"I have met a great ambition in my life: to share business progress and earning with patrons, employers, and partners, in a fellowship way. It give a man a real life to know he has accomplished some good for his fellow men and has served a good part of his purpose of being here." This statement of his intimate outlook on life was really all that Art wanted included in this article. He said that everybody know the rest. Yet, as we talked, I found that there were a number of facts about Art that I did not know. Art just does not say much about himself.
He was born at Plainfield and came to Abbotsford, where he finished school and began to farm. Then he went into business at Withee, and from there into the making of cheese. At that time, this was a good trade, because the countryside was dotted with little cheese factories. Eventually it became a very competitive business.
The village where he began the factory had an interesting name, "Redville." North of Withee there was a sawmill, a boarding house, store, farm and logging barn. Al the buildings were painted red, and what was more natural than to call it "Redville?" Their factory in Greenwood still carried the name.
Art and his brothers won and operate this factory. Art does the office work, although he is not especially keen about being inside at a desk. Occasionally an order comes in for a special kind of chees, and then Art gets into the vats with his hands, and this he enjoys.
Art and his wife live in Withee, so he is actually a member of two communities. He and his wife were married in 1926, and have two children: Romona teaches school, and Lanny works in the Twin Cities.
Prominent in the office at the plant is a certificate showing that the Stewart Dairy is a Sustaining Member or sponsor of the Chippewa Valley Boys Scouts of America. It means that this member believes in boys, and that the member actively supports a program for development of boys into men. It reminds one of the proverb, "Service to others is the rent we pay for the space we occupy."
