 40 mph wind in their face or freezing conditions. It turned out that it was his day and he was fortunate to end up on top. As a side note, due to some rules at the State shoot, that same team would have ended up 3^rd in the state with the score they shot that day as they hit 441 out of 500 rocks,“ according to Coach Justin Harre.

As a parent and a coach it was nerve wracking to watch the shoot off for first place, “There was a very big audience for the two kids to shoot in front of and they both did really well. The cool thing to see was all of their teammates and competitors throughout the year come up and cheer them on,” Justin added.

Justin and his wife, Sharlene are extremely proud of Cohen and have made it a family affair, “We enjoy shooting as a family and it is something we can do together long after he is out of school. The relationships that are formed through this sport are priceless and he just loves to go and shoot and be with his friends. He has grown up around this sport his whole life and has some really good people that support him and give him advice throughout the years.”

Next year Harre will be shooting in the senior division and with only a couple hundred more shooters to compete against he will again land toward the top.

Memorial Day in Exeter

Exeter honored those who lost their lives in the line of service at their Memorial Day program on Monday at the Exeter Cemetery.

The flags were standing tall down the avenue of flags with the strong winds on the Nebraska prairie as the color guard presented the colors to open the program.

Post 218 Commander Mark Beethe welcomed the crowd and then asked the Exeter-Milligan Band to play “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The invocation was given by Father Brendan Kelly and Morgan White read the “Gettysburg Address.”  The Exeter-Milligan band then played “America.”

Jozie Kanode read “In Flanders Fields,” and the band played “Salute to America’s Finest.”

Beethe introduced Tim Wilbeck who delivered the address.  Wilbeck, a Vietnam veteran, opened his talk noting the number of Sons of the Legion who assisted in the color guard as there are fewer Legion members to participate. He expressed his appreciation for the members of the Sons of the Legion group.

He moved on to recall a fellow Wayne State classmate Steven Backhaus who graduated in 1969 and went right into the Marines.  He was killed after being in country for 10 days.  He reminded the audience “We don’t forget an hour ago or a century ago.”

Wilbeck then talked about those in the Coast Guard who were not eligible for the Purple Heart award until after World War II.  He talked about how many of those Coast Guard members deserving of the Purple Heart have now received them.

He also told about a lieutenant who served in three wars and received three purple hearts but when his three sons went to Vietnam he enlisted again and sacrificed a commission to serve in combat and also lost his life.  “We are here for heroes. . . who have given all they can give so we can enjoy our freedom,” explained Wilbeck.

Wilbeck reminded the audience that it will “always be painfully felt by the gold star families who will mourn them the rest of their lives. . .they all took an oath to die for America if called upon.”

The audience was asked to “continue to mourn their loss but we celebrate their lives. . .freedom comes cloaked in uncertainty.”

After Wilbeck spoke Carter Milton played “Taps” and Kierra Papik performed “Taps Echo” while the color guard gave a 21 gun salute to the dead.

The American Legion Auxiliary served coffee and rolls at the Legion hall following the service at the cemetery.

 

Throwback Thursday: 5/26/2013

 

05/26/2013

Rainy weather delayed the volunteers in putting up the flags at the Exeter cemetery and eventually a Monday morning rainshower sent Exeter residents to the Exeter-Milligan gym for the annual Memorial Day Program.

Tim Wilbeck introduced Jennifer Pribyl who read the Gettysburg Address starting with those familiar words, “Four score and seven years ago. . .”

 

Mrs. Angie Murphy directed the Exeter Milligan Band in “America.”

 

Blake Papik was introduced and read “In Flander’s Field.”

 

The Exeter-Milligan Band also played “Salute to Freedom” which incorporates parts of “America the Beautiful,” “You’re a Grand Old Flag,” and “God Bless America.”

Tim Wilbeck spoke to the audience.

 

Exeter Alumni held an alumni dash with prizes:

Eagle of the Meet : Jacob Miller
Spirit Award: Ekeler Sisters (Liz, Cathy, Mary, Monika, Estelle)
First Place: Jim Mueller
Farthest Traveled: Anna Manning Beard (Scottsbluff)
Best Hydration Station: Dying To Run sponsored by Bob and Pat Becker and Company.
Participation Award: Coach Lonnie Shafer
Best Effort/Achievement Award: Kay Due Ruhl and Cathy Rhodes
Eagle Spirit Award: Cara Songster and Cheerleaders

 

Exeter and Exeter-Milligan alumni had a full weekend of activities and plenty of opportunities to reminisce about their high school hijinks.

The first event for the weekend was the First Annual Adventure Dash, a fun run with hydration stops that were only for those 21 and over.  The route, which took the runners past some of their favorite spots in town, was close to a 5K when it was run twice.  There were five hydration stops.  Some were more elaborate than others but all had a challenge that had to be completed so that the runners could move on. At one stop, the runners had to walk with a lime between their knees and place it into an empty coconut.  At another stop they had to write down their favorite teacher at Exeter-Milligan and also who their first kiss was with.

At the banquet the four faculty and staff who retired this year, Mrs. Polak, Mrs. Votipka, Mrs. Tauriella, and Mrs. Michl were recognized with a round of applause.

The business portion of the meeting was presided over by Cara Songster Stoll, president of the class of 2003.  Sue Kittinger and Jeremy Becker shared the master of ceremony honors.  Kittinger also brought up the new business of how the future of the banquet will be planned as the banquets are now being planned by Exeter-Milligan graduates.

Exeter and Exeter-Milligan alumni also enjoyed a road rally on Sunday afternoon following clues that led to some of their favorite high school haunts.

Kindergarten Graduation

 

Exeter-Milligan held their Kindergarten graduation on Wednesday, May 17 in the Exeter gym.

The 12 graduates walked in individually to pomp and circumstance and headed up on stage.  The sang three songs with both their teacher Mrs. Amanda Pettygrove and music instructor Mr. Mark Perez.

Pettygrove announced their individual awards and they each received a graduation medal from Principal Laura Kroll that was provided by the Exeter-Milligan Booster Club.

After moving their tassels over from one side to the other the Kindergarten class graduated to first grade, took group photos and were congratulating by their parents and the audience.

 

Exeter-Milligan Update: Third Grade News

 

3rd grade news!

By Ashley Arbuck, Exeter-Milligan 3rd grade Instructor

 

3rd graders love when they get to collaborate with each other and create awesome projects with the knowledge they have gained during pausing points throughout the units in CKLA. This time, each group got to create a poster with information about a different Native American Region that they have learned about.  After presenting their posters, the students compared and contrasted the three different regions.. 

 

Pictures L-R:

 

Knox Becker, Reed Wince, Avery Hankins working on their project

 

Maizy Ogren, Wesley Hopkins, Kenan Petersen working on their project

 

Layne Zelenka, William Lock, Easton Schlegelmilch working on their project

 

Layne Zelenka, Easton Schlegelmilch, and William Lock presenting their project

 

Maizy Ogren, Kenan Petersen, and Wesley Hopkins presenting their project

 

Avery Hankins, Knox Becker, and Reed Wince presenting their project