Carroll Broadcasting

On Thursday, the City of Manning welcomed a group of Sub-Saharan African leaders who were selected to participate in the prestigious Mandela Washington Fellowship through Drake University in Des Moines. The 25 Fellows are between the ages of 25 and 35 and represent 18 different nations. Program Coordinator and Asst. Director of Community Engaged Learning, Amanda Martin, explains what the Fellowship entails.
The group’s day in Manning included several presentations at the Hausbarn Konfrenz Centre, tours of the Ranniger and Muhlbauer family farms and a walking tour of the community’s historic Main Street. One Fellow, Cheu Pswarayi, is the executive director of MedTours Africa in Zimbabwe, a company she founded that helps patients travel for treatments that are not available in their home countries. Pswarayi says the most valuable lessons she learned in Manning concerned planning and investment.

Mike Mpoyi is a doctor in Kinshasa, the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He says many people in his home country cannot afford medical treatment, and medical professionals often have to pay for patient care themselves. As part of his effort to increase access to healthcare, Mpoyi serves as the CEO of a non-profit organization that provides insurance and treatment to impoverished populations. According to Mpoyi, the lessons in leadership he has learned during the Fellowship will be instrumental in expanding the organization when he returns home.
More than 700 African leaders participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship at universities across the United States. Pswarayi and Mpoyi say they are fortunate to have been selected for the Iowa program and called the Manning visit “enriching and fulfilling.” For more information on the 25 Mandela Fellows, follow the link included with this story on our website.
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https://www.drake.edu/yali/fellows/

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Carroll Broadcasting

For the fourth consecutive year, the community of Manning will host 25 young Sub-Saharan African leaders with the Drake University-sponsored Mandela Washington Fellowship program. The group will be participating in tours, presentations and activities that showcase the economic development efforts of business owners, the City of Manning and associated organizations as well as residents. The Fellows will arrive in Manning in the first half of the nine o’clock hour Thursday for morning presentations at the Hausbarn Konfrenz Centre. The afternoon includes a tour of the Ranniger and Mulhbauer family farms and a walking tour of the historic Main Street district. The day concludes with dinner and drinks and an opportunity to mix and mingle with members of the Manning community. Residents are encouraged to join the group at BrickHaus Brews from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Carroll BroadcastingDemocratic presidential candidate and former Vice President, Joe Biden, introduced his plan for rural America to about 250 people in Manning Tuesday. Those gathered at the Manning Hausbarn Konferenz Centre included area residents who were supporters and anxious to hear how Biden’s initiatives would have an impact at home and abroad. Prior to Biden’s speech, long-time IKM-Manning school teacher, Kristin Dreyer, said she not only thinks it is important to attend events like this, she also is vested in supporting someone who will take the steps necessary to shore up the rural economy. She and her husband, Jay, thought it important to bring their son, Eli, to the event as well.
Part of Biden’s plan addressed rural economic support for children, like Eli, to have the resources and infrastructure available to them so they can compete in business while remaining in the rural areas of the state to raise their families. Dryer was also hopeful that education would be at the forefront, saying teaching is a lot different than it was 20 years ago and needs have drastically changed. On the other side of the spectrum, local business owner, Bowe Kinkade, attended, wearing a Trump/Pence ‘20 baseball cap. Kinkade said he has been trying to get to the rallies for candidates passing through the area, and so far said he has not yet heard one very important piece of the puzzle in all the proposals.

Kinkade said Biden talked about building the middle class, but he believes they always take the tax money from the middle class. Kinkade wanted to know how we can grow if we have to keep financing it all. Kinkade owns a trucking company and said his support will remain with the candidate who is largely responsible for his business still being viable.
A video of Biden’s remarks from Tuesday’s event can be found on our Facebook page. More details about the content of his plan for rural America can be found in previous stories on our website.

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Carroll Broadcasting

Former Vice President to Barack Obama and current 2020 Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, told more than 250 people gathered at the Hausbarn Konferenz Centre in Manning this (Tuesday) morning that he had specific reasons for choosing now to run for office, and a three-point plan for rural America. Biden says the first reason he is running is to restore the soul of this country.
The current administration, Biden says, is not promoting that ideal. The second reason he says is to restore the backbone of America.

