Probable the key problem in any community is communication. Despots have always moved first to control the means of communication, because they can in this way control the lives of people. At the same time, when communication is health, a community can work together and grow. By this standard, our subject this week is truly a key figure in our town.
The Greenwood Gleaner has been in the Neuenfeldt family for forty-eight years. Abbie's father published it until he suffered a severe heart attack during World War II. Since the other boys were in the armed services, Abbie was called home and has been the editor since that time.
Abbie believes that every community, no matter how large or small, needs a newspaper. Keeping such a paper is not always easy; at one time there were six people working at the Gleaner, now Abbie does it alone. Yet it is the only publication that is devoted to the Greenwood (Clark Co., Wis.) community. He would like to do much more with the paper, but is handicapped by the limits of time and means. He feels that he should include much more community news.
After graduation from high school, he worked in Milwaukee, at any kind of job which was available in those depression days. They ne went to linotype school in Charles City, Iowa. After completion of this course, he worked on a newspaper in Fox Lake, Illinois until coming back to Greenwood.
At the time of the unveiling of the monument in the City Park, Abbie came home for the celebration. His father had about 9,000 copies of the history of Greenwood store away above the print shop. A young lady from Mondovi, Ferne Haunschild, taught school here, and approached Abbie to sell him a copy of this history. Now with 9,000 copies on hand, he did not need one more, but he did need the young lady, so this year they celebrate 23 years of life together. Ferne still teaches in the Greenwood schools, and the writer of this article owes her a debt of gratitude for what she has done for our children.
Abbie and Ferne have two children: Dennis is a senior at the University of Wisconsin, and Jayne is ab home. She is 12.
I like to think of a community as a team. If the members of a team support one another, each using his particular talents to supplement the other members, the community will be strong, and healthy. Abbie is a member of such a team.
