Recreation

Recreation in Manning has been on the upswing during the past ten years. This is due largely to the expansion of the Manning Community Center. More commonly referred to as the Rec Center, this facility is located on the southwest corner of the Center Street and Highway 141 intersection. It extends west along the highway to Main Street.

You may recognize this location as the site of the old Manning High School, but you would be hard pressed to find much resemblance beyond that. Only the gym remains intact from the building's high school days and plans are underway for the gym walls and ceiling to be renovated.

In March of 1982, the old high school gym was purchased by the city. (The rest of the high school had been found structurally unsound and torn down some time before.) In 1983 renovation began. The old boys' and girls' shower rooms, maintenance room, boiler room, and shop area (all located in the basement of the gym) were gutted. This area now contains new men's and women's locker rooms, a meeting room, an office, whirlpool, weight room, and game room. In 1984 a new racquetball court was built.


In May of 1989, after months of debates, plans, meetings, construction, and last minute scrambling, Manning's new state of the art indoor outdoor pool was completed and dedicated. It was hailed as a major accomplishment and many times the comment has been heard from visitors wondering how such a "small" town could accomplish such a feat.

But Manning's recreation does not stop with the Rec Center. The last ten years have seen Manning's baseball field updated with new dugouts, fences, and a scoreboard. Also a second field was added on the west end of the complex (in the general vicinity of the old high school football field). Future plans call for restrooms and a concession area to be added to the second field.

The city park, located along Main Street, south of Highway 141, was not forgotten. The past decade marked the end for many longtime children's playthings. The two slides and the round globe-like climbing bars were taken out. Two new children's areas were added. A stagecoach and horses were donated in memory of Louis Zubrod and a play unit was installed after a funding drive by Lambda Eta. These new areas helped provide a resurgence in the park's use by children.


In addition to the children's area, the tennis courts, located in the southeast corner of the park along Main and Park Streets, were enlarged and completely resurfaced. This was done in the late summer of 1991. The fences were also moved back, ending many a player's frustration at running out of room when chasing down a ball.

The park also has a sand volleyball area and several new trees which were donated. The Garden Club keeps the flower beds looking their best. A new restroom area, funded with money raised during the centennial celebration, is centrally located in the park. In the northwest corner of the park, a totem, "The Man In The Bark," stands as a sentinel over park activities. It was carved by chainsaw artist Dennis Saunders, a Manning native.

In addition to the city park, Manning also has Willow Creek Park. Located along Willow Creek on the southeast corner of the Highway 141 and East Street intersection, this park consists of a

I CAN REMEMBER...

Pat Mohr from Manning Trust & Savings Bank can remember when posting was done manually using double entry methods. Balancing was done with only the use of adding machines and coin was counted and wrapped by hand.

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shelter house and picnic area.

The citizens of Manning are very fortunate to have these great facilities for their use. A lot of hard work by city personnel, city officials, and the Park and Recreation Board is responsible for building and maintaining the facilities we have. However none of this would be possible without many volunteers giving both their time and money. All these people have a strong desire to help provide Manning with the best recreation we can offer. Perhaps this is not so surprising considering that this German community has always had a strong interest in family, fun, fitness, and sports.

Cable TV - Channel II

Saturday - March 7, 1987, 5:00 p.m.

It started with a short satirical sketch based on the movie "Patton." Eight hours and forty-five minutes, 200 cast members, 63 acts, and countless volunteers later it was over. By that time $7,030.00 had been raised with more still coming in. Manning's Cable Channel Two Telethon was an enormous success.

Channel Two was a unique experience in local television programming which drew both state and nationwide notice. The high schoolers involved dubbed it "Dave T.V." named after the driving force behind it, Dave Kusel. Programming ranged from the serious and informative (oral histories given by elderly residents, gardening shows, sports events) to the downright silly (a "Family Feud" type game show, a "secret" vault opening, men beating their bare chests to Stephen Foster tunes).

Perhaps the most astounding fact about Channel 2 is the sheer numbers of volunteers willing to give their time and talent to make it work. While many adults were involved, high school and junior high students made up a good percentage of the workers. Unfortunately sheer numbers prevent all the volunteers from being listed.

While the accomplishments were many, in most peoples' minds the crowning touch was the huge telethon put on to raise funds for the channel. Even looking back on it today, it seems an impossible feat. Few who watched it all happen live back in 1987 would disagree. And if you didn't get the opportunity to see it then, well, there's always re-runs ....

UME - TV - Channel II

United Manning Entertainment TV began with Manning's centennial celebration in 1981 when Dave Kusel, using his own equipment, recorded centennial events thus combining hobby with community service. When the Manning Cable System was installed in August of 1981, channel 2 was designated as the local access channel on which residents could learn of local events, service projects, weather, and watch local programming.

As Dave recruited and trained others, coverage gradually expanded to include school events, community events, class reunions, and church events. Dave Kusel and Marilyn Nelson teamed up to produce a living history series through interviews with Manning's senior citizens recalling the early days of the community.

At its peak, Channel 2's volunteers produced a live Sunday morning devotional program and two live Sunday evening programs from a makeshift studio in the city hall basement. Special issue programs dispersed information and provided viewers an opportunity to call in their questions and comments. "Sunday Night Live" featured local news, school events, talent, and guests sharing hobbies or information of local interest. "Channel 2 Feud" and "The Dating Game," local versions of the nationally televised game shows, provided fun for participants and viewers. A telethon in 1987 raised monies to purchase equipment to supplement Dave's. The volunteers grew to about 25. Channel 2 was featured on KCCI, Channel 8, and in Chuck Offenburger's column, "Iowa Boy," as an example of volunteers meeting a need in the community.

On October 10, 1988, United Manning Entertainment TV, a nonprofit corporation, was formed to oversee the programming for channel 2. Charter directors were Frank Willis, Keith Schroeder, Lue Baker, Chris Meyers, Judy Mueller (Schroeder), Donna Rutz, Dr. Robert Vonnahme, Dean Fara, Marilyn Nelson, Joyce Nelson, and William G. Ohde, Jr.

Transmission problems and lack of volunteers halted the Sunday night programs in 1990. Today events are taped only upon request by event organizers and as volunteers are available. About 100 hours of volunteer time produce about 75 hours of broadcast each year. The 1991-1994 Board of Directors includes Frank Willis, Keith Schroeder, Lue Baker, Judy Schroeder, Dr. Robert Vonnahme, Marilyn Nelson, and William G. Ohde, Jr.

WE CAN REMEMBER---

The 1954 basketball game between Manning and Denison was probably one of the lowest scoring games in Manning's history. Denison's coach', Woody Woodall, knew his team didn't have the height to face the Manning boys, so he ordered his team to freeze the ball 30 of the 32 minutes of the game. Manning got possession of the ball only 5 times the first half, but managed to score 4 times, all on long shots. The Denison strategy failed, and Manning won the game, 19-9. Manning's coach was Kerm Tannatt.

Lois Frahm and Cynthia Genzen