Would You Be My Neighbor?
The arrival of a moving van leads to new challenges/rewards
We have new neighbors! It's not common in rural northwestern Boone County, where many generations are tethered to farmland and surrounding small towns both by tradition and a strong sense of place. The newcomers moved in at the beginning of July, but as well-mannered Midwesterners, we try to give new neighbors some space to get settled in, right?
I saw them at a local farmer's market several weeks ago. A couple of weeks later, I stood in line there behind a different family with striking similarities. Wait – have I mentioned that there's more than one family? In fact, we have multiple new neighbors. Most of them have children.
Children. The lifeblood of any rural community. The hope for the future. Is this the population renewal that we only could have dreamed about in the decades since the Farm Crisis?
Shouldn't I be excited? Positively elated?
Well, I did hear they were considering our church. . . But before the church board could roll out our Welcome Wagon, we heard that our church wouldn't be large enough - especially after they moved in 26 school desks. You see, they wanted to use the church as a temporary school for TWENTY-SIX CHILDREN – until they build their own! They're renting our community building for Sunday worship services – until they build their own church, most likely in the country a few miles away.
No, our new neighbors are Mennonite families, and they won't be filling our empty church pews, or increasing our per pupil school funding. Would they join our 4-H club? Probably not.
Laying a Foundation for Community
No one is quite sure why they moved here from their homes in southern Iowa and northern Missouri. Only three families live in town, with another one settling a couple of miles south of our farm in the country, and others building in a wooded area to the east and south of town.
So, if the children will attend their own separate school, and the families will build their own church, how will we build relationships with our new neighbors?
One of the families purchased farmland just east of here. We've also heard they may plan to build and operate a sawmill, and produce pallets. My husband was making hay on a patch in town when one of the new town-dwellers asked if he owned that pasture. My husband came home with a business card promoting custom outdoor furniture and swing sets, and lawn care services.
There isn't much left of the town's business district, with the exception of a gas station/auto mechanics shop/convenience store. But over one year ago, a local family-run excavation business opened a store front in town – the first in many decades. In addition to this business, they make and market custom t-shirts. Unfortunately, most of the other empty commercial buildings would require a lot of TLC. Aside from the U.S. Postal Service office, we don't have a lot of commercial "infrastructure".
But the Mennonites are testing the waters of commercial viability. A couple of weeks ago, the City Council minutes included an agenda item titled Farmers & Makers Market. The first one was held this past week, and the Mennonites were joined by a few other local produce-growers and food vendors.
It attracted foot traffic, and brought more vehicles into town. Maybe some of them filled up at the gas station? I bought a half-dozen ears of sweet corn.
Will the town become a Mecca for tourism, like Kalona, which has both Amish and Mennonite populations? Time will tell.
Not a Typical Immigration Experience
A week ago I read an interesting front-page Sunday Des Moines Register feature article about how rural Iowa communities have been re-shaped by newcomers over the past decades.
It underscored how Iowa needs greater population growth, and predicted that by 2060, rural Iowa will become more diverse as a result of new non-white Iowa residents. Without immigration, warned David Peters, Iowa State University professor of agriculture and rural policy, rural Iowa will not have the population it needs to survive.
However, I didn't read any references to the impact of resident families and new immigrants marrying and having children. Over the next few decades, this will result in a more subtle blending of rural Iowa's population. We see it here already in the generation graduating from high school and entering their mid-20s. I also seldom read how this "browning of America" trend will be modified, as the family size of immigrant families shrinks due to greater education and opportunities for women. This has happened the world over in developed countries.
"In the 1870s, no American with any prospects would move out to the middle of Iowa," Dr. Peters stated in this article. "And you kind of see the similar thing today, and that people move out to rural Iowa because that's where there's opportunities for them. . . So it is kind of the long term story of Iowa, just where people are coming from has changed."
I don't disagree. In past decades, new residents have filled Iowa's schools, added to local churches, and spent wages at local businesses. Our rural community's experience will be different.
