As you’re planning your shopping this season, consider supporting small businesses that provide a special experience while you shop for things you won’t find anywhere else.
I stopped by Stella’s Mercantile after my hike Saturday and was delighted to see they are decorated for Christmas. Life sized nutcrackers flank the front door that’s always painted a festive red.
Step through those red doors and warm greetings abound in a space that feels like something out of a Hallmark movie. This building operated as Fout’s Store for generations until I was a kid and I have fond memories of the old wood floors and fixtures. They’ve done a great job of holding onto the historic charm of the space while shifting their focus to local artists, candy makers and others who make things.
Here you’ll find paintings, plants, quilts, jewelry, and so much more. There’s fudge and candy, bread and cinnamon rolls. Don’t forget the cinnamon rolls.
There are so many goodies to enjoy and gifts to take home for yourself and for folks on your list.
One of my favorite memories from this place when I was a kid was going there for bulk Christmas candy. They currently have bulk candy in jars on the counter so you can take home a few pieces or a whole bag!
Check out the vintage tinsel tree that belonged to the grandparents of one of the owners.
I like a place that gives me an experience rather than just a thing. You feel something when you walk into a place like Stella’s. You feel the history, the community and charm that have made it what it is today and I think that’s way better than a big box store where no one thinks to greet you and no one cares that you get that special thing that makes you smile.
I bought myself a Christmas gift Saturday and the owner remembered that I had missed out on getting something similar earlier this year. That’s pretty impressive, if you ask me.
They’ll have Santa on Saturday, December 13. What a fun environment it would be to meet Santa!
I have written about Stella’s before. I hope you’ll take a minute to read that story. Also, I wrote about the old Fout’s Store at Christmas. I hope you’ll read that one too.
It’s a special place. Go visit. Support their efforts to give local people a venue to sell their things and to breathe new life into a historic space. I think you’ll like it!
However, if you’re not in Vinton County, Ohio this Christmas, be sure to support local businesses near you!
Buried deep in the hills of Vinton County, Ohio you’ll find an abandoned railroad tunnel that was once part of the B&O Railroad. Today it’s the centerpiece of the Moonville Rail Trail and a destination for both ghost hunters and graffiti artists.
This is public property and an amazing historic site that people insist on vandalizing with their paint cans. Between that and the locks people attach to one of the bridges that volunteers worked years to build , a trip here is both a fun adventure and little irritating.
Why do people insist on leaving their mark on what is not theirs?
This time, though, the graffiti was actual art.
I was kind of impressed that someone could do all this with a spray can.
I still don’t condone spray paint on property where the owners say “please don’t” but I do wish that there were more public spaces where folks like this could show off their skills.
Remember the story of Sheriff Maude Collins? I told you last week about how she was the first female sheriff in Ohio and we were having a mural painted in her honor.
Well, it’s done! We dedicated it on Thursday night. Here she is!
This mural is located on the side of the Vinton County, Ohio Courthouse.
That brick building next door is the former sheriff’s office. That’s where Sheriff Maude lived and worked.
Want to read the first story about Sheriff Maude? Click here.
Next month marks the 100th anniversary of when Maude Collins became Ohio’s first female sheriff. She was appointed to the office when her husband Sheriff Fletcher Collins was shot and killed in the line of duty in 1925.
When the Vinton County Commissioners appointed the sheriff’s widow to the position, I suspect they thought it was an act of charity, something that would buy the young widow some time to plan for a fresh start. Back in the day, the sheriff’s family lived at the Sheriff’s Office. His wife was the jail matron. His five young children lived under the same roof as prisoners kept in cells. This was still customary in 1925.
So when Maude lost her husband, she lost her home too.
Maude was around thirty when she first put on the badge and I’m proud to say she proved to everyone that she was capable of doing the job. She was no one’s charity case. She investigated crimes including several murders, served warrants, patrolled the roads and arrested people just like a man would.
Women had only been voting for a few years when she was appointed Sheriff. She finished her husband’s unexpired term and then her name appeared on a primary election ballot across from some local men. She beat them pretty handily and went on to beat a male opponent in the general election. And a few years later, she went on to be elected county recorder.
Sheriff Maude busted up moonshine stills with a child at her hip. That’s because there were no social safety nets back then. There were no food stamps or welfare, no housing vouchers or even kindergarten to send her youngest to.
And when she finished her day, there wasn’t an electric washer and dryer at home to make sure the family had clean clothes or microwave meals for the nights she didn’t have time to cook.
I can’t fathom how she managed.
A double murder investigation she led gained her national attention. I have a copy of a mid- century “Startling Detective Magazine” that tells the story of a sensational murder.
Sheriff Maude is also in the state’s history books for being the first woman to deliver a prisoner (a man, no less) to the Ohio State Penitentiary in 1929. Incidentally, she was a descendent of the McCoy family that gained so much notoriety as part of the Hatfield and McCoy feud.
She must have been a character. I mean, to be a single working mom would be hard enough. To do it back then would have been a Herculean task. To do something so dangerous as be a sheriff would take true nerve. She did have a male deputy who seemed to be a decent guy and supportive of his boss but it would still have been such a hard life.
Her story was mostly lost to time until about 25 years ago. In fact, Belmont County, Ohio had been telling everyone that their lady sheriff, elected in 1976, was the first to do so in the country. No offense to her legacy but that woman wasn’t even born yet when Sheriff Maude was out breaking up moonshine operations. Plus, there were a few women sheriffs before our Sheriff Maude.
