March 29, 2024

There’s a lot to be proud of in Newton

“Red Pride” is phrase often associated with Newton Senior High School and the Newton Community School District. But it’s also painted on the side of the water tower, and for years, it adequately described the nature of Newton itself.

Regardless of the reason, there have become a number of people who have gotten a little down about the community we all call home. Sometimes, you can’t see the forest for the trees. Sometimes, you can’t see the tree for the forest. Either way, we would just like to remind everyone there is a lot to be proud of in Newton.

Last weekend, we celebrated the 11th Annual Iowa Sculpture Festival. Newton has a lot of sculptures in town.

In fact, it has a lot of public artwork. And, if you were to compare Newton with other communities in Iowa — regardless of their size — you would be positively impressed.

And, despite the recent losses downtown, the Newton courthouse square is still adding even more businesses, like Worth the Weight, Jimmy John’s, Bridgehouse Coffee Company, and soon, the new gaming store. If you were to compare Newton with the other 98 courthouse squares in Iowa, you would again walk away impressed.

Newton has a core of young, energetic and — most importantly — hopeful leaders who are working hard, many of them behind the scenes, to help make Newton a better place to live, work and play. Comparing Newton with many other communities in Iowa, you won’t find that same kind of optimism very often.

Is Newton the same as it was 50 years ago? No, it’s not. But neither is Iowa, or any of the other communities in our state. Time changes everything. How communities react to that change says everything you need to know about them.

And judging from the way Newton has weathered the storms of change, there’s a lot to be proud of. So, show off some of that Red Pride.

The preceding is the opinion of the Daily News Editorial Board. Readers may respond with letters to the editor addressed to P.O. Box 967, Newton, IA 50208, or by email at newsroom@newtondailynews.com.