Diane and I recently had our second grandchild arrive: our first grandson. The little guy is settling in with his parents in Minneapolis and soon will be meeting his cousin, our granddaughter who lives in Ellsworth.

In the meantime, we’re watching our son’s two “fur babies” to lessen the chaos of the new arrival. I went online the other day to look into buying some treats and food for our two “additions.” Overwhelmed, once again, by the variety and scale of available dog food and goodies, I tried to remember how mail order worked “back in the day” — especially for non-human supplies. It turns out that Webster City has a history of such companies. After all, I’ve already written about McMurray Hatchery and the tremendous business it has been and continues to be.

Floyd Woodard was born in February of 1918 in Fort Dodge. He went to school in Webster City and graduated high school in 1936. Floyd attended Iowa State University where he majored in Agriculture. In June of 1944 he married Oriol Crewdson and the couple began working in feed manufacturing and livestock farming a few miles southwest of here.

In 1949 Floyd founded Woodard Feed, which he owned and operated for more than 50 years until his retirement.

He also was very active in music here in Webster City, and was busy in the Rotary, serving as president for a period of time. His love for, and commitment to, his hometown was more than evident.

Woodard Feed, later known as Woodard Company, prospered and grew a lot. Several articles have appeared in Webster City newspapers following the growth of the company — from its beginning to a point where it was mailing 100,000 catalogs a year, shipping products like animal feed and nutritional additives to all 50 states and several countries overseas.

This business included making and receiving more than 67,000 phone calls a year on its 10 phone lines.

Its own trucks delivered to the Midwest states and further shipments were sent by rail and express companies. Often customers flew in to order and purchase items, being met and shuttled from the airport to the business and back. Obviously, it required many employees to handle the ordering, packaging, shipping and paperwork necessary for such an enterprise. Most of the company’s history was before the advent of computers and the internet. A large facility was constructed six miles south and two miles west of Webster City to house all this business.

Floyd retired and sold the business, which became Blue Stem, a certified organic feed company in 2002. He remained in Webster City and became a resident of Our Neighborhood in November of 2008.

Having read of Woodard Feed, how it grew to be one of the largest of its kind of business in the country at a time when the world was almost totally analog (as opposed to digital), is a reminder of just what has been accomplished in our country over our nearly 250 years.

Now, with everything a simple click away, we see things on a truly global scale. The next bag of dog food you buy online and receive in a few days may originate from almost anywhere … partly due to the success of folks like Floyd Woodard.

Our Neighborhood is a column by Michael Eckers focusing on the men and women whose presence populates Graceland Cemetery in Webster City.