This story may ring a bell for you longtime readers. I helped the local historical society get an Ohio Historical marker a few years ago and wrote that story here.
I sit on the local tourism board and we raised money to have a mural painted in Sheriff Maude’s honor. It will be dedicated on October 9, the 100th anniversary of her becoming sheriff. We’ll have an open house at the visitors center along with some vendors that evening.
When we announced the mural project, we had a local woman suggest that celebrating Sheriff Maude wasn’t the best use of a mural. After all, she just got the job because her husband died and she didn’t have to work that hard.
I would love to time travel that woman back to 1925 and let her see how hard Maude had to work to balance home and job and to keep it together. Let her do better. Why are there always naysayers?
Sheriff Maude did everything a man would do only she had to do it better, with a family to care for and undoubtedly with a lot of naysayers waiting for her to fail. Remember, this was still a time when women were expected to stay home and raise a family rather than have jobs, homes and incomes of their own.
This is why we talk about our past and study our history. It’s up to us to keep alive these remarkable stories and to appreciate how pioneers like Sheriff Maude helped shape our community and open doors for others like her.
Women today need to remember that our rights to vote, drive, be educated work, and do as we please with our lives are not a given and can be taken away much more easily than they were won by those who came before us.
I am proud of the legacy that Sheriff Maude left behind. Representation is important and I hope that little girls across the county will go by this mural and know that any dream is possible and that women like Sheriff Maude worked to make it that way.
PS: The mural is being painted by an artist who is just as excited about Sheriff Maude’s story as I am. She’s incredibly talented so I hope you’ll look up Pam Kellough Murals on Facebook. I am a big fan of her work and hope you’ll be too! She’s pictured here on one of the early days of the mural work.
If you are observant while you’re out roaming the rural backroads of this country, you might catch a glimpse of a community from long ago. An old post office or school, a cluster of houses in a quiet setting, and an old store are good clues that the spot-in-the-road you’re speeding past was once something more.
In my community, there’s an intersection where you’ll find an old general store and a church but not much more. I remember going to Bible School at that church when I was little. I also remember the warmth and comfort of the old store years ago. Back then it was called Fout’s Store and it was owned by an elderly couple named Shag and Helen Fout.
The floor and fixtures, the lighting, the old pot belly stove and much of the stock harkened to another time. I’ll never forget the warmth and smells of that old place and going there at Christmas to buy bulk candy. Oh, what a treat that was! It always smelled like history to me. There’s something about old buildings and hardwood floors that their scents stay with you. In my memory, Fout’s store smells of kerosene, woodsmoke, pipe tobacco and wood polish.
Can’t you smell this picture?
It’s a pleasant aroma and one that’s almost impossible to describe. This old store was one of the first historic buildings I can remember stepping foot inside. Maybe that’s why I have such a soft spot for the place.
The store closed and has sat empty on Locust Grove Ridge for all these many years, a woeful reminder that people don’t live forever and that time marches on – even when you wish it would stand still.
But all that has changed. A friend of mine had a vision for this place and, with her partner, has transformed this amazing old building into something special for modern folk to appreciate.
They call it Stella’s Mercantile and it’s a place for residents and for tourists to find locally made items, snacks, local beef, homemade cinnamon rolls, cold drinks, things you might have forgotten to pack, and stuff you didn’t know you needed at all. They give local artists and artisans a place to sell their creations and those of us who are from here a place to feel proud to visit.
They just opened a couple of weeks ago and I finally made it in to shop last week.
My cousin Garrett sells his turkey calls there. The gentleman who makes turned wood animals, trees and mushrooms that I adore so much sells his handiwork there too. I bought an acorn for my collection as well as a small oil painting from someone I haven’t met yet.
An old portrait of Shag and Helen hangs by the door. Some vintage pieces decorate the space, houseplants await new homes, and an old display case of glass and wood is filled with cinnamon rolls and big slices of cake.
When I closed my eyes, I could almost feel the presence of Shag and Helen and the generations of others who shopped and worked here. Being there felt like a true gift. The original potbelly stove is long gone but they have replaced it with another one. It’s more ornate than the original and was made in Cincinnati, a testament to the craftsmanship and design of years gone by. They even fire it up on the cold days.
For some who visit, it’s a neat old building filled with nostalgia. For people like me, it’s a profoundly emotional place to visit. The manager says that people have cried when they saw it for the first time. I didn’t cry but I did smile at the idea that people I know have salvaged a valuable bit of my community’s past. I am so proud of the courage and elbow grease it took to breathe new life into this important place.
Find Stella’s Mercantile at 26560 Locust Grove Road, McArthur, Ohio. The Doughmaker food truck operates here as well so you can shop and then stay for a bite to eat. Be sure to peruse the selection of cold drinks in the old Coca Cola cooler too!
If you have small kids along, let them take a ride on this vintage merry-go-round. It came from an old five and dime store in Wapakoneta, Ohio that belonged to the father of one of the owners.
Take note that Le Petit Chevalier Vinyards and Farm Winery are just around the bend. You can even spend the night at the winery! And yes, the church still holds services and welcomes visitors. In other words, you could have a lovely weekend exploring the winery as an Airbnb guest and walk to Stella’s for dinner, snacks and a little shopping. Then attend Sunday services on a country church before heading home.
What a wonderful step back in time that would feel like!
