Neumann looks back at writing job
By Greg Seubert
Government meetings, controversial issues and state championships.
They’ve all been a part of a day’s work for Holly Neumann.
The Iola resident’s run as a staff writer covering the Iola, Scandinavia and Manawa areas for the Waupaca County Post, New London Press Star and Clintonville Tribune-Gazette is over, as she is officially retiring.
Her last day is Friday, Dec. 8.
“When I first started, someone from the County Post called and asked if I’d be interested in taking pictures for them,” Neumann said. “I had been doing it for a few months and asked about doing a story for them because there was a benefit going on in Manawa for a family that was going to be adopting a child from out of the country. They asked me why I was interested in it and I told them because I was adopted, too. They told me to go ahead and that was the first story I ever wrote.
“That first story wasn’t really hard because it was a human interest story, but the next story they had me do was at a heated school board meeting in Iola,” she said. “That was awful. (Senior Editor Bob Cloud) called me up and we went over the story on the phone. He taught me how to organize things and write the story correctly.”
Covering school board meetings was only part of Neumann’s job. She also photographed hundreds of Iola-Scandinavia and Manawa sporting events over the years, wrote feature stories and eventually spent the last three summers in charge of Picture Post, a weekly publication featuring the Waupaca Chain O’Lakes area.
“I like the human interest stories the most just because you get to know people and what they’re facing in their lives,” she said. “You get to know them on a more personal level. I find them very interesting.”
Iola connections
Neumann grew up in the Iola area and knows a lot of local residents personally.
“Sometimes, that made it harder because a lot of people thought that any time I was with them, I was going to write a story,” she said. “After they realized I wasn’t doing an interview or a story, then things were easier.”
Neumann would often get story ideas or tips through a telephone call or email.
“It was easy in Iola because I know so many people,” she said. “Manawa has been extremely welcoming to me over the years. One year, they gave me a Manawa sweatshirt so I could wear it to events that I was attending at the school. When I first got there, there was a lack of trust. They had some bad experiences in the past. They had an event one time where they were giving Christmas care packages to people. The lady there refused to do an interview. I said, ‘Why?’ She said, ‘It’s going to be reported incorrectly.’ She finally agreed, as long as I let her read it first. She read it, hugged me and thanked me. Making those steps, building those relationships and gaining their trust is all a part of that. To see them welcome me as one of their own was a good feeling.
“The hardest part for me is when school boards and village boards start talking about finances,” she added. “I did one school board meeting in Iola and the gentleman thought I misquoted him, so I played him the tape and that was the end of that. That part has always been a struggle, but I got better at that as time went on. I wrote one on a young man named Jeff Michael, from Scandinavia. He has some disabilities and he was starting to work at the fitness center in Iola. He was at the age where he couldn’t go to a work program that he had been going to, so they had him start working at the fitness center. In fact, he’s still there. That was probably my most interesting.”
Neumann also wrote several recent stories on the Iola Car Show’s proposal for a sand mine and covered several meetings on the issue.
“It was hard because people from both sides would ask, ‘Well, how do you feel about this?’” she said. “Keeping that neutral position was a little bit of a struggle. I learned a lot through that process, from how government works on a county level to permits that are required for things. I started some research, but a lot of people handed me information. When I wasn’t sure if it was true, I had to research it a little more to get a better understanding of things.”
Neumann began working for Multi Media Channels in 2009 until 2020 and returned in 2021.
“I noticed there were less things in the paper about the Iola, Scandinavia and Manawa areas,” she said. “I asked if I could start writing again and Bob gave me permission.”
Soon after she came back, Multi Media Channels General Manager Dave Wood wanted to meet with her.
“Initially, I thought I did something wrong and he asked if I’d do the Picture Post,” she said. “This was my third summer, so that would have been 2021.”
She and her husband, Tony, would head out in their boat on the Waupaca Chain O’Lakes to shoot photos.
“It was a lot more work than I anticipated,” Neumann said. “When you’re doing a story, you interview a person. When you’re out taking pictures for that publication, you have to talk to lots of people. I spent a lot of time walking around at local businesses, the state park, beaches, anywhere there was some kind of summer activity. I spent a lot of time on rainy days going to downtown businesses and getting some pictures there.”
Difficult decision
The decision to retire wasn’t an easy one to make, according to Neumann.
“We had talked about it for about a year,” she said. “There’s been a lot going on the past few years in our family. I lost my dad and my brother. My son has some health things going on and one son’s deployed. Through all that, you learn the value of family, friendship and life. I decided it was time. My mom is getting older, so I can have that time with her. Our oldest grandson is graduating this year and the next one’s just starting high school.”
Although Neumann admitted she won’t miss covering late-night games and government meetings, she will miss the opportunity to tell someone’s story.
“I recently did a story on a young man who lives down the road and he just received a wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation,” she said. “They welcomed me into their home to share that story. You feel like you become a part of their story when you share their story. It was really important for me to get across what their story was.”
Neumann also wrote stories about Kristian Welch, an Iola-Scandinavia High School graduate who was recently added to the Green Bay Packers’ roster.
“I’ve known him since he was a little boy,” she said. “Some of the bigger newspapers did stories on him, yet he was willing to give me his time to share his journey with me. You build that trust with those people and it’s a good feeling. As a smaller newspaper, we get a little more insight into some of those stories because we know them on a more personal level.”
One of the athletes Neumann has taken photos of is Little Wolf High School sophomore Olivia Tomko-Santos.
“She came up to me at the end of her basketball season last year and said, ‘Thank you for being here,’” she said. “I said, ‘What?’ She said, ‘I really appreciate you being here, taking our pictures and having them in the paper.’ The funny part was, I went back to look at the paper and it wasn’t her picture in the paper, it was one of her teammates. That was important to her. It was very flattering that that moment happened. People are losing out on those opportunities when they’re not submitting things to the paper or letting people know what’s going on.”
Neumann believes it’s important for small communities like Iola, Scandinavia and Manawa to have news coverage.
“I was an athlete when I was a teenager,” she said. “I remember getting the paper and looking for pictures and stats from whatever I was in. I don’t think people understand how important a small-town paper is. I recently found a scrapbook that was my mother’s. There’s page after page of article clippings in this book of hers. She had her dance classes or events that happened when she was in school. I have a book that has all my sports stories. You don’t see that anymore. When kids today are becoming young adults and moving on in their lives, they’re not going to have those newspaper stories to look back on.”
Although Neumann’s reporting and photography days are coming to an end, she is grateful for the opportunity.
“I’m glad that they took a chance on me because I had no experience when I came here,” she said. “I think I’ve worked hard and earned their respect over the years.”