The history of Appleton City, Mo.
Something has happened at the grocery store in Appleton City, Mo., that has the whole town buzzing – and it’s not the price of milk.
It all started, when Appleton City Food Fair co-owner Will Wetter glanced across the parking lot to the white wall on the narrow block building next door (where he is also co-owner) and said to himself, “That wall needs something.”
He then discussed the possibilities with co-owner Kathy Fischer. The two agreed to reach out to local artists to see if anyone was interested in painting a mural of some kind on the wall.
When Shelly Mullani-Bales learned of the possibility, she was definitely interested and excited. Shelly has done around 10 other murals throughout her career. However, determining what to include in the 8-foot-high by 95-foot-long space, she admits, was a little overwhelming.
Wetter and Fischer say they had a few ideas for the project, but mostly wanted Shelly to be free to create the wall without a lot of parameters on how it should look. She said their encouragement in telling her to “do you” was what most excited her about the project.
While searching for a starting point, Will did a Facebook survey to see what the community would like included. Shelly made it her personal goal to include each item mentioned in the mural in some way.
Though not intended to be a literal portrayal of Appleton City history, Shelly said she wanted to capture the spirit of the town’s past as well as the future possibilities. The wall begins with the depiction of Native Americans; moves through the growth of the agricultural based community, centered around railway access and the coal mine; highlights town monuments and milestones; celebrates memories of Appleton City alumni with a burst of Bulldog spirit; honors the veteran heroes, the fallen, the country and God; and, finally, plants the seeds for a future strongly rooted in the past.
Shelly said one of the most challenging concepts she struggled with developing was “grocery store evolution,” mentioned in the Facebook survey. She mastered the idea beautifully by including vintage, grocer advertisements throughout the mural. Each includes one of the previous grocers in Appleton City (Will B. Stouts, L.E. Bailey, and Yoss Brothers) along with the ad copy of the time period, such as: “Eagle Stamps,” “Sanitary Meat Department” and “Old Glory and Boonville Flour.”
Another new project in St. Clair County has been a push to develop a barn quilt path. Barn quilts are popping up on barns and local businesses throughout the county. So, Shelly included a painted quilt block in each sections of the mural. Each quilt block was chosen to reflect the main subject of that section. Visitors up to a challenge could find it interesting to identify the name of each quilt block based on the section it is in.
Another challenge to visitors is to find the wolf hidden within the painting. Shelly said she simply wanted to bring joy to the community. As she pondered that idea, she remembered an old Native American proverb about two wolves. The story goes that we have two wolves, one positive and one negative. The one that grows is the one we feed. So, the wolf reminds us to feed the positive.
Though not a native of Appleton City, Shelly has been the elementary art teacher there for the past 13 years. No one has enjoyed watching the mural come to life more than Shelly’s current and former art students. As her students passed by, she would take the time to talk to them about the project, even letting some participate in painting of the wall. Shelly’s love and encouragement for her students is very apparent, especially when she discussed the significance of the murals ending quote. “Sometimes you find yourself in the middle of nowhere, and sometimes in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.” Shelly said at one point in her career she debated leaving Appleton City to move on to “bigger and better things.” However, as she watched her students creating such wonderful things, she made up her mind that where a person lives does not determine their ability to accomplish big things.
It is often noted that the vitality of a community can be seen in whether the community can support a grocery store, and vice versa. With that being the test, let it be known that Appleton City is alive and well.
