On the Street... by Chuck Haney
I guess one can say that March entered as a lamb. No rain, snow, ice, fog or frigid single digit temperatures. If that be the case of the weather gods, we can sail right through until the end of the month when we should go out like a lion (hopefully not a snow storm).
However, let us look at the bigger picture. In exactly 10 days from the appearance of this column we begin Daylight Saving Time (March 14) and seven days after that we officially begin Spring (March 20).
I have a great story about a very special program that is coming to our town on St. Patrick’s Day and the first in a series of the redevelopment of downtown Chillicothe.
Just about five years ago our downtown area was dying. There was little retail and many vacant buildings along Washington Street and around the square. The J.C. Penney store, the big Mart Drug, two clothing stores and others had closed, or relocated away from the downtown area.
The challenge began for the city and a relatively new organization known as Main Street Chillicothe. Through the efforts of those two, economic development work, the Chamber of Commerce and a few strokes of luck the revitalization of downtown Chillicothe began.
The big influx and additions and new businesses came in the past 18 months, but before that an old building with much history was remodeled and turned into a part of the historic area.
Michael Palmer came downtown and leased the old Rexall Drug Store and for those that can go back a number of years it was then known as Clark’s Rexall Drug Store. That theme continued in a historic kind of way when during remodeling, Palmer decided to leave the old glass stained “The Rexall Store” on the front of the building.
That was in May of 2002, nearly eight years ago. The store was remodeled and opened as Hometown Pharmacy. “I remember that first day,” said Palmer. “We wrote 82 scrips (prescriptions) and we were really excited.”
It didn’t take long for Hometown Pharmacy to take hold. Next, came an expansion next door into the building that had housed Beemer’s For Her. Palmer said that more space was needed for a closed door pharmacy to handle prescriptions for nursing homes, long term care and jail.
There was also a need for more customer space as the business grew. They added an area for customers to be comfortable as they waited for a prescription to be filled or for other assistance.
Then 2009 came another decision. Palmer decided it was time for a medical equipment and healthy living store. The building had been home to several businesses over the years and remodeling began immediately (February 2009).
When the all-new Healthy Living Store opened its doors in April of 2009 it signaled another beginning for the downtown area. Besides having an array of health care equipment and supplies, the newest of Palmer’s stores includes two employees that visit doctors and hospitals locally and in the area promoting professional supplies, healthcare and wellness.
Now a small remodel in the back of the Hometown Healthy Living Store is underway. There will be a new office, a patient consultation area and room to give vaccinations, blood pressure checks, etc., as well as two storage areas. Kathy Lock is the manager of Hometown Healthy Living Store.
Near the end of 2009 the new Healthy Living Store also announced a new UPS store where persons could mail or bring returns Monday through Friday.
Backing up to 2005, Palmer purchased the old downtown Main Street Drug store and opened a new pharmacy across from the newly remodeled Carrollton Hospital. That Hometown Pharmacy is under the management of Registered Pharmacist Blake Riley, a Carrollton native.
Since 2002 Palmer, partners and staff have been busy and now with four operations, three in Chillicothe, there are 28 employees. Hometown Pharmacy in Chillicothe opened under Palmer and partner Melissa King, a registered pharmacist. Later Pat Gates became a partner and Registered Pharmacist Scott Cady joined the team and now serves as manager of the Chillicothe Pharmacy as well as being a partner in the operation. There are 17 employees involved in the pharmacy, long term/closed door pharmacy and Healthy Living Store.
Things in the next year took off as one business after another announced their openings or moves to the downtown area. Five of the new businesses came from out of town, including three that already were established in nearby communities but decided to locate here.
In just a little over one year the downtown area had came alive. It is a historic district through the efforts of Main Street Chillicothe. Twelve new stores ranging from the Alaska House to two children’s stores, three restaurants, computer places, an ice cream shop, a health/nutrition store, a healthy living store, alternative health services, souvenir store, flower shop and a pawn & gun shop have brightened the square and just off the square.
Add a $3.4 million remodel of the Livingston County Memorial Library nearing completion and a new near $600,000 downtown park and events area called Silver Moon Plaza. That plaza replaced where three business buildings were about to collapse and the building owner Ed Milbank, developer Brent Kline and Main Street Chillicothe struck a deal for the plaza area complete with a stage, fountains and grassy area.
I said to Mike that things had been good downtown in the last few years, especially the last two, and that his three local operations and some 21 local employees had much to do with downtown revitalization.
To conclude this story, Palmer and his family moved to Chillicothe back in October 1984 when he was a partner in the Midwest Quality Gloves operation with Steve Franke. It was a 10-year partnership that concluded in January 1995.
Palmer and his wife Patty instantly became involved in the community and civic events. Patty stays busy with the education foundation and serving in the education outreach program for UMKC in working with teachers. She formerly was involved in the arts.
Mike serves on the board of directors of Investors National Bank, is chairman of the hospital board, a longtime member of the Rotary Club and Chamber of Commerce. He also formerly served as president of the Chamber and as president of the Grand River Area YMCA.
The Palmers are the parents of three grown children Brooke, Brian and Bradley.
A heartwarming story and a father and son of an athletic family will be part of a big day in Chillicothe on March 17 when the Chamber of Commerce, Rotary Club and Salvation Army combine in the Salvation Army’s Caring Community Celebration.
The event headlined as “Never Underestimate the Impossible” will be at the United Methodist Church Family Life Center Wednesday, March 17. The doors will open at 11:30 a.m. with buffet lines ready to go at 11:45 a.m. The program includes a couple or three special presentations.
The Chillicothe High School Leadership class is also a partner with the three community organizations and is raising funds to sponsor special needs children and their parents to attend the program.