Part of that problem is the rural/urban divide and that in rebuilding the backbone, it shouldn’t matter whether you live in a skyscraper in Manhattan or in a small town like Manning. Biden says your children deserve the same opportunities, ones that afford them the choice of staying and raise their families where they choose. Biden says rural communities power this country, they feed our bodies, fuel our engines, are the stewards that protect our lands for everyone—they are part of the soul of who we are as a country. He then unveiled his plan for rural portions of the United States and it starts with equality in care.
He says health outcomes should not be determined by our zip code or how much money we make. He is not talking about Medicare for all, but rather says he wants to expand on Obamacare. Biden says that although it is a noble idea, universal healthcare removes private insurance and Medicare reimbursement rates are too low to support rural hospitals, like Manning Regional Healthcare Center. Because when a healthcare provider closes, he adds, jobs are lost and that impacts the rural economy, the second part of his plan. Nearly everything in a rural economy is also tied to ag, and the American farmer, Biden says, is being hurt by the current tariffs.
Biden promises a trade policy that starts at home and focuses on economic investments in green energy, including ethanol and biodiesel, and rural business investments in a green infrastructure. And he says even with all the problems we are facing, he is more optimistic than when he was elected to the senate at 29. “This is the American Dream, there is not a single thing we cannot do when we set our minds to it,” Biden says. And that is why he is refusing to postpone any longer. We will bring you reaction from attendees in upcoming broadcasts. A livestream video of the event can be found on our Facebook page.

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LeisureGroupTravel.com

Boasting of its German immigrant heritage, the Manning Hausbarn Heritage Park houses iconic cultural landmarks including an authentic German Hausbarn.
Looking for fun trip ideas? Charming, quaint and picturesque Manning, Iowa is where early settlers from Germany immigrated to in the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Manning Hausbarn Heritage Park located in Manning is not only a great place to spend the day outdoors but is also steeped in history. Housing an authentic German hausbarn, a church and a farmstead, plan a visit to this beautiful location and learn more about its many cultural landmarks by taking a guided tour offered by a great team of volunteers.
The History of ManningManning’s settlers were mostly natives of Schleswig-Holstein and Hannover, Germany. According to local church history, the first pioneers were so delighted with the fertile soil present in the Manning area that they soon wrote to their relatives and friends in Germany to come to America. As a result, many people came from the old country directly to Manning, Iowa in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
German Hausbarn
Built in 1660 in Schleswig-Holstein in the northwest part of Germany, the hausbarn is the main attraction in Manning Hausbarn Heritage Park and a tribute to the German heritage of the town and its residents. After many years of political unrest including two world wars in Germany, the hausbarn was dismantled and sent to Manning where it was reassembled on the Leet/Hassler Farmstead established in the 1910s by a local farmer. This unique thatched roof barn structure comprises living quarters for a family with traditional bedrooms, dining rooms and cooking areas along with shared spaces for farm animals and equipment all under one roof.
Trinity Lutheran Church
When northern German immigrants arrived in Manning, they organized a congregation that would meet in a school house. They soon built the Trinity Lutheran Church in 1884, which outgrew its capacity and was rebuilt in 1901. In an unfortunate turn of events, the church was destroyed by a tornado in March 1913 but the undeterred congregation immediately began reconstructing the church, which was completed in six months. This historical structure still stands in the Manning Hausbarn-Heritage Park. However, over time, the congregation could no longer sustain the church and members began leaving. In 2006, the church was closed after its 125th anniversary. In an effort to preserve this historical structure, the Manning Community Foundation opted to move the church to Manning Hausbarn Heritage Park. The move was quite the event for the residents of Manning, who raised $100,000 for the relocation of the church. It took four hours to cover a distance of 11 miles. Forty wheels supported the structure from underneath, which weighed 112 tons and was 78 feet long and 34 feet wide with a 92 feet high steeple. The church was laid on its new foundation on June 9, 2006.
Leet/Hassler Farmstead
Built in the 1910s, the Leet/Hassler Farmstead finds a place in the National Register of Historic Places. Once owned by wealthy farmers, William A. Leet and Frederick H. Hassler, the farmstead affords a one and a half story craftsman style bungalow with a three-bay garage, a braced-rafter gambrel-roofed barn, hog house, chicken house, scale house and boar house. The boar house is said to have housed an award-winning swine. There are also two rock planters, a birdbath and a fish pond constructed by a local mason and dating back to 1916. The bungalow still features the original flooring, woodwork and decorative interior accents along with plumbing and light fixtures.
Konferenz CentreNot exactly a cultural landmark, the Konferenz Centre with its Hansen Hall, dining room and industrial kitchen makes the facility a popular venue for social gatherings like family reunions and weddings as well as business conferences. The Roten Bar Tavern and accompanying courtyard is open every Thursday evening, often with music, food and drinks special for the community to gather and enjoy good company. Less than a decade old, the center ideally complements the Manning Hausbarn Heritage Park.

