5 posts tagged “manchester”

We had a wild time Sunday evening and I feel very fortunate to have gotten through it unscathed and very thankful.

Severe thunderstorms were forecast and we were warned of the threat of tornadoes.  I kept the weather radio on most of the afternoon just in case something bad came our way.  Right around the time we were sitting down to dinner, the radio was broadcasting Tornado warnings for several counties near us.  I jokingly said that we needed to hurry through our steaks, which we rarely get, because I didn't want to waste a good meal. 

Just at that moment our town's tornado siren went off and the alert was issued for Delaware County.  Mark and I ran to the door to look outside and it was literally dark as night.  I was ready, though!  I threw the two cats into a carrier, put a leash on the dog while Katie grabbed her mice.  Mark hustled the tv downstairs so we could watch the news stations.  I ran back upstairs to grab medication, a phone book and my wedding album...amazing what you think of in an emergency! 

We huddled together under the stairs with a mattress and box spring to throw over ourselves if we got hit and watched the tv while the weather radio blasted upstairs..  It was so eerie to hear the sirens go off several more times.  We were horrified to hear that tornadoes had been spotted just outside of town and in other places within a few miles.  Luckily, we were spared and were able to go back upstairs with about 45 minutes.

The horror we saw on tv later that evening was heartbreaking.  The town of Parkersburg (pop. about 2000), just 60 miles to the west was all but destroyed.  They lost 250 homes, their only grocery store and gas station, and the high school.  4 people died there, all older folks who probably weren't able to find shelter in time.  Another town near there lost 2 people.

Our downtown was flooded when the river swelled from 6 inches of rain.  All the creeks and streams went way over their banks and flooded other small towns as well as the corn and bean fields.  Much of the newly planted corn was washed away.  The crops had been planted very late this year because of the cool and very wet spring that we've had.

Please pray and send good thoughts  out to the people of New Hartford and Parkersburg.  They have so much.

Manchester Flooding May 26 2007 010

Manchester Flooding May 26 2007 026

Manchester Flooding May 26 2007 006

Some pretty wild weather here the past week or so.  Spring arrived with a fury - after a couple of gorgeous 70 degree days,the rains came and  we had almost 5inches.  Downtown Manchester flooded and a few streets were closed. My neighborhood has had to deal with water seepage into basements and the sump pumps can't keep up.  We use the shop vac every night and probably will have to continue for the rest of the week.

On theup side - my plants are coming up!!!  

Geranium

It's down to the wire in Iowa with just under 3 weeks before the caucuses.  The candidates are descending on small towns across the state, from the Mississippi to the Missouri Rivers, trying to win the votes of every valuable Iowan.

Our little town was campaign central on Friday, Dec. 14, with back-to-back visits from John Edwards and Barack Obama.  Edwards held his event at a local steakhouse, drawing a crowd of about 150.  Obama drew a much larger crowd of 300 and the Delaware County Fairgrounds Community Center.  Both meetings' turnouts were impressive considering they were held on a dreary, icy cold weekday afternoon.  But we Iowans like the political process and come out in droves to be persuaded to give up our precious support.

Katie, Dan, Kaitlin (his girlfriend) and I did our part to make the event a success.  Katie and Kaitlin helped greet and register attendees, as well as distributed supporter cards.  Dan and I, along with a couple of other friends (Seth and Eric), acted as ushers.  What seemed like a simple task got a little harried when it became apparent that the crowd needed twice as many chairs as had been set out.  We eventually packed the building to standing room only.  Seth, eric and I were asked to handle microphones during the Q&A session, which was a lot of fun.

I enjoyed being behind the scenes this time.  While I missed most of Obama's talk, I was able to mingle with some of the national press corps and see first hand how these things are put together.  The Obama "advance" man, Ethan, is like a hummingbird, running from one end of the building to the other and directing each volunteer with precision.  I've been observing his work at all of the Obama events I've attended since May and have been amazed at how he makes everything work.  It was nice to finally meet him.

Eric and I spoke to Obama's Northeast Iowa Field Director, Brent Welder, about what would happen to our group of volunteers once the caucus is over.  We were encouraged to continue to meet on a monthly basis and to be prepared to take an active role in the Democratic general election race this summer.  Of course, our hope is that Obama will be the nominee and that we can take the lead in ensuring his election to the White House in November '08.

So, the countdown clock is ticking and we're all prepared to put in many hours of work between now and January 3.  Our excitement (and anxiety) is growing as we hope and pray for an Obama victory.

Here's a few pictures from Dec. 14 -

1) Obama speaking to the crowd, 2) my friend Betty introducing obama, 3) our Field Organizer, Gen, 4) Dan and Katie, 5) attendees at the Community Center, 6) a news crew, 70 Katie in front of John Edwards' bus

What's the current hottest restaurant in your city?  Have you tried it out yet?

 

Wow, that's a tough one since I live in a small rural town in Iowa.  Our "hot spots" include Hardee's and Burger King for a quick meal, Jude's Cafe for an awesome breakfast, Betty's Bread Basket (a tea room) for lunch with the gals, Chong Garden and Los Flores Mexican are the exotic choices.   

Now, if you want to wait until Lent, most of the Catholic Churches in the area have Friday Fish Frys.  YUM!!  If you want a big ol' slab of deep fried cod, that's the ticket!  The lines stretch out the door on most Friday's and it's definitely worth the wait.

Friday night football games ("Go Hawks"!!) feature a concession stand that serves nachos & cheese, and when the Iowa Pork Producers man the stand, go have a yummy ground pork burger.

I guess the bottom line is that Manchester Iowa is not the place to go if you're looking for Thai, Vegan, Indian or haute cuisine.  If you want All American meat and potatoes, this is your place. 

Oh, and don't forget that Iowa leads the country in Jello consumption!!

Jello