The public is invited to the event but reservations must be made by March 12. Tickets are $10 and you may call 660-646-3538 for reservations or more information by the deadline.
The program will be by former St. Joseph Benton Coach Mike Ziesel and his son Matt, who is a freshman at Benton High School in St. Joseph. Matt has downs syndrome and as a freshman football player at Benton got national attention when he scored a touchdown against Maryville. The touchdown came when his coach went to the Maryville coach and asked if Matt could score a TD in the game. The coaches and teams agreed and Matt was filmed on his touchdown run.
It went on YouTube and then was carried by ESPN when a crew came to St. Joseph. You can preview Matt’s story by going to espn.go.com/video/clip?id=4620840.
Matt and his dad, who is well known here and throughout the area from his many years as Benton boy’s basketball coach, will present the program.
In addition to the program by Ziesel and his son, the Rotary will present its “Unsung Here” award and the Salvation Army will recognize Bell Ringing individuals and groups. The hope is to complete the entire program within one hour.
Once the program is done, Ziesel and son Matt will go to the high school for an assembly sponsored by the Leadership Class. The Chillicothe school organization has sent invitations inviting surrounding schools to the assembly.
Mike Ziesel coached varsity basketball for 19 years at Benton until accepting the job of athletic director at Benton in the 2004-2005 school year. The popular and successful coach has an athletic family of three sons and two daughters.
Very personable and always with a big smile on his face (except maybe if he might disagree with an official’s call), Ziesel and his wife are the parents of two grown sons that played sports at Benton (Adam and Brian), a grown and married daughter Katie McCullough, a daughter Jackie, a junior in high school and son Matt.
Brian is a 1997 Benton grad and Adam a 1999 Benton grad and Katie is a 2001 grad.
Katie is now in her fifth year as the head girl’s varsity coach at St. Joseph Lafayette. Daughter Jackie is a star basketball player and is a junior for St. Joseph LeBlond while Matt is a freshman at Benton where dad is the athletic director. How’s that for sharing your sports family in a city of 72,000 with five high schools.
Chillicothe attorney Tom Chapman was in Jefferson City Monday and filed at 8:30 a.m. for Circuit Judge of the 43rd District, Division I. Filing for the position opened March 1 and Chapman was at the Secretary of State office to file.
Chapman had indicated in a news release after the first of the year he was exploring the possibility of seeking the position which opened with the early retirement of Judge Warren McElwain of Maysville. He officially retired Feb. 28, 2010 and had announced that he would retire last December 2009.
The 43rd Judicial Circuit includes Caldwell, Clinton, Daviess, DeKalb and Livingston counties.
Investigation continues by law enforcement and FBI after last week’s armed bank robbery of the BTC Bank in Chillicothe.
Law enforcement personnel have hooked up with an investigative unit comprised of other cities in which the suspect robbed banks. They also are checking leads that the robber was in Chillicothe the night before the robbery.
It was the third known bank robbery in Chillicothe in modern times and the second successful one.
Two men held up the former Community Bank (now Bank Midwest) on south Washington in April of 1976 and made off with $15,000. They were apprehended by the Missouri Highway Patrol less than two hours later on I-35 south of the 116 exit.
HERE AND THERE—Angela (Mrs. Brian) Anderson is the new club manager at the Elks Lodge. She is also president of the Elks Auxiliary and formerly worked part-time at Nico’z.
There will be a planning meeting for Chillicothe High School senior moms wanting to help with the traditional Senior Breakfast. The meeting is Tuesday, March 9, at 6 p.m. in the CHS Center. Contact Patricia Paris 660-247-1508 or Tami Riekena at 660-646-5232 if unable to attend.
Freedom Road Riders monthly meeting is March 7 at Rumors with a noon carry-in dinner.
Hedrick Medical Center Hospital Auxiliary will hold a jewelry show Monday, March 8 from 8 a.m.–5 p.m. in the conference room.
Get well wishes go out to Miss Virginia Wall, who was hospitalized briefly last week and to Don St. John who had surgery last week and is in Hill Crest Manor in Hamilton.
I received word of the death last week of Joan Slater Robertson of West Branch, Iowa. She was the wife of Tim Robertson. The Robertsons are graduates of Chillicothe High School. Mrs. Slater has a brother Fred Slater in Miami. Her deceased parents were Charles and Kathryn Slater.
Be sure to check out the Livingston County TV & Appliance insert in this week’s edition of The Ad Pages.
The gals at the Ad Pages wanted me to give a thank you to the bouquet that was delivered Monday from Piggly Wiggly Floral saying—“Happy Share a Smile Day.”
Bud and Charla Winnett of Wheeling celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on March 4. Daughters Michelle Ratley of Concordia and Cheryl Jarrett of Marion N.C. will host an open house for family and friends in honor of their parents’ golden anniversary. It will be at the Winnett home in Wheeling Saturday, March 5 from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m.
The following are celebrating birthdays from March 3 through March 9--Joe Garrison, Doug Arr, Gary Peterie, Susan Martz, Tom Stuver, Mike Miller, Donald Overton, Jay Jones, Bob Sprouse, John Feeney, Dick Horton, Cheryl Wood, Ruth Jones, Wilma Smith, Dorothy Lindley, Janan Arnold, Eudora Fitzpatrick, June Simmons, Shirley Breeden, Frances Howe, Diane Kerns, Susan Meehan, Helen Jackson, Wanda Brobst, and Shirley Watson celebrates her 80th on March 8.
I have already told you more than I know.
We send our deepest sympathy to Martha Brinkley and family following the loss of her son Nicholas (Nick) Brinkley last week.
Comments?
