A central Iowa town has won a battle with a town sharing the same name in Kansas. The first-ever “Newton versus Newton Challenge” involved five contests over a two week period.
Natalie Umsted is the management analyst for the City of Newton, Iowa. “We kind of dominated the competition, winning four out of the five challenges,” Umsted said.
The goal of the competition was simply to boost community pride, but one of the challenges involved which town could donate the most items to their local food pantry. “In the process, we were able to raise of two tons of food for the local food pantry, which is awesome,” Umsted said.
Officials from both towns are now talking about making the challenge an annual event with a traveling trophy. Newton, Kansas has a population of roughly 19,000, compared to the just over 15,000 residents of Newton, Iowa.
(Reporting by Randy Van, KCOB, Newton)