Sioux City Journal

Manning (pop. 1,553) (the “53” are recent arrivals) sits proudly in Carroll County four hours west of Iowa City. When the city’s leaders wanted to improve publicity for the high quality of life they enjoy, they called on the University of Iowa.The collaboration between the City of Manning and the University of Iowa began with extensive planning early in the summer of 2018. In need of a client organization for his senior-level strategic communication course that fall, I contacted Travis Kraus, director of Economic Development & Sustainability in the Office of Outreach and Engagement in the UI provost’s office. Kraus was able to suggest connections with a range of organizations that had filed proposals with his office. According to Kraus, the project I led was one of four recent projects in Manning.
Faced with the challenge of developing a communication plan to recruit and retain residents, my 15 senior students considered key questions, including, “How to reach local high school grads who have moved away? How to persuade them to come home? And how to get them to stay?”
To raise their level of engagement, the class invited its “live” clients to consult throughout the semester. On the ground in Manning and later in the classroom in Iowa City via Skype, Ron Reischl, who chairs Main Street Manning’s Business Improvement Committee, listened to and discussed the students’ discussions of small-town population trends.
Reflecting on the experience, he said, “We sought an engagement with the University of Iowa to communicate and promote the high quality of life in Manning. We were thrilled with the participation of the students and their final recommendations. We have integrated elements of their recommendations into our marketing plan.”
He added, “It is especially gratifying to see students from large cities learn and begin to understand the benefits of small-town living.”
Media specialist Shelly Greving also helped the students to consider the merits of different social media platforms for use in developing their strategy.
A mainstay of the university’s service outreach to the state, these consulting projects offer professional grade resources to small towns across Iowa for little cost.
Their value is felt mutually. The chance for students to work with a live client, instead of just reading a textbook, makes an enormous difference. Taking a student group to Manning brought the whole project to life for me and the students. We immediately became peer investigators, rather than teacher and students.
UI senior Anders Bjerkness, a student in the class, praised the approach. He said, “Traveling to Manning, meeting local residents, and working alongside town leaders was important in shaping the approach to our work. Seeing their passion for the improvement of Manning gave us a sense of personal responsibility to address areas of potential growth and provide solutions.”
As an educator, I am looking forward to teaching another course at the UI for and about rural Iowans in the spring of 2020. I am ready all over again to introduce my new students to our new clients.

Frank Durham is an associate professor of journalism and mass communication at the U

Carroll Times Herald

Event open to the public.

Former Vice President Joe Biden will campaign in Manning Tuesday. He's pictured here with former President Barack Obama.Democratic presidential frontrunner Joe Biden, a former vice president who continues to lead most major primary polls in a crowded nominating field, is campaigning in Carroll County Tuesday.

Doors will open for the Biden event 10:45 a.m. at the Leet-Hassler Farmstead, 130 Heritage Dr. in Manning. The event starts at 11:15 a.m.
The campaign stop is open to the public and free to attend. Click here on this link to RSVP.
Biden served as vice president from 2009 to 2017 during the administration of President Barack Obama.
A former U.S. senator from Delaware, Biden campaigned twice before for the presidency — in 1988 and 2008. He made stops in Carroll County during both of those campaigns, appearing at the Carrollton and the Moose Lodge.
Biden led a national NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released this week with 26 percent support.
The closest contenders to Biden among likely Democratic voters, according to the poll, are: Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 19 percent; Sens. Kamala Harris of California and Bernie Sanders of Vermont, who are tied at 13 percent; and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 7 percent.

By Lauren Kollauf on Wednesday, July 10, 2019

It's back to the drawing board for Manning. One year after receiving grant funding from the Iowa Department of Public Health to support the 5-2-1-0 Healthy Choices Count! campaign, the community says it has completed all of its goal projects and is ready for more.
"Most of the things we came up with are done," said Lauren Subler, who assisted the city with implementing its 5-2-1-0 efforts, including increased water access and a focus on walkability. "We want to get everyone back to the table and see what ideas have come from completing these projects and see what we want to do going forward."
RELATED: Meet the communities that received 5-2-1-0 grants
Manning, located in Carroll County in northwest Iowa, is home to 1,500 people. Each month representatives from nearly a dozen organizations — including public education, city government, non-profits and health care — would come together to discuss which projects in the community they wanted to support with the $22,000 state grant. 
"They knew it would be a collaboration so they were excited to get different entities working together working towards healthy initiatives," Subler said. They were very open to new ideas and excited to see things happen."
MORE 5-2-1-0 SUCCESS STORIES: West Union | Malvern |Dubuque | Mt. Pleasant

Here are some of the projects Manning completed in their first year of funding:
Water, water — everywhere!One of the primary strategies that 5-2-1-0 promotes is increasing access to drinking water through policy, systems and environmental changes. Manning did this by installing water filling stations at the city park and near the city’s bike trail and providing funding for local child care sites and an elementary school to replace old water fountains with water filling stations.

