From the Milwaukee Journal, January 14, 1979
This article is an overview of the Twin Cities, primarily for out-of-towners to read. I believe the Milwaukee Journal in their "lifestyle" section would feature a community in the state each week.
The main theme running through this piece is that Menasha is blue collar and Neenah is white collar and never the twain shall meet. Knowing what we all know, that's fairly obvious, but it also foments a sort of resentment with the implication that we were happy back then to wallow (my word) in our taverns and lack of local retail businesses and that we were just fine with spending our money in Neenah and Appleton. There was some truth in that (and "thank" the mayor for his "honesty"). But it made us look a little less than ambitious in a civic sense to the rest of the state. At least the writer credits that attitude to a "conservative spirIt" and you can make your own conclusion whether or not he was being diplomatic.
Realizing the changes in downtown Menasha, what with the redevelopment of the downtown and the marina, and the consolidation of fire and rescue services between the two communities since 2003, comments about our "lack of initiative" don't seem to hold as much water as they once did. But still, old habits (and attitudes) die hard. Just ask one of us from the ol' hometown or especially, those folks across Nicolet Boulevard. It's 34 years later and I'd bet 8 out of 10 folks polled there would say the perception still applies. I don't agree but then, I'm not one of the "upper crust."
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