Blue Ridge

Blue Ridge

Neighbors

and she continued for 12 more years, serving as Brownie, Junior, Cadette, and Senior leader, as service unit chairman and as a trainer of leaders. Some years she had one or more of her own daughters in her troop. Some years they were in other leaders’ troops while she worked with other people’s girls.

Meanwhile Mr. Helmer was teaching, selling tickets and announcing at basketball games, and running the adult education program. “We had a big program with 150 to 200 people each year taking classes in chair caning, furniture refihishing, typing, income tax preparation, and knitting,” he said.

In 1976 he left teaching and went to work for Keller Manufacturing in Culpeper. He was foreman and mill superintendent. In 1988 he retired and went to work selling real estate. “’88 was a great year; ’89 was not half bad, '90 was very slow, and ’91 is non-existent,” he said. So now he is looking for something else to do until real estate picks back up.

In 1981 the Wendy was a junior in high school, and the Helmers got their first foreign exchange student, Victor from the Philippines. “I got involved with exchange students because I was getting burned out on Girl Scouts," Mrs. Helmer said.

Their experience with Victor was so successful that the next year they had Juha from Finland. That did not work out. “It was massive culture shock,” Mrs. Helmer said. “When he stopped talking and spent all his time in his room, we decided we had to make a change.” Juha was sent to live with a family in Atlanta, but Mr. Helmer told him he would see him again, and this summer they did.

After Juha left, the Helmers hosted Ricky, another Filippino. That summer, the Helmer’s youngest daughter Kim went as a summer exchange student and stayed with Victor’s and Ricky’s families in the Philippines.