Community pride
Having maintained a web page since 1996 I have received many interesting e-mails from all over the world. One main theme in many of these e-mails is the amazement by these e-mailers of what our little town of Manning has accomplished. Recently a Veteran (William of Arizona) who has no connection to Manning, but served with Jerome Sporrer during the 1970s, sent an e-mail and asked me to help him get in contact with Jerry. William found Jerry's name on the Memorial Wall list of names that I have on this web page. http://davidkusel.com/manning125/wall/list.htm Jerry and William served together in the U.S. Air Force and William wanted to get in contact with Jerry again. I found Jerry's postal address on the Internet and sent him the note from William. Sadly about a week later I received a note from Jerry's wife that Jerry had passed away in December of 2007. It was determined that Jerry's health problems were the result of exposure to Agent Orange while he served in Vietnam. Jerry is brother of Jan Wieland and Audrey Behrens and also the nephew of Sally Heithoff.
William was also very curious about the Manning Veterans' Memorial Wall and wanted to know the reason why it was built. I sent him an explanation using some of the historical information I have about Manning on my computer. This is William's comment about Manning "Thank you for your most thorough explanation to my inquiry. If only more of America's communities were as dedicated to our country as Manning! I think it is marvelous the residents have such great pride in their heritage. Thank YOU!" At the end of this article is the explanation I sent to William about Manning's historical patriotism.
It may seem like there is no end to projects going on around Manning and all of them invariably need financial help. Today it takes tens of thousands of dollars to complete some larger projects when years ago it took only a few thousand. Maybe we can't or shouldn't do some of these projects but the alternative is to do nothing and allow the community to become stagnant and eventually let it deteriorate to a ghost town. Historically the strength of this community is the pride and willingness of its citizens to volunteer on projects and donate money. This historical pride continues today. One project at the school is landscaping the open area south of the cafeteria.
Kristin Dreyer (Manning Fifth Grade teacher), who is a contact person for this project, showed me a sample of Chelsie Meyer's laser work and e-mailed me some information about the project. School staff, students, and community volunteers have been helping physically and financially for the last year to plant shrubs and flowers and now their next aspect is adding some art work. Chelsie (Croghan) Meyer (MHS 2003), daughter of Pete & Lois Croghan, is in the planning stages of making a three-column art piece to complete the new landscaping area south of the cafeteria. Chelsie is doing the laser cutting using new technology on the campus of UNI. All of the art work will be made at UNI and then installed at the Manning school later in May.
The columns will be made of a weathered steel and images will be cut by laser which will represent the three "As of education: Academics, Arts, and Athletics." The art piece will also have three smaller columns with the theme "Five for the Future" Character Education (Caring, Citizenship, Trustworthiness, Respect, and Responsibility) on them. This committee needs financial support to complete the art piece and to place perennials in the flower garden area. Their hope is to have the project completed shortly after school is out. Donations can be made to the Manning Community School Foundation and taken to Cindy Renze at the Templeton Savings Bank.
Manning's patriotism continued from the first part of this article
Hello William,
The short answer to your question about the reason why our community constructed the
Veterans' Memorial Wall in 2003 is because of the historical background of our
community. The population is currently around 1450 and has hovered around the 1300 to
1500 range for about the last 100 years.
Manning had an active G.A.R. McPherson Post which started a few years after the town was incorporated in 1881 and they built a large G.A.R. hall.
Presently there are active American Legion and V.F.W. Posts that both have halls of their own.
Right after WWII the community constructed a large wooden Veterans' "Roll of Honor" board on Main Street. Over the years it deteriorated and was discarded. During WWII, Manning led the nation in the victory clothing drive, with an average of 17 items donated per person. The next highest town in the nation had a donation of 11 items per person.
Fifteen of Manning's citizens died, serving during WWII and one during the Korean Conflict. Seven of Manning's citizens gave their lives in the service of their country during WWI.
Manning has a predominant German ancestry and this article appeared in the newspaper our neighboring town of Carroll back in 1917.
PROUD OF RECORD
Citizens of Manning can feel proud of the number of volunteer young men who have joined
the colors. Should other towns furnish a number in proposition there would be no need of
drafting or conscription. The young men go to all parts of the world, and perhaps in a few
months they will be scattered thousands of miles apart. Here's hoping that a year from
now all will be able to return to Manning feeling that the year had been a profitable and
pleasant one by them.
You'll give it to Manning, yes, Manning with its heavy percent of German population, when it comes to showing the best phase of loyalty to this government. Manning several days ago had sent 29 boys to the country's army.
That's better evidence of patriotism than putting up the flag or engaging in heated debate. Manning, you may stand at the head of the class. - Carroll Herald.
There have been hundreds more Manning area citizens who have served from Vietnam to present. So that is a brief overview of our town's patriotic background. Thanks for your interest and also for your personal service to our Great Country. Dave Kusel