NEWTON, Iowa — There’s a neighborhood in Newton that looks like any other neighborhood that you’d see in a small tow. That is, until you get to the corner of 6th Street and 12th Avenue. There, you find H.A. Lynn Stadium.

“It was built in 1940 with the Works Progress Administration,” said Kelly Sorenson, in charge of communication and outreach at Newton.

The Works Progress Administration was a result of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. Historical is an understatement.

“Really a cornerstone of our community,” said Activities Director Ryan Rump. “It’s kind of a throwback. It’s cut into a residential neighborhood, and you don’t see many of those anymore. It’s just got a lot of history, and I think the community of Newton and the Newton School District, first of all takes a lot of pride in the stadium, and second of all, we’ve done a very good job of maintaining the stadium, and we’ve done a few upgrades, but yet have kept the integrity.”

However, it isn’t just a historic stadium that makes Newton unique. So what else is it? It’s red pride, and that red pride runs deep. It’s a small community that loves their football team, and a football team that loves them back.

“It’s everything,” said Nicholas Batawui, a junior on the football team. “I just love the community and how much family we have here. Everything just feels right.”

“If you just drive around town, it’s everywhere,” added Sorenson. “It’s on our water tower, it’s on murals throughout town, it’s something that we tout everywhere. I always like to say it’s not just a slogan, it’s a way of life. It’s a value we instill in our students here, and it’s a feeling. There’s nothing like watching a game, or a track meet, or anything like here at H.A. Lynn.”

It’s a community that has helped Newton become one of 25 finalists in the T-Mobile Friday Night 5G Lights contest. Newton has already won over $30,000 that will help improve their weight room, used by over 250 student athletes. The $1,000,000 grand prize would be a true game changer.

“A million dollars would just be a dream come true for us and our community,” said Rump.

“It’d be absolutely huge,” said Andy Swedenhjelm, head football coach at Newton. “We love our historical stadium. We love everything that’s going on with it. Obviously, we’ve had some issues. When something is built in the 40s, obviously over time, father time is undefeated in a lot of things, right? ADA compliance and things like that are on our bucket list to be able to improve if we were able to win this money.”

“We have students that aren’t able to sit in the student section, and families that aren’t able to sit together,” said Sorenson. “Just because it’s how we can do it doesn’t mean that it’s okay, and that’s something we’ve been working to improve and to fix as a district. The million dollars would help move that process along, plus it’s cool to win right? Everybody wants to win.”

You can vote once per day up until Friday, October 24th. You can cast a vote at this link: https://www.t-mobile.com/brand/friday-night-5g-lights