By Deb Kroon
Staffwriter
It all began in 2007 when Todd and Janelle Reker made a trip to Germany as a part of the Crailsheim-Worthington sister city exchanges. “To go as a part of the exchange,” Todd explained, “you have to be a part of Worthington. I work for the city so that qualified me. If not enough people who live or work in Worthington want to make the trip, the committee starts looking outside of town for people interested in going.” The people who go are randomly paired with a host family in Crailsheim. Todd and Janelle were paired with the Markus and Gudren Otterbach family, who live just outside of Crailsheim.. “We have the host family everyone wants,” said Todd. “It’s what all the Americans say. When they ask to stay with our host family, we tell them no!” added Jennifer Echternach, the Reker’s daughter. So began the eleven year friendship between the two families.
After a wonderful trip the first time and the bond of friendship that started with the short stay, Todd felt inclined to return to Germany to visit. In 2009, Todd and a friend made the trip and stayed with the Otterbachs again. In 2014, Todd, daughter Jennifer and her husband Andrew Echternach made a third visit to the Otterbachs. They did quite a bit of traveling, spending time in Berlin and at the Dachau Concentration Camp among other stops. In 2016, the Otterbach’s son Nathan, who was eighteen at the time, came to America for his first visit to the Rekers. Nathan stayed for three weeks and the Rekers were happy to return the hospitality. In 2017, Todd, Jennifer and Andrew returned to Germany once again, and now in 2018 the entire Otterbach family made the trip to the U.S.
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