Greening recalls life well lived in Waubay

by Amanda Fanger, Reporter and Farmer

Wilferd “Buzz” Greening was born in Dell Rapids, but moved to Waubay when he was three years old in the fall of 1935.

“So much stuff has happened over the years,” Buzz said while scratching his head to try to remember.

Buzz graduated from high school in 1950, and attended a year of college in Brookings before going to work at a telephone company in Aberdeen and later at a construction company.

“Then my number came up for the (war) draft,” he said.

Buzz came home to spend Christmas with his family before he was to be inducted into the service. He ended up waiting in Waubay until the following September before actually being inducted into the Army. “Most generally you got inducted right away, but somehow or another it lasted for months for me,” he said.

Greening was stationed in Korea and was part of a forward observing team, he said. “We had to be right up front at the battle lines,” he said. He remembers seeing the exchange of war prisoners at the Battle of Pork Chop Hill. “We were maybe four or five blocks away. That was a historic thing I got to see,” he recalled.

After 10 months of service, Greening got out in the spring of 1954. From there, he went to business school in Rapid City and that fall transferred to Aberdeen where he graduated with a business degree. Following his graduation, he went to work in management for Montgomery Ward where he met his future wife, Dorothy. They were married the same year, on Sept. 1, 1956.

In 1957 they moved to Valley City, where Greening became assistant manager of the Montgomery Ward company. However, shortly thereafter the company went through a restructuring process to streamline the business. “This really shook up the company,” Greening said. “I was part of the old system. It just wasn’t working (for me).” So, Greening quit there and went to working at Bates Clothing in Aberdeen.

When a store in Groton came up for sale in the early 1960s, Greening said he was interested in buying it. “I came back to Waubay then; I was looking for a little financial help from my parents to get started,” he said. “Instead, they offered their business to me.” What started out on a trial basis lasted 42 years when Greening ran his parents’ pharmacy, which later became more of a variety store.

Greening claims to have belonged to as many as five different organizations at once. He was president of the city council board, commander of the American Legion as well as the athletic director for that group, was president of the Commercial Club and was a founding member of the Northeastern South Dakota Lake Region Association. While athletic director, he remembers Waubay hosting a state American Legion softball tournament one year and a region softball tournament the next year. “We had a pretty good program going,” he commented.

Greening was also the Waubay band director for two years. Other than being a member of the high school band from the time he was in sixth grade, Greening had practically no musical experience outside of school. But when the superintendent at that time approached him about the job, he directed him to a summer course to become certified. “We had lots of good kids,” he said. “Band is lots of fun; probably a better experience than sports.” While in the capacity of band director, Greening said, “I learned to play every instrument in the band. I felt really adequate in teaching any instrument, but I felt real inadequate in instructing the band. My wife tells me I looked like I was doing a good job.”

At the time that he was teaching, he was also working as the Legion Club manager besides running his own business. “I only got a few hours of sleep each night,” he joked. He says he was doing whatever he could to bring in a little extra income for his family. His oldest daughter had cancer and Dorothy became pregnant. Their daughter died the day the baby was born. “She lived long enough to know she had a brother,” Greening said.

Of Waubay he said, “We had a pretty thriving town at that time. But within a 10-15 year span, we suddenly lost about 20-30 businesses here. The same thing happened in Webster, Ortley, Summit, Roslyn, Bristol… It’s the same old story. Big gets bigger. People were moving to Aberdeen and Watertown.” Greening blames the development of big stores on the downfall of rural towns. “Big was better. It just attracted people,” he said.

When smaller wholesalers started going under, Greening said, “With our store, we struggled against that. We were getting it from both directions.” They were able to keep going by offering unique items. Particular popular items at the store were reproduction prints – especially those of Native American scenes. “That kept us going,” he said. “It was something you couldn’t buy any place around here.”

Greening remembers they would open the store from eight in the morning until six at night, except for on Wednesdays and Saturdays. On those days they would be open until 10 p.m. “And we were busy all the time!” he exclaimed. Greening sold his business in 2005. The building that his father built in 1950 to house the pharmacy is home to the Waubay Clinic today. “Growing up here was really very good,” Greening said. “We were close to everything – nature that is.” He remembers riding his bike with his friend to the lake and going swimming and watching the wildlife. “This is God’s country! Just the atmosphere of (this place),” he said. “That’s one of the things I appreciated about growing up in a town like Waubay.”

Although, he said it took him until he was a little older to learn to realize that. “To be perfectly honest, a kid that age (19-20 years old) isn’t missing a lot of anything. You’re just ready to go,” he laughed. “When I was gone, there were a lot of things to miss, but it took me until I was older to really appreciate them.”

Greening has fond memories of going hunting and fishing in the area. “Back then you started hunting when you were old enough to hold a gun,” he said. “We’d throw rocks at the bullheads and kill them that way.”

Greening says he also remembers going to lots and lots of dances in the area. You don’t see those things any more, he added. “The world is going by so fast! All the computers, technology – it’s completely foreign to me,” he said. “I’ve gone from driving horses in my father’s field to cell phones, the whole ball of wax. My generation has probably gone through more changes than any other in the history of the world.”

Greening is father of three, grandfather of five and he has three great-grandchildren.