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Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Fun set for the First Friday at Five Hanging out at FSU Don’t forget about the city curfews this summer Lost girls found after five hours in Backbone

Fun set for the First Friday at Five by Brian Cook

With the goal of getting people out in Manchester to have a little fun, the Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce has planned a series of events called “First Friday at Five” for the months of June, July and August. Chamber Executive Director Jack Klaus described it as an old fashioned get-together with friends and neighbors enjoying food and music. The first one will be this Friday, June 2, with music by an area band called Bad Habits, which will be the opening act for Three dog Night this summer at the Delaware County Fair. Each of the events, which will be held on the first Fridays in June, July and August in the East Main parking lot right across from the Manchester City Hall, will run from 5-7:30 p.m. There is no charge to get in, and there will be beer, wine coolers, soft drinks and brats grilled by the Delaware County Pork Grilling Team along with walking tacos from a Relay for Life team looking to raise funds.

Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Jack Klaus, invites everyone to attend the First Friday at Five on June 2.

Klaus said some Chamber members proposed this kind of event based on what some other communities in Eastern Iowa are doing as summer activities. Klaus said he often hears that there is nothing for people in they’re 20’s and 30’s to do. He hopes this effort will create an additional activity to bring people together. Sponsors will help pay for the cost of having the event. F&M Bank is the sponsor for this Friday, and will also be giving away a few door prizes. First State Bank will sponsor the First Friday in July, with Community Savings Bank and Fareway are set to sponsor in August. Klaus said everyone is welcome, and wristbands will be available for those who wish to drink. He warned that the event is not really set up for kids, but said they hope to learn how to incorporate some activities for children. Klaus added, “My wife and I were in Omaha last weekend celebrating a graduation. Saturday evening we went downtown and found hundreds of people just milling around, eating and drinking, visiting with friends and having a good time. We can do it if we want to.”

Hanging out at FSU by Brian Cook

The Franklin Street Underground sounds like a hideout for Capone’s gangsters in Chicago during the days of prohibition, or a counter intelligence group in Nazi Germany. Not a place you’d expect to find kids having fun playing games and hanging out. Franklin Street Underground, or FSU as some kids call it, used to be known as the East End Youth Center. The problem was, the center hasn’t been located on the east end of Manchester since 1992, its first year of existence. Linda Farrand, who operates the center, said originally they kept the name for continuity but finally last summer decided it was time for a name change to reflect their location at 107 1/2 South Franklin Street in Manchester.

BRIAN COOK / Press Kids hang out and play cards or games at the Franklin Street Underground Youth Center in Manchester after school.

In 1991 a coalition of community leaders decided they wanted a youth center, so there would be a place for children to go. Linda and her husband, Rev. Merlyn Farrand of New Life Assembly Church, had been checking out other youth centers and joined the group. The East End Youth Center opened in 1992 in the building, which now is home to Greene and Associates. Farrand said the rent and utilities just about killed the project that first year. Plus it was too far away from the rest of Manchester. Josh Fuller came to Pastor Farrand and introduced him to Jack O’Leary who owned a building downtown. They took O’Leary out to the youth center, he liked what he saw and the East End Youth Center moved to South Franklin Street, where it has an entrance in the alley behind Widner Drug. Farrand said most nights the center has 15-20 kids come through the doors. It’s designed for middle school and high school age children, but they don’t frown on little siblings tagging along. “I come to the youth center because I can hang out with my friends, and there is a lot of activities and there is also candy that is way cheaper than any other place in town,” Haley Rhines said about coming to the Franklin Street Underground. During the school year, the center is open from 3:30-6 p.m. Tuesday through Fridays. This summer it will be open the same hours on Wednesdays and Fridays. Farrand said they run the center on a shoestring-type budget because it is for the kids, and not to make money. Most of the equipment at FSU has been donated, including a big screen television. The tables and booths all came from a Perkins in Dubuque after it remodeled. The center is getting two computers with a grant from the Foundation for the Future of Delaware County and assistance from RJ Ender Computers. Nick Williams, the manager at RJ Ender is a former youth center patron, according to Farrand. Different churches support the center financially. Farrand said they have had contributions from almost every church in town. Linda said they are also looking for volunteers. To volunteer, you can call her at 927-3160. There is a routine screening for people who work with children. Farrand joked, “You fill out a three-page application to work for free.”

Don’t forget about the city curfews this summer by Latisha Sand

With summer vacation approaching and warm weather upon us, the City of Manchester and the Manchester Police Department want to remind everyone of the citywide curfew. “Sixteen and 17 year olds must be in by 11 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday and on Friday and Saturday nights by midnight,” said Police Chief Bruce Trapp. As for anyone under 16, Trapp explained that they must be in by 10 p.m. on Sunday through Thursdays and 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. And being in, according to Trapp means being off “public streets and sidewalks and out of city parks.” But there are exceptions. For example, if the minor is with a parent or is involved in or coming home from employment or student or church activities. “There is a violation for adults knowingly allowing a minor child out after curfew,” said Trapp. This includes a fine and a visit with the magistrate court judge. But according to the Delaware County Clerk of Court, there hasn’t been a curfew violation in a while. Trapp also wants to remind residents that city parks close at 10:30 p.m. “That curfew is for anybody,” said Trapp. “There is also no beer or alcohol allowed in city parks.” The parks and the minor curfews have been in affect for a while and Mayor Milt Kramer believes that it has benefited the community. “It does away with a certain degree of vandalism,” he said. And Trapp believes it helps with safety. “It’s beneficial because it helps with the security and safety of minors and the community as a whole.” For more information on the curfews or other city ordinances contact the Manchester Police Department.

Lost girls found after five hours in Backbone by Julie Sunne

Four Independence St. Johns and Independence Public School girls had a happy reunion with their parents Wednesday, May 24, after being lost in Backbone State Park for almost five hours. Chelsea McMurrin, Katie Flaucher, Lauren Rathbun, and Kristen Maynard, all 13 years old, were with an orienteering class when they apparently became turned around after finding their last point and disappeared into the rugged topography of the park. Mary Shea, park manager, said the girls were last seen on the road near the Civilian Conservation Corps museum at the West entrance to the park. They must have thought they could walk down the wooded hill to their left to get back to their class. Instead it took them further away.

JULIE SUNNE/Press J.J. Moser (l ) and Zach Bullard (r) seasonal aides at Backbone State Park and Upper Iowa University students, were the first to spot and make contact with the four lost Independence girls.

The call went out for help shortly after 3 p.m. Members of area fire and sheriff’s departments as well as the Iowa State Patrol responded quickly. Over 75 individuals; consisting of park personnel, other professionals, and volunteers searched the western half of Backbone with horses, ATVs, and on foot. Scent-specific dogs and helicopters were also being mobilized when the girls were finally located. The search was hampered by the fact that radio contact in that area of the park is sporadic at best and search helicopters from Cedar Rapids were unable to fly due to high wind speeds. Around 5:45 p.m. two Park seasonal aides, Zach Bullard and J.J. Moser, along with a Dundee fireman spotted the four over a mile north of the museum and made contact with them. Bullard and Moser, both Upper Iowa University students, said the girls were standing in the river and were very excited to see them. Additional Dundee firemen were called in to escort them out. The girls had apparently been given instructions not to cross a fence or the river. Instead they had walked upriver in their attempts at self-rescue. All four girls were unharmed, except for minor cuts and scrapes.

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