MANNING News JOURNAL

Local News

April 2006

Jay Musfeldt publishing book of Manning memories Will sign books at Quasquicentennial celebration

In a book to be released May 1, Manning native Jay Musfeldt will lead readers on a journey down memory lane. Echoes – Reflections of a Hometown Heritage is a collection of over 70 stories about his rural upbringing in Manning. In his own unique style Musfeldt recalls many aspects of growing up in the 1940-50s with warmth, thoughtfulness and gentle humor. His vivid recall of some of the smallest details makes for fascinating reading and and is sure to awaken memories for readers.

While many of the brief stories relate to life on the farm, Musfeldt also shares numerous tales pertaining to Main Street Manning, including Children’s Day – The Men Wore Hats and the Women Wore Dresses, visiting carnivals – We Got Our Moneys Worth, and Manning’s auto dealerships – Five at a Time. With fondness, he also shares many rural school experiences surrounding Ewoldt No. 2.

Sprinkled throughout the book are the names of nearly 100 people who are remembered with respect. The book includes illustrations by Musfeldt and four poems; one reflecting on Manning soldiers, another on the town’s basketball heritage.

The 1959 Manning graduate began writing in 1971. Some of his early articles appeared in his Echoes column which was carried in the Manning Monitor from 1988 – 1996.

Over the past 35 years he has written articles and composed music for a variety of Lutheran Church publications and agencies. In June 2005 Musfeldt retired closing a 42-year career in Christian education and music ministry in the Lutheran Church which ended with six years as principal of Zion Lutheran School in Corvallis, OR. His music life extends beyond the church and even includes 1994 performances with Manning’s Blues Brothers.

Musfeldt and his wife, Julie have made their home in Salem, OR since 1974. The couple will be in Manning for the Quasquicentennial celebration when the writer will autograph copies of his book. He looks forward to visiting with friends and acquaintances.

Musfeldt’s book has been published by Manning News Journal Publishing and will be available for sale at the Manning Pharmacy upon release. Books will also be available in the city park during Manning's Quasquicentennial when Musfeldt will be on hand to autograph books and visit about his memories.

About his book, Musfeldt stated, “Echoes grew from my desire to leave my children a written story of my childhood in rural Iowa. The process of writing helped me recall more and more people, places, and values of that time. I hope the readers will have as much fun reading Echoes as I did revisiting, through memory, the Manning of many years ago.”

A selection from the book follows.
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If These Bricks Could Talk

There are brick streets all over the U.S. Small towns as well as big cities throughout the country have brick streets. A paving project on Salem, Oregon's State Street uncovered a long forgotten brick street surface in which streetcar tracks were laid. Brick streets in themselves are not particularly unique.

Brick streets all hum, or rumble, or whatever you call that sound when you drive over them. Over the years of use and street improvements, Seward, Nebraska, has left several blocks of brick streets that sound more or less like Manning's as the car tires roll along. Brick streets that hum are not in themselves particularly unique.

But Manning's brick streets are the best! Manning's brick streets don't hum, or buzz, or rumble - they sing! At least, lots of us who grew up there think so. Somehow, those brick streets hold a special significance in the memories of many Manning natives. Just the sound of driving on those bricks is enough to trigger special memories. Those bumpy, uneven, red bricks seem to be connected with all that is or has been Manning.

Ah, if those bricks could talk... They might talk about all the Saturday nights. They'd remember how all the farm families came to town from miles around. Sometimes you couldn’t even find a parking place on Main Street. All the parents would visit and all the younger kids would "make the rounds" by walking the length of one side of the street, cross over, and walk the other direction down the other side. The boys would walk one direction, the girls the other - all the better to see one another as they passed.

The bricks might shudder a bit as they remember the loud mufflers or "cut-outs" rumbling as the older kids "drove around." Back and forth from the Petersen Garage/Manning Motor corner north to the Loucks building; they would make a U-turn (with just enough tire squeal to show off but not enough to attract the attention of the town police). Then, they’d head back south to the other intersection, with another U-turn and on and on.

The old bricks might tell the story of that one particular Saturday night when Ronnie Hiatt raced from the Council Oak Store to the hospital with an injured child in his arms.

Or they might tell of the scorching heat they felt on the night when Rix's Feed Company (where the city offices now stand) burned down or the night when the old fire station and library burned.

Surely we might forgive the red bricks if they remind us, with a touch of pride, that they have served five generations of Manning residents. They've seen babies-in-arms grow up to become grandfathers and great-grandmothers. With a little gloating, the bricks might remind us that they have survived the tests of time: iron shod horse hooves, Model Ts, terrible winters, tire chains, four-wheel-drive pickups, rain storms, and the heat of Iowa summers. In the meantime, that marvel of modern highway construction, Interstate 80, has been repaved twice in its 35-year lifetime.

The bricks could tell us that their lifetime has spanned the time when Manning had passenger train service at the Great Western Depot, when Manning's airport had a hangar with airplanes in it, and when Manning had regular bus service that loaded and unloaded passengers in front of the Virginia Cafe.

Oh yes, the bricks have seen and could tell of fender-benders, including one involving this writer and his date the night of the Junior-Senior banquet 1958. But...if the bricks could talk you'd have a hard time getting them to whisper anything they might know about other incidents such as Manning's famous "murder mystery."

But the bricks might most happily remember the parades. What a joyful sensation! Every Children's Day - the patter of hundreds of young feet, the jiggle and shake of dozens of strollers and coaster wagons, the laughter and chatter of grandparents on the sidewalk, and perhaps the grade school band. The crisp autumn brought Homecoming at Manning High School. The Homecoming parade featured the Bulldog band marching proudly in uniform, entries from commercial supporters, and marvelous floats constructed from hayracks, chicken wire, napkins, and excitement. For a few years it was "Industrial Day" when many of Manning’s businesses hosted open houses for the day, and those riding on the parade floats tossed candy and other goodies to the crowd lining the streets. And the Grand Daddy of them all (or, in current language, the Mother of all Parades, since great big things have somehow changed gender) was the Centennial Parade when thousands watched parade entries tell the story of Manning's first 100 years.

Perhaps, if they thought hard enough, the bricks might tell of their beginnings, when two men with black skin and an African heritage laid the bricks with tremendous skill – a contribution from a different ethnic heritage.

A person might be rightly chided for painting an over-romantic picture of these few blocks of slightly uneven, easy to trip on, never really very smooth streets, but as some of our lives have led us to come and go from Manning over the years, we might make the case that the most enduring sight or sound of our home town is our brick Main Street. May the bricks talk, buzz, hum, or rumble, or whatever it is that they do, for many years to come.