TOUR AMERICA 2022, AMANA RV PARK AND EVENT CENTER, AMANA, IA

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Temperature 65 Degrees, Complete Cloud Cover, Winds 25/30 mph with gusts of 40 mph

Amana Colonies Maifest

Oh what joy we felt when we arose and saw the sun for the first time in days. But not for long. By the time we were in the car to go sightseeing the rain had begun again. Be that as it may neither rain nor wind was going to keep us from going sightseeing today.

So off we went to Amanda, one of six villages that make up the Amanda Colonies. Some quick facts about the Amanda Colonies from their own literature:

the colonies had their beginning in Germany

in 1842 the group moved to America and subsequently moved in 1855 to Iowa

by 1880 Amana was the largest communal society in America

farming was the principal means of support, but to meet the needs of its members and to produce goods to sell to outside markets, a calico works, two woolen mills, craft shops, flour mills, lumber ,and brick mills were established

all meals were prepared at some 50 neighborhood kitchen houses staffed by women

the community had doctors, dentists, and pharmacists to provide care to residents. Indeed, everything from soap to stove wood was provided by the community

day to day life revolved around worship, home, work and school. School was attended six days a week, year-round by the children. Personal spiritual refreshment was considered vital so residents attended worship or prayer services 11 times during the course of the week

in 1932 because of economic pressure and dissatisfaction with the restrictive communal system, after 89 years Amana abandoned the communal way of life. A new profit-sharing joint stock corporation, the Amana Society, was formed to share assets

the 1932 transformation known as the Great Change opened doors of opportunity for Amana’s residents. Many new businesses were established including Amana Appliances

I encourage you to Google Amana Colonies for a more complete history of this vibrant community that is still alive and well in Iowa.

OK. Today we went to Amana to celebrate spring with them. Come, the brochure said, and celebrate spring and warmer weather with us. The only problem being that the weather still hasn’t gotten the word that spring has sprung in this part of the world. Right now I’m even wondering if it will ever come.

The festivities began at 10 am with a parade with floats and those on the floats throwing handfuls of candy to those who lined the road. Take a look.

Now remember it is 10 am in the morning and I can tell you that these ladies had no idea how cold it was, nor how windy. I don’t believe they even knew what day it was! They were definitely full of the spirit!

Parade finished it was now time for a performance by the Amana Maypole Dancers.

The dancers were awesome! Unfortunately, I can not embed the videos that I took of them in the blog. If I could I’m sure you would be as impressed with their performance as we were.

We were going to stay longer in Amana but unfortunately we had business to take care of. Like, when it started to rain this morning I turned the windshield wipers on and there went the drivers side wiper blade! Time for a new blade. I also needed to purchase some 18 gauge electrical wire to repair the electrical cord between the rig and the car. So off we went to Cedar Rapids.

So, weather be what it will we had a great time this morning. And trust me we are going back to Amana. As for Spring, I really don’t know where it is but I hope sooner of later we do find it.

Thanks again for taking the time to share our adventures with us.  It’s always great to be able to share our story with others. Comments? Feel free to share them with me. And always remember, cherish every moment of every day that God gives you and live those moments to the fullest.

Our continuing mission remains the same: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before