"The Manning Child Care Center had previously been working towards increasing water consumption. They wanted to do it but didn’t have the funding," Subler said. The 5-2-1-0 funds also helped them purchase water bottles and carriers so that the bottles could more easily be taken with the children on outings to reduce costs and provide healthier options.
The city also purchased nearly 400 water bottles with the 5-2-1-0 logo to distribute at community events rather than candy or other prizes. The city also started a “Busted for Doing Something Healthy" campaign where city workers/officials can hand out water bottles to children caught doing something healthy.
Adding wayfinding to increase walkability Manning is working on increasing trail connectivity but discovered that some community members or visitors were not aware of just how walkable their community already is.
"They realized that once you get to a certain part in town, you don’t know where the trail will take you so many people will just turn around. However, they could walk through on other trails or sidewalks," Subler said. So the city added wayfinding signage to help people realize "they could go from the campground all the way to downtown on foot."  

The city also had four large walkability maps printed to display 15, 30, and 45 minute loops around town which utilize both trails and sidewalks. Additional wayfinding signage is planned to direct community members and visitors to other amenities in town. These walkability efforts support the 5-2-1-0 strategies related to increasing physical activity and active living.
Making health the focus of KinderfestKinderfest is an annual community event in Manning. This year the Manning Regional Healthcare Center brought the 5-2-1-0 message into their activities. "This year they really made (Kinderfest) about health," said Subler.
The hospital hosted healthy challenges, including a trail selfie contest, scavenger hunt and city park challenge. The MRHC booth also offered education to kids and families on how 5-2-1-0 could be incorporated it into their lives.  

Learn more about 5-2-1-0 Healthy Choices Count! 

Healthy Choices Count! is a health-focused movement for kids that’s under the nationally recognized program, 5-2-1-0. It all starts by encouraging them to eat and play the right way.
This proven, scientific method helps keep kids healthy by focusing on the importance of four habits:

• 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables
• 2 hours or less of screen time (television, computer, video games, phones, etc.)
• 1 hour or more of physical activity
• 0 (or reduce) sugar-sweetened beverages - drink more water!

To learn more about how you can get your community, workplace, school, health care clinic or child care site involved in 5-2-1-0, click here.

Link to blog with additional pictures

Carroll Broadcasting

Everyone is invited to break out a blanket or a lawn chair and head out to a free movie. Manning Municipal Utilities will be showing Disney’s Moana at the Manning Rec Center football field beginning at dusk on Friday, July 12. There is no charge to attend and they will be providing free popcorn and cotton candy during the show.

Carroll Times Herald

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds visited Manning Monday morning to meet with local business owners and hear about the city’s economic-development accomplishments.
Reynolds started her visit with a tour of The Market Place, a popular home décor and coffee shop located on Manning’s Main Street and owned by Jaime England.
Reynolds then sat with business owners, who shared their stories, concerns and how they have made Manning’s Main Street, and overall community, successful.
“You guys should feel so, so proud of what you’re doing here,” Reynolds said. “I can see it, and I feel it.”
Local business owners who are less than 40 years old also also highlighted. Reynolds said she was impressed with the number of young people living in the Manning community.
“The Main Street is amazing,” Reynolds said. “Do you know how many communities would kill for a Main Street that looks like that?”
Reynolds said that Manning has a great foundation but noted that housing, workforce and day care all are issues she is looking to improve in Manning and other rural Iowa communities.
“I lift Manning up as an example (to) other communities,” Reynolds said. “(I say that) if you’re looking for a place to start, it’d be worth it to go over there and just talk to them.”
Following the discussion, Reynolds joined business owners for photos at the Iowa sculpture at Manning’s Trestle Park. Kids stepped up beside Reynolds inside the letters to pose. As cameras flashed, Reynolds and community members raised their hands, yelling, “This is Iowa!”