WETTERAU CELEBRATES 30 YEARS

Someone will drive away from the Show Me Center in a vintage 1961 Ford Thunderbird convertible Wednesday, the culmination of a five-day, 30th anniversary celebration by the Scott City Division of Wetterau Incorporated.

"This car is a classic," said Bill Whitlock, advertising and promotion manager of the local food distribution center. "It has been completely reconditioned."

"The T-Bird was manufactured the same year that Wetterau opened its division at Scott City," said Whitlock. "We had to look a long time before we found the car we were looking for."

The 30th anniversary celebration started Saturday at the Scott City facility, where plant tours and a "big tent" picnic was held for employees and their families.

Activities continue Monday with an open house at the center for the company's vendors and retailers.

"We'll conduct tours from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday," said Whitlock. "Then at 6:30 p.m., we'll hold a social hour and barbecue under a big tent at the Holiday Inn in Cape Girardeau."

More than 500 people are expected here for the big celebration, which will include a two-day "Food Show" at the Show Me Center on the Southeast Missouri State University campus Tuesday and Wednesday.

"We'll have manufacturers, vendors, retailers and their families from a 100-mile radius," said Whitlock. "There will be about 130 booths at the Show Me Center show."

The big moment the awarding of the vintage Thunderbird will conclude the celebration on Wednesday.

"Each representative will be presented a box with some keys in it," said Whitlock. "One of the keys will start the car."

The division of Wetterau in Southeast Missouri was organized in Desloge in February of 1925, in a 12,500-square-foot building and was expected to serve an area within a radius of 25 miles of Desloge. Sales were anticipated at less than $1 million a year.

In 1961, the division was moved to Scott City.

"We're really proud to be a part of this community," said Darrell Long, president of the Scott City division. "The majority of our employees are from this general area. The success we enjoy on this, our 30th year at Scott City, has come from our people, our programs and our service."

Long added that the 30-year period had been one of "ever-expanding programs and service.

"We're looking to the future with the certainty of even greater accomplishments," he said.

The present distribution center at Scott City is approximately 280,000 square feet and contains storage for some 9,000 perishables meat and produce and grocery items, as well as office and garage space. The Scott City division consists of 225 office and warehouse employees.

Long, who has been with the company 20 years and was appointed president of the division in 1988, is the seventh president in the 30-year history of the division. Ferlyn Prather was first president at Scott City, serving from 1961 to 1971. Other past presidents include Bill Miller, May 1971 to May 1973; Leonard Waldron, May 1972 to April 1976; Dick Holley, April 1976 to March 1979; Ralph Evans, March 1979 to Sept. 1985; and Tom Kwasny, September 1985 to June 1988.

The Scott City division is part of a company that dates back to 1869, four years after the end of the Civil War. George H. Wetterau, who left his native Germany in 1867, worked in a wholesale grocery company while attending night school.

Two years later, Wetterau and Frederick Goebel teamed up to form the partnership of Goebel & Wetterau Grocery Co. on the northwest corner of Second and Walnut streets, near what is today the south leg of the towering Gateway Arch.

Thirty years later, in 1899, the company evolved from a partnership to a corporation G. H. Wetterau & Sons Grocery Co.

It wasn't until 1961 that the firm was changed to Wetterau Foods Incorporated, and was later shortened to Wetterau Inc., by shareholder approval.

Ted C. Wetterau is chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of the company.