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Hausbarn-Heritage
Park preparing for
busy summer
It’s the start of a new year at the Hausbarn-Heritage Park, and new
plans for the site should result in much more activity during the
2009 tour season.
While the financial problems have not gone away, neither have the
Hausbarn, farm site and historic church which set Manning apart from
any other community in the state. The April 08 issue of the Manning
News Journal informed readers of the extent of problems facing
the Hausbarn-Heritage Park. Since then residents who want to see the
park preserved have been discussing ways to resolve the problems.
Most recently, letters were again sent to area residents and alumni,
this time issued by a new Hausbarn-Heritage Park Board.
The new board formed in late September 08 to reorganize the Hausbarn-Heritage
Park and oversee its operation. Board members are Dan Peters, Orland
Fara, Warren Puck, Kim Fara, Joelle Puck, Marilyn Hansen and Jean
Voege.
“It’s a community resource that needs to be saved and that’s why some
of us are working on it,” stated Warren Puck. “There continues to
be lots of interest in the park. We received good response to the
letter that went out for support. People in other communities are
constantly asking if we are going to get things going again, and that
is motivation for working on this and getting it set up so it is,
in fact, sustainable for the future.”
Puck said the board is working to accomplish three things: to make
sure they have a board that will operate not only this year, but into
the future; to organize for the 2009 tour season at the park; and
to address the financial concerns. Puck was unable to comment on the
finances because of their complexity and because arrangements are
still under discussion. He said many people are inquiring and, at
this point, he doesn’t want to mislead people.
He added, “We are making good strides in terms of organizing and planning
for 2009.”
The board has hired Freda Dammann to serve the position of part-time
director through the winter. From May through October she will be
employed full-time.
“It’s been very obvious to me the need for having a person, like Freda,
who can daily answer phone calls, return e-mails, and other contacts
that may have been missed in the winter time,” stated Puck. “I think
increasing the traffic out there only increases awareness.”
Dammann has been involved in the tourism industry for 20 years which
enables her to look at the Hausbarn-Heritage Park from a state-wide
tourism perspective. She is well acquainted with people involved in
the tourism industry and currently serves at president of the Western
Iowa Tourism Region.
Dammann began her new position as park director Nov. 1 of last year.
She said, “One of the first things I did was to familiarize myself
with the office and how it works. I also looked over the membership
and updated it.”
She prepared a 14-month plan for operating the park and prepared a
letter to let people know a group was working to bring change to the
park. While working in the office and being accessible this winter,
she has shown 10 different groups of visitors through the park and
was able to set up two weddings for Trinity Church.
Her plan for the park includes 10 events, eight of which will take
place at the park May through October.
“I’m excited about those. We’re going to have fun out there,” said
Dammann. “Having the site contributes to Manning’s economy. When you
bring people into a community, they don’t just stop at the site. You
point out other services and places of interest. This is an opportunity
we have to bring people here to see this site because of its history,
its appearance and because of the activities that we can do out there
to entertain people. People are looking for experiences and so we
are trying to entertain them. That brings them in and then people
in town have to be ready for them. It’s a win, win.”
She added, “Practically and economically, I know what it can do for
the community. There are places where this type of thing is saving
a community.”
Because of her years of work in tourism, Dammann is able to utilize
a lot of information she gleans from her peers – people in tourism
that she works with all the time. She said they all help each other.
Hausbarn-Heritage Park volunteers are also willing to help. A group
of 14 braved the winter weather Jan. 13 to attend a meeting. Dammann
shared information about the park plans and gathered input from the
volunteers. She said the group was excited about some of the events
and offered good ideas.
The need for the continued support of dedicated volunteers will be
even greater in 2009 with the active schedule.

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2009 Park Events
May 3 – Maifest event –
Maipole dance, raffle of pots of flowers, planting in the park.
June 20 - Kinderfest – coordination
with Manning's annual children's festival.
July 4th - Old-Fashioned Fourth
of July picnic - to include the
BBQ contest, sack races, games of all kinds, prizes, patriotic speeches
and music.
July 18 - Maize Daze - involving
all things corn – sweet corn, popcorn, containers made from corn, corn
dogs and so forth.
August 1 -
Farmer's Market featuring produce,
baked goods, other homemade items.
September 12 - Membership Recognition
a special event to honor members and promote the site.
September 20 - Murder Mystery
in the Park
event challenging people to catch the bad guy before they can have dinner
at the park.
October 11 - German Pancake Day
– Chris Cakes will be on hand to serve German pancakes with applesauce
and cinnamon sugar and perhaps some jam.
October 31 - Haunting at the Hausbarn
event with lots of Halloween fun.
For more information
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