A town in central Iowa is going to battle with a town sharing the same name in central Kansas. The so-called “Newton versus Newton Challenge” involves five contests designed to foster community pride and engagement.
Natalie Umsted is the management analyst for the City of Newton, Iowa. She announced details of the competition, which started today and runs through Friday, October 24th.
The winner will be announced on Monday, October 27th. “Newton, Kansas has about 19,000 people, so we have a slight disadvantage in size,” Umsted said. “But, I know that we more than make up for it in personality.” Newton, Iowa’s population is just over 15,000.
The various contests include which community can get the most participants in one-mile group walk and which community donates the most items to their local food pantry.
(Reporting by Randy Van, KCOB, Newton)