As of December 16, I finally finished with the 500+ Santa pix
Fortunately I had around 25 Christmas CDs to listen to, Christmas hits by Mitch Miller, Lawrence Welk, Ray Conniff, Burl Ives, Manheim Steamroller, Arthur Fiedler, Jim Nabors, John Denver, Herb Alpert, Carpenters, Boston Pops, Perry Como, Vienna Boys Choir, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond, Bing Crosby, and more...
So sad that today the younger generations were never exposed to this type of entertainment! In fact, most probably have never even heard of these artists and songs, and I wonder how many of them even know the traditional Christmas songs..."Follow the bouncing ball" sing-a-long with Mitch Miller - fun evenings with my Ehrichs grandparents in Aspinwall I'll always treasure.

Not sure when/how Microsoft changed the way the Microsoft Edge handles color photos recently, but they did something which shows the images closer to the true color you see in a good graphics program. For some reason, browsers modify color photos which shows the reds much redder.
I just compared Firefox to the same photos as with Edge and they are much redder, like the problem browsers have had for many years.
For many years I have been converting my images for the Internet to an RGB color profile which reduces the harsh red hues on the faces. But this also makes them look more washed out in a good graphics program and also print more bland.
So now that Edge shows the color images more true-like I'm not going to convert them.
Of course the images may look diferent on different monitors and flatscreens - all depends on how they are set, and if you have the correct drivers for them.
I have a 30 inch Dell monitor which gives excellent true color reproduction and is also one of the best grayscale screens.

If you copy the image from my web page and open it in a good graphics program on your computer it will look less red than in Firefox and most other browsers.
I use Adobe Photo Shop which once was Corel Photo Paint.
Reds have always been a problem with photography.
Not sure why but many color prints from the 80s and 90s have had a terrible red shift as they got older.

Here are just a few scenes I captured this year.

If you happen to walk by when someone is enhancing the beauty of Main Street - how about stopping for a second to THANK them!

I also like to "preach" to the younger generations who live in Manning and enjoy the environment around them...If you want this quality of life to continue you have to step it up a lot more because someday the older folks doing this won't be around or able to volunteer...so get involved and offer to help so you can learn some of the things the older generations have learned, many of whom were also taught by their elders.

Now there is nothing exciting or unique about these pictures below...in fact some people think it is just a waste of time, but when there is a timeline and information about the pix I take that tell a story, they become very historically important.
Adding the information to a picture/event/activity is what I've learned over the years is so important, as someday dozens or even a hundred years from now if there isn't any perspective provided for the pictures taken they become nothing more than an old picture that no one knows anything about.
And like with old printed photos that get thrown away, those digital pix will just be deleted.

How many people simply post a ton of pix and provide little if any information to their posts, because it is easy to do?
This is one of many reasons why it takes me so long to create a web page feature.

November 6, 2024

City Crew adding the decorations and lighting.

City Crew adding the decorations and lighting.

City Crew adding the decorations and lighting.

What else do you see in this picture?
The US flags are still flying from Veterans Day.

November 26

This intersection was the location of 2 major fires for the Rober Wehrmann store in the 1930s.
Here are some scenes from around 100 years ago.

In December 1933, fire broke out in the Lewis & Reinhold building which also caused smoke damage to the Rober Wehrmann store just to the south.

A huge fire sale was held. The whole community came out to support the businesses that were damaged.
The Legion Drum & Bugle Corps even joined in to help out.

February 1939, again another fire started in the Lewis Reinhold building and spread to the Rober Wehrmann store - this time completely destroying both buildings.
The Ohde Furniture Store was across the street.
Bill Ohde once told me how he was laying down on the sidewalk spraying water on the store front to keep the radiant heat from starting the Ohde building on fire.

Southwest corner of the building.

Front of the building

Scanned from the Leroy Rowedder collection

Built in 1917

1910 single story building before it was torn down and replaced in 1917.
This business was owned/operated by Henry Hoffmann, Sr. and later sold to Gus Rober & Julius Wehrmann

Inside when Rober Wehrmann owned it.

Pre-1915 view

2nd story in the post 1917 Rober Wehrmann building
Ruth Holland was the clerk in the v-neck (2nd from left).
She later married Claude Kruse. She was from Winona, Minnesota, and moved to Manning to work as a milliner.
Ila (Claussen) Rix told me that there was a public elevator in this building and you had to go to Des Moines or Omaha to find a business that had this type of elevator.

far right Malinda (Petersen) Grage
1924 Rober-Wehrmann employees

May 22, 1913 Harry Werder far right - brother to Helene (Werder) Heithoff

Rober Wehrmann style shows

Ila Rix's mother, Clara

After the burned out structures were removed and replaced with this building front.

November 27, preparing the Methodist float

November 27, preparing the Methodist float

Labor of Love - Jack Shannon drew all of the brick lines on this display

Labor of Love - Pamla (Bellows) Jensen made these windows.