Generations of Past Persecution
It will take some getting used to. Our new neighbors don't exactly blend in, and they're not likely to marry outside of their group. Unlike some Mennonites, they dress traditionally: men and boys in black pants, suspenders, and white shirts. Women in long-sleeved dresses, with hems hovering above their ankles. They drive modern vehicles and use some technology, but their dress separates them from the rest of society. No doubt, that is their aim.
In 1978, I flew from Milwaukee to Winnipeg, rented a car, and drove two hours west in Manitoba to MacGregor, where I interviewed a young Mennonite farm couple for Farm Wife News magazine. Yes, they grew different crops: flax, rapeseed, sunflowers, rye, barley, along with alfalfa and wheat. But they were almost indistinguishable from the U.S. farmers I knew. They told me they had worked in the voluntary service for the Mennonite Central Committee for one year in Atlanta, Georgia, and then returned to MacGregor to start farming.
Their families originally had migrated from the Netherlands. But they weren't welcome there, so they moved to Prussia, then to Russia, and finally to Canada. They explained there were three Mennonite churches in MaGregor, and "each one is different".
Will Cultures Co-Exist or Clash?
It will be interesting, to say the least. Mennonites are known for their belief in peace, justice, and nonresistance. Our little town isn’t particularly religious. During the late 1980s and 1990s, some residents were less than upstanding. A few still are. When RAGRABI has ridden through, there were some racy stories told afterwards. But there's no longer even a tavern in the town.
How will our diverse cultures interact?
In rural Iowa, a diminishing sense of community has emerged, following decades of being buffeted by demographic and economic head winds. Some people mind their own business; you might even say they're insular. Decades of school reorganizations have created superficial schisms. Other members of our community have followed a trend to home-school their children, and this also diminishes the sense of community. Several columns ago, I wrote about the divisiveness in main line church denominations over LGBTQ issues, and how it's led to a sprouting of new, non-denominational churches in main street storefronts in a neighboring town, closely bordered by an east-west street on the south edge of town called "Division Street".
Or is it possible that Mister Roger's themes of empathy and acceptance will prevail? I've noticed new families are renovating their homes, adding a greater curb appeal, and making an investment in the town's sparse housing stock. This fits in nicely with another trend in recent years: more well-kept yards, and beautiful landscaped flowerbeds.
Earlier this summer, for the first time in years, a town celebration was held in collaboration with a vintage car show that was initiated about three years ago.
The day-long event featured a fundraiser for the fire department, bouncy houses for the kids, a beer tent, and live music. It drew a lot of folks, many from surrounding communities. Will a weekly local farmers' market have the same impact? I did see a few residents there last week that I had not seen in years.
Will our new neighbors contribute in ways that we only can begin to imagine? Or will their presence unleash yet another source of division in an already divided America?
In the spirit of the late Fred Rogers,
"So let's make the most of this beautiful day,
Since we're together, we might as well say,
Would you be mine? Could you be mine?
Won't you be my neighbor?"
Only time will tell!
I’m delighted to be part of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative!
Beth, no. I have been too busy with being a 4-H leader at county fair in July, and getting ready for the Iowa Women in Agriculture Conference on July 31-August 1. Plus my weekly column! I did visit with a family at the Farmer's Market last week, and will have other opportunities each week. My husband makes hay in town, and has visited with the individual who gave me the business card. It is early days yet! Thanks!
Yes, Jim, I plan to update from time to time. At this point, only one of the families has purchased enough land to be a "farmer". I believe there are 6-8 families--three homes in town, one south of town, and the ones to the east are more difficult to determine, since they are back off the road in the timber. Mennonites are Christians. They broke off from the AnaBaptist movement, a Protestant denomination. They practice adult baptism, I believe. I'm not sure about the impact on businesses; we have another rural Farmers Market, and there are a few local skilled craft persons who work with wood. However, we only have a local convenience/gas station for groceries. Our local mechanic probably would like to retire--- he is 15 years beyond conventional retirement! I understand that more Mennonites are expected to arrive here. Thanks!