Key Sources Primary Source Material  Hutchison, Tom. The Land of Milk and Money. Green Bay, WI: HVS Advertising Marketing  Hutchison, Tom. Manawa Advocate. January 1, – July 23,  Knudson, Don. Interview with the author. Manawa, WI. June 16,  Spooner Rodeo. “Heart of the North, Spooner Rodeo” Homepage. Spooner Rodeo. (accessed December 2, 2011).  U.S. Census Records  Walker, Glendora. Interview with the author. Manawa, WI. June 16,  Wegener, Evelyn M., ed. The Pioneers of Little Wolf Township , Manawa, WI:  Wisconsin Legislative Reference Library. Wisconsin Blue Book. Madison, WI: State of Wisconsin, Secondary Source Material  Bodnar, John. Remaking America: Public Memory, Commemoration and Patriotism in the Twentieth Century. Princeton: Princeton University Press,  Christensen, Bonnie. Red Lodge and the Mythic West: Coal Miners to Cowboys. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas,  Hart, John Fraser. “’Rural’ and “’Farm’” no Longer Mean the Same” The Changing American Countryside: Rural People and Places ed. Emery N. Castle. Lawrence, KS : University Press of Kansas, Introduction During the early spring of 1959, the local chapter of the Lions Club in the small community of Manawa, WI (located 55 miles west of Green Bay) was scouting for a new fundraiser. With this in mind, Carl Dretzke—a farmer, turned inventor, turned businessman—spotted a billboard in northern Wisconsin. He came back home with a vision for an event that would become an annual tradition and would eventually redefine his community. He pitched his idea to the Lions Club; they would put on a rodeo. There was one minor problem with that idea. While there was a small number of people in and around Manawa who were the involved in horse culture, none of the members of the Lions Club had ever been to a rodeo. However, as Western motifs were firmly entrenched in the media and pop culture of the time, the first rodeo was a sell-out. The rodeo continues to be an important community event. In the summer of 2012, the Manawa Lions Club will host its 54 th annual rodeo. Key Questions  As the Western was in its hey day in the 1950s and early 1960s, it’s easy to see why a rodeo fundraiser was adopted by the Manawa Lions Club; but why/how did rodeo persist in a community where it was a foreign concept?  What does this community’s celebrations, fundraisers and boosterism say about it?  How has Manawa’s community identity evolved over time?  Ultimately, what purpose does community identity serve in the Manawa area?  Can Manawa serve as a case study for changes in community identity in rural Wisconsin and the rural Midwest? Project Conclusions Findings from primary source material indicate that from the late 1950s to today, key cultural, social and economic traditions have significantly declined or disappeared altogether. These traditions and institutions had once forged community networks, bonds and solidarity. These networks included:  The use of the German language  Regular attendance and involvement in com- munity churches  A system of rural neighborhood schools  The number of family dairy farms in operation The Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, and events like it, have filled part of the void in community building and identity left by the loss of these practices and institutions. The rodeo brings community members together to put on the event. In the end, the story of this community is the story of the rural Midwest itself. As social, cultural and economic institutions—chiefly the family farm— have declined, communities like Manawa have been forced to adapt. Methodology Research for this project was conducted using a variety of available primary sources including: newspaper accounts, the written memoirs of a past community member, community histories, archival material from the Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo office (which has never before been made available for scholarly research) and oral history interviews conducted for this project Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo poster, image courtesy of the Manawa Lions Club and Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo. Barrel racer at the Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, early 1960s. Photo by George Sroda. Courtesy of the Manawa Lions Club and the Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, George Sroda Photo Collection. Birdseye view of the first Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, Courtesy of the Manawa Lions Club and Manawa Midwestern Rodeo, Lyle Spiegelberg Collection. Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, early 1960s. Photo by George Sroda. Courtesy of the Manawa Lions Club and the Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, George Sroda Photo Collection. Rodeo clown, Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, early 1960s. Photo by George Sroda. Courtesy of the Manawa Lions Club and the Manawa Mid-Western Rodeo, George Sroda Photo Collection.