Can a rural county Democratic Party in the Midwest begin to inspire a return to a healthy two-party balance that used to be the norm locally? Brenda Bormann, a farmer near Algona in Kossuth County, Iowa, had an idea to try. Her vision dealt with a widely shared local issue that could cut through the political disrespect she saw growing in her county. An engaged community leader and proud Democrat, Brenda is also a high school teacher retired from thirty-four years of inspiring Algona High School students.
In 2020 she began working with her husband Merrill’s sister Ellen Belle, who’d moved to Denver from the Bormann family farm she grew up on near Bode. She and Brenda helped create a small rural-urban Iowa-Colorado group that sought to support a return to a respectful political party balance in Kossuth County. Bob Jennings, the local Democratic Party co-chair, named the effort the Kossuth County Rural-Urban Action Team. Brenda realized the fledgling team could make her idea a reality if she helped recruit her former star pupil, Josh Manske, to help.
Josh returned home to Algona after injuring a wrist while playing on a championship collegiate golf team at Grandview University in Des Moines. Still, he quickly began managing his family’s farm and insurance business. Appointed to the state board of the Iowa Farmers Union. He had all the makings of a community leader, so Ellen and her Denver organizer friend Dave Engelken began to compare local action ideas with Josh.
Brenda brought her idea to them. “Josh, what if our County Democratic Party created a scholarship for our Kossuth County high school students? We could open it yearly to one or two deserving students who have demonstrated a true interest in community engagement and service.”
Her idea fits perfectly with Josh’s thirty-one years of experience. “The point of a political party is to make a positive difference within your community,” he stated simply, “and for our kids, for all of them. Their future is the Kossuth County future.”
Josh added: “Recently, I’ve seen some talented young leaders I grew up with move away from our area. I see this scholarship process as one way to encourage our promising kids to get engaged early in their local communities. I want the key question on the scholarship application to be, ‘What do you feel is your role as a citizen in a participative democracy?’”
When Josh speaks of all the kids, he includes his childhood experience and education – hard-won because of his lifelong struggle with dyslexia. Teaching gave him a passion for history, and as a young community leader recently chosen to serve on the board of the National Farmers Union, he’s aware of history’s essential lessons for all of us. Josh notes, “The teachers who had the passion and dedication to spend hours and hours working with me so I could very slowly, with a lot of hard work, realize my potential—I owe the world to them. This scholarship is a chance to give back to kids dealing with obstacles like I’ve had.”
Gradually, Josh became the driver, making the new Kossuth County Democratic Party Dolores Mertz Scholarship a reality. Josh and Bob Jennings found anonymous donations for the first scholarship, and Bob got the scholarship fund account set up through Iowa Lakes Community College. Ellen Belle, working from Colorado, recruited matching monies, and her group of urban and rural contributors funded the second scholarship. Both scholarships will be awarded in the spring of 2023. (Watch for my follow-up MRA op-ed for the follow-up story of why we dedicated the scholarship to a retired Iowa State House Representative!)
Josh worked with a key Algona volunteer to set up the new Kossuth County Democratic Party Facebook page, which permits online and mailed scholarship contributions. This Facebook page has since gathered a beautiful storm of Kossuth County Democratic Party news, events, and videos going into the fall elections. In one video, U.S. Senate Candidate Admiral Mike Franken (see Sept. 23rd on his campaign Facebook page) personally recommends that Iowans contribute to the Kossuth County Democratic Party Dolores Mertz Scholarship Fund.
With her idea of reaching out statewide, Brenda works with high school counselors to set up the student scholarship application process. You can help fund and even double the number of awards to deserving, community-engaged Kossuth County students in 2024 by going online at https://form.jotform.com/2,
David Engelken is a writer, musician, experienced urban community organizer, and retired public school Spanish teacher. Engelken is intrigued by writing and organizing for rural and urban cross-alliances that create grassroots democratic empowerment …