Page 24

 
   Cook was remarkably successful in busi- 
ness, particularly in the Neenah Paper Com- 
pany which he acquired in 1887 in partnership 
with Henry Sherry. He was one of the first in 
the country to adopt a successful plan for 
profit-sharing with his workers. In 1906 he 
presented the community with a generous gift 
of the S.A. Cook Armory, home of Neenah- 
Menasha Company I of the Wisconsin Nation- 
al Guard. Many of the early Neenah-Menasha 
basketball games were played in the Armory. 
   At his death on April 4, 1918, THE NEE- 
NAH DAILY TIMES said of him "it is not 
often given to a man to have the deep affec- 
tion of a community as Mr. Cook had. No 
one will ever know how generously he gave 
of his time, his advice, his sympathy and his 
means to those who needed help . . . He 
found pleasure and recreation in doing things 
for others and he did them modestly and 
unobtrusively, because he loved to." 
   It is most appropriate that Cook Park bears 
the name of a man who was dearly loved by 
his community. It is a lasting tribute to this 
worthy man; every community could use 
more citizens like Samuel A. Cook. 
Our Most Cleverly Hidden Park 
ost Neenah parks are easy to find 
          and have good public access. 
          Douglas Park is an exception. It 
has been so cleverly hidden away that few 
local citizens know where it is or how to get 
to it. 
   The site was originally purchased by the 
city as a possible future location for a city 
garage. But the city later found it to be too 
small for a garage site, and access in and out 
for   trucks 
and equip- 
ment was 
far    too 
limited. 
Since no 
one else 
wanted the 
land  for 
anything, 
the  city 
decided in 
ly~y to turI 
it over to Figure 31.     View looking north 
the   Park 
Department for a neighborhood park. 
   Douglas Park is a small triangular shaped 
neighborhood park of 4.3 acres. The long side 
(hypotenuse) of the park runs from southwest 
to northeast, parallel to a railroad track. The 
railroad tracks pretty well block access to the 
park from west and north. 
   The east edge of Douglas Park runs paral- 
lel to South Commercial Street. The park is 
almost completely hidden from view from 
Commercial Street by nine private homes. 
The city in 1972 purchased for $992 a narrow 
twenty foot strip of land to give direct access 
                              off Com- 
mercial 
Street. 
Heavy 
traffic on 
Commercial 
Street tends 
discourage 
users from 
the   east. 
The    south 
side of this 
shelter in Douglas Park.    park       runs 
                               east and 
  west, parallel to Douglas Street. Ten homes 
  along that street effectively block access to 
  the park from the south. One fifty foot en- 
24 
ofs