Amana, IA-The Amana Heritage Society Board of Directors named Jon Childers, Middle Amana, as its new executive director. He takes over the position held for 33 years by Lanny Haldy, whose dedication and leadership was instrumental in the growth of collections, scholarship and managed sites.
“Our Board felt that Jon was a great fit for the position,” stated Board President Allyn Neubauer. “He knows the community and our membership well and has experience managing a facility based on customer service. All this gives him a great foundation to help build our organization. We welcome Jon and look forward to working with him.” Childers’ resume includes 11 years managing the Amana Colonies RV Park and Event Center as well as coordinating the Amana Colonies’ Oktoberfest and Tannenbaum Forest events. Jon earned an M.A. in German Linguistics and an M.B.A. from the University of Iowa.
“I’m truly honored to have the chance to build on Lanny’s success. He’s been a tremendous mentor and a great resource in the community,” said Childers, who feels that Haldy’s reach over the years in the area of scholarship and historic preservation extended easily throughout the state and nation. Among other organizations, his involvement includes the Communal Studies Association, Silos & Smokestacks National Heritage Area, the Iowa Museum Association, and the Historical Sites Foundation. Haldy was recently honored with a legacy fund at the Amana Heritage Society that will support all new exhibits, technology upgrades and curitorial needs. In one month, the fund took in nearly $30,000.
To help shape the future of the Amana Heritage Society, Haldy hired Rebecca Dickman as the new curator in June. Born and raised in Lost Nation, Dickman completed an M.A. in Museum Studies at University of Kansas in May and previously worked at the Jackson County Historical Society. Regarding her hiring, Childers stated, “Rebecca has tremendous talent. I’m glad Lanny saw that in her, and I’m excited to work with Rebecca on ‘rebooting’ all of our exhibits by April, 2017. We put some lofty goals in play, so we just need to work hard to achieve them. I have confidence we can do that. Our visitors, members and community deserve our best efforts.”
The Amana Heritage Society collects, preserves, and interprets the heritage of the Amana community from its European beginnings to the present day. It strives to be the historian of the community, expanding its collections--as well as ideas--and making them available to the general public and scholars.
