Historical Society sponsors German tour group to Jones Co.

To the Editor,

     On Aug. 31 through Sept. 2, the Jones County Historical Society is sponsoring a German tour group to our area.

     Jones County has a large concentration of Germans who come from an area in the north of Germany where this tour group originates; some of the group will have distant relatives who live in our community. Quite naturally, these relationships will be quite distant in most cases and it could be the first time some people have ever met a relative from the old country.

     We are planning on a meet-and-greet at the Citizens State Bank Youth Development Center at the Jones County Fairgrounds for the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 31, and again on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 1, at the Jones County Historical Museum at Edinburgh. On Sunday, Sept. 2, before they leave, the group will be attending church services at Wayne Zion Lutheran Church, and they will be on hand after church in the community room of Wayne Zion before departing for Hannibal, Mo.

     This is the first time this has been tried in our community. Other places in Iowa have made their communities a regular stop for groups similar to this. It has also happened that groups have gone from Iowa to these areas in Germany on exchanges.

     Expanding rural Iowa’s worldview makes us better citizens and holds enormous potential in all sorts of ways. Simply put, even a small group of travelers coming here and spending two nights is an economic shot in the arm locally.

     We invite people to come to our meet-and-greets and have a taste of learning about where many of us originated. Have a try at communicating with people whose first language isn’t English! It is not impossible, but you have to work at it. We will have people who can translate available so if you get stuck, help is available.

     The group is going to make a presentation about Ostfriesland, the area where they come from at the first get-together. This is a community event, and as such, we want you to share in it! Food is always a part of any get-together, and good old-fashioned American home-cooked specialties and treats are appreciated! We want to bring out the best for our guests and hope they will consider us a regular stop in the future.

     It will be a fun time for kids of all ages and an opportunity to make friends with people you may never have thought possible!

Steve Hanken

Monticello, Iowa